Blood donor show behaviour after an invitation to donate : The influence of collection site factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Merz, E.-M.; Zijlstra, B.J.H.; de Kort, W.L.A.M.

2017-01-01

Background and Objectives Show behaviour after invitation to donate varies considerably across donors. More insight into this variation is important for blood banks in achieving stable stocks. This study examined individual factors determining intended show behaviour. Most importantly, however, this

Blood donor show behavior after an invitation to donate: The influence of collection site factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Merz, E.M.; Zijlstra, Bonne; De Kort, Wim L.A.M.

2017-01-01

Background and Objectives Show behaviour after invitation to donate varies considerably across donors. More insight into this variation is important for blood banks in achieving stable stocks. This study examined individual factors determining intended show behaviour. Most importantly, however, this

The common risk factor approach: a rational basis for promoting oral health.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheiham, A; Watt, R G

2000-12-01

Conventional oral health education is not effective nor efficient. Many oral health programmes are developed and implemented in isolation from other health programmes. This often leads, at best to a duplication of effort, or worse, conflicting messages being delivered to the public. In addition, oral health programmes tend to concentrate on individual behaviour change and largely ignore the influence of socio-political factors as the key determinants of health. Based upon the general principles of health promotion this paper presents a rationale for an alternative approach for oral health policy. The common risk factor approach addresses risk factors common to many chronic conditions within the context of the wider socio-environmental milieu. Oral health is determined by diet, hygiene, smoking, alcohol use, stress and trauma. As these causes are common to a number of other chronic diseases, adopting a collaborative approach is more rational than one that is disease specific. The common risk factor approach can be implemented in a variety of ways. Food policy development and the Health Promoting Schools initiative are used as examples of effective ways of promoting oral health.

Modelling individual differences in the form of Pavlovian conditioned approach responses: a dual learning systems approach with factored representations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florian Lesaint

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Reinforcement Learning has greatly influenced models of conditioning, providing powerful explanations of acquired behaviour and underlying physiological observations. However, in recent autoshaping experiments in rats, variation in the form of Pavlovian conditioned responses (CRs and associated dopamine activity, have questioned the classical hypothesis that phasic dopamine activity corresponds to a reward prediction error-like signal arising from a classical Model-Free system, necessary for Pavlovian conditioning. Over the course of Pavlovian conditioning using food as the unconditioned stimulus (US, some rats (sign-trackers come to approach and engage the conditioned stimulus (CS itself - a lever - more and more avidly, whereas other rats (goal-trackers learn to approach the location of food delivery upon CS presentation. Importantly, although both sign-trackers and goal-trackers learn the CS-US association equally well, only in sign-trackers does phasic dopamine activity show classical reward prediction error-like bursts. Furthermore, neither the acquisition nor the expression of a goal-tracking CR is dopamine-dependent. Here we present a computational model that can account for such individual variations. We show that a combination of a Model-Based system and a revised Model-Free system can account for the development of distinct CRs in rats. Moreover, we show that revising a classical Model-Free system to individually process stimuli by using factored representations can explain why classical dopaminergic patterns may be observed for some rats and not for others depending on the CR they develop. In addition, the model can account for other behavioural and pharmacological results obtained using the same, or similar, autoshaping procedures. Finally, the model makes it possible to draw a set of experimental predictions that may be verified in a modified experimental protocol. We suggest that further investigation of factored representations in

Modelling Individual Differences in the Form of Pavlovian Conditioned Approach Responses: A Dual Learning Systems Approach with Factored Representations

Science.gov (United States)

Lesaint, Florian; Sigaud, Olivier; Flagel, Shelly B.; Robinson, Terry E.; Khamassi, Mehdi

2014-01-01

Reinforcement Learning has greatly influenced models of conditioning, providing powerful explanations of acquired behaviour and underlying physiological observations. However, in recent autoshaping experiments in rats, variation in the form of Pavlovian conditioned responses (CRs) and associated dopamine activity, have questioned the classical hypothesis that phasic dopamine activity corresponds to a reward prediction error-like signal arising from a classical Model-Free system, necessary for Pavlovian conditioning. Over the course of Pavlovian conditioning using food as the unconditioned stimulus (US), some rats (sign-trackers) come to approach and engage the conditioned stimulus (CS) itself – a lever – more and more avidly, whereas other rats (goal-trackers) learn to approach the location of food delivery upon CS presentation. Importantly, although both sign-trackers and goal-trackers learn the CS-US association equally well, only in sign-trackers does phasic dopamine activity show classical reward prediction error-like bursts. Furthermore, neither the acquisition nor the expression of a goal-tracking CR is dopamine-dependent. Here we present a computational model that can account for such individual variations. We show that a combination of a Model-Based system and a revised Model-Free system can account for the development of distinct CRs in rats. Moreover, we show that revising a classical Model-Free system to individually process stimuli by using factored representations can explain why classical dopaminergic patterns may be observed for some rats and not for others depending on the CR they develop. In addition, the model can account for other behavioural and pharmacological results obtained using the same, or similar, autoshaping procedures. Finally, the model makes it possible to draw a set of experimental predictions that may be verified in a modified experimental protocol. We suggest that further investigation of factored representations in

Modelling individual differences in the form of Pavlovian conditioned approach responses: a dual learning systems approach with factored representations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lesaint, Florian; Sigaud, Olivier; Flagel, Shelly B; Robinson, Terry E; Khamassi, Mehdi

2014-02-01

Reinforcement Learning has greatly influenced models of conditioning, providing powerful explanations of acquired behaviour and underlying physiological observations. However, in recent autoshaping experiments in rats, variation in the form of Pavlovian conditioned responses (CRs) and associated dopamine activity, have questioned the classical hypothesis that phasic dopamine activity corresponds to a reward prediction error-like signal arising from a classical Model-Free system, necessary for Pavlovian conditioning. Over the course of Pavlovian conditioning using food as the unconditioned stimulus (US), some rats (sign-trackers) come to approach and engage the conditioned stimulus (CS) itself - a lever - more and more avidly, whereas other rats (goal-trackers) learn to approach the location of food delivery upon CS presentation. Importantly, although both sign-trackers and goal-trackers learn the CS-US association equally well, only in sign-trackers does phasic dopamine activity show classical reward prediction error-like bursts. Furthermore, neither the acquisition nor the expression of a goal-tracking CR is dopamine-dependent. Here we present a computational model that can account for such individual variations. We show that a combination of a Model-Based system and a revised Model-Free system can account for the development of distinct CRs in rats. Moreover, we show that revising a classical Model-Free system to individually process stimuli by using factored representations can explain why classical dopaminergic patterns may be observed for some rats and not for others depending on the CR they develop. In addition, the model can account for other behavioural and pharmacological results obtained using the same, or similar, autoshaping procedures. Finally, the model makes it possible to draw a set of experimental predictions that may be verified in a modified experimental protocol. We suggest that further investigation of factored representations in computational

Do we need sustainability as a new approach in human factors and ergonomics?

Science.gov (United States)

Zink, Klaus J; Fischer, Klaus

2013-01-01

The International Ergonomics Association Technical Committee 'Human Factors and Sustainable Development' was established to contribute to a broad discourse about opportunities and risks resulting from current societal 'mega-trends' and their impacts on the interactions among humans and other elements of a system, e.g. in work systems. This paper focuses on the underlying key issues: how do the sustainability paradigm and human factors/ergonomics interplay and interact, and is sustainability necessary as a new approach for our discipline? Based on a discussion of the sustainability concept, some general principles for designing new and enhancing existent approaches of human factors and ergonomics regarding their orientation towards sustainability are proposed. The increasing profile of sustainability on the international stage presents new opportunities for human factors/ergonomics. Positioning of the sustainability paradigm within human factors/ergonomics is discussed. Approaches to incorporating sustainability in the design of work systems are considered.

Assessing Saudi medical students learning approach using the revised two-factor study process questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaik, Shaffi Ahamed; Almarzuqi, Ahmed; Almogheer, Rakan; Alharbi, Omar; Jalal, Abdulaziz; Alorainy, Majed

2017-08-17

To assess learning approaches of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-year medical students by using revised two-factor study process questionnaire, and to assess reliability and validity of the questionnaire. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Medicine, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2014. The revised two-factor study process questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) was completed by 610 medical students of both genders, from foundation (first year), central nervous system (second year), medicine and surgery (third year) courses. The study process was evaluated by computing mean scores of two research study approaches (deep & surface) using student's t-test and one-way analysis of variance. The internal consistency and construct validity of the questionnaire were assessed using Cronbach's α and factor analysis. The mean score of deep approach was significantly higher than the surface approach among participants(t (770) =7.83, p= 0.000) for the four courses. The mean scores of deep approach were significantly higher among participants with higher grade point average (F (2,768) =13.31, p=0.001) along with more number of study hours by participants (F (2,768) =20.08, p=0.001). The Cronbach's α-values of items at 0.70 indicate the good internal consistency of questionnaire used. Factor analysis confirms two factors (deep and surface approaches) of R-SPQ-2F. The deep approach to learning was the primary approach among 1st, 2nd and 3rd-year King Saud University medical students. This study confirms reliability and validity of the revised two-factor study process questionnaire. Medical educators could use the results of such studies to make required changes in the curriculum.

Prognostic factors in invasive bladder carcinoma treated by combined modality protocol (organ-sparing approach)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matos, Tadeja; Cufer, Tanja; Cervek, Jozica; Borstnar, Simona; Kragelj, Borut; Zumer-Pregelj, Mirjana

2000-01-01

Purpose: The results of bladder sparing approach for the treatment of muscle-invasive bladder cancer, using a combination of transurethral resection (TUR), chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, are encouraging. The survival of patients treated by this method is similar to the survival of patients treated by radical cystectomy. The aim of our study was to find out which pretreatment characteristics influence the survival of patients treated by organ sparing approach that would enable us to identify the patients most suitable for this type of treatment. Methods and Materials: The prognostic value of different factors, such as age, gender, performance status, hemoglobin level, clinical stage, histologic grade, presence of obstructive uropathy, and completeness of TUR, has been studied in 105 patients with invasive bladder cancer, who received a bladder sparing treatment in the period from 1988 to 1995. They were treated with a combination of TUR, followed by 2-4 cycles of methotrexate, cisplatinum, and vinblastine polychemotherapy. In complete responders the treatment was completed by radiotherapy (50 Gy to the bladder and 40 Gy to the regional lymph nodes), whereas nonresponders underwent cystectomy whenever feasible. Results: Our study has confirmed an independent prognostic value of performance status, histologic grade, and obstructive uropathy, for the disease-specific survival (DSS) of bladder cancer patients treated by a conservative approach. We believe that performance status best reflects the extent of disease and exerts significant influence on the extent and course of treatment, while obstructive uropathy is a good indicator of local spread of the disease, better than clinical T-stage. Our finding that histologic grade is one of the strongest prognostic factors shows that tumor biology also is a very important prognostic factor in patients treated by conservative approach. Conclusion: Patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer who are most likely to benefit

An integrated graphic–taxonomic–associative approach to analyze human factors in aviation accidents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gong Lei

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Human factors are critical causes of modern aviation accidents. However, existing accident analysis methods encounter limitations in addressing aviation human factors, especially in complex accident scenarios. The existing graphic approaches are effective for describing accident mechanisms within various categories of human factors, but cannot simultaneously describe inadequate human–aircraft–environment interactions and organizational deficiencies effectively, and highly depend on analysts’ skills and experiences. Moreover, the existing methods do not emphasize latent unsafe factors outside accidents. This paper focuses on the above three limitations and proposes an integrated graphic–taxonomic–associative approach. A new graphic model named accident tree (AcciTree, with a two-mode structure and a reaction-based concept, is developed for accident modeling and safety defense identification. The AcciTree model is then integrated with the well-established human factors analysis and classification system (HFACS to enhance both reliability of the graphic part and logicality of the taxonomic part for improving completeness of analysis. An associative hazard analysis technique is further put forward to extend analysis to factors outside accidents, to form extended safety requirements for proactive accident prevention. Two crash examples, a research flight demonstrator by our team and an industrial unmanned aircraft, illustrate that the integrated approach is effective for identifying more unsafe factors and safety requirements.

Unraveling the WRKY transcription factors network in Arabidopsis Thaliana by integrative approach

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Mouna Choura

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The WRKY transcription factors superfamily are involved in diverse biological processes in plants including response to biotic and abiotic stresses and plant immunity. Protein-protein interaction network is a useful approach for understanding these complex processes. The availability of Arabidopsis Thaliana interactome offers a good opportunity to do get a global view of protein network. In this work, we have constructed the WRKY transcription factor network by combining different sources of evidence and we characterized its topological features using computational tools. We found that WRKY network is a hub-based network involving multifunctional proteins denoted as hubs such as WRKY 70, WRKY40, WRKY 53, WRKY 60, WRKY 33 and WRKY 51. Functional annotation showed seven functional modules particularly involved in biotic stress and defense responses. Furthermore, the gene ontology and pathway enrichment analysis revealed that WRKY proteins are mainly involved in plant-pathogen interaction pathways and their functions are directly related to the stress response and immune system process.

E-Learning Personalization Using Triple-Factor Approach in Standard-Based Education

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Laksitowening, K. A.; Santoso, H. B.; Hasibuan, Z. A.

2017-01-01

E-Learning can be a tool in monitoring learning process and progress towards the targeted competency. Process and progress on every learner can be different one to another, since every learner may have different learning type. Learning type itself can be identified by taking into account learning style, motivation, and knowledge ability. This study explores personalization for learning type based on Triple-Factor Approach. Considering that factors in Triple-Factor Approach are dynamic, the personalization system needs to accommodate the changes that may occurs. Originated from the issue, this study proposed personalization that guides learner progression dynamically towards stages of their learning process. The personalization is implemented in the form of interventions that trigger learner to access learning contents and discussion forums more often as well as improve their level of knowledge ability based on their state of learning type.

Factors determining early internationalization of entrepreneurial SMEs: Theoretical approach

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Agne Matiusinaite

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose – This study extends the scientific discussion of early internationalization of SMEs. The main purpose of this paper – to develop a theoretical framework to investigate factors determining early internationalization of international new ventures. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual framework is built on the analysis and synthesis of scientific literature. Findings – This paper presents different factors, which determine early internationalization of international new ventures. These factors are divided to entrepreneurial, organizational and contextual factors. We argue that early internationalization of international new ventures is defined by entrepreneurial characteristics and previous experience of the entrepreneur, opportunities recognition and exploitation, risk tolerance, specific of the organization, involvement into networks and contextual factors. Study proved that only interaction between factors and categories has an effect for business development and successful implementation of early internationalization. Research limitations/implications – The research was conducted on the theoretical basis of scientific literature. The future studies could include a practical confirmation or denial of such allocation of factors. Originality/value – The originality of this study lies in the finding that factor itself has limited effect to early internationalization. Only the interoperability of categories and factors gives a positive impact on early internationalization of entrepreneurial SMEs.

A Pilot Study of Reasons and Risk Factors for "No-Shows" in a Pediatric Neurology Clinic.

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Guzek, Lindsay M; Fadel, William F; Golomb, Meredith R

2015-09-01

Missed clinic appointments lead to decreased patient access, worse patient outcomes, and increased healthcare costs. The goal of this pilot study was to identify reasons for and risk factors associated with missed pediatric neurology outpatient appointments ("no-shows"). This was a prospective cohort study of patients scheduled for 1 week of clinic. Data on patient clinical and demographic information were collected by record review; data on reasons for missed appointments were collected by phone interviews. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted using chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression to assess risk factors for missed appointments. Fifty-nine (25%) of 236 scheduled patients were no-shows. Scheduling conflicts (25.9%) and forgetting (20.4%) were the most common reasons for missed appointments. When controlling for confounding factors in the logistic regression, Medicaid (odds ratio 2.36), distance from clinic, and time since appointment was scheduled were associated with missed appointments. Further work in this area is needed. © The Author(s) 2014.

An office-based approach to emotional and behavioral risk factor reduction for cardiovascular disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Hochman, Daniel M; Feinstein, Robert E; Stauter, Erinn C

2013-01-01

There are many psychological risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and the ability to reduce mortality depends on an ability to integrate care of these risk factors with traditional Framingham cardiovascular risk and use them both in routine practice. The aim of this article is to provide an update of all the major emotional and behavioral cardiovascular risk factors along with a practical treatment model for implementation. First, we provide a review of major emotional and behavioral cardiovascular risk factors, the associated primary effect, and proposed mechanism of action. Second, we provide an office-based approach to cardiovascular risk factor reduction and methods of reducing barriers to implementation, called Prevention Oriented Primary Care-Abridged. The approach integrates several forms of detection, assessment using the 3As (ask, assess, assist), and Stages of Change approaches, and subsequent efficient and targeted treatment with either Motivational Interviewing or further office intervention. A case example is provided to help illustrate this process.

A Systemic Approach to Implementing a Protective Factors Framework

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, Beverly; Jessup, Patricia; Moore, Marah

2014-01-01

The leadership team of the national Quality Improvement Center on early Childhood ventured into the frontiers of deep change in social systems by funding four research projects. The purpose of the research projects was to learn about implementing a protective factors approach with the goal of reducing the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. In…

Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy: A Long Term Follow-up Shows Benefit with Risk Factor Reduction

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Koroush Khalighi

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Only sparse data was available on long-term of Takotusbo Cardiomyopathy (TC. Previous studies suggested prognosis is not necessarily benign. We report the long-term follow-up of 12 TC patients actively managed with risk factor reduction. Retrospective analysis of all patients diagnosed with TC at our hospital between 1998 and 2010. We identified 12 patients with TC among 1651 cases of emergent left heart catheterization over 12 years. Mean follow-up time was 8.3 ± 3.6 years. All were female, 87% had hypertension, 25% had history of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD, 67% had hyperlipidemia, 44% had some preceding emotional trauma, and 44% had some physical/physiological stress. Previous studies have shown that over 50% of TC patients experience future cardiac events, and 10% have a recurrence of TC. Patients were prescribed therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLC and guideline directed medical therapy (GDMT for aggressive risk factor reduction. TLC included diet, exercise, and cardiac rehabilitation. GDMT often included aspirin, beta-blockers, ACE-inhibitors, and statins. Follow-up echocardiograms showed recovery and maintenance of the ejection fraction. There was no cardiac mortality and no recurrences of TC. Aggressive risk factor reduction with TLC and GDMT may be effective in improving the long term outcomes of patients with TC.

Bc→BP,BV Decays with the QCD Factorization Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Qin; Wang, Na; Sun, Junfeng; Yang, Yueling

2015-01-01

We studied the nonleptonic B c →BP, BV decays with the QCD factorization approach. It is found that the Cabibbo favored processes of B c →B s π, B s ρ, B u K - are the promising decay channels with branching ratio larger than 1%, which should be observed earlier by the LHCb collaboration

The effects of motivational factors on car use : a multidisciplinary modelling approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steg, L; Geurs, K; Ras, M

Current transport models usually do not take motivational factors into account, and if they do, it is only implicitly. This paper presents a modelling approach aimed at explicitly examining the effects of motivational factors on present and future car use in the Netherlands. A car-use forecasting

A pragmatic approach to estimate alpha factors for common cause failure analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hassija, Varun; Senthil Kumar, C.; Velusamy, K.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Estimation of coefficients in alpha factor model for common cause analysis. • A derivation of plant specific alpha factors is demonstrated. • We examine sensitivity of common cause contribution to total system failure. • We compare beta factor and alpha factor models for various redundant configurations. • The use of alpha factors is preferable, especially for large redundant systems. - Abstract: Most of the modern technological systems are deployed with high redundancy but still they fail mainly on account of common cause failures (CCF). Various models such as Beta Factor, Multiple Greek Letter, Binomial Failure Rate and Alpha Factor exists for estimation of risk from common cause failures. Amongst all, alpha factor model is considered most suitable for high redundant systems as it arrives at common cause failure probabilities from a set of ratios of failures and the total component failure probability Q T . In the present study, alpha factor model is applied for the assessment of CCF of safety systems deployed at two nuclear power plants. A method to overcome the difficulties in estimation of the coefficients viz., alpha factors in the model, importance of deriving plant specific alpha factors and sensitivity of common cause contribution to the total system failure probability with respect to hazard imposed by various CCF events is highlighted. An approach described in NUREG/CR-5500 is extended in this study to provide more explicit guidance for a statistical approach to derive plant specific coefficients for CCF analysis especially for high redundant systems. The procedure is expected to aid regulators for independent safety assessment

UNC Nuclear Industries' human-factored approach to the operating or maintenance procedure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nelson, A.A.; Clark, J.E.

1982-01-01

The development of Human Factors Engineering (HFE) and UNC Nuclear Industries' (UNC) commitment to minimizing the potential for human error in the performance of operating or maintenance procedures have lead to a procedure upgrade program. Human-factored procedures were developed using information from many sources including, but not limited to, operators, a human factors specialist, engineers and supervisors. This has resulted in the Job Performance Aid (JPA). This paper presents UNC's approach to providing human-factored operating and maintenance procedures

A retrospective likelihood approach for efficient integration of multiple omics factors in case-control association studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Balliu, Brunilda; Tsonaka, Roula; Boehringer, Stefan; Houwing-Duistermaat, Jeanine

2015-03-01

Integrative omics, the joint analysis of outcome and multiple types of omics data, such as genomics, epigenomics, and transcriptomics data, constitute a promising approach for powerful and biologically relevant association studies. These studies often employ a case-control design, and often include nonomics covariates, such as age and gender, that may modify the underlying omics risk factors. An open question is how to best integrate multiple omics and nonomics information to maximize statistical power in case-control studies that ascertain individuals based on the phenotype. Recent work on integrative omics have used prospective approaches, modeling case-control status conditional on omics, and nonomics risk factors. Compared to univariate approaches, jointly analyzing multiple risk factors with a prospective approach increases power in nonascertained cohorts. However, these prospective approaches often lose power in case-control studies. In this article, we propose a novel statistical method for integrating multiple omics and nonomics factors in case-control association studies. Our method is based on a retrospective likelihood function that models the joint distribution of omics and nonomics factors conditional on case-control status. The new method provides accurate control of Type I error rate and has increased efficiency over prospective approaches in both simulated and real data. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Factors That Modulate Neurogenesis: A Top-Down Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

LaDage, Lara D

2016-08-24

Although hippocampal neurogenesis in the adult brain has been conserved across the vertebrate lineage, laboratory studies have primarily examined this phenomenon in rodent models. This approach has been successful in elucidating important factors and mechanisms that can modulate rates of hippocampal neurogenesis, including hormones, environmental complexity, learning and memory, motor stimulation, and stress. However, recent studies have found that neurobiological research on neurogenesis in rodents may not easily translate to, or explain, neurogenesis patterns in nonrodent systems, particularly in species examined in the field. This review examines some of the evolutionary and ecological variables that may also modulate neurogenesis patterns. This 'top-down' and more naturalistic approach, which incorporates ecology and natural history, particularly of nonmodel species, may allow for a more comprehensive understanding of the functional significance of neurogenesis. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The constellation of dietary factors in adolescent acne: a semantic connectivity map approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Grossi, E; Cazzaniga, S; Crotti, S; Naldi, L; Di Landro, A; Ingordo, V; Cusano, F; Atzori, L; Tripodi Cutrì, F; Musumeci, M L; Pezzarossa, E; Bettoli, V; Caproni, M; Bonci, A

2016-01-01

Different lifestyle and dietetic factors have been linked with the onset and severity of acne. To assess the complex interconnection between dietetic variables and acne. This was a reanalysis of data from a case-control study by using a semantic connectivity map approach. 563 subjects, aged 10-24 years, involved in a case-control study of acne between March 2009 and February 2010, were considered in this study. The analysis evaluated the link between a moderate to severe acne and anthropometric variables, family history and dietetic factors. Analyses were conducted by relying on an artificial adaptive system, the Auto Semantic Connectivity Map (AutoCM). The AutoCM map showed that moderate-severe acne was closely associated with family history of acne in first degree relatives, obesity (BMI ≥ 30), and high consumption of milk, in particular skim milk, cheese/yogurt, sweets/cakes, chocolate, and a low consumption of fish, and limited intake of fruits/vegetables. Our analyses confirm the link between several dietetic items and acne. When providing care, dermatologists should also be aware of the complex interconnection between dietetic factors and acne. © 2014 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

A nested case-control approach to interactions between radiation dose and other factors as causes of cancer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Land, Charles E [Department of Epidemiology, Radiation Epidemiology Branch, US National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD (United States)

1992-04-01

Often a nested case-control study is the most practicable approach to estimating the interaction of two cancer risk factors in a large cohort. If one of the factors has already been evaluated for the entire cohort, however, more information is already available about its relationship to risk than could be obtained from a nested study. A modified case-control approach is proposed, in which information about the second, unknown factor is sought for cases and controls matched on the first factor. The approach requires, for interaction models other than the multiplicative, a nonstandard analytical approach incorporating cohort-based information about the first factor. The problem is discussed in the context of breast cancer risk in a defined cohort of female Japanese atomic bomb survivors, in relation to radiation dose and reproductive history. (author)

Treatment-Related Predictive and Prognostic Factors in Trimodality Approach in Stage IIIA/N2 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

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Jeremić, Branislav; Casas, Francesc; Dubinsky, Pavol; Gomez-Caamano, Antonio; Čihorić, Nikola; Videtic, Gregory; Igrutinovic, Ivan

2018-01-01

While there are no established pretreatment predictive and prognostic factors in patients with stage IIIA/pN2 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) indicating a benefit to surgery as a part of trimodality approach, little is known about treatment-related predictive and prognostic factors in this setting. A literature search was conducted to identify possible treatment-related predictive and prognostic factors for patients for whom trimodality approach was reported on. Overall survival was the primary endpoint of this study. Of 30 identified studies, there were two phase II studies, 5 "prospective" studies, and 23 retrospective studies. No study was found which specifically looked at treatment-related predictive factors of improved outcomes in trimodality treatment. Of potential treatment-related prognostic factors, the least frequently analyzed factors among 30 available studies were overall pathologic stage after preoperative treatment and UICC downstaging. Evaluation of treatment response before surgery and by pathologic tumor stage after induction therapy were analyzed in slightly more than 40% of studies and found not to influence survival. More frequently studied factors-resection status, degree of tumor regression, and pathologic nodal stage after induction therapy as well as the most frequently studied factor, the treatment (in almost 75% studies)-showed no discernible impact on survival, due to conflicting results. Currently, it is impossible to identify any treatment-related predictive or prognostic factors for selecting surgery in the treatment of patients with stage IIIA/pN2 NSCLC.

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Gamified Smart Tourism Applications: An Integrative Approach

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Changsok Yoo

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Considering that the core concerns in sustainability are threats to the survival of humankind and the ecosystems that humans depend on, changing the consumption and production behaviors of individuals and society is inevitable. However, people are reluctant to change their own behavior in support of sustainability goals. This tendency seems to be especially strong in tourism because the main value of tourism is hedonic utility. Thus, the tourism industry is now introducing gamification and smart tourism to shift tourist behavior toward sustainability, but most of studies and practices only focus on the performance and application of gamification without considering customer adoption patterns and perceptions during the process. This study empirically investigated what factors affect the adoption of smart tourism applications that incorporate game elements, using the Google Maps tourist guide program. As an initial approach, we incorporated diverse theoretical approaches: perceived usefulness; perceived ease of use; perceived enjoyment from technology acceptance model; information and interaction motivations from the uses and gratifications theory; the network effect; distributive justice; flow as responses to the game characteristics of smart tourism applications; and information privacy concerns as a negative factor for diffusion. The result showed that hedonic characteristics of the gamified smart tourism application (GSTA are strong in adoption. Perceived enjoyment had a significant influence on the intention to use, but information quality, related to cognitive experience, did not. The flow and perceived distributive justice associated with the game content were not significant, but the interaction motivation was significant in the research model. The results of this study show that individuals regard a GSTA as a low-level game tool. Also, it is important to preoccupy the smart tourism application market in terms of marketing strategy because

Factor-Analytic and Individualized Approaches to Constructing Brief Measures of ADHD Behaviors

Science.gov (United States)

Volpe, Robert J.; Gadow, Kenneth D.; Blom-Hoffman, Jessica; Feinberg, Adam B.

2009-01-01

Two studies were performed to examine a factor-analytic and an individualized approach to creating short progress-monitoring measures from the longer "ADHD-Symptom Checklist-4" (ADHD-SC4). In Study 1, teacher ratings on items of the ADHD:Inattentive (IA) and ADHD:Hyperactive-Impulsive (HI) scales of the ADHD-SC4 were factor analyzed in a normative…

A generalized linear factor model approach to the hierarchical framework for responses and response times.

Science.gov (United States)

Molenaar, Dylan; Tuerlinckx, Francis; van der Maas, Han L J

2015-05-01

We show how the hierarchical model for responses and response times as developed by van der Linden (2007), Fox, Klein Entink, and van der Linden (2007), Klein Entink, Fox, and van der Linden (2009), and Glas and van der Linden (2010) can be simplified to a generalized linear factor model with only the mild restriction that there is no hierarchical model at the item side. This result is valuable as it enables all well-developed modelling tools and extensions that come with these methods. We show that the restriction we impose on the hierarchical model does not influence parameter recovery under realistic circumstances. In addition, we present two illustrative real data analyses to demonstrate the practical benefits of our approach. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Factors associated with escalation and problematic approaches toward public figures.

Science.gov (United States)

Meloy, J Reid; James, David V; Mullen, Paul E; Pathé, Michele T; Farnham, Frank R; Preston, Lulu F; Darnley, Brian J

2011-01-01

Detailed comparison of factors associated with abnormal approach to the prominent and with escalation from communication to approach has not hitherto been undertaken. This partially reflects the failure of individual studies to adopt compatible terminologies. This study involves a careful dissection of six public figure studies, three involving U.S. politicians, two Hollywood celebrities, and one the British Royal Family. Common findings were unearthed across six headings. Approachers were significantly more likely to exhibit serious mental illness, engage in multiple means of communication, involve multiple contacts/targets, and to incorporate into their communication requests for help. They were significantly less likely to use threatening or antagonistic language in their communications, except in those cases involving security breaches. These results emphasize the importance of integrating mental health findings and preventive measures into risk management. Approach should not be regarded as a single behavioral category and has multiple motivations. Future studies should adopt standard terminology, preferably taken from the general stalking research. © 2010 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

"A cigarette a day keeps the goodies away": smokers show automatic approach tendencies for smoking--but not for food-related stimuli.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alla Machulska

Full Text Available Smoking leads to the development of automatic tendencies that promote approach behavior toward smoking-related stimuli which in turn may maintain addictive behavior. The present study examined whether automatic approach tendencies toward smoking-related stimuli can be measured by using an adapted version of the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT. Given that progression of addictive behavior has been associated with a decreased reactivity of the brain reward system for stimuli signaling natural rewards, we also used the AAT to measure approach behavior toward natural rewarding stimuli in smokers. During the AAT, 92 smokers and 51 non-smokers viewed smoking-related vs. non-smoking-related pictures and pictures of natural rewards (i.e. highly palatable food vs. neutral pictures. They were instructed to ignore image content and to respond to picture orientation by either pulling or pushing a joystick. Within-group comparisons revealed that smokers showed an automatic approach bias exclusively for smoking-related pictures. Contrary to our expectations, there was no difference in smokers' and non-smokers' approach bias for nicotine-related stimuli, indicating that non-smokers also showed approach tendencies for this picture category. Yet, in contrast to non-smokers, smokers did not show an approach bias for food-related pictures. Moreover, self-reported smoking attitude could not predict approach-avoidance behavior toward nicotine-related pictures in smokers or non-smokers. Our findings indicate that the AAT is suited for measuring smoking-related approach tendencies in smokers. Furthermore, we provide evidence for a diminished approach tendency toward food-related stimuli in smokers, suggesting a decreased sensitivity to natural rewards in the course of nicotine addiction. Our results indicate that in contrast to similar studies conducted in alcohol, cannabis and heroin users, the AAT might only be partially suited for measuring smoking-related approach

"A cigarette a day keeps the goodies away": smokers show automatic approach tendencies for smoking--but not for food-related stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Machulska, Alla; Zlomuzica, Armin; Adolph, Dirk; Rinck, Mike; Margraf, Jürgen

2015-01-01

Smoking leads to the development of automatic tendencies that promote approach behavior toward smoking-related stimuli which in turn may maintain addictive behavior. The present study examined whether automatic approach tendencies toward smoking-related stimuli can be measured by using an adapted version of the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT). Given that progression of addictive behavior has been associated with a decreased reactivity of the brain reward system for stimuli signaling natural rewards, we also used the AAT to measure approach behavior toward natural rewarding stimuli in smokers. During the AAT, 92 smokers and 51 non-smokers viewed smoking-related vs. non-smoking-related pictures and pictures of natural rewards (i.e. highly palatable food) vs. neutral pictures. They were instructed to ignore image content and to respond to picture orientation by either pulling or pushing a joystick. Within-group comparisons revealed that smokers showed an automatic approach bias exclusively for smoking-related pictures. Contrary to our expectations, there was no difference in smokers' and non-smokers' approach bias for nicotine-related stimuli, indicating that non-smokers also showed approach tendencies for this picture category. Yet, in contrast to non-smokers, smokers did not show an approach bias for food-related pictures. Moreover, self-reported smoking attitude could not predict approach-avoidance behavior toward nicotine-related pictures in smokers or non-smokers. Our findings indicate that the AAT is suited for measuring smoking-related approach tendencies in smokers. Furthermore, we provide evidence for a diminished approach tendency toward food-related stimuli in smokers, suggesting a decreased sensitivity to natural rewards in the course of nicotine addiction. Our results indicate that in contrast to similar studies conducted in alcohol, cannabis and heroin users, the AAT might only be partially suited for measuring smoking-related approach tendencies in

Population-genetic approach to standardization of radiation and non-radiation factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Telnov, I.

2006-01-01

Numerous studies demonstrate the importance of genetic predisposition in the development of wide range of pathologies and unfavorable effects caused by different factors. This prompts to account for genetic factors in the risk assessment of unfavorable effects. Current approaches used to solve this problem are far from perfect. On the one hand, recommendations on occupational selection bas ed on genetic signs are presently considered as human rights violation. On the other hand, to medically inform an individual with certain genetic characteristics about possible unfavorable health effects due to occupational hazard has little effect. Finally, a vast number of polymorphic genes in human genome (at least 30%) hampers accounting for all possible factors of genetic predisposition to the increasing number of environmental factors. Therefore, the current situation proves it appropriate to develop the new approach to account for genetic predisposition of individuals that would be free of flaws considered above. A possible basis for such an approach is the assessment of genotype specific relative risk (G.S.R.R.) that accounts for genetic predisposition (susceptibility) of individuals to the effects of unfavorable factors. The study used results from 65 studies. This effort was undertaken to study the association between 32 diseases and unfavorable effects and 17 genetic polymorphic systems. Data analysis included calculation of relative risk (R.R.) of specific diseases or effects development in individuals with different genotypes. Genotype-specific relative risk (G.S.R.R.) of diseases and unfavorable effects in individuals with 'sensitive' genotypes was calculated. Since about the third of genes in human genome are polymorphic, and therefore, a considerable number of genes can be involved in genetic predisposition of an individual to a specific unfavorable effect, an averaged G.S.R.R. of diseases and unfavorable effects was calculated for integral characteristics on

Mortality risk factors show similar trends in modern and historic populations exposed to plague.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubini, Mauro; Gualdi-Russo, Emanuela; Manzon, Vanessa S; Rinaldo, Natascia; Bianucci, Raffaella

2016-05-31

Plague has been responsible for two major historic pandemics (6th-8th century CE; 14th-19th century CE) and a modern one. The recent Malagasy plague outbreaks raised new concerns on the deadly potential of the plague-causing bacteria Yersinia pestis. Between September 2014 and April 2015, outbreaks of bubonic and pneumonic plague hit the Malagasy population. Two hundred and sixty-three cases, including 71 deaths, have been reported in 16 different districts with a case fatality rate of 27%. The scope of our study was to ascertain whether the risk factors for health in modern-day populations exposed to plague and in ancient populations that faced the two historic pandemics varied or remained substantially unaltered. The risk of mortality of the Malagasy population with those obtained from the reconstruction of three samples of European populations exposed to the historic pandemics was contrasted. The evidence shows that the risks of death are not uniform across age neither in modern nor in historic populations exposed to plague and shows precise concentrations in specific age groups (children between five and nine years of age and young adults). Although in the post-antibiotic era, the fatality rates have drastically reduced, both modern and historic populations were exposed to the same risk factors that are essentially represented by a low standard of environmental hygiene, poor nutrition, and weak health systems.

Ensemble refinement shows conformational flexibility in crystal structures of human complement factor D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forneris, Federico; Burnley, B. Tom; Gros, Piet

2014-01-01

Ensemble-refinement analysis of native and mutant factor D (FD) crystal structures indicates a dynamical transition in FD from a self-inhibited inactive conformation to a substrate-bound active conformation that is reminiscent of the allostery in thrombin. Comparison with previously observed dynamics in thrombin using NMR data supports the crystallographic ensembles. Human factor D (FD) is a self-inhibited thrombin-like serine proteinase that is critical for amplification of the complement immune response. FD is activated by its substrate through interactions outside the active site. The substrate-binding, or ‘exosite’, region displays a well defined and rigid conformation in FD. In contrast, remarkable flexibility is observed in thrombin and related proteinases, in which Na + and ligand binding is implied in allosteric regulation of enzymatic activity through protein dynamics. Here, ensemble refinement (ER) of FD and thrombin crystal structures is used to evaluate structure and dynamics simultaneously. A comparison with previously published NMR data for thrombin supports the ER analysis. The R202A FD variant has enhanced activity towards artificial peptides and simultaneously displays active and inactive conformations of the active site. ER revealed pronounced disorder in the exosite loops for this FD variant, reminiscent of thrombin in the absence of the stabilizing Na + ion. These data indicate that FD exhibits conformational dynamics like thrombin, but unlike in thrombin a mechanism has evolved in FD that locks the unbound native state into an ordered inactive conformation via the self-inhibitory loop. Thus, ensemble refinement of X-ray crystal structures may represent an approach alternative to spectroscopy to explore protein dynamics in atomic detail

Determining organizational information needs: the Critical Success Factors approach.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Reports on a series of investigations in the UK and Finland, in both academic and business institutions. The Critical Success Factors approach is defined and explored as a means of determining the information needs of organizations, rather than of individuals. Concludes that such use is appropriate and productive, enabling the identification of types of information that may aid the organization in its strategic policy making to achieve competitive advantage.

Interpersonal Tension: A Two-Factor Approach to the POX Situation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Mahesh

1985-01-01

A theoretical explanation, in terms of a two-factor approach to a Person-Other-Issue (POX) Situation is offered, in an attempt to fill the void that exists in the face of the Heider-Newcomb controversy about POX balance. Validity and parsimony is demonstrated by applying it to some of the POX data reported in earlier studies. (Author/BL)

Show Horse Welfare: Horse Show Competitors' Understanding, Awareness, and Perceptions of Equine Welfare.

Science.gov (United States)

Voigt, Melissa A; Hiney, Kristina; Richardson, Jennifer C; Waite, Karen; Borron, Abigail; Brady, Colleen M

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of stock-type horse show competitors' understanding of welfare and level of concern for stock-type show horses' welfare. Data were collected through an online questionnaire that included questions relating to (a) interest and general understanding of horse welfare, (b) welfare concerns of the horse show industry and specifically the stock-type horse show industry, (c) decision-making influences, and (d) level of empathic characteristics. The majority of respondents indicated they agree or strongly agree that physical metrics should be a factor when assessing horse welfare, while fewer agreed that behavioral and mental metrics should be a factor. Respondent empathy levels were moderate to high and were positively correlated with the belief that mental and behavioral metrics should be a factor in assessing horse welfare. Respondents indicated the inhumane practices that most often occur at stock-type shows include excessive jerking on reins, excessive spurring, and induced excessive unnatural movement. Additionally, respondents indicated association rules, hired trainers, and hired riding instructors are the most influential regarding the decisions they make related to their horses' care and treatment.

Factors influencing the approaches to studying of preclinical and clinical students and postgraduate trainees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samarasekera Dharmabandu N

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Students can be classified into three categories depending on their approaches to studying; namely, deep approach (DA, strategic approach (SA and surface apathetic or superficial approach (SAA. The aim of this study was to identify factors affecting the approaches to studying among Sri Lankan medical undergraduates and post graduate trainees and to analyze the change in the pattern of study skills with time and experience. Method Pre-clinical and clinical students of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo and postgraduate trainees in Surgery at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka were invited to complete the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST questionnaire. Results A total of 187 pre clinical (M: F = 96:91, 124 clinical (M: F = 61:63 and 53 post graduate trainees (M: F = 50:3 participated in the study. Approaches of male and female students were similar. SA was significantly affected by age among the preclinical students (p = 0.01, but not in other groups. Among pre-clinical students, males preferred a teacher who supported understanding (p = 0.04 but females preferred a passive transmission of information (p Conclusion Different factors affect the approach to studying in different groups but these explain only a small fraction of the variance observed.

Human factors and systems engineering approach to patient safety for radiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivera, A Joy; Karsh, Ben-Tzion

2008-01-01

The traditional approach to solving patient safety problems in healthcare is to blame the last person to touch the patient. But since the publication of To Err is Human, the call has been instead to use human factors and systems engineering methods and principles to solve patient safety problems. However, an understanding of the human factors and systems engineering is lacking, and confusion remains about what it means to apply their principles. This paper provides a primer on them and their applications to patient safety.

Human Factors and Systems Engineering Approach to Patient Safety for Radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rivera, A. Joy; Karsh, Ben-Tzion

2008-01-01

The traditional approach to solving patient safety problems in healthcare is to blame the last person to touch the patient. But since the publication of To Err is Human, the call has been instead to use human factors and systems engineering methods and principles to solve patient safety problems. However, an understanding of the human factors and systems engineering is lacking, and confusion remains about what it means to apply their principles. This paper provides a primer on them and their applications to patient safety

Precipitation areal-reduction factor estimation using an annual-maxima centered approach

Science.gov (United States)

Asquith, W.H.; Famiglietti, J.S.

2000-01-01

The adjustment of precipitation depth of a point storm to an effective (mean) depth over a watershed is important for characterizing rainfall-runoff relations and for cost-effective designs of hydraulic structures when design storms are considered. A design storm is the precipitation point depth having a specified duration and frequency (recurrence interval). Effective depths are often computed by multiplying point depths by areal-reduction factors (ARF). ARF range from 0 to 1, vary according to storm characteristics, such as recurrence interval; and are a function of watershed characteristics, such as watershed size, shape, and geographic location. This paper presents a new approach for estimating ARF and includes applications for the 1-day design storm in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, Texas. The approach, termed 'annual-maxima centered,' specifically considers the distribution of concurrent precipitation surrounding an annual-precipitation maxima, which is a feature not seen in other approaches. The approach does not require the prior spatial averaging of precipitation, explicit determination of spatial correlation coefficients, nor explicit definition of a representative area of a particular storm in the analysis. The annual-maxima centered approach was designed to exploit the wide availability of dense precipitation gauge data in many regions of the world. The approach produces ARF that decrease more rapidly than those from TP-29. Furthermore, the ARF from the approach decay rapidly with increasing recurrence interval of the annual-precipitation maxima. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.The adjustment of precipitation depth of a point storm to an effective (mean) depth over a watershed is important for characterizing rainfall-runoff relations and for cost-effective designs of hydraulic structures when design storms are considered. A design storm is the precipitation point depth having a specified duration and frequency (recurrence interval). Effective depths are

“A Cigarette a Day Keeps the Goodies Away”: Smokers Show Automatic Approach Tendencies for Smoking—But Not for Food-Related Stimuli

Science.gov (United States)

Adolph, Dirk; Rinck, Mike; Margraf, Jürgen

2015-01-01

Smoking leads to the development of automatic tendencies that promote approach behavior toward smoking-related stimuli which in turn may maintain addictive behavior. The present study examined whether automatic approach tendencies toward smoking-related stimuli can be measured by using an adapted version of the Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT). Given that progression of addictive behavior has been associated with a decreased reactivity of the brain reward system for stimuli signaling natural rewards, we also used the AAT to measure approach behavior toward natural rewarding stimuli in smokers. During the AAT, 92 smokers and 51 non-smokers viewed smoking-related vs. non-smoking-related pictures and pictures of natural rewards (i.e. highly palatable food) vs. neutral pictures. They were instructed to ignore image content and to respond to picture orientation by either pulling or pushing a joystick. Within-group comparisons revealed that smokers showed an automatic approach bias exclusively for smoking-related pictures. Contrary to our expectations, there was no difference in smokers’ and non-smokers’ approach bias for nicotine-related stimuli, indicating that non-smokers also showed approach tendencies for this picture category. Yet, in contrast to non-smokers, smokers did not show an approach bias for food-related pictures. Moreover, self-reported smoking attitude could not predict approach-avoidance behavior toward nicotine-related pictures in smokers or non-smokers. Our findings indicate that the AAT is suited for measuring smoking-related approach tendencies in smokers. Furthermore, we provide evidence for a diminished approach tendency toward food-related stimuli in smokers, suggesting a decreased sensitivity to natural rewards in the course of nicotine addiction. Our results indicate that in contrast to similar studies conducted in alcohol, cannabis and heroin users, the AAT might only be partially suited for measuring smoking-related approach tendencies in

EXPOSURE TO MASS MEDIA AS A DOMINANT FACTOR INFLUENCING PUBLIC STIGMA TOWARD MENTAL ILLNESS BASED ON SUNRISE MODEL APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ni Made Sintha Pratiwi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Background: The person suffering mental disorders is not only burdened by his condition but also by the stigma. The impact of stigma extremely influences society that it is considered to be the obstacle in mental disorders therapy. Stigma as the society adverse view toward severe mental disorders is related with the cultural aspect. The interaction appeared from each component of nursing model namely sunrise model, which a model developed by Madeleine Leininger is connected with the wide society views about severe mental disorders condition in society. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the factors related to public stigma and to find out the dominant factors related to public stigma about severe mental illness through sunrise model approach in Sukonolo Village, Malang Regency. Methods: This study using observational analytical design with cross sectional approach. There were 150 respondents contributed in this study. The respondents were obtained using purposive sampling technique. Results: The results showed a significant relationship between mass media exposure, spiritual well-being, interpersonal contact, attitude, and knowledge with public stigma about mental illness. The result from multiple logistic regression shows the low exposure of mass media has the highest OR value at 26.744. Conclusion: There were significant correlation between mass media exposure, spiritual well-being, interpersonal contact, attitude, and knowledge with public stigma toward mental illness. Mass media exposure as a dominant factor influencing public stigma toward mental illness.

A Mixed-Methods Approach to Demotivating Factors among Iranian EFL Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Ghonsooly, Behzad; Hassanzadeh, Tahereh; Samavarchi, Laila; Hamedi, Seyyedeh Mina

2017-01-01

This study used a mixed-methods approach to investigate Iranian EFL learners' attitudes towards demotivating factors which may hinder their success in a language learning course. In the quantitative phase, a sample of 337 undergraduate students from universities in Mashhad, Yazd and Gonabad completed a 34-item questionnaire. They also completed…

[The Common Risk Factor Approach - An Integrated Population- and Evidence-Based Approach for Reducing Social Inequalities in Oral Health].

Science.gov (United States)

Heilmann, A; Sheiham, A; Watt, R G; Jordan, R A

2016-10-01

Worldwide, non-communicable diseases including dental caries and periodontal diseases, remain a major public health problem. Moreover, there is a social gradient in health across society that runs from the top to the bottom in a linear, stepwise fashion. Health promoting behaviours become more difficult to sustain further down the social ladder. Oral health inequalities also exist in Germany. Earlier explanations of social inequalities have mainly focused on individual lifestyle factors, ignoring the broader social determinants of health and disease. Until recently, the dominant approaches to general health promotion focused on actions to reduce specific diseases, separating oral health from general health. An alternative approach is the common risk factor approach (CRFA) where risk factors common to a number of major chronic diseases, including diseases of the mouth and teeth, are tackled. The CRFA focuses on the common underlying determinants of health to improve the overall health of populations, thereby reducing social inequalities. The main implication of the CRFA for oral health policies is to work in partnership with a range of other sectors and disciplines. Oral health issues need to be integrated with recommendations to promote general health. Improvements in oral health and a reduction in oral health inequalities are more likely by working in partnership across sectors and disciplines using strategies that focus upstream on the underlying determinants of oral diseases. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Simplified probabilistic approach to determine safety factors in deterministic flaw acceptance criteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barthelet, B.; Ardillon, E.

1997-01-01

The flaw acceptance rules in nuclear components rely on deterministic criteria supposed to ensure the safe operating of plants. The interest of having a reliable method of evaluating the safety margins and the integrity of components led Electricite de France to launch a study to link safety factors with requested reliability. A simplified analytical probabilistic approach is developed to analyse the failure risk in Fracture Mechanics. Assuming lognormal distributions of the main random variables, it is possible considering a simple Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics model, to determine the failure probability as a function of mean values and logarithmic standard deviations. The 'design' failure point can be analytically calculated. Partial safety factors on the main variables (stress, crack size, material toughness) are obtained in relation with reliability target values. The approach is generalized to elastic plastic Fracture Mechanics (piping) by fitting J as a power law function of stress, crack size and yield strength. The simplified approach is validated by detailed probabilistic computations with PROBAN computer program. Assuming reasonable coefficients of variations (logarithmic standard deviations), the method helps to calibrate safety factors for different components taking into account reliability target values in normal, emergency and faulted conditions. Statistical data for the mechanical properties of the main basic materials complement the study. The work involves laboratory results and manufacture data. The results of this study are discussed within a working group of the French in service inspection code RSE-M. (authors)

Factors Contributing to Changes in a Deep Approach to Learning in Different Learning Environments

Science.gov (United States)

Postareff, Liisa; Parpala, Anna; Lindblom-Ylänne, Sari

2015-01-01

The study explored factors explaining changes in a deep approach to learning. The data consisted of interviews with 12 students from four Bachelor-level courses representing different disciplines. We analysed and compared descriptions of students whose deep approach either increased, decreased or remained relatively unchanged during their courses.…

A Parzen window-based approach for the detection of locally enriched transcription factor binding sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Vandenbon, Alexis; Kumagai, Yutaro; Teraguchi, Shunsuke; Amada, Karlou Mar; Akira, Shizuo; Standley, Daron M

2013-01-21

Identification of cis- and trans-acting factors regulating gene expression remains an important problem in biology. Bioinformatics analyses of regulatory regions are hampered by several difficulties. One is that binding sites for regulatory proteins are often not significantly over-represented in the set of DNA sequences of interest, because of high levels of false positive predictions, and because of positional restrictions on functional binding sites with regard to the transcription start site. We have developed a novel method for the detection of regulatory motifs based on their local over-representation in sets of regulatory regions. The method makes use of a Parzen window-based approach for scoring local enrichment, and during evaluation of significance it takes into account GC content of sequences. We show that the accuracy of our method compares favourably to that of other methods, and that our method is capable of detecting not only generally over-represented regulatory motifs, but also locally over-represented motifs that are often missed by standard motif detection approaches. Using a number of examples we illustrate the validity of our approach and suggest applications, such as the analysis of weaker binding sites. Our approach can be used to suggest testable hypotheses for wet-lab experiments. It has potential for future analyses, such as the prediction of weaker binding sites. An online application of our approach, called LocaMo Finder (Local Motif Finder), is available at http://sysimm.ifrec.osaka-u.ac.jp/tfbs/locamo/.

Innovative Approaches for Immune Tolerance to Factor VIII in the Treatment of Hemophilia A

Science.gov (United States)

Sherman, Alexandra; Biswas, Moanaro; Herzog, Roland W.

2017-01-01

Hemophilia A (coagulation factor VIII deficiency) is a debilitating genetic disorder that is primarily treated with intravenous replacement therapy. Despite a variety of factor VIII protein formulations available, the risk of developing anti-dug antibodies (“inhibitors”) remains. Overall, 20–30% of patients with severe disease develop inhibitors. Current clinical immune tolerance induction protocols to eliminate inhibitors are not effective in all patients, and there are no prophylactic protocols to prevent the immune response. New experimental therapies, such as gene and cell therapies, show promising results in pre-clinical studies in animal models of hemophilia. Examples include hepatic gene transfer with viral vectors, genetically engineered regulatory T cells (Treg), in vivo Treg induction using immune modulatory drugs, and maternal antigen transfer. Furthermore, an oral tolerance protocol is being developed based on transgenic lettuce plants, which suppressed inhibitor formation in hemophilic mice and dogs. Hopefully, some of these innovative approaches will reduce the risk of and/or more effectively eliminate inhibitor formation in future treatment of hemophilia A. PMID:29225598

An Augmented Incomplete Factorization Approach for Computing the Schur Complement in Stochastic Optimization

KAUST Repository

Petra, Cosmin G.; Schenk, Olaf; Lubin, Miles; Gä ertner, Klaus

2014-01-01

We present a scalable approach and implementation for solving stochastic optimization problems on high-performance computers. In this work we revisit the sparse linear algebra computations of the parallel solver PIPS with the goal of improving the shared-memory performance and decreasing the time to solution. These computations consist of solving sparse linear systems with multiple sparse right-hand sides and are needed in our Schur-complement decomposition approach to compute the contribution of each scenario to the Schur matrix. Our novel approach uses an incomplete augmented factorization implemented within the PARDISO linear solver and an outer BiCGStab iteration to efficiently absorb pivot perturbations occurring during factorization. This approach is capable of both efficiently using the cores inside a computational node and exploiting sparsity of the right-hand sides. We report on the performance of the approach on highperformance computers when solving stochastic unit commitment problems of unprecedented size (billions of variables and constraints) that arise in the optimization and control of electrical power grids. Our numerical experiments suggest that supercomputers can be efficiently used to solve power grid stochastic optimization problems with thousands of scenarios under the strict "real-time" requirements of power grid operators. To our knowledge, this has not been possible prior to the present work. © 2014 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.

What factors influence healthy aging? A person-centered approach among older adults in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Li-Fan; Su, Pei-Fang

2017-05-01

The present study aimed to identify the health profiles of older adults by using latent class analysis to investigate health heterogeneity and to determine what factors predicted healthy aging among an oldest-old sample cohort that was followed up for 14 years in Taiwan. Data were drawn from five waves (carried out in 1993, 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007) of the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging to examine the changes in health heterogeneity in a nationally representative oldest-old cohort of Taiwanese. Overall, data from a total of 11 145 observations of 3155 older adults were considered. The influential factors predicting health changes were analyzed by using a generalized estimating equation. The results showed that four health profiles were identified among the aging population observed in the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging. With increasing age, the combined effects of the physical functioning, cognitive and emotional health, and comorbidities of older adults significantly impact their health changes. Apart from health deteriorating with age and sex disparities, educational and economic status, health behaviors, and social participation at the individual level were found to be the robust factors in predicting healthy aging. In considering what factors impact healthy aging, we suggest that a person-centered approach would be useful and critical for policy makers to understand the compositions of health profiles and the influencing factors in view of a life-course perspective. Based on the factors identified as influencing healthy aging at the individual level, it is imperative from a policy-making perspective to maximize opportunities for healthy aging. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 697-707. © 2016 Japan Geriatrics Society.

PRISM offers a comprehensive genomic approach to transcription factor function prediction

KAUST Repository

Wenger, A. M.; Clarke, S. L.; Guturu, H.; Chen, J.; Schaar, B. T.; McLean, C. Y.; Bejerano, G.

2013-01-01

The human genome encodes 1500-2000 different transcription factors (TFs). ChIP-seq is revealing the global binding profiles of a fraction of TFs in a fraction of their biological contexts. These data show that the majority of TFs bind directly next to a large number of context-relevant target genes, that most binding is distal, and that binding is context specific. Because of the effort and cost involved, ChIP-seq is seldom used in search of novel TF function. Such exploration is instead done using expression perturbation and genetic screens. Here we propose a comprehensive computational framework for transcription factor function prediction. We curate 332 high-quality nonredundant TF binding motifs that represent all major DNA binding domains, and improve cross-species conserved binding site prediction to obtain 3.3 million conserved, mostly distal, binding site predictions. We combine these with 2.4 million facts about all human and mouse gene functions, in a novel statistical framework, in search of enrichments of particular motifs next to groups of target genes of particular functions. Rigorous parameter tuning and a harsh null are used to minimize false positives. Our novel PRISM (predicting regulatory information from single motifs) approach obtains 2543 TF function predictions in a large variety of contexts, at a false discovery rate of 16%. The predictions are highly enriched for validated TF roles, and 45 of 67 (67%) tested binding site regions in five different contexts act as enhancers in functionally matched cells.

PRISM offers a comprehensive genomic approach to transcription factor function prediction

KAUST Repository

Wenger, A. M.

2013-02-04

The human genome encodes 1500-2000 different transcription factors (TFs). ChIP-seq is revealing the global binding profiles of a fraction of TFs in a fraction of their biological contexts. These data show that the majority of TFs bind directly next to a large number of context-relevant target genes, that most binding is distal, and that binding is context specific. Because of the effort and cost involved, ChIP-seq is seldom used in search of novel TF function. Such exploration is instead done using expression perturbation and genetic screens. Here we propose a comprehensive computational framework for transcription factor function prediction. We curate 332 high-quality nonredundant TF binding motifs that represent all major DNA binding domains, and improve cross-species conserved binding site prediction to obtain 3.3 million conserved, mostly distal, binding site predictions. We combine these with 2.4 million facts about all human and mouse gene functions, in a novel statistical framework, in search of enrichments of particular motifs next to groups of target genes of particular functions. Rigorous parameter tuning and a harsh null are used to minimize false positives. Our novel PRISM (predicting regulatory information from single motifs) approach obtains 2543 TF function predictions in a large variety of contexts, at a false discovery rate of 16%. The predictions are highly enriched for validated TF roles, and 45 of 67 (67%) tested binding site regions in five different contexts act as enhancers in functionally matched cells.

Stochastic Discount Factor Approach to International Risk-Sharing:A Robustness Check of the Bilateral Setting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hadzi-Vaskov, M.; Kool, C.J.M.

2007-01-01

This paper presents a robustness check of the stochastic discount factor approach to international (bilateral) risk-sharing given in Brandt, Cochrane, and Santa-Clara (2006). We demonstrate two main inherent limitations of the bilateral SDF approach to international risk-sharing. First, the discount

U.S. Civil Air Show Crashes, 1993 to 2013: Burden, Fatal Risk Factors, and Evaluation of a Risk Index for Aviation Crashes.

Science.gov (United States)

Ballard, Sarah-Blythe; Osorio, Victor B

2015-01-01

This study provides new public health data about U.S. civil air shows. Risk factors for fatalities in civil air show crashes were analyzed. The value of the FIA score in predicting fatal outcomes was evaluated. With the use of the FAA's General Aviation and Air Taxi Survey and the National Transportation Safety Board's data, the incidence of civil air show crashes from 1993 to 2013 was calculated. Fatality risk factors for crashes were analyzed by means of regression methods. The FIA index was validated to predict fatal outcomes by using the factors of fire, instrument conditions, and away-from-airport location, and was evaluated through receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The civil air show crash rate was 31 crashes per 1,000 civil air events. Of the 174 civil air show crashes that occurred during the study period, 91 (52%) involved at least one fatality; on average, 1.1 people died per fatal crash. Fatalities were associated with four major risk factors: fire [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 7.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.4 to 20.6, P Civil air show crashes were marked by a high risk of fatal outcomes to pilots in aerobatic performances but rare mass casualties. The FIA score was not a valid measurement of fatal risk in civil air show crashes.

Fundamentals, financial factors and firm investment in India: A Panel VAR approach

OpenAIRE

Das, Pranab Kumar

2008-01-01

This study analyses the role of fundamentals and financial factors in determining firm investment in India with imperfect capital market in a panel VAR framework. Previous research in this area is based on the test of significance (or some variant of this) of the cash flow variable in the investment equation. In this strand of research, cash flow is considered to be a financial factor. The major theoretical problem of this approach is that in a forward-looking model cash flow might be cor...

Designing medical technology for resilience: integrating health economics and human factors approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Borsci, Simone; Uchegbu, Ijeoma; Buckle, Peter; Ni, Zhifang; Walne, Simon; Hanna, George B

2018-01-01

The slow adoption of innovation into healthcare calls into question the manner of evidence generation for medical technology. This paper identifies potential reasons for this including a lack of attention to human factors, poor evaluation of economic benefits, lack of understanding of the existing healthcare system and a failure to recognise the need to generate resilient products. Areas covered: Recognising a cross-disciplinary need to enhance evidence generation early in a technology's life cycle, the present paper proposes a new approach that integrates human factors and health economic evaluation as part of a wider systems approach to the design of technology. This approach (Human and Economic Resilience Design for Medical Technology or HERD MedTech) supports early stages of product development and is based on the recent experiences of the National Institute for Health Research London Diagnostic Evidence Co-operative in the UK. Expert commentary: HERD MedTech i) proposes a shift from design for usability to design for resilience, ii) aspires to reduce the need for service adaptation to technological constraints iii) ensures value of innovation at the time of product development, and iv) aims to stimulate discussion around the integration of pre- and post-market methods of assessment of medical technology.

Multi-factor challenge/response approach for remote biometric authentication

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Assam, Hisham; Jassim, Sabah A.

2011-06-01

Although biometric authentication is perceived to be more reliable than traditional authentication schemes, it becomes vulnerable to many attacks when it comes to remote authentication over open networks and raises serious privacy concerns. This paper proposes a biometric-based challenge-response approach to be used for remote authentication between two parties A and B over open networks. In the proposed approach, a remote authenticator system B (e.g. a bank) challenges its client A who wants to authenticate his/her self to the system by sending a one-time public random challenge. The client A responds by employing the random challenge along with secret information obtained from a password and a token to produce a one-time cancellable representation of his freshly captured biometric sample. The one-time biometric representation, which is based on multi-factor, is then sent back to B for matching. Here, we argue that eavesdropping of the one-time random challenge and/or the resulting one-time biometric representation does not compromise the security of the system, and no information about the original biometric data is leaked. In addition to securing biometric templates, the proposed protocol offers a practical solution for the replay attack on biometric systems. Moreover, we propose a new scheme for generating a password-based pseudo random numbers/permutation to be used as a building block in the proposed approach. The proposed scheme is also designed to provide protection against repudiation. We illustrate the viability and effectiveness of the proposed approach by experimental results based on two biometric modalities: fingerprint and face biometrics.

Evaluation of Approaches to Monitor Staphylococcus aureus Virulence Factor Expression during Human Disease

OpenAIRE

Rozemeijer, Wouter; Fink, Pamela; Rojas, Eduardo; Jones, C. Hal; Pavliakova, Danka; Giardina, Peter; Murphy, Ellen; Liberator, Paul; Jiang, Qin; Girgenti, Douglas; Peters, Remco P. H.; Savelkoul, Paul H. M.; Jansen, Kathrin U.; Anderson, Annaliesa S.; Kluytmans, Jan

2015-01-01

Staphylococcus aureus is a versatile pathogen of medical significance, using multiple virulence factors to cause disease. A prophylactic S. aureus 4-antigen (SA4Ag) vaccine comprising capsular polysaccharide (types 5 and 8) conjugates, clumping factor A (ClfA) and manganese transporter C (MntC) is under development. This study was designed to characterize S. aureus isolates recovered from infected patients and also to investigate approaches for examining expression of S. aureus vaccine candid...

Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA Analysis of Furniture Manufacturers in Malaysia: Normalized Scaled Critical Factor Index (NSCFI Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tasmin Rosmaini

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to investigate Malaysian furniture industry via Sustainable competitive advantages (SCA approach. In this case study, sense and respond method and Normalized Scaled Critical Factor Index (NSCFI are used to specify the distribution of companies’ resources for different criteria and detect the attributes which are critical based on expectation and experience of companies’ employs. Moreover, this study evaluates Malaysian furniture business strategy according to manufacturing strategy in terms of analyzer, prospector and defender. Finally, SCA risk levels are presented to show how much company’s resource allocations support their business strategy.

A Human Factors Approach to Bridging Systems and Introducing New Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Kanki, Barbara G.

2011-01-01

The application of human factors in aviation has grown to cover a wide range of disciplines and methods capable of assessing human-systems integration at many levels. For example, at the individual level, pilot workload may be studied while at the team level, coordinated workload distribution may be the focal point. At the organizational level, the way in which individuals and teams are supported by training and standards, policies and procedures may introduce additional, relevant topics. A consideration of human factors at each level contributes to our understanding of successes and failures in pilot performance, but this system focused on the flight deck alone -- is only one part of the airspace system. In the FAA's NextGen plan to overhaul the National Airspace System (NAS), new capabilities will enhance flightdeck systems (pilots), flight operations centers (dispatchers) and air traffic control systems (controllers and air traffic managers). At a minimum, the current roles and responsibilities of these three systems are likely to change. Since increased automation will be central to many of the enhancements, the role of automation is also likely to change. Using NextGen examples, a human factors approach for bridging complex airspace systems will be the main focus of this presentation. It is still crucial to consider the human factors within each system, but the successful implementation of new technologies in the NAS requires an understanding of the collaborations that occur when these systems intersect. This human factors approach to studying collaborative systems begins with detailed task descriptions within each system to establish a baseline of the current operations. The collaborative content and context are delineated through the review of regulatory and advisory materials, letters of agreement, policies, procedures and documented practices. Field observations and interviews also help to fill out the picture. Key collaborative functions across systems

Analytical and unitary approach in mesons electromagnetic form factor applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liptaj, A.

2010-07-01

related to a very different type of experiment, a direct lifetime measurement, that was predominantly used to get the Γ_π_"0_→_γ_γ value (unlike in the case of our evaluation or in the case of the PDG values for Γ_η_→_γ_γ and Γ_η_"'_→_γ_γ. We are looking forward to analyze this issue and contribute to the solution. We finally study the behavior of the elastic pion EM form factor in the space-like domain. In this case we aimed to minimize the model dependence and based our approach only on the analytic properties of the form factor and the precise data in the time-like region. Our motivation was the data in the space-like region that, we believe, cannot be fully trusted. Further, we wanted to compare our prediction to other QCD inspired model. We have shown, that the prediction we obtain has only small model dependence. By making a prediction in the time-like region we have also shown that our approach is self-consistent, the prediction describes well the data points that were initially used to get it. Eventually we observed that our prediction is close tho the most recent result obtained in the framework of the AdS/CFT theory. The obtained results allow us to conclude that the unitary and analytic model and approach as such are correct tools to study meson form factors and we have shown, that they have big potential to give important results in several domains of particle physics. (author)

Factors Mediating the Interactions between Adviser and Advisee during the Master's Thesis Project: A Quantitative Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues Jr., Jose Florencio; Lehmann, Angela Valeria Levay; Fleith, Denise De Souza

2005-01-01

Building on previous studies centred on the interaction between adviser and advisee in masters thesis projects, in which a qualitative approach was used, the present study uses factor analysis to identify the factors that determine either a successful or unsuccessful outcome for the masters thesis project. There were five factors relating to the…

A neuro-data envelopment analysis approach for optimization of uncorrelated multiple response problems with smaller the better type controllable factors

Science.gov (United States)

Bashiri, Mahdi; Farshbaf-Geranmayeh, Amir; Mogouie, Hamed

2013-11-01

In this paper, a new method is proposed to optimize a multi-response optimization problem based on the Taguchi method for the processes where controllable factors are the smaller-the-better (STB)-type variables and the analyzer desires to find an optimal solution with smaller amount of controllable factors. In such processes, the overall output quality of the product should be maximized while the usage of the process inputs, the controllable factors, should be minimized. Since all possible combinations of factors' levels, are not considered in the Taguchi method, the response values of the possible unpracticed treatments are estimated using the artificial neural network (ANN). The neural network is tuned by the central composite design (CCD) and the genetic algorithm (GA). Then data envelopment analysis (DEA) is applied for determining the efficiency of each treatment. Although the important issue for implementation of DEA is its philosophy, which is maximization of outputs versus minimization of inputs, this important issue has been neglected in previous similar studies in multi-response problems. Finally, the most efficient treatment is determined using the maximin weight model approach. The performance of the proposed method is verified in a plastic molding process. Moreover a sensitivity analysis has been done by an efficiency estimator neural network. The results show efficiency of the proposed approach.

A human factors approach to effective maintenance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Penington, J.; Shakeri, S.

2006-01-01

Traditionally in the field of Human Factors within the nuclear industry, the focus has been to identify the potential for human errors in operating tasks, and develop strategies to prevent their occurrence, provide recovery mechanisms, and mitigate the consequences of error as appropriate. Past experience has demonstrated however a significant number of human errors within the nuclear industry occur during maintenance tasks. It is for this reason, and the fact that our nuclear power plants are ageing and increasingly in need of maintenance, that the industry must pay more attention to maintenance tasks. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for effective maintenance programs, and based upon this framework discuss an approach (an audit tool) that can be used to both design such a program, and to assess existing programs. In addition, this tool can form the basis of cost benefit decisions relating to priorities for improvements to existing programs. (author)

Connecting the Dots: State Health Department Approaches to Addressing Shared Risk and Protective Factors Across Multiple Forms of Violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkins, Natalie; Myers, Lindsey; Kuehl, Tomei; Bauman, Alice; Hertz, Marci

Violence takes many forms, including intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child abuse and neglect, bullying, suicidal behavior, and elder abuse and neglect. These forms of violence are interconnected and often share the same root causes. They can also co-occur together in families and communities and can happen at the same time or at different stages of life. Often, due to a variety of factors, separate, "siloed" approaches are used to address each form of violence. However, understanding and implementing approaches that prevent and address the overlapping root causes of violence (risk factors) and promote factors that increase the resilience of people and communities (protective factors) can help practitioners more effectively and efficiently use limited resources to prevent multiple forms of violence and save lives. This article presents approaches used by 2 state health departments, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, to integrate a shared risk and protective factor approach into their violence prevention work and identifies key lessons learned that may serve to inform crosscutting violence prevention efforts in other states.

Integrative Analysis of Transcription Factor Combinatorial Interactions Using a Bayesian Tensor Factorization Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Yusen; Gao, Lin; Zhang, Shihua

2017-01-01

Transcription factors play a key role in transcriptional regulation of genes and determination of cellular identity through combinatorial interactions. However, current studies about combinatorial regulation is deficient due to lack of experimental data in the same cellular environment and extensive existence of data noise. Here, we adopt a Bayesian CANDECOMP/PARAFAC (CP) factorization approach (BCPF) to integrate multiple datasets in a network paradigm for determining precise TF interaction landscapes. In our first application, we apply BCPF to integrate three networks built based on diverse datasets of multiple cell lines from ENCODE respectively to predict a global and precise TF interaction network. This network gives 38 novel TF interactions with distinct biological functions. In our second application, we apply BCPF to seven types of cell type TF regulatory networks and predict seven cell lineage TF interaction networks, respectively. By further exploring the dynamics and modularity of them, we find cell lineage-specific hub TFs participate in cell type or lineage-specific regulation by interacting with non-specific TFs. Furthermore, we illustrate the biological function of hub TFs by taking those of cancer lineage and blood lineage as examples. Taken together, our integrative analysis can reveal more precise and extensive description about human TF combinatorial interactions. PMID:29033978

Ambulatory Antibiotic Stewardship through a Human Factors Engineering Approach: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Sara C; Tamma, Pranita D; Cosgrove, Sara E; Miller, Melissa A; Sateia, Heather; Szymczak, Julie; Gurses, Ayse P; Linder, Jeffrey A

2018-01-01

In the United States, most antibiotics are prescribed in ambulatory settings. Human factors engineering, which explores interactions between people and the place where they work, has successfully improved quality of care. However, human factors engineering models have not been explored to frame what is known about ambulatory antibiotic stewardship (AS) interventions and barriers and facilitators to their implementation. We conducted a systematic review and searched OVID MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL to identify controlled interventions and qualitative studies of ambulatory AS and determine whether and how they incorporated principles from a human factors engineering model, the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety 2.0 model. This model describes how a work system (ambulatory clinic) contributes to a process (antibiotic prescribing) that leads to outcomes. The work system consists of 5 components, tools and technology, organization, person, tasks, and environment, within an external environment. Of 1,288 abstracts initially identified, 42 quantitative studies and 17 qualitative studies met inclusion criteria. Effective interventions focused on tools and technology (eg, clinical decision support and point-of-care testing), the person (eg, clinician education), organization (eg, audit and feedback and academic detailing), tasks (eg, delayed antibiotic prescribing), the environment (eg, commitment posters), and the external environment (media campaigns). Studies have not focused on clinic-wide approaches to AS. A human factors engineering approach suggests that investigating the role of the clinic's processes or physical layout or external pressures' role in antibiotic prescribing may be a promising way to improve ambulatory AS. © Copyright 2018 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

A Confirmatory Approach to Examining the Factor Structure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niclasen, Janni; Skovgaard, Anne Mette; Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo

2013-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) using a Structural Confirmatory Factor Analytic approach. The Danish translation of the SDQ was distributed to 71,840 parents and teachers of 5-7 and 10-12-year-old boys and girls from ...

Charmless B{sub (s)} → VV decays in factorization-assisted topological-amplitude approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Chao; Zhang, Qi-An [CAS, Institute of High Energy Physics, P.O. Box 918, Beijing (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, School of Physics, Beijing (China); Li, Ying [Yantai University, Department of Physics, Yantai (China); CAS, State Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Beijing (China); Lue, Cai-Dian [CAS, Institute of High Energy Physics, P.O. Box 918, Beijing (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, School of Physics, Beijing (China); CAS, State Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Beijing (China)

2017-05-15

Within the factorization-assisted topological-amplitude approach, we studied the 33 charmless B{sub (s)} → VV decays, where V stands for a light vector meson. According to the flavor flows, the amplitude of each process can be decomposed into eight different topologies. In contrast to the conventional flavor diagrammatic approach, we further factorize each topological amplitude into decay constant, form factors and unknown universal parameters. By χ{sup 2} fitting 46 experimental observables, we extracted 10 theoretical parameters with χ{sup 2} per degree of freedom around 2. Using the fitted parameters, we calculated the branching fractions, polarization fractions, CP asymmetries and relative phases between polarization amplitudes of each decay mode. The decay channels dominated by tree diagram have large branching fractions and large longitudinal polarization fraction. The branching fractions and longitudinal polarization fractions of color-suppressed decays become smaller. Current experimental data of large transverse polarization fractions in the penguin dominant decay channels can be explained by only one transverse amplitude of penguin annihilation diagram. Our predictions of the not yet measured channels can be tested in the ongoing LHCb experiment and the Belle-II experiment in the future. (orig.)

First-Year Students' Approaches to Learning, and Factors Related to Change or Stability in Their Deep Approach during a Pharmacy Course

Science.gov (United States)

Varunki, Maaret; Katajavuori, Nina; Postareff, Liisa

2017-01-01

Research shows that a surface approach to learning is more common among students in the natural sciences, while students representing the "soft" sciences are more likely to apply a deep approach. However, findings conflict concerning the stability of approaches to learning in general. This study explores the variation in students'…

Two Experiments to Approach the Boltzmann Factor: Chemical Reaction and Viscous Flow

Science.gov (United States)

Fazio, Claudio; Battaglia, Onofrio R.; Guastella, Ivan

2012-01-01

In this paper we discuss a pedagogical approach aimed at pointing out the role played by the Boltzmann factor in describing phenomena usually perceived as regulated by different mechanisms of functioning. Experimental results regarding some aspects of a chemical reaction and of the viscous flow of some liquids are analysed and described in terms…

Analysis of factors affecting satisfaction level on problem based learning approach using structural equation modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Hussain, Nur Farahin Mee; Zahid, Zalina

2014-12-01

Nowadays, in the job market demand, graduates are expected not only to have higher performance in academic but they must also be excellent in soft skill. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) has a number of distinct advantages as a learning method as it can deliver graduates that will be highly prized by industry. This study attempts to determine the satisfaction level of engineering students on the PBL Approach and to evaluate their determinant factors. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to investigate how the factors of Good Teaching Scale, Clear Goals, Student Assessment and Levels of Workload affected the student satisfaction towards PBL approach.

A Confirmatory Factor Analysis on the Attitude Scale of Constructivist Approach for Science Teachers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Evrekli

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Underlining the importance of teachers for the constructivist approach, the present study attempts to develop “Attitude Scale of Construc¬tivist Approach for Science Teachers (ASCAST”. The pre-applications of the scale were administered to a total of 210 science teachers; however, the data obtained from 5 teachers were excluded from the analysis. As a result of the analysis of the data obtained from the pre-applications, it was found that the scale could have a single factor structure, which was tested using the confir¬matory factor analysis. As a result of the initial confirmatory factor analysis, the values of fit were examined and found to be low. Subsequently, by exam¬ining the modification indices, error covariance was added between items 23 and 24 and the model was tested once again. The added error covariance led to a significant improvement in the model, producing values of fit suitable for limit values. Thus, it was concluded that the scale could be employed with a single factor. The explained variance value for the scale developed with a sin¬gle factor structure was calculated to be 50.43% and its reliability was found to be .93. The results obtained suggest that the scale possesses reliable-valid characteristics and could be used in further studies.

Factors associated with a primary surgical approach for sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Cracchiolo, Jennifer R; Patel, Krupa; Migliacci, Jocelyn C; Morris, Luc T; Ganly, Ian; Roman, Benjamin R; McBride, Sean M; Tabar, Viviane S; Cohen, Marc A

2018-03-01

Primary surgery is the preferred treatment of T1-T4a sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma (SNSCC). Patients with SNSCC in the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB) were analyzed. Factors that contributed to selecting primary surgical treatment were examined. Overall survival (OS) in surgical patients was analyzed. Four-thousand seven hundred and seventy patients with SNSCC were included. In T1-T4a tumors, lymph node metastases, maxillary sinus location, and treatment at high-volume centers were associated with selecting primary surgery. When primary surgery was utilized, tumor factors and positive margin guided worse OS. Adjuvant therapy improved OS in positive margin resection and advanced T stage cases. Tumor and non-tumor factors are associated with selecting surgery for the treatment of SNSCC. When surgery is selected, tumor factors drive OS. Negative margin resection should be the goal of a primary surgical approach. When a positive margin resection ensues, adjuvant therapy may improve OS. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A knowledge-based approach for C-factor mapping in Spain using Landsat TM and GIS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Veihe (former Folly), Anita; Bronsveld, M.C.; Clavaux, M

1996-01-01

The cover and management factor (C) in the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE), is one of the most important parameters for assessing erosion. In this study it is shown how a knowledge-based approach can be used to optimize C-factor mapping in the Mediterranean region being characterized...... to the limitations of the USLE...

Connecting the Dots: State Health Department Approaches to Addressing Shared Risk and Protective Factors Across Multiple Forms of Violence

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkins, Natalie; Myers, Lindsey; Kuehl, Tomei; Bauman, Alice; Hertz, Marci

2018-01-01

Violence takes many forms, including intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child abuse and neglect, bullying, suicidal behavior, and elder abuse and neglect. These forms of violence are interconnected and often share the same root causes. They can also co-occur together in families and communities and can happen at the same time or at different stages of life. Often, due to a variety of factors, separate, “siloed” approaches are used to address each form of violence. However, understanding and implementing approaches that prevent and address the overlapping root causes of violence (risk factors) and promote factors that increase the resilience of people and communities (protective factors) can help practitioners more effectively and efficiently use limited resources to prevent multiple forms of violence and save lives. This article presents approaches used by 2 state health departments, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, to integrate a shared risk and protective factor approach into their violence prevention work and identifies key lessons learned that may serve to inform crosscutting violence prevention efforts in other states. PMID:29189502

Computation of External Quality Factors for RF Structures by Means of Model Order Reduction and a Perturbation Approach

CERN Document Server

Flisgen, Thomas; van Rienen, Ursula

2016-01-01

External quality factors are significant quantities to describe losses via waveguide ports in radio frequency resonators. The current contribution presents a novel approach to determine external quality factors by means of a two-step procedure: First, a state-space model for the lossless radio frequency structure is generated and its model order is reduced. Subsequently, a perturbation method is applied on the reduced model so that external losses are accounted for. The advantage of this approach results from the fact that the challenges in dealing with lossy systems are shifted to the reduced order model. This significantly saves computational costs. The present paper provides a short overview on existing methods to compute external quality factors. Then, the novel approach is introduced and validated in terms of accuracy and computational time by means of commercial software.

MMOSA – A new approach of the human and organizational factor analysis in PSA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farcasiu, M.; Prisecaru, I.

2014-01-01

The results of many Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) studies show a very significant contribution of human errors to nuclear installations failure. This paper is intended to analyze both the human performance importance in PSA studies and the elements that influence it. Starting from Man–Machine–Organization System (MMOS) concept a new approach (MMOSA) was developed to allow an explicit incorporation of the human and organizational factor in PSA studies. This method uses old techniques from Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) methods (THERP, SPAR-H) and new techniques to analyze human performance. The main novelty included in MMOSA is the identification of the machine–organization interfaces (maintenance, modification and aging management plan and state of man–machine interface) and the human performance evaluation based on them. A detailed result of the Human Performance Analysis (HPA) using the MMOSA methodology can identify any serious deficiencies of human performance which can usually be corrected through the improvement of the related MMOS interfaces. - Highlights: • MMOSA allows the incorporation of the human and organizational factor in PSA. • The method uses old techniques and new techniques to analyze human performance. • The main novelty is the identification of the machine–organization interfaces. • The MMOSA methodology identifies any serious deficiencies which can be corrected

Optimization of healthcare supply chain in context of macro-ergonomics factors by a unique mathematical programming approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Azadeh, A; Motevali Haghighi, S; Gaeini, Z; Shabanpour, N

2016-07-01

This study presents an integrated approach for analyzing the impact of macro-ergonomics factors in healthcare supply chain (HCSC) by data envelopment analysis (DEA). The case of this study is the supply chain (SC) of a real hospital. Thus, healthcare standards and macro-ergonomics factors are considered to be modeled by the mathematical programming approach. Over 28 subsidiary SC divisions with parallel missions and objectives are evaluated by analyzing inputs and outputs through DEA. Each division in this HCSC is considered as decision making unit (DMU). This approach can analyze the impact of macro-ergonomics factors on supply chain management (SCM) in healthcare sector. Also, this method ranks the relevant performance efficiencies of each HCSC. In this study by using proposed method, the most effective macro-ergonomics factor on HCSC is identified as "teamwork" issue. Also, this study would help managers to identify the areas of weaknesses in their SCM system and set improvement target plan for the related SCM system in healthcare industry. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study for macro-ergonomics optimization of HCSC. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Liquidity indicator for the Croatian economy – Factor analysis approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirjana Čižmešija

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Croatian business surveys (BS are conducted in the manufacturing industry, retail trade and construction sector. In all of these sectors, manager´s assessments of liquidity are measured. The aim of the paper was to form a new composite liquidity indicator by including business survey liquidity measures from all three covered economic sectors in the Croatian economy mentioned above. In calculating the leading indicator, a factor analysis approach was used. However, this kind of indicator does not exist in a Croatia or in any other European economy. Furthermore, the issue of Croatian companies´ illiquidity is highly neglected in the literature. The empirical analysis consists of two parts. In the first part the new liquidity indicator was formed using factor analysis. One factor (representing the new liquidity indicator; LI was extracted out of the three liquidity variables in three economic sectors. This factor represents the new liquidity indicator. In the second part, econometric models were applied in order to investigate the forecasting properties of the new business survey liquidity indicator, when predicting the direction of changes in Croatian industrial production. The quarterly data used in the research covered the period from January 2000 to April 2013. Based on econometric analysis, it can be concluded that the LI is a leading indicator of Croatia’s industrial production with better forecasting properties then the standard liquidity indicators (formed in a manufacturing industry.

Scalable Tensor Factorizations with Missing Data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Acar, Evrim; Dunlavy, Daniel M.; Kolda, Tamara G.

2010-01-01

of missing data, many important data sets will be discarded or improperly analyzed. Therefore, we need a robust and scalable approach for factorizing multi-way arrays (i.e., tensors) in the presence of missing data. We focus on one of the most well-known tensor factorizations, CANDECOMP/PARAFAC (CP...... is shown to successfully factor tensors with noise and up to 70% missing data. Moreover, our approach is significantly faster than the leading alternative and scales to larger problems. To show the real-world usefulness of CP-WOPT, we illustrate its applicability on a novel EEG (electroencephalogram...

A propensity score approach to correction for bias due to population stratification using genetic and non-genetic factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Huaqing; Rebbeck, Timothy R; Mitra, Nandita

2009-12-01

Confounding due to population stratification (PS) arises when differences in both allele and disease frequencies exist in a population of mixed racial/ethnic subpopulations. Genomic control, structured association, principal components analysis (PCA), and multidimensional scaling (MDS) approaches have been proposed to address this bias using genetic markers. However, confounding due to PS can also be due to non-genetic factors. Propensity scores are widely used to address confounding in observational studies but have not been adapted to deal with PS in genetic association studies. We propose a genomic propensity score (GPS) approach to correct for bias due to PS that considers both genetic and non-genetic factors. We compare the GPS method with PCA and MDS using simulation studies. Our results show that GPS can adequately adjust and consistently correct for bias due to PS. Under no/mild, moderate, and severe PS, GPS yielded estimated with bias close to 0 (mean=-0.0044, standard error=0.0087). Under moderate or severe PS, the GPS method consistently outperforms the PCA method in terms of bias, coverage probability (CP), and type I error. Under moderate PS, the GPS method consistently outperforms the MDS method in terms of CP. PCA maintains relatively high power compared to both MDS and GPS methods under the simulated situations. GPS and MDS are comparable in terms of statistical properties such as bias, type I error, and power. The GPS method provides a novel and robust tool for obtaining less-biased estimates of genetic associations that can consider both genetic and non-genetic factors. 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Bridging the gap between biologic, individual, and macroenvironmental factors in cancer: a multilevel approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Shannon M; Rebbeck, Timothy R

2013-04-01

To address the complex nature of cancer occurrence and outcomes, approaches have been developed to simultaneously assess the role of two or more etiologic agents within hierarchical levels including the: (i) macroenvironment level (e.g., health care policy, neighborhood, or family structure); (ii) individual level (e.g., behaviors, carcinogenic exposures, socioeconomic factors, and psychologic responses); and (iii) biologic level (e.g., cellular biomarkers and inherited susceptibility variants). Prior multilevel approaches tend to focus on social and environmental hypotheses, and are thus limited in their ability to integrate biologic factors into a multilevel framework. This limited integration may be related to the limited translation of research findings into the clinic. We propose a "Multi-level Biologic and Social Integrative Construct" (MBASIC) to integrate macroenvironment and individual factors with biology. The goal of this framework is to help researchers identify relationships among factors that may be involved in the multifactorial, complex nature of cancer etiology, to aid in appropriate study design, to guide the development of statistical or mechanistic models to study these relationships, and to position the results of these studies for improved intervention, translation, and implementation. MBASIC allows researchers from diverse fields to develop hypotheses of interest under a common conceptual framework, to guide transdisciplinary collaborations, and to optimize the value of multilevel studies for clinical and public health activities.

Cafeteria factors that influence milk-drinking behaviors of elementary school children: grounded theory approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Connors, P; Bednar, C; Klammer, S

2001-01-01

This study was conducted to identify factors that influenced milk-drinking behaviors of elementary school children in North Texas. Ten focus groups with a total of 41 children aged 6 to 11 years were conducted using a grounded theory approach. Based on the principles of Social Learning Theory, milk preferences and health beliefs were identified as personal factors that influenced drinking. Cafeteria rules, milk flavor, product packaging, modeling by adults, and shared experiences were environmental factors. The data suggest that school cafeterias can capitalize on their unique position to offer milk-drinking opportunities that children can share to combine nutrition education with sensory experience.

Heavy-quark hadroproduction in kT-factorization approach with unintegrated gluon distributions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shabelski, Yu.M.; Shuvaev, A.G.

2006-01-01

The processes of heavy-quark production using the unintegrated gluon distributions are considered. The numerical predictions for high-energy nucleon-nucleon and photon-nucleon collisions of the k T -factorization approach (semihard theory) are compared with the experimental data from Tevatron collider and HERA. The total production cross sections and p T distributions are considered and they are in reasonable agreement with the data for reasonable values of QCD scale [ru

FACTORES INDIVIDUALES, FAMILIARES Y SOCIALES ASOCIADOS AL EMBARAZO EN ADOLESCENTES EN EL CENTRO DE SALUD CARLOS SHOWING FERRARI 2014 - 2015

OpenAIRE

Luyo Marcellini, Delci Fiorella

2017-01-01

OBJETIVO: Determinar los factores individuales, familiares y sociales asociados al embarazo en adolescentes en el Centro de Salud Carlos Showing Ferrari del periodo de enero del 2014 a diciembre del 2015. METODOS Y TECNICA: El estudio fue observacional, longitudinal, retrospectivo. Con un diseño caso y control. La técnica utilizada fue el fichaje en base a la recolección de datos de fuentes secundarias. RESULTADOS: Dentro de los Factores individuales de riesgo asociados al embarazo en ...

Risk factors for delusion of theft in patients with Alzheimer's disease showing mild dementia in Japan.

Science.gov (United States)

Murayama, N; Iseki, E; Endo, T; Nagashima, K; Yamamoto, R; Ichimiya, Y; Arai, H; Sato, K

2009-07-01

The mechanism underlying delusion in Alzheimer's disease patients has not been fully clarified; however, the occurrence of delusion is a critical issue for dementia patients and their caregivers. In Japan, delusion of theft is the most frequent delusion in AD patients. We examined the risk factors for delusion of theft in AD patients showing mild dementia. Fifty-six AD patients were administered HDS-R, MMSE and COGNISTAT, including the 'speech sample', to assess their neuropsychological and social cognitive functions. The age, years of education, presence of cohabiting family members and premorbid personality traits were obtained from family members. About 25.0% of AD patients showed delusion of theft (D-group), and 75% did not (non-D-group). About 33.3% of female patients and 5.9% of male patients were included in the D-group (p theft in AD patients was related to female gender, absence of cohabiting family members, neurotic personality and retained social cognitive function.

Calculation of nucleon electromagnetic form factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renner, D.B.; Brower, R.; Dolgov, D.; Eicker, N.; Lippert, Th.; Negele, J.W.; Pochinsky, A.; Schilling, K.

2003-01-01

The formalism is developed to express nucleon matrix elements of the electromagnetic current in terms of form factors consistent with the translational, rotational, and parity symmetries of a cubic lattice. We calculate the number of these form factors and show how appropriate linear combinations approach the continuum limit

A ChIP-Seq benchmark shows that sequence conservation mainly improves detection of strong transcription factor binding sites.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tony Håndstad

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Transcription factors are important controllers of gene expression and mapping transcription factor binding sites (TFBS is key to inferring transcription factor regulatory networks. Several methods for predicting TFBS exist, but there are no standard genome-wide datasets on which to assess the performance of these prediction methods. Also, it is believed that information about sequence conservation across different genomes can generally improve accuracy of motif-based predictors, but it is not clear under what circumstances use of conservation is most beneficial. RESULTS: Here we use published ChIP-seq data and an improved peak detection method to create comprehensive benchmark datasets for prediction methods which use known descriptors or binding motifs to detect TFBS in genomic sequences. We use this benchmark to assess the performance of five different prediction methods and find that the methods that use information about sequence conservation generally perform better than simpler motif-scanning methods. The difference is greater on high-affinity peaks and when using short and information-poor motifs. However, if the motifs are specific and information-rich, we find that simple motif-scanning methods can perform better than conservation-based methods. CONCLUSIONS: Our benchmark provides a comprehensive test that can be used to rank the relative performance of transcription factor binding site prediction methods. Moreover, our results show that, contrary to previous reports, sequence conservation is better suited for predicting strong than weak transcription factor binding sites.

Stochastic Discount Factor Approach to International Risk-Sharing: Evidence from Fixed Exchange Rate Episodes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hadzi-Vaskov, M.; Kool, C.J.M.

2007-01-01

This paper presents evidence of the stochastic discount factor approach to international risk-sharing applied to fixed exchange rate regimes. We calculate risk-sharing indices for two episodes of fixed or very rigid exchange rates: the Eurozone before and after the introduction of the Euro, and

Factors influencing groundwater quality: towards an integrated management approach.

Science.gov (United States)

De Giglio, O; Quaranta, A; Barbuti, G; Napoli, C; Caggiano, G; Montagna, M T

2015-01-01

The safety of groundwater resources is a serious issue, particularly when these resources are the main source of water for drinking, irrigation and industrial use in coastal areas. In Italy, 85% of the water used by the public is of underground origin. The aim of this report is to analyze the main factors that make groundwater vulnerable. Soil characteristics and filtration capacity can promote or hinder the diffusion of environmental contaminants. Global climate change influences the prevalence and degree of groundwater contamination. Anthropic pressure causes considerable exploitation of water resources, leading to reduced water availability and the progressive deterioration of water quality. Management of water quality will require a multidisciplinary, dynamic and practical approach focused on identifying the measures necessary to reduce contamination and mitigate the risks associated with the use of contaminated water resources.

Combination of Evidence with Different Weighting Factors: A Novel Probabilistic-Based Dissimilarity Measure Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mengmeng Ma

2015-01-01

Full Text Available To solve the invalidation problem of Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence (DS with high conflict in multisensor data fusion, this paper presents a novel combination approach of conflict evidence with different weighting factors using a new probabilistic dissimilarity measure. Firstly, an improved probabilistic transformation function is proposed to map basic belief assignments (BBAs to probabilities. Then, a new dissimilarity measure integrating fuzzy nearness and introduced correlation coefficient is proposed to characterize not only the difference between basic belief functions (BBAs but also the divergence degree of the hypothesis that two BBAs support. Finally, the weighting factors used to reassign conflicts on BBAs are developed and Dempster’s rule is chosen to combine the discounted sources. Simple numerical examples are employed to demonstrate the merit of the proposed method. Through analysis and comparison of the results, the new combination approach can effectively solve the problem of conflict management with better convergence performance and robustness.

A pedagogical approach to the Boltzmann factor through experiments and simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Battaglia, O R; Bonura, A; Sperandeo-Mineo, R M

2009-01-01

The Boltzmann factor is the basis of a huge amount of thermodynamic and statistical physics, both classical and quantum. It governs the behaviour of all systems in nature that are exchanging energy with their environment. To understand why the expression has this specific form involves a deep mathematical analysis, whose flow of logic is hard to see and is not at the level of high school or college students' preparation. We here present some experiments and simulations aimed at directly deriving its mathematical expression and illustrating the fundamental concepts on which it is grounded. Experiments use easily available apparatuses, and simulations are developed in the Net-Logo environment that, besides having a user-friendly interface, allows an easy interaction with the algorithm. The approach supplies pedagogical support for the introduction of the Boltzmann factor at the undergraduate level to students without a background in statistical mechanics.

A pedagogical approach to the Boltzmann factor through experiments and simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Battaglia, O R; Bonura, A; Sperandeo-Mineo, R M [University of Palermo Physics Education Research Group, Dipartimento di Fisica e Tecnologie Relative, Universita di Palermo (Italy)], E-mail: sperandeo@difter.unipa.it

2009-09-15

The Boltzmann factor is the basis of a huge amount of thermodynamic and statistical physics, both classical and quantum. It governs the behaviour of all systems in nature that are exchanging energy with their environment. To understand why the expression has this specific form involves a deep mathematical analysis, whose flow of logic is hard to see and is not at the level of high school or college students' preparation. We here present some experiments and simulations aimed at directly deriving its mathematical expression and illustrating the fundamental concepts on which it is grounded. Experiments use easily available apparatuses, and simulations are developed in the Net-Logo environment that, besides having a user-friendly interface, allows an easy interaction with the algorithm. The approach supplies pedagogical support for the introduction of the Boltzmann factor at the undergraduate level to students without a background in statistical mechanics.

Talking with TV shows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sandvik, Kjetil; Laursen, Ditte

2014-01-01

User interaction with radio and television programmes is not a new thing. However, with new cross-media production concepts such as X Factor and Voice, this is changing dramatically. The second-screen logic of these productions encourages viewers, along with TV’s traditional one-way communication...... mode, to communicate on interactive (dialogue-enabling) devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets. Using the TV show Voice as our example, this article shows how the technological and situational set-up of the production invites viewers to engage in new ways of interaction and communication...

Multi-scale approach to the environmental factors effects on spatio-temporal variability of Chironomus salinarius (Diptera: Chironomidae) in a French coastal lagoon

Science.gov (United States)

Cartier, V.; Claret, C.; Garnier, R.; Fayolle, S.; Franquet, E.

2010-03-01

The complexity of the relationships between environmental factors and organisms can be revealed by sampling designs which consider the contribution to variability of different temporal and spatial scales, compared to total variability. From a management perspective, a multi-scale approach can lead to time-saving. Identifying environmental patterns that help maintain patchy distribution is fundamental in studying coastal lagoons, transition zones between continental and marine waters characterised by great environmental variability on spatial and temporal scales. They often present organic enrichment inducing decreased species richness and increased densities of opportunist species like C hironomus salinarius, a common species that tends to swarm and thus constitutes a nuisance for human populations. This species is dominant in the Bolmon lagoon, a French Mediterranean coastal lagoon under eutrophication. Our objective was to quantify variability due to both spatial and temporal scales and identify the contribution of different environmental factors to this variability. The population of C. salinarius was sampled from June 2007 to June 2008 every two months at 12 sites located in two areas of the Bolmon lagoon, at two different depths, with three sites per area-depth combination. Environmental factors (temperature, dissolved oxygen both in sediment and under water surface, sediment organic matter content and grain size) and microbial activities (i.e. hydrolase activities) were also considered as explanatory factors of chironomid densities and distribution. ANOVA analysis reveals significant spatial differences regarding the distribution of chironomid larvae for the area and the depth scales and their interaction. The spatial effect is also revealed for dissolved oxygen (water), salinity and fine particles (area scale), and for water column depth. All factors but water column depth show a temporal effect. Spearman's correlations highlight the seasonal effect

Electrically Small Magnetic Dipole Antennas With Quality Factors Approaching the Chu Lower Bound

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kim, Oleksiy S.; Breinbjerg, Olav; Yaghjian, Arthur D.

2010-01-01

We investigate the quality factor Q for electrically small current distributions and practical antenna designs radiating the TE10 magnetic dipole field. The current distributions and the antenna designs employ electric currents on a spherical surface enclosing a magneto-dielectric material...... numerically. It is found that for a given antenna size and permittivity there is an optimum permeability that ensures the lowest possible Q, and this optimum permeability is inversely proportional to the square of the antenna electrical radius. When the relative permittivity is equal to 1, the optimum...... permeability yields the quality factor Q that constitutes the lower bound for a magnetic dipole antenna with a magneto-dielectric core. Furthermore, the smaller the antenna the closer its quality factor Q can approach the Chu lower bound. Simulated results for the TE10-mode multiarm spherical helix antenna...

What Factors Affect Doctors' Hours Decisions: Comparing Structural Discrete Choice and Reduced-Form Approaches

OpenAIRE

Kalb, Guyonne; Kühnle, Daniel; Scott, Anthony; Cheng, Terence Chai; Jeon, Sung-Hee

2015-01-01

Few papers examine the pecuniary and non-pecuniary determinants of doctors' labour supply despite substantial predicted shortages in many OECD countries. We contribute to the literature by applying both a structural discrete choice and a reduced-form approach. Using detailed survey data for Australian physicians, we examine how these different modelling approaches affect estimated wage elasticities at the intensive margin. We show that all modelling approaches predict small negative wage elas...

Assessment of successful smoking cessation by psychological factors using the Bayesian network approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiaorong; Li, Suyun; Pan, Lulu; Wang, Qiang; Li, Huijie; Han, Mingkui; Zhang, Nan; Jiang, Fan; Jia, Chongqi

2016-07-01

The association between psychological factors and smoking cessation is complicated and inconsistent in published researches, and the joint effect of psychological factors on smoking cessation is unclear. This study explored how psychological factors jointly affect the success of smoking cessation using a Bayesian network approach. A community-based case control study was designed with 642 adult male successful smoking quitters as the cases, and 700 adult male failed smoking quitters as the controls. General self-efficacy (GSE), trait coping style (positive-trait coping style (PTCS) and negative-trait coping style (NTCS)) and self-rating anxiety (SA) were evaluated by GSE Scale, Trait Coping Style Questionnaire and SA Scale, respectively. Bayesian network was applied to evaluate the relationship between psychological factors and successful smoking cessation. The local conditional probability table of smoking cessation indicated that different joint conditions of psychological factors led to different outcomes for smoking cessation. Among smokers with high PTCS, high NTCS and low SA, only 36.40% successfully quitted smoking. However, among smokers with low pack-years of smoking, high GSE, high PTCS and high SA, 63.64% successfully quitted smoking. Our study indicates psychological factors jointly influence smoking cessation outcome. According to different joint situations, different solutions should be developed to control tobacco in practical intervention.

Application of methodological approach to selection of sportswomen to calisthenics teams for group exercises, considering compatibility factor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O.S. Kozhanova

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Purpose: motivation of methodological approach to selection of sportswomen to calisthenics teams for group exercises considering compatibility factor. Material: in the research 40 high qualification sportswomen of 17-23 yrs age with sport experience of 11-16 years participated. With cluster analysis 10 gymnasts with morphological indicators, meeting modern standards of group exercises were selected. Results: we found 5 generalized factors, which characterize structure of selection to teams and determines 72% of dispersion. Influence of kinds and connected with them criteria of compatibility on efficiency of gymnasts’ competition functioning were also determined. The authors substantiated methodological approach to selection of sportswomen to calisthenics teams for group exercises, considering compatibility factor. Conclusions: in selection to calisthenics teams for group exercises it is purposeful to realize complex registration of compatibility kinds, considering gymnasts’ similar features by recommended indicators.

The Analysis of Theoretical Approaches to Identification of Factors of Regional Economic Growth

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kosyrieva Olena V.

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the investigation of current approaches to identification of factors of economic growth in the regions. The theory of new economic geography based on works and studies of P. Krugman has been considered. There highlighted the key issues of regional economic growth requiring an in-depth studying and consideration in the elaboration of strategies for sustainable development of the regions. The views of leading domestic and foreign scholars as well as the OECD experts, the World Bank, the National Statistics Service of the United Kingdom and others on the main drivers of economic growth have been analyzed. On the basis of the study the factors of regional economic growth most commonly encountered in theory and practice have been generalized. It is proved that scientists and analysts most often classify as the factors of regional economic growth the following ones: those characterizing human potential, scientific-technical and innovative activity, management and institutional capacity. The factors less frequently correlated by specialists and scientists with the regional economic growth include: those characterizing the environment, business and sociopolitical factors, which is associated with difficulty of their quantification, but in any case does not diminish their importance.

Factors that influence the approach to leadership: directors of nursing working in rural health services.

Science.gov (United States)

Bish, Melanie; Kenny, Amanda; Nay, Rhonda

2015-04-01

To identify factors that influence directors of nursing in their approach to leadership when working in rural Victoria, Australia. In rural areas, nurses account for the largest component of the health workforce and must be equipped with leadership knowledge and skills to lead reform at a service level. A qualitative descriptive design was used. In-depth semi-structured interviews were undertaken with directors of nursing from rural Victoria. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and a thematic network was developed. Empowerment emerged as the highest order category in the thematic network. This was derived from three organising themes: influence, capital and contextual understanding and the respective basic themes: formal power, informal power, self-knowledge; information, support, resources; and situational factors, career trajectory, connectedness. Rural nurse leaders contend with several issues that influence their approach to leadership. This study provides a platform for further research to foster nurse leadership in rural healthcare services. Acknowledgement of what influences the rural nurse leaders' approach to leadership may assist in the implementation of initiatives designed to develop leadership in a manner that is contextually sensitive. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Environmental drivers of phototrophic biofilms in an Alpine show cave (SW-Italian Alps)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piano, E.; Bona, F.; Falasco, E.; La Morgia, V.; Badino, G.; Isaia, M.

2015-01-01

The proliferation of lampenflora is a major threat for the conservation of show caves, since phototrophic organisms cause physical, chemical and aesthetic damage to speleothems. In this paper we examine the environmental factors influencing the presence and the growth of the three main photosynthetic groups composing phototrophic biofilms in the Bossea show cave (SW-Italian Alps). The presence and the primary production of cyanobacteria, diatoms and green algae were detected with BenthoTorch®, an instrument for in situ measurement of chlorophyll a concentration that has never been used before in caves. By means of different techniques of regression analysis, we highlighted the response of the three photosynthetic groups to different environmental factors. Illuminance proved to be the main factor influencing positively both the probability of the presence and the productivity of the three groups. The presence of seeping water on the substrate and the distance from the cave entrance proved to play an important role in determining patterns of colonization. By means of GIS techniques, we provide thematic maps of the cave, providing a representation of pattern of the density of the three examined photosynthetic groups within different areas of the cave. The same approach may apply to other show caves, aiming at providing suggestions for the cave management (i.e. cleaning of the cave walls and positioning of artificial lights) and reduce impact caused by tourism. - Highlights: • We used a PAM fluorimeter on autotrophic biofilms in a show cave for the first time. • We modelled the environmental factors influencing phototrophic biofilms. • Illuminance, moisture and distance from the entrance proved to be significant. • We produced thematic maps illustrating our results. • We provide suggestions for cave management

Environmental drivers of phototrophic biofilms in an Alpine show cave (SW-Italian Alps)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Piano, E., E-mail: elena.piano@unito.it [Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin (Italy); Bona, F.; Falasco, E. [Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin (Italy); La Morgia, V. [ISPRA, via Ca' Fornacetta, 9, 40064 Ozzano dell' Emilia (Italy); Badino, G. [Department of Physics, University of Turin, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Turin (Italy); Isaia, M. [Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin (Italy)

2015-12-01

The proliferation of lampenflora is a major threat for the conservation of show caves, since phototrophic organisms cause physical, chemical and aesthetic damage to speleothems. In this paper we examine the environmental factors influencing the presence and the growth of the three main photosynthetic groups composing phototrophic biofilms in the Bossea show cave (SW-Italian Alps). The presence and the primary production of cyanobacteria, diatoms and green algae were detected with BenthoTorch®, an instrument for in situ measurement of chlorophyll a concentration that has never been used before in caves. By means of different techniques of regression analysis, we highlighted the response of the three photosynthetic groups to different environmental factors. Illuminance proved to be the main factor influencing positively both the probability of the presence and the productivity of the three groups. The presence of seeping water on the substrate and the distance from the cave entrance proved to play an important role in determining patterns of colonization. By means of GIS techniques, we provide thematic maps of the cave, providing a representation of pattern of the density of the three examined photosynthetic groups within different areas of the cave. The same approach may apply to other show caves, aiming at providing suggestions for the cave management (i.e. cleaning of the cave walls and positioning of artificial lights) and reduce impact caused by tourism. - Highlights: • We used a PAM fluorimeter on autotrophic biofilms in a show cave for the first time. • We modelled the environmental factors influencing phototrophic biofilms. • Illuminance, moisture and distance from the entrance proved to be significant. • We produced thematic maps illustrating our results. • We provide suggestions for cave management.

Risk Factors for Visual Field Progression in the Groningen Longitudinal Glaucoma Study : A Comparison of Different Statistical Approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wesselink, Christiaan; Marcus, Michael W.; Jansonius, Nomdo M.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To identify risk factors for visual field progression in glaucoma and to compare different statistical approaches with this risk factor analysis. Patients and Methods: We included 221 eyes of 221 patients. Progression was analyzed using Nonparametric Progression Analysis applied to Humphrey

Human factors evaluation of teletherapy: Identification of problems and alternative approaches. Volume 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Henriksen, K.; Kaye, R.D.; Jones, R. [Hughes Training, Inc., Falls Church, VA (United States); Morisseau, D.S.; Serig, D.I. [Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States). Div. of Systems Technology

1995-07-01

A series of human factors evaluations was undertaken to better understand the contributing factors to human error in the teletherapy environment. Teletherapy is a multi-disciplinary methodology for treating cancerous tissue through selective exposure to an external beam of ionizing radiation. The principal sources of radiation are a radioactive isotope, typically cobalt60 (Co-60), or a linear accelerator device capable of producing very high energy x-ray and electron beams. A team of human factors specialists, assisted by a panel of radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and radiation technologists, conducted site visits to radiation oncology departments at community hospitals, university centers, and free-standing clinics. A function and task analysis was initially performed to guide subsequent evaluations in the areas of user-system interfaces, procedures, training and qualifications, and organizational policies and practices. The final phase of the project focused on identification of the most significant human factors problems with respect to safe and effective operation of the teletherapy system and an identification and assessment of alternative approaches for resolving the problems. This report presents the findings of this final phase.

Human factors evaluation of teletherapy: Identification of problems and alternative approaches. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henriksen, K.; Kaye, R.D.; Jones, R.; Morisseau, D.S.; Serig, D.I.

1995-07-01

A series of human factors evaluations was undertaken to better understand the contributing factors to human error in the teletherapy environment. Teletherapy is a multi-disciplinary methodology for treating cancerous tissue through selective exposure to an external beam of ionizing radiation. The principal sources of radiation are a radioactive isotope, typically cobalt60 (Co-60), or a linear accelerator device capable of producing very high energy x-ray and electron beams. A team of human factors specialists, assisted by a panel of radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and radiation technologists, conducted site visits to radiation oncology departments at community hospitals, university centers, and free-standing clinics. A function and task analysis was initially performed to guide subsequent evaluations in the areas of user-system interfaces, procedures, training and qualifications, and organizational policies and practices. The final phase of the project focused on identification of the most significant human factors problems with respect to safe and effective operation of the teletherapy system and an identification and assessment of alternative approaches for resolving the problems. This report presents the findings of this final phase

Risk factor investigation for cardiovascular health through WHO STEPS approach in Ardabil, Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mashadi-Abdollahi H

2011-07-01

Full Text Available H Sadeghi-Bazargani1,2, H Jafarzadeh3, M Fallah4, S Hekmat3, J Bashiri3, GH Hosseingolizadeh3, MS Soltanmohammadzadeh3, A Mortezazadeh3, A Shaker3, M Danehzan3, A Zohouri3, O Khosravi3, R Nasimidoust3, N Malekpour3, E Kharazmi4, M Babaei3, M Nadirmohammadi3, H Mashhadi-Abdollahi51Neuroscience Research Center, 2Statistics and Epidemiology Department, Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; 3Public Health Department, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran; 4Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland; 5National Public Health Management Center (NPMC, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranObjectives: Reliable evidence is the keystone for any noncommunicable disease (NCD prevention plan to be initiated. In this study we carried out a risk factor investigation based on the WHO Stepwise approach to Surveillance (STEPS.Methods: The study was conducted out on 1000 adults between 15 and 64 years of age living in Ardabil province, north-west Iran during 2006, based on the WHO STEPS approach to surveillance of risk factors for NCD. At this stage only the first and second steps were carried out. Data were collected through standard questionnaires and methods analyzed using STATA version 8 statistical software package.Results: 29.0% of men and 2.6% of women were current daily tobacco smokers. The mean number of manufactured cigarettes smoked per day was 18.9 among current daily smokers. Smoking was most prevalent among men of low-income families and those of lower education. The mean body mass index (BMI was 26.6 kg/m2, and was significantly correlated with systolic blood pressure. 58.9% were overweight or obese; 18.0% had raised blood pressure and 3.7% had isolated systolic hypertension. The mean number of servings of fruit consumed per day was 1.1; 33.1% had low levels of activity. Combined risk factor analysis showed that 4.1% of participants were in the

An allometric approach of tumor-angiogenesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Szasz, Oliver; Vincze, Gyula; Szigeti, Gyula Peter; Benyo, Zoltan; Szasz, Andras

2018-07-01

Angiogenesis is one of the main supporting factors of tumor-progression. It is a complex set of interactions together with hypoxia and inflammation, regulating tumor growth. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of angiogenesis with an allometric approach applied to angiogenesis and the regulating factors. The results show that allometry has the potential to describe this aspect, including the sigmoid-like transport function. There are particular conditions under which the complex control maximizes the relative tumor mass. Linear growth of malignancy diameter with an allometric approach was proven. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Phylogenetic Reconstruction Shows Independent Evolutionary Origins of Mitochondrial Transcription Factors from an Ancient Family of RNA Methyltransferase Proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Aj Harris; Goldman, Aaron David

2018-04-25

Here, we generate a robust phylogenetic framework for the rRNA adenine N(6)-methyltransferase (RAMTase) protein family that shows a more ancient and complex evolutionary history within the family than previously reported. RAMTases occur universally by descent across the three domains of life, and typical orthologs within the family perform methylation of the small subunits of ribosomal RNA (rRNA). However, within the RAMTase family, two different groups of mitochondrial transcription factors, mtTFB1 and mtTFB2, have evolved in eukaryotes through neofunctionalization. Previous phylogenetic analyses have suggested that mtTFB1 and mtTFB2 comprise sister clades that arose via gene duplication, which occurred sometime following the endosymbiosis event that produced the mitochondrion. Through dense and taxonomically broad sampling of RAMTase family members especially within bacteria, we found that these eukaryotic mitochondrial transcription factors, mtTFB1 and mtTFB2, have independent origins in phylogenetically distant clades such that their divergence most likely predates the last universal common ancestor of life. The clade of mtTFB2s comprises orthologs in Opisthokonts and the clade of mtTFB1s includes orthologs in Amoebozoa and Metazoa. Thus, we clearly demonstrate that the neofunctionalization producing the transcription factor function evolved twice independently within the RAMTase family. These results are consistent with and help to elucidate outcomes from prior experimental studies, which found that some members of mtTFB1 still perform the ancestral rRNA methylation function, and the results have broader implications for understanding the evolution of new protein functions. Our phylogenetic reconstruction is also in agreement with prior studies showing two independent origins of plastid RAMTases in Viridiplantae and other photosynthetic autotrophs. We believe that this updated phylogeny of RAMTases should provide a robust evolutionary framework for ongoing

Single-diffractive production of charmed mesons at the LHC within the k{sub t}-factorization approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Łuszczak, Marta [University of Rzeszów,PL-35-959 Rzeszów (Poland); Maciuła, Rafał; Szczurek, Antoni; Trzebiński, Maciej [Institute of Nuclear Physics PAN,PL-31-342 Cracow (Poland)

2017-02-16

We discuss the single-diffractive production of cc̄ pairs and charmed mesons at the LHC. For a first time we propose a k{sub t}-factorization approach to the diffractive processes. The transverse momentum dependent diffractive parton distributions are obtained from standard (collinear) diffractive parton distributions used in the literature. In this calculation the transverse momentum of the pomeron is neglected with respect to transverse momentum of partons entering the hard process. We also perform a first evaluation of the cross sections at the LHC using the diffractive transverse momentum dependent parton distributions. The results of the new approach are compared with those of the standard collinear one. Significantly larger cross sections are obtained in the k{sub t}-factorization approach in which some parts of higher-order effects is effectively included. The differences between corresponding differential distributions are discussed. Finally, we present a feasibility study of the process at the LHC using proton tagging technique. The analysis suggests that the measurement of single-diffractive charm production is possible using ATLAS and CMS/TOTEM detectors.

Identifying perinatal risk factors for infant maltreatment: an ecological approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hallisey Elaine J

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Child maltreatment and its consequences are a persistent problem throughout the world. Public health workers, human services officials, and others are interested in new and efficient ways to determine which geographic areas to target for intervention programs and resources. To improve assessment efforts, selected perinatal factors were examined, both individually and in various combinations, to determine if they are associated with increased risk of infant maltreatment. State of Georgia birth records and abuse and neglect data were analyzed using an area-based, ecological approach with the census tract as a surrogate for the community. Cartographic visualization suggested some correlation exists between risk factors and child maltreatment, so bivariate and multivariate regression were performed. The presence of spatial autocorrelation precluded the use of traditional ordinary least squares regression, therefore a spatial regression model coupled with maximum likelihood estimation was employed. Results Results indicate that all individual factors or their combinations are significantly associated with increased risk of infant maltreatment. The set of perinatal risk factors that best predicts infant maltreatment rates are: mother smoked during pregnancy, families with three or more siblings, maternal age less than 20 years, births to unmarried mothers, Medicaid beneficiaries, and inadequate prenatal care. Conclusion This model enables public health to take a proactive stance, to reasonably predict areas where poor outcomes are likely to occur, and to therefore more efficiently allocate resources. U.S. states that routinely collect the variables the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS defines for birth certificates can easily identify areas that are at high risk for infant maltreatment. The authors recommend that agencies charged with reducing child maltreatment target communities that demonstrate the perinatal risks

Risk factors for suicidal behaviors among Filipino Americans: a data mining approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuroki, Yusuke

2015-01-01

Filipino Americans have lower suicide rates than other Asian ethnic groups. The present study examined risk factors for suicide ideation and attempt among Filipino Americans with random forest. The data were from the Filipino American Community Epidemiological Study (Takeuchi, 2011). The results showed that the important predictors for suicide ideation were depressive disorder, substance use disorder, and years in the United States. The important predictors for suicide attempt were the number of family relatives and family conflict. Clinicians are advised to investigate familial and cultural factors among Filipino Americans. How family and cultural factors may affect suicidal behaviors were further discussed.

The human factors engineering approach to biomedical informatics projects: state of the art, results, benefits and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Beuscart-Zéphir, M-C; Elkin, Peter; Pelayo, Sylvia; Beuscart, Regis

2007-01-01

The objective of this paper is to define a comprehensible overview of the Human Factors approach to biomedical informatics applications for healthcare. The overview starts with a presentation of the necessity of a proper management of Human factors for Healthcare IT projects to avoid unusable products and unsafe work situations. The first section is dedicated to definitions of the Human Factors Engineering (HFE) main concepts. The second section describes a functional model of an HFE lifecycle adapted for healthcare work situations. The third section provides an overview of existing HF and usability methods for healthcare products and presents a selection of interesting results. The last section discusses the benefits and limitations of the HFE approach. Literature review based on Pubmed and conference proceedings in the field of Medical Informatics coupled with a review of other databases and conference proceedings in the field of Ergonomics focused on papers addressing healthcare work and system design. Usability studies performed on healthcare applications have uncovered unacceptable usability flaws that make the systems error prone, thus endangering the patient safety. Moreover, in many cases, the procurement and the implementation process simply forget about human factors: following only technological considerations, they issue potentially dangerous and always unpleasant work situations. But when properly applied to IT projects, the HFE approach proves efficient when seeking to improve patient safety, users' satisfaction and adoption of the products. We recommend that the HFE methodology should be applied to most informatics and systems development projects, and the usability of the products should be systematically checked before permitting their release and implementation. This requires the development of Centers specialized in Human Factors for Healthcare and Patient safety in each Country/Region.

Combined action of ionizing radiation with another factor: common rules and theoretical approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jin Kyu; Roh, Changhyun; Komarova, Ludmila N.; Petin, Vladislav G.

2013-01-01

Two or more factors can simultaneously make their combined effects on the biological objects. This study has focused on theoretical approach to synergistic interaction due to the combined action of radiation and another factor on cell inactivation. A mathematical model for the synergistic interaction of different environmental agents was suggested for quantitative prediction of irreversibly damaged cells after combined exposures. The model takes into account the synergistic interaction of agents and based on the supposition that additional effective damages responsible for the synergy are irreversible and originated from an interaction of ineffective sub lesions. The experimental results regarding the irreversible component of radiation damage of diploid yeast cells simultaneous exposed to heat with ionizing radiation or UV light are presented. A good agreement of experimental results with model predictions was demonstrated. The importance of the results obtained for the interpretation of the mechanism of synergistic interaction of various environmental factors is discussed. (author)

Combined action of ionizing radiation with another factor: common rules and theoretical approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Jin Kyu; Roh, Changhyun, E-mail: jkkim@kaeri.re.kr [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Jeongeup (Korea, Republic of); Komarova, Ludmila N.; Petin, Vladislav G., E-mail: vgpetin@yahoo.com [Medical Radiological Research Center, Obninsk (Russian Federation)

2013-07-01

Two or more factors can simultaneously make their combined effects on the biological objects. This study has focused on theoretical approach to synergistic interaction due to the combined action of radiation and another factor on cell inactivation. A mathematical model for the synergistic interaction of different environmental agents was suggested for quantitative prediction of irreversibly damaged cells after combined exposures. The model takes into account the synergistic interaction of agents and based on the supposition that additional effective damages responsible for the synergy are irreversible and originated from an interaction of ineffective sub lesions. The experimental results regarding the irreversible component of radiation damage of diploid yeast cells simultaneous exposed to heat with ionizing radiation or UV light are presented. A good agreement of experimental results with model predictions was demonstrated. The importance of the results obtained for the interpretation of the mechanism of synergistic interaction of various environmental factors is discussed. (author)

Environmental factor approach to account for water effects in pressure vessel and piping fatigue evaluations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mehta, H.S.; Gosselin, S.R.

1998-01-01

This paper summarizes past and current studies of the environmental fatigue effects in light water reactor (LWR) applications. Current Argonne and Japanese research efforts are reviewed and an approach to calculate an environmental correction factor is described. A description of how the proposed approach can be implemented in section III, NB-3600 and NB-3200-type fatigue evaluations is presented along with examples of applying the approach to piping (NB-3600) and safe end fatigue evaluations. These procedures were applied to several BWR and pressurized water reactor (PWR) example cases. The results of these case studies indicated that there is a modest increase in calculated fatigue usage, which is considerably less than the results obtained when the NUREG/CR-5999 curves are applied directly. (orig.)

Proposal of a risk-factor-based analytical approach for integrating occupational health and safety into project risk evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Badri, Adel; Nadeau, Sylvie; Gbodossou, André

2012-09-01

Excluding occupational health and safety (OHS) from project management is no longer acceptable. Numerous industrial accidents have exposed the ineffectiveness of conventional risk evaluation methods as well as negligence of risk factors having major impact on the health and safety of workers and nearby residents. Lack of reliable and complete evaluations from the beginning of a project generates bad decisions that could end up threatening the very existence of an organization. This article supports a systematic approach to the evaluation of OHS risks and proposes a new procedure based on the number of risk factors identified and their relative significance. A new concept called risk factor concentration along with weighting of risk factor categories as contributors to undesirable events are used in the analytical hierarchy process multi-criteria comparison model with Expert Choice(©) software. A case study is used to illustrate the various steps of the risk evaluation approach and the quick and simple integration of OHS at an early stage of a project. The approach allows continual reassessment of criteria over the course of the project or when new data are acquired. It was thus possible to differentiate the OHS risks from the risk of drop in quality in the case of the factory expansion project. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A theoretical approach to the re-suspension factor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magnoni M.

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The atmospheric re-suspension of radionuclides is a well-known phenomenon that consists in the re-injection into the atmosphere of previously deposited radioactivity. The process is driven by the action of wind on surfaces and can act as an additional source of radiation exposure by inhalation, after the deposition has finished. It is thus defined as the re-suspension factor, a parameter K generally considered as a time depending function and defined as the ratio of Ca, the volumetric air activity concentration (Bq m−3 and I0 (Bq m−2, the radioactivity deposition at time zero. The re-suspension factor concept is very useful in radioprotection in order to estimate the inhalation of radionuclides re-suspended from contaminated surfaces when direct atmospheric measurements are lacking or difficult to perform. However, the choice of the proper values of K is usually not a simple task, being quite site-specific and related to the meteorological, géomorphologie and environmental characteristics of the area to be studied. Moreover, several investigations showed clearly that the values of K are a decreasing function of time. For that reason, K values span several orders of magnitude: typical values in the range 10−5–10−10 m−1 are reported in literature for different environmental conditions and time elapsed since the deposition event. The current available models for the re-suspension factor are based on empirical formulas whose parameters are highly site dependent and cannot easily be related to some physical quantity. In this paper a simple physical model for the re-suspension factor is proposed and tested with available environmental radioactivity data (137Cs, collected since 1986 (Chernobyl fallout. The new model not only allows a satisfactory description of the experimental data like even the current empirical models do, but it is also able to connect the K values to quantities with a physical meaning (such as, for example a diffusion

SU-E-T-469: A Practical Approach for the Determination of Small Field Output Factors Using Published Monte Carlo Derived Correction Factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calderon, E; Siergiej, D

2014-01-01

Purpose: Output factor determination for small fields (less than 20 mm) presents significant challenges due to ion chamber volume averaging and diode over-response. Measured output factor values between detectors are known to have large deviations as field sizes are decreased. No set standard to resolve this difference in measurement exists. We observed differences between measured output factors of up to 14% using two different detectors. Published Monte Carlo derived correction factors were used to address this challenge and decrease the output factor deviation between detectors. Methods: Output factors for Elekta's linac-based stereotactic cone system were measured using the EDGE detector (Sun Nuclear) and the A16 ion chamber (Standard Imaging). Measurements conditions were 100 cm SSD (source to surface distance) and 1.5 cm depth. Output factors were first normalized to a 10.4 cm × 10.4 cm field size using a daisy-chaining technique to minimize the dependence of field size on detector response. An equation expressing the relation between published Monte Carlo correction factors as a function of field size for each detector was derived. The measured output factors were then multiplied by the calculated correction factors. EBT3 gafchromic film dosimetry was used to independently validate the corrected output factors. Results: Without correction, the deviation in output factors between the EDGE and A16 detectors ranged from 1.3 to 14.8%, depending on cone size. After applying the calculated correction factors, this deviation fell to 0 to 3.4%. Output factors determined with film agree within 3.5% of the corrected output factors. Conclusion: We present a practical approach to applying published Monte Carlo derived correction factors to measured small field output factors for the EDGE and A16 detectors. Using this method, we were able to decrease the percent deviation between both detectors from 14.8% to 3.4% agreement

Typological and dimensional approach at comparing the Giessen Test (GT) with the NEO-Five-Factor-Inventory (NEO-FFI)

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Marcus; Körner, Annett; Herzberg, Philipp Yorck

2008-01-01

Objectives: This article reports comparisons of the Giessen Test (GT) with the NEO-Five-Factor-Inventory (NEO-FFI) based on a dimensional as well as on a typological approach. Method: Data were collected from 1673 subjects (aged between 18 and 96 years) constituting a representative sample of the German population. Results: The results indicate only moderate agreement (ranging from .25 to .61) between the subscales of the two personality inventories. The correspondence seems to be somewhat higher, when the typological approach was used instead of the dimensional approach. Conclusions: The typological approach is less dependent on the underlying questionnaires and provides a useful extension of the dimensional approach. PMID:19742276

Title: Studies on drug switchability showed heterogeneity in methodological approaches: a scoping review.

Science.gov (United States)

Belleudi, Valeria; Trotta, Francesco; Vecchi, Simona; Amato, Laura; Addis, Antonio; Davoli, Marina

2018-05-16

Several drugs share the same therapeutic indication, including those undergoing patent expiration. Concerns on the interchangeability are frequent in clinical practice, challenging the evaluation of switchability through observational research. To conduct a scoping review of observational studies on drug switchability to identify methodological strategies adopted to deal with bias and confounding. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science (updated 1/31/2017) to identify studies evaluating switchability in terms of effectiveness/safety outcomes or compliance. Three reviewers independently screened studies extracting all characteristics. Strategies to address confounding, particularly, previous drug use and switching reasons were considered. All findings were summarized in descriptive analyses. Thirty-two studies, published in the last 10 years, met the inclusion criteria. Epilepsy, cardiovascular and rheumatology were the most frequently represented clinical areas. 75% of the studies reported data on effectiveness/safety outcomes. The most frequent study design was cohort (65.6%) followed by case-control (21.9%) and self-controlled (12.5%). Case-control and case-crossover studies showed homogeneous methodological strategies to deal with bias and confounding. Among cohort studies, the confounding associated with previous drug use was addressed introducing variables in multivariate model (47.3%) or selecting only adherent patients (14.3%). Around 30% of cohort studies did not report reasons for switching. In the remaining 70%, clinical parameters or previous occurrence of outcomes were measured to identify switching connected with lack of effectiveness or adverse events. This study represents a starting point for researchers and administrators who are approaching the investigation and assessment of issues related to interchangeability of drugs. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Approaches for the integration of human factors into the upgrading and refurbishment of control rooms - Summary and conclusions - Principal Working Group 1 on Operating Experience and Human Factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

a broad range of interested parties, in relation to the upgrading and refurbishing of control rooms. The workshop attracted 16 contributions from 13 different countries and provided a range of insights and lessons based on design experience, practical experience, research and regulatory needs, and an opportunity for the exchange of experiences and approaches on a range of important topics. The workshop also sought to identify and prioritize areas meriting further consideration and research. The 34 participants shared their experiences and perceptions on a broad number of aspects including: - The identification of human factors issues from the utility, vendor, and regulatory perspectives. - Ensuring the inclusion and implementation of human factors issues within the upgrade or refurbishment process. - How this change process should be managed. - Feedback from practical experience and real concerns. - Meeting modern human factors requirements. This report presents a summary of the conclusions and recommendations from the workshop. five main points were considered by the participants in the workshop as important areas for future work or research: - There is a need to collate a 'lessons learnt' database relating to human factors and control room upgrades; - There is a need to co-ordinate the method/tool development and use in order to better support evaluations and comparisons; - there is a need to show how to establish a performance baseline before change in order to demonstrate that performance is at least as good, or better, that prior to the change; - It is important to support the use of a 'control room philosophy' prior to, during, and after the upgrade; - There is a need to have a better-shared understanding of the design process and how the different disciplines involved contribute to it

Using Bayes factors for multi-factor, biometric authentication

Science.gov (United States)

Giffin, A.; Skufca, J. D.; Lao, P. A.

2015-01-01

Multi-factor/multi-modal authentication systems are becoming the de facto industry standard. Traditional methods typically use rates that are point estimates and lack a good measure of uncertainty. Additionally, multiple factors are typically fused together in an ad hoc manner. To be consistent, as well as to establish and make proper use of uncertainties, we use a Bayesian method that will update our estimates and uncertainties as new information presents itself. Our algorithm compares competing classes (such as genuine vs. imposter) using Bayes Factors (BF). The importance of this approach is that we not only accept or reject one model (class), but compare it to others to make a decision. We show using a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve that using BF for determining class will always perform at least as well as the traditional combining of factors, such as a voting algorithm. As the uncertainty decreases, the BF result continues to exceed the traditional methods result.

Evaluation of E2 form factor = 24Mg

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marinelli, J.R.; Moreira, J.R.

1988-11-01

Longitudinal and transverse electron scattering form factors for the 2 + state at 1.37 Mev of the 24 Mg nucleus was evaluated with rotational model wavefunctions. Four different approaches were used for the transverse E2 form factor: PHF, cranking model, ridig rotor and irrotational flow. For the nuclear intrinsic wavefunction, the Nilsson model was assumed in all approaches yielding the calculation of the form factor in PWBA and DWBA. The results are discussed and compared with a recent measurement performed with 180 0 electron scattered from this state. The DWBA calculation, taking into account first order corrections shows that PHF and irrotational flow models give the best agreements with the available data and compete in quality with more complex calculation performed under the 'shell model' approach. (author) [pt

A combined structural dynamics approach identifies a putative switch in factor VIIa employed by tissue factor to initiate blood coagulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Ole H; Rand, Kasper D; Østergaard, Henrik

2007-01-01

Coagulation factor VIIa (FVIIa) requires tissue factor (TF) to attain full catalytic competency and to initiate blood coagulation. In this study, the mechanism by which TF allosterically activates FVIIa is investigated by a structural dynamics approach that combines molecular dynamics (MD......) simulations and hydrogen/deuterium exchange (HX) mass spectrometry on free and TF-bound FVIIa. The differences in conformational dynamics from MD simulations are shown to be confined to regions of FVIIa observed to undergo structural stabilization as judged by HX experiments, especially implicating activation...... in the presence of TF or an active-site inhibitor. Based on MD simulations, a key switch of the TF-induced structural changes is identified as the interacting pair Leu305{163} and Phe374{225} in FVIIa, whose mutual conformations are guided by the presence of TF and observed to be closely linked to the structural...

Separating method factors and higher order traits of the Big Five: a meta-analytic multitrait-multimethod approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Luye; Connelly, Brian S; Geeza, Alexis A

2012-02-01

Though most personality researchers now recognize that ratings of the Big Five are not orthogonal, the field has been divided about whether these trait intercorrelations are substantive (i.e., driven by higher order factors) or artifactual (i.e., driven by correlated measurement error). We used a meta-analytic multitrait-multirater study to estimate trait correlations after common method variance was controlled. Our results indicated that common method variance substantially inflates trait correlations, and, once controlled, correlations among the Big Five became relatively modest. We then evaluated whether two different theories of higher order factors could account for the pattern of Big Five trait correlations. Our results did not support Rushton and colleagues' (Rushton & Irwing, 2008; Rushton et al., 2009) proposed general factor of personality, but Digman's (1997) α and β metatraits (relabeled by DeYoung, Peterson, and Higgins (2002) as Stability and Plasticity, respectively) produced viable fit. However, our models showed considerable overlap between Stability and Emotional Stability and between Plasticity and Extraversion, raising the question of whether these metatraits are redundant with their dominant Big Five traits. This pattern of findings was robust when we included only studies whose observers were intimately acquainted with targets. Our results underscore the importance of using a multirater approach to studying personality and the need to separate the causes and outcomes of higher order metatraits from those of the Big Five. We discussed the implications of these findings for the array of research fields in which personality is studied.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Contextualising Family Physical Activity Using a Write, Draw, Show and Tell Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Noonan, Robert J; Fairclough, Stuart J; Knowles, Zoe R; Boddy, Lynne M

2017-07-14

Understanding family physical activity (PA) behaviour is essential for designing effective family-based PA interventions. However, effective approaches to capture the perceptions and "lived experiences" of families are not yet well established. The aims of the study were to: (1) demonstrate how a "write, draw, show and tell" (WDST) methodological approach can be appropriate to family-based PA research, and (2) present two distinct family case studies to provide insights into the habitual PA behaviour and experiences of a nuclear and single-parent family. Six participants (including two "target" children aged 9-11 years, two mothers and two siblings aged 6-8 years) from two families were purposefully selected to take part in the study, based on their family structure. Participants completed a paper-based PA diary and wore an ActiGraph GT9X accelerometer on their left wrist for up to 10 weekdays and 16 weekend days. A range of WDST tasks were then undertaken by each family to offer contextual insight into their family-based PA. The selected families participated in different levels and modes of PA, and reported contrasting leisure opportunities and experiences. These novel findings encourage researchers to tailor family-based PA intervention programmes to the characteristics of the family.

A holistic approach to factors affecting depression in haemodialysis patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerogianni, Georgia; Kouzoupis, Anastasios; Grapsa, Eirini

2018-05-19

Depression in dialysis populations is affected by co-morbid diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and immune dysfunction, and it also includes high suicide risk and frequent hospitalizations. Depressive disorders have a close association with malnutrition and chronic inflammation, as well as with cognitive impairment. Impaired cognitive function may be manifested as low adherence to dialysis treatment, leading to malnutrition. Additionally, chronic pain and low quality of sleep lead to high rates of depressive symptoms in haemodialysis patients, while an untreated depression can cause sleep disturbances and increased mortality risk. Depression can also lead to sexual dysfunction and non-adherence, while unemployment can cause depressive disorders, due to patients' feelings of being a financial burden on their family. The present review provides a holistic approach to the factors affecting depression in haemodialysis, offering significant knowledge to renal professionals.

Generational Approach to Factors Influencing Career Choice in Accounting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jony Hsiao

Full Text Available ABSTRACT This research aims to grasp which factors influence the generation Y to choose accounting as its career. A significant decline in the number of candidates willing to pursue a career as accountant has been observed abroad - USA, Australia, and Japan. However, in other countries - Brazil, Singapore, and Hong Kong - the opposite has been observed. Another issue is the decline in educational qualification of those pursuing an accounting career, contributing in a way that many talented students change their career choice. This may be explained by the fact that people tend to believe accounting is an exact science, full of calculations, boring, and not very creative, bringing an unbalance between the traits an individual should have according to the job market and those perceived by society. In order to give a contribution to literature concerning the factors that influence the generation Y in its career choice, a goal of this research was conducting an exploratory study where some hypotheses were formulated to support the discussion. We used Mannheim's Generational Theory and the literature on career choice. Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire, based on Schwartz's Portrait Value Questionnaire and Germeijs and Verschueren's Student Choice Task Inventory, adapted through focus group interview. Data were fully collected online and the sample consisted of 665 subjects. The results showed that people who chose accounting as their career were influenced by factors such as creativity, independence, challenging and dynamic environment, job security, money-making, job availability, and other significant people - friends and teachers. The subjects were not influenced by social factors, such as working with people and making contributions to society and family. They wish for more autonomy, creativity, and flexibility at work, and people still care about job security and money-making.

A systems biology approach to transcription factor binding site prediction.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiang Zhou

2010-03-01

Full Text Available The elucidation of mammalian transcriptional regulatory networks holds great promise for both basic and translational research and remains one the greatest challenges to systems biology. Recent reverse engineering methods deduce regulatory interactions from large-scale mRNA expression profiles and cross-species conserved regulatory regions in DNA. Technical challenges faced by these methods include distinguishing between direct and indirect interactions, associating transcription regulators with predicted transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs, identifying non-linearly conserved binding sites across species, and providing realistic accuracy estimates.We address these challenges by closely integrating proven methods for regulatory network reverse engineering from mRNA expression data, linearly and non-linearly conserved regulatory region discovery, and TFBS evaluation and discovery. Using an extensive test set of high-likelihood interactions, which we collected in order to provide realistic prediction-accuracy estimates, we show that a careful integration of these methods leads to significant improvements in prediction accuracy. To verify our methods, we biochemically validated TFBS predictions made for both transcription factors (TFs and co-factors; we validated binding site predictions made using a known E2F1 DNA-binding motif on E2F1 predicted promoter targets, known E2F1 and JUND motifs on JUND predicted promoter targets, and a de novo discovered motif for BCL6 on BCL6 predicted promoter targets. Finally, to demonstrate accuracy of prediction using an external dataset, we showed that sites matching predicted motifs for ZNF263 are significantly enriched in recent ZNF263 ChIP-seq data.Using an integrative framework, we were able to address technical challenges faced by state of the art network reverse engineering methods, leading to significant improvement in direct-interaction detection and TFBS-discovery accuracy. We estimated the accuracy

Psychometric properties of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale: A factor analysis and item-response theory approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Pilcher, June J; Switzer, Fred S; Munc, Alec; Donnelly, Janet; Jellen, Julia C; Lamm, Claus

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) in two languages, German and English. Students from a university in Austria (N = 292; 55 males; mean age = 18.71 ± 1.71 years; 237 females; mean age = 18.24 ± 0.88 years) and a university in the US (N = 329; 128 males; mean age = 18.71 ± 0.88 years; 201 females; mean age = 21.59 ± 2.27 years) completed the ESS. An exploratory-factor analysis was completed to examine dimensionality of the ESS. Item response theory (IRT) analyses were used to provide information about the response rates on the items on the ESS and provide differential item functioning (DIF) analyses to examine whether the items were interpreted differently between the two languages. The factor analyses suggest that the ESS measures two distinct sleepiness constructs. These constructs indicate that the ESS is probing sleepiness in settings requiring active versus passive responding. The IRT analyses found that overall, the items on the ESS perform well as a measure of sleepiness. However, Item 8 and to a lesser extent Item 6 were being interpreted differently by respondents in comparison to the other items. In addition, the DIF analyses showed that the responses between German and English were very similar indicating that there are only minor measurement differences between the two language versions of the ESS. These findings suggest that the ESS provides a reliable measure of propensity to sleepiness; however, it does convey a two-factor approach to sleepiness. Researchers and clinicians can use the German and English versions of the ESS but may wish to exclude Item 8 when calculating a total sleepiness score.

The General Factor of Personality: A General Critique

OpenAIRE

Revelle, William; Wilt, Joshua

2013-01-01

Recently, it has been proposed that all non-cognitive measures of personality share a general factor of personality. A problem with many of these studies is a lack of clarity in defining a general factor. In this paper we address the multiple ways in which a general factor has been identified and argue that many of these approaches find factors that are not in fact general. Through the use of artificial examples, we show that a general factor is not: The first factor or component of a correla...

75 FR 8937 - Development of a Relative Potency Factor (RPF) Approach for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-26

... Relative Potency Factor (RPF) Approach for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Mixtures AGENCY... Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Mixtures'' (EPA/635/R-08/012A). The draft document was prepared by the National... 27, 2010. The listening session on the draft document for PAH mixtures will be held on April 7, 2010...

A systematic approach for the assessment of bacterial growth-controlling factors linked to biological stability of drinking water in distribution systems

KAUST Repository

Prest, E. I.; Hammes, F.; Kotzsch, S.; van Loosdrecht, M. C. M.; Vrouwenvelder, Johannes S.

2016-01-01

A systematic approach is presented for the assessment of (i) bacterial growth-controlling factors in drinking water and (ii) the impact of distribution conditions on the extent of bacterial growth in full-scale distribution systems. The approach

Locational Factors and Foreign Market-entry Considerations for Malaysian Contractors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.R Abdul_Aziz

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Past studies on contractor internationalisation adopt a unimodelapproach. Taking up the call of a few scholars, a study isconducted, this time by integrating several extant models of fi rminternationalisation. Malaysian international contractors are usedto test this approach. Due to space limitation, this paper is focusedonly on locational factors. It begins by justifying the inclusion oflocational factors in a multi-model approach. Then it posits thatlocational disadvantage is a more intellectually appealing conceptthan locational advantages. Empirically, it shows that the surveyedcontractors evaluate a wide range of factors before making thego/no go decision to enter foreign markets. It also shows thatpsychic distance was not their major concern. Finally, the locationaldisadvantages create a market space for international contractorswith the tenacity to overcome them, which the sampled populationpossessed.

Study of the Academic Members Attitude about Main Factors of Not Approaching to Scientific Writing in Hamadan University of Medical Sciences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Koorki

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction & Objective: one of the important indicators of scientific study and science production in the universities is original research and its scientific article. The aim of this study was to determine the academic members’ attitude about main factors of not approaching to scientific writing in Hamadan Uni. Med. Sci.Material & Methods: The current survey was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Statistical population was all of the academic members of this university in 2006 (N=260. The data collected through a questionnaire consists of 2 parts: I. the demographic characteristics, II. the questions related to their attitude. After distribution of the questionnaires we received 228 completed ones. The data was statistically analyzed by SPSS software.Results: Outcomes showed that the main factors of not approaching to write the scientific articles were: education, teaching and treatment engagement mean with 3.891.16 of 5, the barriers of doing original research and writing the articles (3.880.93, long duration of sending and acceptation of articles in Persian scientific journals (3.841.07 and weakness of English language skill (3.831.05.Conclusion: The barriers of scientific writing were in 3 parts: organizational, personal and personal-organizational problems. The academic members’ activities and university managers’ supports are needed to remove these barriers.

Interdisciplinarity, Debate And Movie Clips As Highly Motivating Factors In Live Shows - Five Years Of Success

Science.gov (United States)

Stengler, E.; Sirera, J. M.

2011-09-01

A live show on any subject that includes experiments and continuous interaction with the audience is a well known approach for EPO activities that many are carrying out all over. We present such an initiative with some added ingredients such as interdisciplinarity, the use of movie clips, and especially the debate between the two presenters, a debate that is all the more attractive to the public if it not fully staged but closely represents their actual points of view. José Montesinos, from the "Orotava" Canarian Foundation for the History of Science, is and plays the role of the more mature math professor who has grown weary of the overrated value given in science to mathematics and its consequences. This poses a constant challenge to his colleague, Erik Stengler, from the Science Museum of Tenerife, the young down-to-earth hands-on scientist, who defends the usual view that science and technology are to be judged by their achievements, which have brought about the advancement of modern society. With this approach and as a collaboration between our institutions, we have produced and toured highly successful activities on: Einstein and Relativity (from 2005 to 2008, "Einstein Goes To School," including a theatre play); circularity, the number π, forces of inertia and the Newtonian revolution (in 2008/2009, "The Tension Between Circularity and The Straight Line"); and the foundations of modern astronomy (in 2009/2010 "Kepler and Galileo, Messengers of the Stars"). Audiences were very varied - students, adult students, general public, prison inmates, teachers - and all appreciated the presentations as fun, thought-provoking and highly motivating, and valued especially the interdisciplinary character of the activity. Movie clips have shown to be especially useful to recover the attention of the young when they lose the thread due to the short attention spans they presently have.

No-show at a forensic psychiatric outpatient clinic : risk factors and reasons

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Feitsma, W. Nathalie; Popping, Roel; Jansen, Danielle E. M. C.

Nonattendance for and late cancellations of scheduled appointments, that is no-show, is a well-known phenomenon in psychiatric outpatient clinics. Research on the topic of no-show for initial and consecutive appointments in the field of forensic psychiatry is scarce. This study therefore aims to

Can a Risk Factor Based Approach Safely Reduce Screening for Retinopathy of Prematurity?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. M. Friddle

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. Current American retinopathy of prematurity (ROP screening guidelines is imprecise for infants ≥ 30 weeks with birth weights between 1500 and 2000 g. Our objective was to evaluate a risk factor based approach for screening premature infants at low risk for severe ROP. Study Design. We performed a 13-year review from Intermountain Health Care (IHC data. All neonates born at ≤32 weeks were reviewed to determine ROP screening and/or development of severe ROP. Severe ROP was defined by stage ≥ 3 or need for laser therapy. Regression analysis was used to identify significant risk factors for severe ROP. Results. We identified 4607 neonates ≤ 32 weeks gestation. Following exclusion for death, with no retinal exam or incomplete data, 2791 (61% were included in the study. Overall, severe ROP occurred in 260 (9.3%, but only 11/1601 ≥ 29 weeks (0.7%. All infants with severe ROP ≥ 29 weeks had at least 2 identified ROP risk factors. Implementation of this risk based screening strategy to the IHC population over the timeline of this study would have eliminated screening in 21% (343/1601 of the screened population. Conclusions. Limiting ROP screening for infants ≥ 29 and ≤ 32 weeks to only those with clinical risk factors could significantly reduce screening exams while identifying all infants with severe ROP.

Factor selection for service quality evaluation: a hospital case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ameryoun, Ahmad; Najafi, Seyedvahid; Nejati-Zarnaqi, Bayram; Khalilifar, Seyed Omid; Ajam, Mahdi; Ansarimoghadam, Ahmad

2017-02-13

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a systematic approach to predict service quality dimension's influence on service quality using a novel analysis based on data envelopment and SERVQUAL. Design/methodology/approach To assess hospital service quality in Tehran, expectation and perception of those who received the services were evaluated using SERVQUAL. The hospital service quality dimensions were found by exploratory factor analysis (EFA). To compare customer expectation and perception, perceived service quality index (PSQI) was measured using a new method based on common weights. A novel sensitivity approach was used to test the service quality factor's impact on the PSQI. Findings A new service quality dimension named "trust in services" was found using EFA, which is not an original SERVQUAL factor. The approach was applied to assess the hospital's service quality. Since the PSQI value was 0.76 it showed that improvements are needed to meet customer expectations. The results showed the factor order that affect PSQI. "Trust in services" has the strongest influence on PSQI followed by "tangibles," "assurance," "empathy," and "responsiveness," respectively. Practical implications This work gives managers insight into service quality by following a systematic method; i.e., measuring perceived service quality from the customer viewpoint and service factors' impact on customer perception. Originality/value The procedure helps managers to select the required service quality dimensions which need improvement and predict their effects on customer perception.

Lead Time to Appointment and No-Show Rates for New and Follow-up Patients in an Ambulatory Clinic.

Science.gov (United States)

Drewek, Rupali; Mirea, Lucia; Adelson, P David

High rates of no-shows in outpatient clinics are problematic for revenue and for quality of patient care. Longer lead time to appointment has variably been implicated as a risk factor for no-shows, but the evidence within pediatric clinics is inconclusive. The goal of this study was to estimate no-show rates and test for association between appointment lead time and no-show rates for new and follow-up patients. Analyses included 534 new and 1920 follow-up patients from pulmonology and gastroenterology clinics at a freestanding children's hospital. The overall rate of no-shows was lower for visits scheduled within 0 to 30 days compared with 30 days or more (23% compared with 47%, P < .0001). Patient type significantly modified the association of appointment lead time; the rate of no-shows was higher (30%) among new patients compared with (21%) follow-up patients with appointments scheduled within 30 days (P = .004). For appointments scheduled 30 or more days' lead time, no-show rates were statistically similar for new patients (46%) and follow-up patients (0.48%). Time to appointment is a risk factor associated with no-shows, and further study is needed to identify and implement effective approaches to reduce appointment lead time, especially for new patients in pediatric subspecialties.

Thyroid-specific questions on work ability showed known-groups validity among Danes with thyroid diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Nexo, Mette Andersen; Watt, Torquil; Bonnema, Steen Joop; Hegedüs, Laszlo; Rasmussen, Åse Krogh; Feldt-Rasmussen, Ulla; Bjorner, Jakob Bue

2015-07-01

We aimed to identify the best approach to work ability assessment in patients with thyroid disease by evaluating the factor structure, measurement equivalence, known-groups validity, and predictive validity of a broad set of work ability items. Based on the literature and interviews with thyroid patients, 24 work ability items were selected from previous questionnaires, revised, or developed anew. Items were tested among 632 patients with thyroid disease (non-toxic goiter, toxic nodular goiter, Graves' disease (with or without orbitopathy), autoimmune hypothyroidism, and other thyroid diseases), 391 of which had participated in a study 5 years previously. Responses to select items were compared to general population data. We used confirmatory factor analyses for categorical data, logistic regression analyses and tests of differential item function, and head-to-head comparisons of relative validity in distinguishing known groups. Although all work ability items loaded on a common factor, the optimal factor solution included five factors: role physical, role emotional, thyroid-specific limitations, work limitations (without disease attribution), and work performance. The scale on thyroid-specific limitations showed the most power in distinguishing clinical groups and time since diagnosis. A global single item proved useful for comparisons with the general population, and a thyroid-specific item predicted labor market exclusion within the next 5 years (OR 5.0, 95 % CI 2.7-9.1). Items on work limitations with attribution to thyroid disease were most effective in detecting impact on work ability and showed good predictive validity. Generic work ability items remain useful for general population comparisons.

A plastic stress intensity factor approach to turbine disk structural integrity assessment

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V. Shlyannikov

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study based on a new fracture mechanics parameter is concerned with assessing the integrity of cracked steam turbine disk which operate under startup-shutdown cyclic loading conditions. Damage accumulation and growth in service have occurred on the inner surface of slot fillet of key. In order to determine elastic-plastic fracture mechanics parameters full-size stress-strain state analysis of turbine disk was performed for a quote-elliptical part-through cracks under considering loading conditions. As a result distributions of elastic and plastic stress intensity factors along crack front in slot fillet of key of turbine disk depending on surface crack form are defined. An engineering approach to the prediction of carrying capacity of cracked turbine disk which is sensitive to the loading history at maintenance is proposed. The predictions of the rate of crack growth and residual lifetime of steam turbine disk are compared for elastic and elastic-plastic solutions. It is shown that the previously proposed elastic crack growth models provide overestimate the lifetime with respect to the present one. An advantage to use the plastic stress intensity factor to characterize the fracture resistance as the self-dependent unified parameter for a variety of turbine disk configurations rather than the magnitude of the elastic stress intensity factors alone is discussed.

Modular approach to LWR in-core fuel management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Urli, N.; Pevec, D.; Coffou, E.; Petrovic, B.

1980-01-01

The most important methods in the LWR in-core fuel management are reviewed. A modular approach and optimization by use of infinite multiplication factor and power form-factor are favoured. A computer program for rotation of fuel assemblies at reloads has been developed which improves further fuel economy and reliability of nuclear power plants. The program has been tested on the PWR core and showed to decrease the power form-factors and flatten the radial power distribution. (author)

Dissecting the critical factors for thermodynamic stability of modular proteins using molecular modeling approach.

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Yuno Lee

Full Text Available Repeat proteins have recently attracted much attention as alternative scaffolds to immunoglobulin antibodies due to their unique structural and biophysical features. In particular, repeat proteins show high stability against temperature and chaotic agents. Despite many studies, structural features for the stability of repeat proteins remain poorly understood. Here we present an interesting result from in silico analyses pursuing the factors which affect the stability of repeat proteins. Previously developed repebody structure based on variable lymphocytes receptors (VLRs which consists of leucine-rich repeat (LRR modules was used as initial structure for the present study. We constructed extra six repebody structures with varying numbers of repeat modules and those structures were used for molecular dynamics simulations. For the structures, the intramolecular interactions including backbone H-bonds, van der Waals energy, and hydrophobicity were investigated and then the radius of gyration, solvent-accessible surface area, ratio of secondary structure, and hydration free energy were also calculated to find out the relationship between the number of LRR modules and stability of the protein. Our results show that the intramolecular interactions lead to more compact structure and smaller surface area of the repebodies, which are critical for the stability of repeat proteins. The other features were also well compatible with the experimental results. Based on our observations, the repebody-5 was proposed as the best structure from the all repebodies in structure optimization process. The present study successfully demonstrated that our computer-based molecular modeling approach can significantly contribute to the experiment-based protein engineering challenge.

Show Me the Way: Future Faculty Prefer Directive Feedback When Trying Active Learning Approaches

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Stephens, Jessica D.; Battle, David C.; Gormally, Cara L.; Brickman, Peggy

2017-01-01

Early training opportunities for future faculty, namely graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, can better prepare them to use active learning approaches. We know that instructional feedback supports sustained change and motivates instructors to improve teaching practices. Here, we incorporate feedback as a key component of a pedagogical…

The Approach to Defining Gravity Factors of Influence on the Foreign Trade Relations of Countries

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Kalyuzhna Nataliya G.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to determine the gravity factors of influence on the foreign trade relations of countries on the basis of the results of the comparative analysis of the classical specifications of the gravity model of foreign trade and the domestic experience in gravity modeling. It is substantiated that a gravity model is one of the tools of economic and mathematical modeling, the use of which is characterized by a high level of adequacy and ensures prediction of foreign trade conditions. The main approaches to the definition of explanatory variables in the gravity equation of foreign trade are analyzed, and the author’s approach to the selection of the factors of the gravity model is proposed. As the first explanatory variable in the specification of the gravity model of foreign trade and the characteristics of the importance of economies of foreign trade partners, it is proposed to use the GDP calculated at purchasing power parity with the expected positive and statistically significant coefficient. As the second explanatory variable of the gravity equation of foreign trade, it is proposed to use a complex characteristic of the “trade distance” between countries, which reflects the current conditions of bilateral trade and depends on factors influencing the foreign trade turnover between countries — both directly (static proportionality of transport costs of geographical remoteness, and indirectly (dynamic institutional conditions of bilateral relations. The expediency of using the world average annual price for oil as the quantitative equivalent of the “trading distance” index is substantiated. Prospects for further research in this direction are identifying the form and force of influence of certain basic gravity variables on the foreign trade relations of certain partner countries and determining the appropriateness of including additional factors in the composition of the gravity equation of foreign trade.

Musculoskeletal Risk Factors in the Young Athlete.

Science.gov (United States)

Moskwa, C A; Nicholas, J A; Goldberg, B

1989-11-01

In brief: Many children and adolescents participate in sports that put them at risk for musculoskeletal injuries. Underlying physical conditions, or risk factors, may predispose them to particular types of sports injuries. Research shows that these risk factors fall into five categories: body type, flexibility, muscle strength, inadequate rehabilitation of a previous injury, and skeletal malalignment and anomalies. Some findings show, for example, that youthful football players who are also heavy have an increased rate of injury, sprains and strains are less common in flexible athletes, and patellar pain or subluxation may be related to a variety of malalignment factors. The authors recommend using a systematic, integrated approach to risk assessment of the athlete, both for detecting risk factors and determining their potential for con tribu ting to a sports injury.

A Transfer Learning Approach for Applying Matrix Factorization to Small ITS Datasets

Science.gov (United States)

Voß, Lydia; Schatten, Carlotta; Mazziotti, Claudia; Schmidt-Thieme, Lars

2015-01-01

Machine Learning methods for Performance Prediction in Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) have proven their efficacy; specific methods, e.g. Matrix Factorization (MF), however suffer from the lack of available information about new tasks or new students. In this paper we show how this problem could be solved by applying Transfer Learning (TL),…

Economic evaluation of multilateral nuclear fuel cycle approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takashima, Ryuta; Kuno, Yusuke; Omoto, Akira; Tanaka, Satoru

2011-01-01

Recently previous works have shown that multilateral nuclear fuel cycle approach has benefits not only of non-proliferation but also of cost effectiveness. This is because for most facilities in nuclear fuel cycle, there exist economies of scale, which has a significant impact on the costs of nuclear fuel cycle. Therefore, the evaluation of economic rationality is required as one of the evaluation factors for the multilateral nuclear fuel cycle approach. In this study, we consider some options with respect to multilateral approaches to nuclear fuel cycle in Asian-Pacific region countries that are proposed by the University of Tokyo. In particular, the following factors are embedded into each type: A) no involvement of assurance of services, B) provision of assurance of services including construction of new facility, without transfer of ownership, and C) provision of assurance of service including construction of new joint facilities with ownership transfer of facilities to multilateral nuclear fuel cycle approach. We show the overnight costs taking into account install and operation of nuclear fuel cycle facilities for each option. The economic parameter values such as uranium price, scale factor, and market output expansion influences the total cost for each option. Thus, we show how these parameter values and economic risks affect the total overnight costs for each option. Additionally, the international facilities could increase the risk of transportation for nuclear material compared to national facilities. We discuss the potential effects of this transportation risk on the costs for each option. (author)

Identification and Ranking of Critical Success Factors of Knowledge Management Using Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment Approach: A Case Study

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Ali Mohaghar

2014-02-01

Based on the information accessible for the researchers, this is one of the first works which evaluates the key factors of successful knowledge management through fuzzy quality function deployment approach. It is expected that the proposed method would represent appropriate tools for enterprises which have decided to implement knowledge management because it prioritizes the critical success factors based on the knowledge management outcomes.

Inclusive Higgs boson production at the LHC in the kT-factorization approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdulov, N.A.; Malyshev, M.A.

2017-08-01

We investigate the inclusive Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at the CERN LHC conditions using the k T -factorization approach. Our analysis is based on the dominant off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess (where the transverse momenta of initial gluons are taken into account) and covers H→γγ, H→ZZ * →4l (where l=e,μ) and H→W + W - →e ± μ -+ ν anti ν decay channels. The transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon densities in a proton were derived from Ciafaloni-Catani-Fiorani-Marchesini equation or, alternatively, were chosen in accordance with Kimber-Martin-Ryskin prescription. We estimate the theoretical uncertainties of our calculations and compare our results with next-to-next-to-leading-order plus next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic ones obtained using collinear QCD factorization. Our predictions agree well with the latest experimental data taken by the CMS and ATLAS Collaborations at √(s)=8 and 13 TeV.

The Hermeneutical Approach in Translation Studies

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Bernd Stefanink

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Our aim is to convince the reader of the validity of the hermeneutical approach in translation studies. In a first part, we will show that this validity is based on the fact that the hermeneutical approach integrates factors like subjectivity, intuition, corporeality and creativity in its theoretical reflection, being thus close to the reality of the translation process. In a second part, we will situate this approach in the context of the development of modern translation studies since the 1950s, and show that this development was characterized by a dominating tendency that led from an atomistic to a more and more holistic view of the translation unit, legitimating the holistic approach, which is fundamental in translational hermeneutics. Our third part relates the history of philosophical hermeneutics as the legitimate foundation of translational hermeneutics. In a fourth part, devoted to the “outcoming perspectives”, we will try to reinforce the legitimacy of the hermeneutical approach by showing how it is supported by recent results of research in cognitive science. In order to foster further research in translational hermeneutics we also offer a methodology based on hermeneutic principles to study the translation process. Finally, we give an example of legitimation of a creative problemsolving based on a hermeneutical approach of a translation problem which finds its validation in the results of cognitive research.

Investment innovation trends: Factor-based investing

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Sanja Centineo

2017-05-01

Full Text Available This article shows that it can take a long period of time until research knowledge finds its application in practice and get disseminated as innovation trend. Factor-based investing is such an example. Having its developing roots in the nineties, it took more than two decades until this approach was detected by the by investment community. The goal of this article is to recall the definition of factor investing, present its historical evolvement and motivate its recent break-through and current trend among investment practitioners (known also under the notion smart beta. It aims at familiarizing with this investment approach from a practical perspective and highlighting its diversifying benefits in a portfolio context with the potential to outperform the market on risk-adjusted basis.

Factors Affecting M-commerce Adoption in Oman using Technology Acceptance Modeling Approach

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Syed Jafar Naqvi

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The advancement in mobile technologies has influenced many countries to adopt mobile services in their private and public organizations including Oman. M-commerce services are growing rapidly with the exponential growth of mobile devices, technologies and networks. Hence, many business organizations private or public use them to improve revenue, reduce costs, maintain their competitive edge and achieve a level of high efficiency. Although there were many M-commerce services introduced, it was hard to find evidence of any study conducted to determine their successes or failures. This study is an attempt to explore the factors affecting the adoption of M-commerce services in Oman using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM approach.

Safety, reliability, risk management and human factors: an integrated engineering approach applied to nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasconcelos, Vanderley de; Silva, Eliane Magalhaes Pereira da; Costa, Antonio Carlos Lopes da; Reis, Sergio Carneiro dos

2009-01-01

Nuclear energy has an important engineering legacy to share with the conventional industry. Much of the development of the tools related to safety, reliability, risk management, and human factors are associated with nuclear plant processes, mainly because the public concern about nuclear power generation. Despite the close association between these subjects, there are some important different approaches. The reliability engineering approach uses several techniques to minimize the component failures that cause the failure of the complex systems. These techniques include, for instance, redundancy, diversity, standby sparing, safety factors, and reliability centered maintenance. On the other hand system safety is primarily concerned with hazard management, that is, the identification, evaluation and control of hazards. Rather than just look at failure rates or engineering strengths, system safety would examine the interactions among system components. The events that cause accidents may be complex combinations of component failures, faulty maintenance, design errors, human actions, or actuation of instrumentation and control. Then, system safety deals with a broader spectrum of risk management, including: ergonomics, legal requirements, quality control, public acceptance, political considerations, and many other non-technical influences. Taking care of these subjects individually can compromise the completeness of the analysis and the measures associated with both risk reduction, and safety and reliability increasing. Analyzing together the engineering systems and controls of a nuclear facility, their management systems and operational procedures, and the human factors engineering, many benefits can be realized. This paper proposes an integration of these issues based on the application of systems theory. (author)

Safety, reliability, risk management and human factors: an integrated engineering approach applied to nuclear facilities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vasconcelos, Vanderley de; Silva, Eliane Magalhaes Pereira da; Costa, Antonio Carlos Lopes da; Reis, Sergio Carneiro dos [Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN/CNEN-MG), Belo Horizonte, MG (Brazil)], e-mail: vasconv@cdtn.br, e-mail: silvaem@cdtn.br, e-mail: aclc@cdtn.br, e-mail: reissc@cdtn.br

2009-07-01

Nuclear energy has an important engineering legacy to share with the conventional industry. Much of the development of the tools related to safety, reliability, risk management, and human factors are associated with nuclear plant processes, mainly because the public concern about nuclear power generation. Despite the close association between these subjects, there are some important different approaches. The reliability engineering approach uses several techniques to minimize the component failures that cause the failure of the complex systems. These techniques include, for instance, redundancy, diversity, standby sparing, safety factors, and reliability centered maintenance. On the other hand system safety is primarily concerned with hazard management, that is, the identification, evaluation and control of hazards. Rather than just look at failure rates or engineering strengths, system safety would examine the interactions among system components. The events that cause accidents may be complex combinations of component failures, faulty maintenance, design errors, human actions, or actuation of instrumentation and control. Then, system safety deals with a broader spectrum of risk management, including: ergonomics, legal requirements, quality control, public acceptance, political considerations, and many other non-technical influences. Taking care of these subjects individually can compromise the completeness of the analysis and the measures associated with both risk reduction, and safety and reliability increasing. Analyzing together the engineering systems and controls of a nuclear facility, their management systems and operational procedures, and the human factors engineering, many benefits can be realized. This paper proposes an integration of these issues based on the application of systems theory. (author)

Factors Associated with Asthma ED Visit Rates among Medicaid-enrolled Children: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

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Luceta McRoy

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Background: Asthma is one of the leading causes of emergency department visits and school absenteeism among school-aged children in the United States, but there is significant local-area variation in emergency department visit rates, as well as significant differences across racial-ethnic groups. Analysis: We first calculated emergency department (ED visit rates among Medicaid-enrolled children age 5–12 with asthma using a multi-state dataset. We then performed exploratory factor analysis using over 226 variables to assess whether they clustered around three county-level conceptual factors (socioeconomic status, healthcare capacity, and air quality thought to be associated with variation in asthma ED visit rates. Measured variables (including ED visit rate as the outcome of interest were then standardized and tested in a simple conceptual model through confirmatory factor analysis. Results: County-level (contextual variables did cluster around factors declared a priori in the conceptual model. Structural equation models connecting the ED visit rates to socioeconomic status, air quality, and healthcare system professional capacity factors (consistent with our conceptual framework converged on a solution and achieved a reasonable goodness of fit on confirmatory factor analysis. Conclusion: Confirmatory factor analysis offers an approach for quantitatively testing conceptual models of local-area variation and racial disparities in asthma-related emergency department use.

Members of the barley NAC transcription factor gene family show differential co-regulation with senescence-associated genes during senescence of flag leaves

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Michael W; Gregersen, Per L.

2014-01-01

-expressed with members of the NAC gene family. In conclusion, a list of up to 15 NAC genes from barley that are strong candidates for being regulatory factors of importance for senescence and biotic stress-related traits affecting the productivity of cereal crop plants has been generated. Furthermore, a list of 71...... in the NAC transcription factor family during senescence of barley flag leaves was studied. Several members of the NAC transcription factor gene family were up-regulated during senescence in a microarray experiment, together with a large range of senescence-associated genes, reflecting the coordinated...... activation of degradation processes in senescing barley leaf tissues. This picture was confirmed in a detailed quantitative reverse transcription–PCR (qRT–PCR) experiment, which also showed distinct gene expression patterns for different members of the NAC gene family, suggesting a group of ~15 out of the 47...

From the big five to the general factor of personality: a dynamic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Micó, Joan C; Amigó, Salvador; Caselles, Antonio

2014-10-28

An integrating and dynamic model of personality that allows predicting the response of the basic factors of personality, such as the Big Five Factors (B5F) or the general factor of personality (GFP) to acute doses of drug is presented in this paper. Personality has a dynamic nature, i.e., as a consequence of a stimulus, the GFP dynamics as well as each one of the B5F of personality dynamics can be explained by the same model (a system of three coupled differential equations). From this invariance hypothesis, a partial differential equation, whose solution relates the GFP with each one of the B5F, is deduced. From this dynamic approach, a co-evolution of the GFP and each one of the B5F occurs, rather than an unconnected evolution, as a consequence of the same stimulus. The hypotheses and deductions are validated through an experimental design centered on the individual, where caffeine is the considered stimulus. Thus, as much from a theoretical point of view as from an applied one, the models here proposed open a new perspective in the understanding and study of personality like a global system that interacts intimately with the environment, being a clear bet for the high level inter-disciplinary research.

Surgical Approaches to the Oral Cavity Primary and Neck

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, Jatin P.

2007-01-01

Purpose: A variety of surgical approaches used to treat primary oral cavity tumors are described to delineate the technique and rationale behind each treatment choice. Methods and Materials: Size, location, proximity to bone, lymph node status, histology, and prior treatment considerations are employed to determine the most appropriate surgical approach for primary oral cavity tumors. Results: Oncologic outcomes and physical function show the best results from surgical treatment of many primary oral cavity, but necessitates careful selection of surgical approach. Conclusion: Each surgical approach must be selected based upon relevant tumor, patient and physician factors

Enterprise Factors Contributing to The Success of Malaysian Biotechnology SMEs: A Grounded Theory Approach

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Saridan Abu Bakar

2007-10-01

Full Text Available While numerous empirical studies have been conducted in Western countries on biotechnology enterprises, little empirical research has been done in Malaysia especially in respect to the factors that contribute to the success of biotechnology small and medium enterprises (SMEs. In view of this, a study was undertaken recently in Malaysia to address this gap in the existing body of biotechnology knowledge. Using a grounded theory approach, this qualitative study managed to develop a conceptual framework that sheds useful information on the enterprise factors that significantly impact the success of Malaysian biotechnology SMEs. Specifically, this study found that organizational structure, innovation activities, linkages with academic research institutions, linkages with other private enterprises, personal linkages with academic researchers, access to financial capital, the procuring of government assistances, vertical integration, enterprise image, GMP compliance and halal certification, strongly influence enterprise success.

EVALUATION OF PROGNOSTIC FACTORS IN QUALITY OF LIFE OF PATIENTS WITH ADOLESCENT IDIOPATHIC SCOLIOSIS UNDERGOING SPINAL FUSION BY THE POSTERIOR APPROACH

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FELIPE DE MORAES POMAR

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the prognostic factors in the treatment of patients diagnosed with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis undergoing spinal fusion by the posterior approach. Methods: The study included 48 patients with idiopathic adolescent scoliosis (43 females and 5 males who underwent spinal fusion by the posterior approach, with an average age at diagnosis of 12 years, and clinical signs of Risser between 3 and 4 at the time of surgery. Clinical and radiographic measurements were performed, the participants answered the SRS-30 questionnaire, and the analysis of the medical record data was performed in two occasions during the preoperative period and at the end of two years of follow-up. Results: All satisfaction measures showed statistically significant change after the procedure (p<0.05 with respect to the radiographic characteristics, except for the lumbar apical vertebral translation (p=0.540 and Cobb L1-L5 (p=0.225. Conclusion: In general, it was found that patients who received surgical treatment were more satisfied with their appearance than those who underwent conservative treatment.

Partial Least Square Approach to Second Order Factor in Behavioural Study of Accounting Information System

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Ibrahim Mohd Tarmizi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Theories are developed to explain an observed phenomenon in an effort to understand why and how things happen. Theories thus, use latent variables to estimate conceptual parameters. The level of abstraction depends, partly on the complexity of the theoretical model explaining the phenomenon. The conjugation of directly-measured variables leads to a formation of a first-order factor. A combination of theoretical underpinnings supporting an existence of a higher-order components, and statistical evidence pointing to such presence adds advantage for the researchers to investigate a phenomenon both at an aggregated and disjointed dimensions. As partial least square (PLS gains its tractions in theory development, behavioural accounting discipline in general should exploit the flexibility of PLS to work with the higher-order factors. However, technical guides are scarcely available. Therefore, this article presents a PLS approach to validate a higher-order factor on a statistical ground using accounting information system dataset.

Factors Influencing Implementation of OHSAS 18001 in Indian Construction Organizations: Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajaprasad, Sunku Venkata Siva; Chalapathi, Pasupulati Venkata

2015-09-01

Construction activity has made considerable breakthroughs in the past two decades on the back of increases in development activities, government policies, and public demand. At the same time, occupational health and safety issues have become a major concern to construction organizations. The unsatisfactory safety performance of the construction industry has always been highlighted since the safety management system is neglected area and not implemented systematically in Indian construction organizations. Due to a lack of enforcement of the applicable legislation, most of the construction organizations are forced to opt for the implementation of Occupational Health Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 to improve safety performance. In order to better understand factors influencing the implementation of OHSAS 18001, an interpretive structural modeling approach has been applied and the factors have been classified using matrice d'impacts croises-multiplication appliqué a un classement (MICMAC) analysis. The study proposes the underlying theoretical framework to identify factors and to help management of Indian construction organizations to understand the interaction among factors influencing in implementation of OHSAS 18001. Safety culture, continual improvement, morale of employees, and safety training have been identified as dependent variables. Safety performance, sustainable construction, and conducive working environment have been identified as linkage variables. Management commitment and safety policy have been identified as the driver variables. Management commitment has the maximum driving power and the most influential factor is safety policy, which states clearly the commitment of top management towards occupational safety and health.

Organization of accounting for factoring companies: risk-oriented approach

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Vygivska I.M.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available To solve the problem of rational organization of accounting factoring activity the current research identifies the types of factoring operations typical for the accounting system of factoring company, and their place in this system. The recommended provisions, which must be fixed in the accounting policy of the enterprise-factor, are presented. Based on the identification of the most significant provisions of the factoring agreement, it is proposed to limit the amount of funding depending on the type of factoring. The risk factor matrix for factoring business is developed to improve the efficiency of their management and the accounting of operations due to risk management methods. The accounting of the factoring company is proposed taking into account the following components: 1 the moment of acceptance of the sold (deferred receivable to the accounting; 2 the features of factoring depending on its type; 3 the peculiarities of accounting registration of charges in factoring operations; 4 the procedure for inventorying factoring transactions.

A novel electrochemical approach for nuclear factor kappa B detection based on triplex DNA and gold nanoparticles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shen Min; Yang Mei; Li Hao; Liang Zhiqiang; Li Genxi

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► A simple, selective, and sensitive electrochemical NF-κB sensor was presented. ► NF-κB was precisely qualified by chronocoulometry with a detection limit of 0.13 nM. ► NF-κB was also successfully detected in contaminated samples by our approach. - Abstract: The transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) is always a standard for inducible transcription factors, while nearly all NF-κB studies require the measurement of the level of activated NF-κB in cells. Herein we report a novel electrochemical approach for accurate detection of NF-κB with the help of triplex DNA and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Firstly, double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) molecules are self-assembled on the surface of a gold electrode. Then, AuNPs are functionalized with triplex-forming oligonucleotide (TFO). Since TFO may act with the dsDNA to form triplex DNA, the TFO functionalized on the AuNPs surfaces will bind with the dsDNA immobilized on the electrode surface, bringing large amounts of electrochemical compounds [Ru(NH 3 ) 6 ] 3+ close to the electrode to generate an intense electrochemical signal. However, in the presence of NF-κB, the protein will capture and bind with the dsDNA to replace TFO–AuNPs, resulting in significant decrease of electrochemical signal of [Ru(NH 3 ) 6 ] 3+ . By using this “on-off” strategy, NF-κB has been quantified in the range from 0.4 to 12.0 nM, with a detection limit of 0.13 nM. This approach has also been successfully used to detect NF-κB in contaminated samples with high specificity.

Showing the Unsayable: Participatory Visual Approaches and the Constitution of 'Patient Experience' in Healthcare Quality Improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Papoulias, Constantina

2018-06-01

This article considers the strengths and potential contributions of participatory visual methods for healthcare quality improvement research. It argues that such approaches may enable us to expand our understanding of 'patient experience' and of its potential for generating new knowledge for health systems. In particular, they may open up dimensions of people's engagement with services and treatments which exceed both the declarative nature of responses to questionnaires and the narrative sequencing of self reports gathered through qualitative interviewing. I will suggest that working with such methods may necessitate a more reflexive approach to the constitution of evidence in quality improvement work. To this end, the article will first consider the emerging rationale for the use of visual participatory methods in improvement before outlining the implications of two related approaches-photo-elicitation and PhotoVoice-for the constitution of 'experience'. It will then move to a participatory model for healthcare improvement work, Experience Based Co-Design (EBCD). It will argue that EBCD exemplifies both the strengths and the limitations of adequating visual participatory approaches to quality improvement ends. The article will conclude with a critical reflection on a small photographic study, in which the author participated, and which sought to harness service user perspectives for the design of psychiatric facilities, as a way of considering the potential contribution of visual participatory methods for quality improvement.

Obesity in show cats.

Science.gov (United States)

Corbee, R J

2014-12-01

Obesity is an important disease with a high prevalence in cats. Because obesity is related to several other diseases, it is important to identify the population at risk. Several risk factors for obesity have been described in the literature. A higher incidence of obesity in certain cat breeds has been suggested. The aim of this study was to determine whether obesity occurs more often in certain breeds. The second aim was to relate the increased prevalence of obesity in certain breeds to the official standards of that breed. To this end, 268 cats of 22 different breeds investigated by determining their body condition score (BCS) on a nine-point scale by inspection and palpation, at two different cat shows. Overall, 45.5% of the show cats had a BCS > 5, and 4.5% of the show cats had a BCS > 7. There were significant differences between breeds, which could be related to the breed standards. Most overweight and obese cats were in the neutered group. It warrants firm discussions with breeders and cat show judges to come to different interpretations of the standards in order to prevent overweight conditions in certain breeds from being the standard of beauty. Neutering predisposes for obesity and requires early nutritional intervention to prevent obese conditions. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

A quantitative assessment of organizational factors affecting safety using system dynamics model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Jae Kook; Ahn, Nam Sung [Korea Electric Power Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Jae, Moo Sung [Hanyang Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2004-02-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a system dynamics model for the assessment of the organizational and human factors in a nuclear power plant which contribute to nuclear safety. Previous studies can be classified into two major approaches. One is the engineering approach using tools such as ergonomics and Probability Safety Assessment (PSA). The other is the socio-psychology approach. Both have contributed to find organizational and human factors and to present guidelines to lessen human error in plants. However, since these approaches assume that the relationship among factors is independent they do not explain the interactions among the factors or variables in nuclear power plants. To overcome these restrictions, a system dynamics model, which can show cause and effect relationships among factors and quantify the organizational and human factors, has been developed. Handling variables such as the degree of leadership, the number of employees, and workload in each department, users can simulate various situations in nuclear power plant organization. Through simulation, users can get insights to improve safety in plants and to find managerial tools in both organizational and human factors.

A quantitative assessment of organizational factors affecting safety using system dynamics model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Jae Kook; Ahn, Nam Sung; Jae, Moo Sung

2004-01-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a system dynamics model for the assessment of the organizational and human factors in a nuclear power plant which contribute to nuclear safety. Previous studies can be classified into two major approaches. One is the engineering approach using tools such as ergonomics and Probability Safety Assessment (PSA). The other is the socio-psychology approach. Both have contributed to find organizational and human factors and to present guidelines to lessen human error in plants. However, since these approaches assume that the relationship among factors is independent they do not explain the interactions among the factors or variables in nuclear power plants. To overcome these restrictions, a system dynamics model, which can show cause and effect relationships among factors and quantify the organizational and human factors, has been developed. Handling variables such as the degree of leadership, the number of employees, and workload in each department, users can simulate various situations in nuclear power plant organization. Through simulation, users can get insights to improve safety in plants and to find managerial tools in both organizational and human factors

The nonenzymatic subunit of pseutarin C, a prothrombin activator from eastern brown snake (Pseudonaja textilis) venom, shows structural similarity to mammalian coagulation factor V.

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, Veena S; Swarup, Sanjay; Kini, R Manjunatha

2003-08-15

Pseutarin C is a group C prothrombin activator from the venom of the eastern brown snake Pseudonaja textilis. It is a multi-subunit protein complex consisting of catalytic and nonenzymatic subunits similar to coagulation factor Xa and factor Va, respectively. Here we describe the complete sequence of the nonenzymatic subunit. Based on the partial amino acid sequence of the nonenzymatic subunit, degenerate primers were designed. Using a "walking" strategy based on sequentially designed primers, we determined the complete cDNA sequence of the nonenzymatic subunit. The cDNA encodes a protein of 1461 amino acid residues, which includes a 30-residue signal peptide, a mature protein of 1430 amino acid residues, and a stop codon. cDNA blot analysis showed a single transcript of approximately 4.6 kb. The deduced amino acid sequence shows approximately 50% identity to mammalian factor V and by homology has a similar domain structure consisting of domains A1-A2-B-A3-C1-C2. Interestingly, the B domain of pseutarin C is shorter than that of mammalian factor V (FV). Although most of the proteolytic activation sites are conserved, 2 of 3 proteolytic sites cleaved by activated protein C are mutated, and thus activated protein C is not able to inactivate this procoagulant toxin. The predicted posttranslational modifications, including disulfide bonds, N-glycosylation, phosphorylation, and sulfation, in pseutarin C are significantly different compared with bovine factor V. Thus, our data demonstrate that the nonenzymatic subunit of group C prothrombin activators is structurally similar to mammalian FV.

Automatic Sky View Factor Estimation from Street View Photographs—A Big Data Approach

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Jianming Liang

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Hemispherical (fisheye photography is a well-established approach for estimating the sky view factor (SVF. High-resolution urban models from LiDAR and oblique airborne photogrammetry can provide continuous SVF estimates over a large urban area, but such data are not always available and are difficult to acquire. Street view panoramas have become widely available in urban areas worldwide: Google Street View (GSV maintains a global network of panoramas excluding China and several other countries; Baidu Street View (BSV and Tencent Street View (TSV focus their panorama acquisition efforts within China, and have covered hundreds of cities therein. In this paper, we approach this issue from a big data perspective by presenting and validating a method for automatic estimation of SVF from massive amounts of street view photographs. Comparisons were made with SVF estimates derived from two independent sources: a LiDAR-based Digital Surface Model (DSM and an oblique airborne photogrammetry-based 3D city model (OAP3D, resulting in a correlation coefficient of 0.863 and 0.987, respectively. The comparisons demonstrated the capacity of the proposed method to provide reliable SVF estimates. Additionally, we present an application of the proposed method with about 12,000 GSV panoramas to characterize the spatial distribution of SVF over Manhattan Island in New York City. Although this is a proof-of-concept study, it has shown the potential of the proposed approach to assist urban climate and urban planning research. However, further development is needed before this approach can be finally delivered to the urban climate and urban planning communities for practical applications.

Factorization of Observables

Science.gov (United States)

Eliaš, Peter; Frič, Roman

2017-12-01

Categorical approach to probability leads to better understanding of basic notions and constructions in generalized (fuzzy, operational, quantum) probability, where observables—dual notions to generalized random variables (statistical maps)—play a major role. First, to avoid inconsistencies, we introduce three categories L, S, and P, the objects and morphisms of which correspond to basic notions of fuzzy probability theory and operational probability theory, and describe their relationships. To illustrate the advantages of categorical approach, we show that two categorical constructions involving observables (related to the representation of generalized random variables via products, or smearing of sharp observables, respectively) can be described as factorizing a morphism into composition of two morphisms having desired properties. We close with a remark concerning products.

Enterprise Factors Contributing to The Success of Malaysian Biotechnology SMEs: A Grounded Theory Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saridan Abu Bakar

2013-07-01

Full Text Available While numerous empirical studies have been conducted in Western countries on biotechnology enterprises, little empirical research has been done in Malaysia especially in respect to the factors that contribute to the success of biotechnology small and medium enterprises (SMEs. In view of this, a study was undertaken recently in Malaysia to address this gap in the existing body of biotechnology knowledge. Using a grounded theory approach, this qualitative study managed to develop a conceptual framework that sheds useful information on the enterprise factors that significantly impact the success of Malaysian biotechnology SMEs. Specifically, this study found that organizational structure, innovation activities, linkages with academic research institutions, linkages with other private enterprises, personal linkages with academic researchers, access to financial capital, the procuring of government assistances, vertical integration, enterprise image, GMP compliance and halal certification, strongly influence enterprise success.Keywords: biotechnology, SMEs, Malaysia, success, qualitative study, grounded theory

Tomato Fruits Show Wide Phenomic Diversity but Fruit Developmental Genes Show Low Genomic Diversity.

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Vijee Mohan

Full Text Available Domestication of tomato has resulted in large diversity in fruit phenotypes. An intensive phenotyping of 127 tomato accessions from 20 countries revealed extensive morphological diversity in fruit traits. The diversity in fruit traits clustered the accessions into nine classes and identified certain promising lines having desirable traits pertaining to total soluble salts (TSS, carotenoids, ripening index, weight and shape. Factor analysis of the morphometric data from Tomato Analyzer showed that the fruit shape is a complex trait shared by several factors. The 100% variance between round and flat fruit shapes was explained by one discriminant function having a canonical correlation of 0.874 by stepwise discriminant analysis. A set of 10 genes (ACS2, COP1, CYC-B, RIN, MSH2, NAC-NOR, PHOT1, PHYA, PHYB and PSY1 involved in various plant developmental processes were screened for SNP polymorphism by EcoTILLING. The genetic diversity in these genes revealed a total of 36 non-synonymous and 18 synonymous changes leading to the identification of 28 haplotypes. The average frequency of polymorphism across the genes was 0.038/Kb. Significant negative Tajima'D statistic in two of the genes, ACS2 and PHOT1 indicated the presence of rare alleles in low frequency. Our study indicates that while there is low polymorphic diversity in the genes regulating plant development, the population shows wider phenotype diversity. Nonetheless, morphological and genetic diversity of the present collection can be further exploited as potential resources in future.

Total Factor Productivity Growth, Technical Progress & Efficiency Change in Vietnam Coal Industry - Nonparametric Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Phuong, Vu Hung

2018-03-01

This research applies Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach to analyze Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and efficiency changes in Vietnam coal mining industry from 2007 to 2013. The TFP of Vietnam coal mining companies decreased due to slow technological progress and unimproved efficiency. The decadence of technical efficiency in many enterprises proved that the coal mining industry has a large potential to increase productivity through technical efficiency improvement. Enhancing human resource training, technology and research & development investment could help the industry to improve efficiency and productivity in Vietnam coal mining industry.

Assessing the Structure of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire in Fibromyalgia Patients Using Common Factor Analytic Approaches

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Van Liew

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ is a widely used measure of coping processes. Despite its use in a variety of populations, there has been concern about the stability and structure of the WCQ across different populations. This study examines the factor structure of the WCQ in a large sample of individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The participants were 501 adults (478 women who were part of a larger intervention study. Participants completed the WCQ at their 6-month assessment. Foundational factoring approaches were performed on the data (i.e., maximum likelihood factoring [MLF], iterative principal factoring [IPF], principal axis factoring (PAF, and principal components factoring [PCF] with oblique oblimin rotation. Various criteria were evaluated to determine the number of factors to be extracted, including Kaiser’s rule, Scree plot visual analysis, 5 and 10% unique variance explained, 70 and 80% communal variance explained, and Horn’s parallel analysis (PA. It was concluded that the 4-factor PAF solution was the preferable solution, based on PA extraction and the fact that this solution minimizes nonvocality and multivocality. The present study highlights the need for more research focused on defining the limits of the WCQ and the degree to which population-specific and context-specific subscale adjustments are needed.

Distance Factors and Croatian Export Obstacles in the EU15: CAGE Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Miloloža

2015-07-01

Full Text Available For long-term sustainability of any enterprise, it is required to observe each market separately and systematically modify business approach to prevailing conditions in each. However, adaptation to each market can be a complex affair that requires certain financial costs but ignoring distinguishing criteria leads to reduction in revenues and undermines long-term profitability. Time saving and cost-effectiveness can be achieved by application of The CAGE Distance Framework – a model that analysis all diversities between two or more countries. Croatia did not yet utilize the benefits that European Union membership provides nor did significantly improved its international business. It is obvious that Croatia faces difficulties in the strategic approach to prospective foreign markets. Therefore, emphasis of this article is on analysis and identification of the distinguishing factors between Croatia and the EU15 in order to facilitate and enhance cooperation among them in the future. Throughout the analysis of Croatian export from the beginning of the economic crisis, this article gives an overview of international collaboration among Croatia and the EU15 and comparative analysis by using The CAGE Distance Framework. This analysis has confirmed significant fluctuations, unexploited potential and problems of the Croatian economy in all dimensions of The CAGE model.

Estimating reliability coefficients with heterogeneous item weightings using Stata: A factor based approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boermans, M.A.; Kattenberg, M.A.C.

2011-01-01

We show how to estimate a Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient in Stata after running a principal component or factor analysis. Alpha evaluates to what extent items measure the same underlying content when the items are combined into a scale or used for latent variable. Stata allows for testing

Human and Organisational Factors in the Licensing Process for New NPPs: The Swiss Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryser, Cornelia

2011-01-01

Past and recent construction as well as operating experience has shown the importance of giving due attention to human and organisational factors (HOF) in the design and construction of new NPPs. The present paper primarily deals with the development of regulatory requirements by the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) concerning HOF engineering aspects, i.e. the design of the work systems of the new NPP (technical systems, work tasks, operating organisation). The requirements concerning quality and project management or the management system in general are not in the main focus of this paper. The approach and requirements presented are not yet fully implemented in the Swiss regulatory framework and are still being worked on. Therefore the issues described in the paper have to be considered as provisional and might still be subject to some change in the next months as the approach and requirements are being further developed and finalised. (author)

Integrating Human Factors Engineering and Information Processing Approaches to Facilitate Evaluations in Criminal Justice Technology Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Salvemini, Anthony V; Piza, Eric L; Carter, Jeremy G; Grommon, Eric L; Merritt, Nancy

2015-06-01

Evaluations are routinely conducted by government agencies and research organizations to assess the effectiveness of technology in criminal justice. Interdisciplinary research methods are salient to this effort. Technology evaluations are faced with a number of challenges including (1) the need to facilitate effective communication between social science researchers, technology specialists, and practitioners, (2) the need to better understand procedural and contextual aspects of a given technology, and (3) the need to generate findings that can be readily used for decision making and policy recommendations. Process and outcome evaluations of technology can be enhanced by integrating concepts from human factors engineering and information processing. This systemic approach, which focuses on the interaction between humans, technology, and information, enables researchers to better assess how a given technology is used in practice. Examples are drawn from complex technologies currently deployed within the criminal justice system where traditional evaluations have primarily focused on outcome metrics. Although this evidence-based approach has significant value, it is vulnerable to fully account for human and structural complexities that compose technology operations. Guiding principles for technology evaluations are described for identifying and defining key study metrics, facilitating communication within an interdisciplinary research team, and for understanding the interaction between users, technology, and information. The approach posited here can also enable researchers to better assess factors that may facilitate or degrade the operational impact of the technology and answer fundamental questions concerning whether the technology works as intended, at what level, and cost. © The Author(s) 2015.

Application of the positive matrix factorization approach to identify heavy metal sources in sediments. A case study on the Mexican Pacific Coast.

Science.gov (United States)

González-Macías, C; Sánchez-Reyna, G; Salazar-Coria, L; Schifter, I

2014-01-01

During the last two decades, sediments collected in different sources of water bodies of the Tehuantepec Basin, located in the southeast of the Mexican Pacific Coast, showed that concentrations of heavy metals may pose a risk to the environment and human health. The extractable organic matter, geoaccumulation index, and enrichment factors were quantified for arsenic, cadmium, copper, chromium, nickel, lead, vanadium, zinc, and the fine-grained sediment fraction. The non-parametric SiZer method was applied to assess the statistical significance of the reconstructed metal variation along time. This inference method appears to be particularly natural and well suited to temperature and other environmental reconstructions. In this approach, a collection of smooth of the reconstructed metal concentrations is considered simultaneously, and inferences about the significance of the metal trends can be made with respect to time. Hence, the database represents a consolidated set of available and validated water and sediment data of an urban industrialized area, which is very useful as case study site. The positive matrix factorization approach was used in identification and source apportionment of the anthropogenic heavy metals in the sediments. Regionally, metals and organic matter are depleted relative to crustal abundance in a range of 45-55 %, while there is an inorganic enrichment from lithogenous/anthropogenic sources of around 40 %. Only extractable organic matter, Pb, As, and Cd can be related with non-crustal sources, suggesting that additional input cannot be explained by local runoff or erosion processes.

Risk factors of delay proportional probability in diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccination of Iranian children; Life table approach analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohsen Mokhtari

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Despite success in expanded program immunization for an increase in vaccination coverage in the children of world, timeliness and schedule of vaccination remains as one of the challenges in public health. This study purposed to demonstrate the related factors of delayed diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP vaccination using life table approach. A historical cohort study conducted in the poor areas of five large Iran cities. Totally, 3610 children with 24-47 months old age who had documented vaccination card were enrolled. Time of vaccination for the third dose of DTP vaccine was calculated. Life table survival was used to calculate the proportional probability of vaccination in each time. Wilcoxon test was used for the comparison proportional probability of delayed vaccination based on studies factors. The overall median delayed time for DTP3 was 38.52 days. The Wilcoxon test showed that city, nationality, education level of parents, birth order and being in rural areas are related to the high probability of delay time for DTP3 vaccination (P 0.05. Being away from the capital, a high concentration of immigrants in the city borders with a low socioeconomic class leads to prolonged delay in DTP vaccination time. Special attention to these areas is needed to increase the levels of parental knowledge and to facilitate access to the health services care.

Optimizing Online Suicide Prevention: A Search Engine-Based Tailored Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Arendt, Florian; Scherr, Sebastian

2017-11-01

Search engines are increasingly used to seek suicide-related information online, which can serve both harmful and helpful purposes. Google acknowledges this fact and presents a suicide-prevention result for particular search terms. Unfortunately, the result is only presented to a limited number of visitors. Hence, Google is missing the opportunity to provide help to vulnerable people. We propose a two-step approach to a tailored optimization: First, research will identify the risk factors. Second, search engines will reweight algorithms according to the risk factors. In this study, we show that the query share of the search term "poisoning" on Google shows substantial peaks corresponding to peaks in actual suicidal behavior. Accordingly, thresholds for showing the suicide-prevention result should be set to the lowest levels during the spring, on Sundays and Mondays, on New Year's Day, and on Saturdays following Thanksgiving. Search engines can help to save lives globally by utilizing a more tailored approach to suicide prevention.

Inclusive Higgs boson production at the LHC in the k{sub T}-factorization approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abdulov, N.A. [Lomonosov Moscow State Univ. (Russian Federation). Faculty of Physics; Lipatov, A.V. [Lomonosov Moscow State Univ. (Russian Federation). Skobeltsyn Inst. of Nuclear Physics; Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation); Malyshev, M.A. [Lomonosov Moscow State Univ. (Russian Federation). Skobeltsyn Inst. of Nuclear Physics

2017-08-15

We investigate the inclusive Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at the CERN LHC conditions using the k{sub T}-factorization approach. Our analysis is based on the dominant off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess (where the transverse momenta of initial gluons are taken into account) and covers H→γγ, H→ZZ{sup *}→4l (where l=e,μ) and H→W{sup +}W{sup -}→e{sup ±}μ{sup -+}ν anti ν decay channels. The transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon densities in a proton were derived from Ciafaloni-Catani-Fiorani-Marchesini equation or, alternatively, were chosen in accordance with Kimber-Martin-Ryskin prescription. We estimate the theoretical uncertainties of our calculations and compare our results with next-to-next-to-leading-order plus next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic ones obtained using collinear QCD factorization. Our predictions agree well with the latest experimental data taken by the CMS and ATLAS Collaborations at √(s)=8 and 13 TeV.

Human factors with nonhumans - Factors that affect computer-task performance

Science.gov (United States)

Washburn, David A.

1992-01-01

There are two general strategies that may be employed for 'doing human factors research with nonhuman animals'. First, one may use the methods of traditional human factors investigations to examine the nonhuman animal-to-machine interface. Alternatively, one might use performance by nonhuman animals as a surrogate for or model of performance by a human operator. Each of these approaches is illustrated with data in the present review. Chronic ambient noise was found to have a significant but inconsequential effect on computer-task performance by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Additional data supported the generality of findings such as these to humans, showing that rhesus monkeys are appropriate models of human psychomotor performance. It is argued that ultimately the interface between comparative psychology and technology will depend on the coordinated use of both strategies of investigation.

A quantitative assessment of organizational factors affecting safety using a system dynamics model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, J. K.; Yoon, T. S.

2003-01-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a system dynamics model for the assessment of organizational and human factors in the nuclear power plant safety. Previous studies are classified into two major approaches. One is the engineering approach such as ergonomics and Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). The other is socio-psychology one. Both have contributed to find organizational and human factors and increased nuclear safety However, since these approaches assume that the relationship among factors is independent they do not explain the interactions between factors or variables in NPP's. To overcome these restrictions, a system dynamics model, which can show causal relations between factors and quantify organizational and human factors, has been developed. Operating variables such as degree of leadership, adjustment of number of employee, and workload in each department, users can simulate various situations in nuclear power plants in the organization side. Through simulation, user can get an insight to improve safety in plants and to find managerial tools in the organization and human side

A new FACS approach isolates hESC derived endoderm using transcription factors.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuqiong Pan

2011-03-01

Full Text Available We show that high quality microarray gene expression profiles can be obtained following FACS sorting of cells using combinations of transcription factors. We use this transcription factor FACS (tfFACS methodology to perform a genomic analysis of hESC-derived endodermal lineages marked by combinations of SOX17, GATA4, and CXCR4, and find that triple positive cells have a much stronger definitive endoderm signature than other combinations of these markers. Additionally, SOX17(+ GATA4(+ cells can be obtained at a much earlier stage of differentiation, prior to expression of CXCR4(+ cells, providing an important new tool to isolate this earlier definitive endoderm subtype. Overall, tfFACS represents an advancement in FACS technology which broadly crosses multiple disciplines, most notably in regenerative medicine to redefine cellular populations.

Limitations of the toxic equivalency factor (TEF) approach for risk assessment of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Safe, S. [Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology

1995-12-31

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and related halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (HAHs) are present as complex mixtures of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and biphenyls (PCBs) in most environmental matrices. Risk management of these mixtures utilize the toxic equivalency factor (TEF) approach in which the TCDD (dioxin) or toxic equivalents of a mixture is a summation of the congener concentration (Ci) times TEF{sub i} (potency relative to TCDD) where. TEQ{sub mixture} = {Sigma}[Cil] {times} TEF{sub i}. TEQs are determined only for those HAHs which are aryl hydrocarbon (Ah) receptor agonists and this approach assumes that the toxic or biochemical effects of individual compounds in a mixture are additive. Several in vivo and in vitro laboratory and field studies with different HAH mixtures have been utilized to validate the TEF approach. For some responses, the calculated toxicities of PCDD/PCDF and PCB mixtures predict the observed toxic potencies. However, for fetal cleft palate and immunotoxicity in mice, nonadditive (antagonistic) responses are observed using complex PCB mixtures or binary mixtures containing an Ah receptor agonist with 2,2{prime},4,4{prime},5,5{prime}-hexachlorobiphenyl (PCB153). The potential interactive effects of PCBs and other dietary Ah receptor antagonist suggest that the TEF approach for risk management of HAHs requires further refinement and should be used selectively.

An approach for prediction of petroleum production facility performance considering Arctic influence factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Xueli; Barabady, Javad; Markeset, Tore

2010-01-01

As the oil and gas (O and G) industry is increasing the focus on petroleum exploration and development in the Arctic region, it is becoming increasingly important to design exploration and production facilities to suit the local operating conditions. The cold and harsh climate, the long distance from customer and suppliers' markets, and the sensitive environment may have considerable influence on the choice of design solutions and production performance characteristics such as throughput capacity, reliability, availability, maintainability, and supportability (RAMS) as well as operational and maintenance activities. Due to this, data and information collected for similar systems used in a normal climate may not be suitable. Hence, it is important to study and develop methods for prediction of the production performance characteristics during the design and operation phases. The aim of this paper is to present an approach for prediction of the production performance for oil and gas production facilities considering influencing factors in Arctic conditions. The proportional repair model (PRM) is developed in order to predict repair rate in Arctic conditions. The model is based on the proportional hazard model (PHM). A simple case study is used to demonstrate how the proposed approach can be applied.

The World Health Organization STEPwise Approach to Noncommunicable Disease Risk-Factor Surveillance: Methods, Challenges, and Opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Leanne; Guthold, Regina; Cowan, Melanie; Savin, Stefan; Bhatti, Lubna; Armstrong, Timothy; Bonita, Ruth

2016-01-01

We sought to outline the framework and methods used by the World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise approach to noncommunicable disease (NCD) surveillance (STEPS), describe the development and current status, and discuss strengths, limitations, and future directions of STEPS surveillance. STEPS is a WHO-developed, standardized but flexible framework for countries to monitor the main NCD risk factors through questionnaire assessment and physical and biochemical measurements. It is coordinated by national authorities of the implementing country. The STEPS surveys are generally household-based and interviewer-administered, with scientifically selected samples of around 5000 participants. To date, 122 countries across all 6 WHO regions have completed data collection for STEPS or STEPS-aligned surveys. STEPS data are being used to inform NCD policies and track risk-factor trends. Future priorities include strengthening these linkages from data to action on NCDs at the country level, and continuing to develop STEPS' capacities to enable a regular and continuous cycle of risk-factor surveillance worldwide.

Approaches to Working with Children, Young People and Families for Traveller, Irish Traveller, Gypsy, Roma and Show People Communities. Annotated Bibliography for the Children's Workforce Development Council

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Mark; Martin, Kerry; Wilkin, Carol

2008-01-01

This annoted bibliography relays a range of issues and approaches to working with Travellers, Irish Travellers, Gypsies, Roma and Show People. This is an accompanying document to the literature review report, ED501860.

Factors secreted from dental pulp stem cells show multifaceted benefits for treating experimental rheumatoid arthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishikawa, Jun; Takahashi, Nobunori; Matsumoto, Takuya; Yoshioka, Yutaka; Yamamoto, Noriyuki; Nishikawa, Masaya; Hibi, Hideharu; Ishigro, Naoki; Ueda, Minoru; Furukawa, Koichi; Yamamoto, Akihito

2016-02-01

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by synovial hyperplasia and chronic inflammation, which lead to the progressive destruction of cartilage and bone in the joints. Numerous studies have reported that administrations of various types of MSCs improve arthritis symptoms in animal models, by paracrine mechanisms. However, the therapeutic effects of the secreted factors alone, without the cell graft, have been uncertain. Here, we show that a single intravenous administration of serum-free conditioned medium (CM) from human deciduous dental pulp stem cells (SHED-CM) into anti-collagen type II antibody-induced arthritis (CAIA), a mouse model of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), markedly improved the arthritis symptoms and joint destruction. The therapeutic efficacy of SHED-CM was associated with an induction of anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages in the CAIA joints and the abrogation of RANKL expression. SHED-CM specifically depleted of an M2 macrophage inducer, the secreted ectodomain of sialic acid-binding Ig-like lectin-9 (ED-Siglec-9), exhibited a reduced ability to induce M2-related gene expression and attenuate CAIA. SHED-CM also inhibited the RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis in vitro. Collectively, our findings suggest that SHED-CM provides multifaceted therapeutic effects for treating CAIA, including the ED-Siglec-9-dependent induction of M2 macrophage polarization and inhibition of osteoclastogenesis. Thus, SHED-CM may represent a novel anti-inflammatory and reparative therapy for RA. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Perspective on Human and Organizational Factors (HOF) - Attempt of a Systemic Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meynen, F.

2016-01-01

The presentation will raise questions concerning current conceptions and practices related to human and organizational factors and will focus on the need of a more systemic view and approaches in the nuclear industry. In practice, attention is often focused unilaterally on technical aspects, neglecting the interactions and interfaces between the organization, the people and the technology. The work in the different areas takes place with different approaches, based on different technical backgrounds but also on different cultures of the country, the company, the plant, etc. Also within the concept of defence-in-depth the attention normally lies on the technical safety levels, although similar provisions exist in the organizational field. While the technical systems are always evolving and their reliability increases, the question of their implications for the organizations and the people who work with these systems is not always analysed in depth. Also, it should not be focused only on the staff in the control room. Attention must be directed also to the support organizations (maintenance, analysis, monitoring, etc.) and to the manufacturer, which play a significant and sometimes underestimated role in the overall system as well. Further, there is a tendency to reduce the complexity by looking at individual aspects such as “safety culture”, “resilience”, “management systems”, “training”, “organizational structure”, etc., often without going beyond into a systemic approach. This requires the involvement of all different disciplines. Hence, dealing with the issue of HOF also means creating a basis to understand the complexity of the interactions between human, organizational and technical aspects. For this a very good knowledge and solid experience in these different fields are required. The presentation will give some examples from other industries and the three major nuclear accidents of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima as an

Escape by the Balearic Lizard (Podarcis lilfordi is affected by elevation of an approaching predator, but not by some other potential predation risk factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William E. Cooper

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Many predation risk factors to affect escape behavior by lizards, but effects of some potential risk factors are unknown or are variable among species. We studied effects of several risk factors on escape responses by the Balearic lizard (Podarcis lilfordi, Lacertidae on escape responses. Escape was elicited by an approaching experimenter who recorded flight initiation distance (predator-prey distance when escape begins and distance fled. When an experimenter approached from above (upslope, flight initiation distance and distance fled were longer than when the experimenter approached from below. This novel effect suggests that lizards exposed to aerial predation might have been naturally selected to respond rapidly to predators approaching from above or that effects of path inclination of escape ability may differ between predators and prey in a manner requiring a larger margin of safety during approaches from above than below. Although sex differences in aspects of escape occur in some lizards, including lacertids, no sex difference was observed in P. lilfordi. Because vigilance and some other aspects of antipredatory behavior exhibit cortical lateralization, we tested effects of approach from the left and right sides of lizards. As predicted by optimal escape theory, side of approach did not affect flight initiation distance. Because many lizards have color vision and respond to pigmentation of conspecifics in social settings, researchers have often worn only drably colored clothing when simulating predators. This precaution may be unnecessary because flight initiation distance did not differ among investigator shirt colors (red, orange, olive.

Comparative proteome approach demonstrates that platelet-derived growth factor C and D efficiently induce proliferation while maintaining multipotency of hMSCs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sotoca, Ana M., E-mail: a.sotoca@science.ru.nl [Department of Cell and Applied Biology, Radboud University, Heijendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen (Netherlands); Roelofs-Hendriks, Jose [Department of Cell and Applied Biology, Radboud University, Heijendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen (Netherlands); Boeren, Sjef [Laboratory of Biochemistry, Wageningen University, Dreijenlaan 3, 6703 HA Wageningen (Netherlands); Kraan, Peter M. van der [Department of Rheumatology Research and Advanced Therapeutics, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen (Netherlands); Vervoort, Jacques [Laboratory of Biochemistry, Wageningen University, Dreijenlaan 3, 6703 HA Wageningen (Netherlands); Zoelen, Everardus J.J. van; Piek, Ester [Department of Cell and Applied Biology, Radboud University, Heijendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ Nijmegen (Netherlands)

2013-10-15

This is the first study that comprehensively describes the effects of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) isoforms C and D during in vitro expansion of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Our results show that PDGFs can enhance proliferation of hMSCs without affecting their multipotency. It is of great value to culture and expand hMSCs in a safe and effective manner without losing their multipotency for manipulation and further development of cell-based therapies. Moreover, differential effects of PDGF isoforms have been observed on lineage-specific differentiation induced by BMP2 and Vitamin D3. Based on label-free LC-based quantitative proteomics approach we have furthermore identified specific pathways induced by PDGFs during the proliferation process, showing the importance of bioinformatics tools to study cell function. - Highlights: • PDGFs (C and D) significantly increased the number of multipotent undifferentiated hMSCs. • Enhanced proliferation did not impair the ability to undergo lineage-specific differentiation. • Proteomic analysis confirmed the overall signatures of the ‘intact’ cells.

Borderline Personality Disorder: Therapeutic Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Stone, Michael H

2016-01-01

Proponents of the now half-dozen major psychotherapeutic approaches tend to claim the superiority of their different approaches-known widely by their acronyms: CBT for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, DBT for Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, MBT for Mentalization-Based Therapy, TFP for Transference- Focused Psychotherapy, and so on. The data thus far support the utility of each method, but do not show clear-cut superiority of any one method. A large percentage of BPD patients eventually improve or even recover, but these favorable results appear to derive from a multiplicity of factors. These include the personality traits of both patient and therapist, the unpredictable life events over time, the socioeconomic and cultural background of the patient, and the placebo effect of simply being in treatment. These latter factors constitute the contextual model, which operates alongside the medical model, each playing a role in eventual outcome. The contextual model will be discussed extensively in a separate article.

Lessons learned from different approaches towards classifying personal factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Rachel; Geyh, Szilvia

2015-01-01

To examine and compare existing suggestions towards a classification of Personal Factors (PF) of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Qualitative and quantitative content analyses of available categorizations of PF are conducted. While the eight categorizations greatly differ in their background and structure, the broad content areas covered seem to be similar and reflect the ICF definition of PF. They cover to various degrees 12 broad content areas: socio-demographic factors, behavioral and lifestyle factors, cognitive psychological factors, social relationships, experiences and biography, coping, emotional factors, satisfaction, other health conditions, biological/physiological factors, personality, motives/motivation. In comparing these categorizations, a common core of content issues for a potential ICF PF classification could be identified and valuable lessons learned. This can contribute to future classification development activities in relation to PF.

Inclusive Higgs boson production at the LHC in the kT -factorization approach

Science.gov (United States)

Abdulov, N. A.; Lipatov, A. V.; Malyshev, M. A.

2018-03-01

We investigate the inclusive Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at the CERN LHC conditions using the kT-factorization approach. Our analysis is based on the dominant off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess (where the transverse momenta of initial gluons are taken into account) and covers H →γ γ , H →Z Z*→4 l (where l =e , μ ) and H →W+W-→e±μ∓ν ν ¯ decay channels. The transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon densities in a proton were derived from Ciafaloni-Catani-Fiorani-Marchesini equation, which resums large logarithmic terms proportional to ln s ˜ln 1 /x , important at high energies. As an alternative choice, we apply the Kimber-Martin-Ryskin prescription, where the transverse momentum dependent gluon density is constructed from the known conventional parton distributions. We estimate the theoretical uncertainties of our calculations and compare our results with next-to-next-to-leading-order plus next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic ones obtained using collinear QCD factorization. Our predictions agree well with the latest experimental data taken by the CMS and ATLAS Collaborations at √{s }=8 and 13 TeV.

The critical success factor approach to strategic alignment: seeking a trail from a health organization's goals to its management information infrastructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, J K

1999-11-01

The critical success factor (CSF) approach is a technique that will aid health administrators, planners and managers to identify, specify and sort among the most relevant and critical factors determining an organization's survival and success. Following a top-down management perspective, this paper discusses the CSF methodology as a strategic information management process comprising several important phases: (i) understanding the external factors such as the organization's industry, market and environment; (ii) achieving strong support and championship from top management; (iii) encouraging the proactive involvement of management and staff in generic CSF identification; (iv) educating and directing the participation of staff members in CSF verification and further refinement of generic CSFs into specific CSFs; and (v) aggregating, prioritizing and translating activity-related CSFs into organizational information requirements for the design of the organization's management information infrastructure. The implementation of this CSF approach is illustrated in the context of a British Columbia community hospital, with insights provided into key issues for future health researchers and practitioners.

A systematic approach for the assessment of bacterial growth-controlling factors linked to biological stability of drinking water in distribution systems

KAUST Repository

Prest, E. I.

2016-01-06

A systematic approach is presented for the assessment of (i) bacterial growth-controlling factors in drinking water and (ii) the impact of distribution conditions on the extent of bacterial growth in full-scale distribution systems. The approach combines (i) quantification of changes in autochthonous bacterial cell concentrations in full-scale distribution systems with (ii) laboratoryscale batch bacterial growth potential tests of drinking water samples under defined conditions. The growth potential tests were done by direct incubation of water samples, without modification of the original bacterial flora, and with flow cytometric quantification of bacterial growth. This method was shown to be reproducible (ca. 4% relative standard deviation) and sensitive (detection of bacterial growth down to 5 μg L-1 of added assimilable organic carbon). The principle of step-wise assessment of bacterial growth-controlling factors was demonstrated on bottled water, shown to be primarily carbon limited at 133 (±18) × 103 cells mL-1 and secondarily limited by inorganic nutrients at 5,500 (±1,700) × 103 cells mL-1. Analysis of the effluent of a Dutch full-scale drinking water treatment plant showed (1) bacterial growth inhibition as a result of end-point chlorination, (2) organic carbon limitation at 192 (±72) × 103 cells mL-1 and (3) inorganic nutrient limitation at 375 (±31) × 103 cells mL-1. Significantly lower net bacterial growth was measured in the corresponding full-scale distribution system (176 (±25) × 103 cells mL-1) than in the laboratory-scale growth potential test of the same water (294 (±35) × 103 cells mL-1), highlighting the influence of distribution on bacterial growth. The systematic approach described herein provides quantitative information on the effect of drinking water properties and distribution system conditions on biological stability, which can assist water utilities in decision-making on treatment or distribution system improvements to

Determinants of success of quality improvement collaboratives: what does the literature show?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hulscher, M.E.J.L.; Schouten, L.M.T.; Grol, R.P.T.M.; Buchan, H.

2013-01-01

CONTEXT: The apparent inconsistency between the widespread use of quality improvement collaboratives and the available evidence heightens the importance of thoroughly understanding the relative strength of the approach. More insight into factors influencing outcome would mean future collaboratives

Key Factors Affecting the Price of Airbnb Listings: A Geographically Weighted Approach

OpenAIRE

Zhihua Zhang; Rachel J. C. Chen; Lee D. Han; Lu Yang

2017-01-01

Airbnb has been increasingly gaining popularity since 2008 due to its low prices and direct interactions with the local community. This paper employed a general linear model (GLM) and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to identify the key factors affecting Airbnb listing prices using data sets of 794 samples of Airbnb listings of business units in Metro Nashville, Tennessee. The results showed that the GWR model performs better than the GLM in terms of accuracy and affected vari...

Critical Success Factors of Mobile Application Development Projects: A Qualitative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hamza Khastar

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study seeks to identify the critical success factors of teams in the application-development project. To achieve this goal, a qualitative approach and content analysis was utilized. Semi-structured interviews with 14 developers and experts was performed for data collection. A systematic review of previous research shows that after 9 critical success factors. With the analysis interviews, the CSf's raised to 12; including user experience, strategy and project management, support and promotion, business models, planning and goal setting, financial and budgeting, marketing and customer needs, infrastructure, technical issues and design, contextual factors, teamwork and staffing. The results show that the customer experience, teamwork and contextual factors are core categories in the research paradigm model.

The relation between societal factors and different forms of prejudice: A cross-national approach on target-specific and generalized prejudice.

Science.gov (United States)

Meeusen, Cecil; Kern, Anna

2016-01-01

The goal of this paper was to investigate the generalizability of prejudice across contexts by analyzing associations between different types of prejudice in a cross-national perspective and by investigating the relation between country-specific contextual factors and target-specific prejudices. Relying on the European Social Survey (2008), results indicated that prejudices were indeed positively associated, confirming the existence of a generalized prejudice component. Next to substantial cross-national differences in associational strength, also within country variance in target-specific associations was observed. This suggested that the motivations for prejudice largely vary according to the intergroup context. Two aspects of the intergroup context - economic conditions and cultural values - showed to be related to generalized and target-specific components of prejudice. Future research on prejudice and context should take an integrative approach that considers both the idea of generalized and specific prejudice simultaneously. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Critical Success Factors of Suggestions Systems. | Marx | IFE ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A literature study approach is followed to establish which factors contribute to the success and failure of various suggestion systems. It was found ... The value of the paper firstly, shows the importance of creativity and innovation within the organisation's own culture and the framework of a formal suggestion system. Secondly ...

Approaches toward learning in physiotherapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Keiller

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to investigate the approaches toward learning of undergraduate Physiotherapy students in a PBl module to enhance facilitation of learning at the Stellenbosch University, Division of Physiotherapy in South Africa. This quantitative, descriptive study utilized the revised Two-factor Study Process Questionnaire (r-SPQ-2f to evaluate the study cohorts’ approaches toward learning in the module. results of the data instruments were analysed statistically and discussed in a descriptive manner. There were a statistically significant greater number of students who adopted a deep approach toward learning at the commencement of the academic year. Students showed a trend toward an increase in their intrinsic interest in the learning material as the module progressed. Students in the Applied Physiotherapy module (ATP started to shift their focus from a surface learning approach to a deep learning approach. further research is needed to determine the long-term changes in approach toward learning and the possible determinants of these changes. This can be done in conjunction with the implementation of quality assurance mechanisms for learning material and earlier preparation of students for the change in the learning environment.

Dynamic SPECT reconstruction from few projections: a sparsity enforced matrix factorization approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Qiaoqiao; Zan, Yunlong; Huang, Qiu; Zhang, Xiaoqun

2015-02-01

The reconstruction of dynamic images from few projection data is a challenging problem, especially when noise is present and when the dynamic images are vary fast. In this paper, we propose a variational model, sparsity enforced matrix factorization (SEMF), based on low rank matrix factorization of unknown images and enforced sparsity constraints for representing both coefficients and bases. The proposed model is solved via an alternating iterative scheme for which each subproblem is convex and involves the efficient alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). The convergence of the overall alternating scheme for the nonconvex problem relies upon the Kurdyka-Łojasiewicz property, recently studied by Attouch et al (2010 Math. Oper. Res. 35 438) and Attouch et al (2013 Math. Program. 137 91). Finally our proof-of-concept simulation on 2D dynamic images shows the advantage of the proposed method compared to conventional methods.

[Risk factors for the spine: nursing assessment and care].

Science.gov (United States)

Bringuente, M E; de Castro, I S; de Jesus, J C; Luciano, L dos S

1997-01-01

The present work aimed at studying risk factor that affect people with back pain, identifying them and implementing an intervention proposal of a health education program based on self-care teaching, existential humanist philosophical projects and stress equalization approach line, skeletal-muscle reintegration activities, basic techniques on stress equalization and massage. It has been developed for a population of 42 (forty-two) clients. Two instruments which integrate nursing consultation protocol have been used in data collection. The results showed the existence of associated risk factors which are changeable according to health education programs. The assessment process has contributed for therapeutic measures focus, using non-conventional care methods for this approach providing an improvement to these clients life quality.

Fatigue approach for addressing environmental effects in fatigue usage calculation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wilhelm, Paul; Rudolph, Juergen [AREVA GmbH, Erlangen (Germany); Steinmann, Paul [Erlangen-Nuremberg Univ., erlangen (Germany). Chair of Applied Mechanics

2015-04-15

Laboratory tests consider simple trapezoidal, triangle, and sinusoidal signals. However, actual plant components are characterized by complex loading patterns and periods of holds. Fatigue tests in water environment show, that the damage from a realistic strain variation or the presence of hold-times within cyclic loading results in an environmental reduction factor (Fen) only half that of a simple waveform. This study proposes a new fatigue approach for addressing environmental effects in fatigue usage calculation for class 1 boiler and pressure vessel reactor components. The currently accepted method of fatigue assessment has been used as a base model and all cycles, which have been comparable with realistic fatigue tests, have been excluded from the code-based fatigue calculation and evaluated directly with the test data. The results presented show that the engineering approach can successfully be integrated in the code-based fatigue assessment. The cumulative usage factor can be reduced considerably.

Fatigue approach for addressing environmental effects in fatigue usage calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilhelm, Paul; Rudolph, Juergen; Steinmann, Paul

2015-01-01

Laboratory tests consider simple trapezoidal, triangle, and sinusoidal signals. However, actual plant components are characterized by complex loading patterns and periods of holds. Fatigue tests in water environment show, that the damage from a realistic strain variation or the presence of hold-times within cyclic loading results in an environmental reduction factor (Fen) only half that of a simple waveform. This study proposes a new fatigue approach for addressing environmental effects in fatigue usage calculation for class 1 boiler and pressure vessel reactor components. The currently accepted method of fatigue assessment has been used as a base model and all cycles, which have been comparable with realistic fatigue tests, have been excluded from the code-based fatigue calculation and evaluated directly with the test data. The results presented show that the engineering approach can successfully be integrated in the code-based fatigue assessment. The cumulative usage factor can be reduced considerably.

A quantitative assessment of organizational factors affecting safety using a system dynamics model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoo, J. K. [Systemix Company, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Yoon, T. S. [Korea Electric Power Research Institute (Korea, Republic of)

2003-07-01

The purpose of this study is to develop a system dynamics model for the assessment of organizational and human factors in the nuclear power plant safety. Previous studies are classified into two major approaches. One is the engineering approach such as ergonomics and Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA). The other is socio-psychology one. Both have contributed to find organizational and human factors and increased nuclear safety However, since these approaches assume that the relationship among factors is independent they do not explain the interactions between factors or variables in NPP's. To overcome these restrictions, a system dynamics model, which can show causal relations between factors and quantify organizational and human factors, has been developed. Operating variables such as degree of leadership, adjustment of number of employee, and workload in each department, users can simulate various situations in nuclear power plants in the organization side. Through simulation, user can get an insight to improve safety in plants and to find managerial tools in the organization and human side.

A Systematic Approach to Identify Candidate Transcription Factors that Control Cell Identity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana C. D’Alessio

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Hundreds of transcription factors (TFs are expressed in each cell type, but cell identity can be induced through the activity of just a small number of core TFs. Systematic identification of these core TFs for a wide variety of cell types is currently lacking and would establish a foundation for understanding the transcriptional control of cell identity in development, disease, and cell-based therapy. Here, we describe a computational approach that generates an atlas of candidate core TFs for a broad spectrum of human cells. The potential impact of the atlas was demonstrated via cellular reprogramming efforts where candidate core TFs proved capable of converting human fibroblasts to retinal pigment epithelial-like cells. These results suggest that candidate core TFs from the atlas will prove a useful starting point for studying transcriptional control of cell identity and reprogramming in many human cell types.

An approach to get thermodynamic properties from speed of sound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Núñez, M A; Medina, L A

2017-01-01

An approach for estimating thermodynamic properties of gases from the speed of sound u, is proposed. The square u 2 , the compression factor Z and the molar heat capacity at constant volume C V are connected by two coupled nonlinear partial differential equations. Previous approaches to solving this system differ in the conditions used on the range of temperature values [T min ,T max ]. In this work we propose the use of Dirichlet boundary conditions at T min , T max . The virial series of the compression factor Z = 1+Bρ+Cρ 2 +… and other properties leads the problem to the solution of a recursive set of linear ordinary differential equations for the B, C. Analytic solutions of the B equation for Argon are used to study the stability of our approach and previous ones under perturbation errors of the input data. The results show that the approach yields B with a relative error bounded basically by that of the boundary values and the error of other approaches can be some orders of magnitude lager. (paper)

The General Factor of Personality: A General Critique.

Science.gov (United States)

Revelle, William; Wilt, Joshua

2013-10-01

Recently, it has been proposed that all non-cognitive measures of personality share a general factor of personality. A problem with many of these studies is a lack of clarity in defining a general factor. In this paper we address the multiple ways in which a general factor has been identified and argue that many of these approaches find factors that are not in fact general. Through the use of artificial examples, we show that a general factor is not: The first factor or component of a correlation or covariance matrix.The first factor resulting from a bifactor rotation or biquartimin transformationNecessarily the result of a confirmatory factor analysis forcing a bifactor solution We consider how the definition of what constitutes a general factor can lead to confusion, and we will demonstrate alternative ways of estimating the general factor saturation that are more appropriate.

A rough multi-factor model of electricity spot prices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bennedsen, Mikkel

2017-01-01

We introduce a new continuous-time mathematical model of electricity spot prices which accounts for the most important stylized facts of these time series: seasonality, spikes, stochastic volatility, and mean reversion. Empirical studies have found a possible fifth stylized fact, roughness, and our approach explicitly incorporates this into the model of the prices. Our setup generalizes the popular Ornstein–Uhlenbeck-based multi-factor framework of and allows us to perform statistical tests to distinguish between an Ornstein–Uhlenbeck-based model and a rough model. Further, through the multi-factor approach we account for seasonality and spikes before estimating – and making inference on – the degree of roughness. This is novel in the literature and we present simulation evidence showing that these precautions are crucial for accurate estimation. Lastly, we estimate our model on recent data from six European energy exchanges and find statistical evidence of roughness in five out of six markets. As an application of our model, we show how, in these five markets, a rough component improves short term forecasting of the prices. - Highlights: • Statistical modeling of electricity spot prices • Multi-factor decomposition • Roughness • Electricity price forecasting

How acquainting shows verbally

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hermann, Jesper

2004-01-01

A central tenet of the integrational view of language and communication is an anchoring in the acting and integrating behaviour of the communicants themselves. In this way the integrational approach has a certain phenomenological slant. What happens when this approach is combined with a ¿psycholo...... to some of William James' classical psychological observations. 16...... of linguistic exertion¿ based upon the descriptions of the  stream of thought, and of conception (>acquainting) by William James? Text-examples taken from an internet site for dieters illustrate the combined James'ian & integrational approach in practice. Some of the examples are also specifically related......A central tenet of the integrational view of language and communication is an anchoring in the acting and integrating behaviour of the communicants themselves. In this way the integrational approach has a certain phenomenological slant. What happens when this approach is combined with a ¿psychology...

A fuel-based approach to estimating motor vehicle exhaust emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Singer, Brett Craig

Motor vehicles contribute significantly to air pollution problems; accurate motor vehicle emission inventories are therefore essential to air quality planning. Current travel-based inventory models use emission factors measured from potentially biased vehicle samples and predict fleet-average emissions which are often inconsistent with on-road measurements. This thesis presents a fuel-based inventory approach which uses emission factors derived from remote sensing or tunnel-based measurements of on-road vehicles. Vehicle activity is quantified by statewide monthly fuel sales data resolved to the air basin level. Development of the fuel-based approach includes (1) a method for estimating cold start emission factors, (2) an analysis showing that fuel-normalized emission factors are consistent over a range of positive vehicle loads and that most fuel use occurs during loaded-mode driving, (3) scaling factors relating infrared hydrocarbon measurements to total exhaust volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations, and (4) an analysis showing that economic factors should be considered when selecting on-road sampling sites. The fuel-based approach was applied to estimate carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from warmed-up vehicles in the Los Angeles area in 1991, and CO and VOC exhaust emissions for Los Angeles in 1997. The fuel-based CO estimate for 1991 was higher by a factor of 2.3 +/- 0.5 than emissions predicted by California's MVEI 7F model. Fuel-based inventory estimates for 1997 were higher than those of California's updated MVEI 7G model by factors of 2.4 +/- 0.2 for CO and 3.5 +/- 0.6 for VOC. Fuel-based estimates indicate a 20% decrease in the mass of CO emitted, despite an 8% increase in fuel use between 1991 and 1997; official inventory models predict a 50% decrease in CO mass emissions during the same period. Cold start CO and VOC emission factors derived from parking garage measurements were lower than those predicted by the MVEI 7G model. Current inventories

A decision support system prototype including human factors based on the TOGA meta-theory approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cappelli, M.; Memmi, F.; Gadomski, A. M.; Sepielli, M.

2012-01-01

The human contribution to the risk of operation of complex technological systems is often not negligible and sometimes tends to become significant, as shown by many reports on incidents and accidents occurred in the past inside Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). An error of a human operator of a NPP can derive by both omission and commission. For instance, complex commission errors can also lead to significant catastrophic technological accidents, as for the case of the Three Mile Island accident. Typically, the problem is analyzed by focusing on the single event chain that has provoked the incident or accident. What is needed is a general framework able to include as many parameters as possible, i.e. both technological and human factors. Such a general model could allow to envisage an omission or commission error before it can happen or, alternatively, suggest preferred actions to do in order to take countermeasures to neutralize the effect of the error before it becomes critical. In this paper, a preliminary Decision Support System (DSS) based on the so-called (-) TOGA meta-theory approach is presented. The application of such a theory to the management of nuclear power plants has been presented in the previous ICAPP 2011. Here, a human factor simulator prototype is proposed in order to include the effect of human errors in the decision path. The DSS has been developed using a TRIGA research reactor as reference plant, and implemented using the LabVIEW programming environment and the Finite State Machine (FSM) model The proposed DSS shows how to apply the Universal Reasoning Paradigm (URP) and the Universal Management Paradigm (UMP) to a real plant context. The DSS receives inputs from instrumentation data and gives as output a suggested decision. It is obtained as the result of an internal elaborating process based on a performance function. The latter, describes the degree of satisfaction and efficiency, which are dependent on the level of responsibility related to

A unified innovation approach to emerging markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agarwal, Nivedita; Brem, Alexander; Grottke, Michael

2014-01-01

for emerging markets (2) and establish relative importance of key factors for product managers while conceptualizing a new product for emerging markets. In the first part, the study assembles the list of characteristics from the selected innovation theories revolving around emerging markets. Subsequently...... the overarching innovation approach for emerging markets and provides a common definition for a product considered relevant for emerging market. The results show high prioritization given to cost effective, easy to use and problem centric as compared to the sustainability, no-frills, resourceful, breakthrough...... and fast-to-market factors by product managers. However, the paper acknowledges that the prioritization results are subject to change given different motivation behind the various theories. Finally the paper proposes that, the eight key factors required factors to “play in” emerging markets would...

An environmental factor approach to account for reactor water effects in light water reactor pressure vessel and piping fatigue evaluations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mehta, H.S.; Gosselin, S.R.

1996-01-01

This paper summarizes past and current studies of the environmental fatigue effects in LWR applications. Current Argonne and Japanese research efforts are reviewed and an approach to calculate an environmental correction factor is described. A description of how the proposed approach can be implemented in Section III, NB-3600 and NB-3200-type fatigue evaluations, is presented along with examples of applying the approach to piping (NB-3600) and safe-end fatigue evaluations. These procedures were applied to several BWR and PWR example cases. The results of these case studies indicated that there is a modest increase in calculated fatigue usage, which is considerably less than the results obtained when the NUREG/CR-5999 curves are applied directly

Associated production of Z bosons and b-jets at the LHC in the combined k{sub T}+collinear QCD factorization approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baranov, S.P. [P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation); Jung, H. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany); Lipatov, A.V. [Moscow State Univ. (Russian Federation). Skobeltsyn Inst. of Nuclear Physics; Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation); Malyshev, M.A. [Moscow State Univ. (Russian Federation). Skobeltsyn Inst. of Nuclear Physics

2017-08-15

We consider the production of Z bosons associated with beauty quarks at the LHC using a combined k{sub T}+collinear QCD factorization approach, that interpolates between small x and large x physics. Our consideration is based on the off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess g{sup *}g{sup *}→ZQ anti Q at the leading order O(αα{sup 2}{sub s}) (where the Z boson further decays into a lepton pair), calculated in the k{sub T}-factorization approach, and several subleading O(αα{sup 2}{sub s}) and O(αα{sup 3}{sub s}) subprocesses involving quark-antiquark and quark-gluon interactions, taken into account in conventional (collinear) QCD factorization. The contributions from double parton scattering are discussed as well. The transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon densities in a proton are derived from Catani-Ciafaloni-Fiorani-Marchesini (CCFM) evolution equation. We achieve reasonably good agreement with the latest data taken by CMS and ATLAS Collaborations. The comparison of our results with next-to-leading-order pQCD predictions, obtained in the collinear QCD factorization, is presented. We discuss the uncertainties of our calculations and demonstrate the importance of subleading quark involving contributions in describing the LHC data in the whole kinematic region.

Associated production of Z bosons and b-jets at the LHC in the combined k{sub T} + collinear QCD factorization approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baranov, S.P. [P.N. Lebedev Physics Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation); Jung, H. [Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Hamburg (Germany); Lipatov, A.V. [Moscow State University, Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow (Russian Federation); Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna (Russian Federation); Malyshev, M.A. [Moscow State University, Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow (Russian Federation)

2017-11-15

We consider the production of Z bosons associated with beauty quarks at the LHC using a combined k{sub T} + collinear QCD factorization approach, which interpolates between small x and large x physics. Our consideration is based on the off-shell gluon-gluon fusion subprocess g*g* → ZQ anti Q at the leading order O(αα{sub s}{sup 2}) (where the Z boson further decays into a lepton pair), calculated in the k{sub T}-factorization approach, and several subleading O(αα{sub s}{sup 2}) and O(αα{sub s}{sup 3}) subprocesses involving quark-antiquark and quark-gluon interactions, taken into account in conventional (collinear) QCD factorization. The contributions from double parton scattering are discussed as well. The transverse momentum dependent (or unintegrated) gluon densities in a proton are derived from Catani-Ciafaloni-Fiorani-Marchesini (CCFM) evolution equation. We achieve reasonably good agreement with the latest data taken by CMS and ATLAS Collaborations. The comparison of our results with next-to-leading-order pQCD predictions, obtained in the collinear QCD factorization, is presented. We discuss the uncertainties of our calculations and demonstrate the importance of subleading quark-involving contributions in describing the LHC data in the whole kinematic region. (orig.)

Human and Organizational Factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eshiett, P.B.S.

2016-01-01

The Human and Organizational Factors Approach to Industrial Safety (HOFS) consists of identifying and putting in place conditions which encourage a positive contribution from operators (individually and in a team) with regards to industrial safety. The knowledge offered by the HOFS approach makes it possible better to understand what conditions human activity and to act on the design of occupational situations and the organization, in the aim of creating the conditions for safe work. Efforts made in this area can also lead to an improvement in results in terms of the quality of production or occupational safety (incidence and seriousness rates) (Daniellou, F., et al., 2011). Research on industrial accidents shows that they rarely happen as a result of a single event, but rather emerge from the accumulation of several, often seemingly trivial, malfunctions, misunderstandings, incorrect assumptions and other issues. The nuclear community has established rigorous international safety standards and concepts to ensure the protection of people and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation (IAEA, 2014). A review of major human induced disasters in a number of countries and in different industries yields insights into several of the human and organizational factors involved in their occurrence. Some of these factors relate to failures in: • Design or technology; • Training; • Decision making; • Communication; • Preparation for the unexpected; • Understanding of organizational interdependencies

Inclusive J/{psi} photoproduction and polarization at HERA in the k{sub T}-factorization approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baranov, S.P. [P.N. Lebedev Physics Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation); Lipatov, A.V.; Zotov, N.P. [M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State Univ. (Russian Federation). D.V. Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics

2010-12-15

We investigate the inclusive photoproduction of J/{psi} mesons at HERA within the framework of the k{sub T} -factorization QCD approach. Our consideration is based on the color singlet model supplemented with the relevant off-shell matrix elements and the CCFM and KMR unintegrated gluon densities in a proton and in a photon. Both the direct and resolved photon contributions are taken into account. Our predictions are compared with the recent experimental data taken by the H1 and ZEUS collaborations. Special attention is put on the J/{psi} polarization parameters {lambda} and {nu} which are sensitive to the production dynamics. (orig.)

Retrospective analysis of 104 histologically proven adult brainstem gliomas: clinical symptoms, therapeutic approaches and prognostic factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reithmeier, Thomas; Kuzeawu, Aanyo; Hentschel, Bettina; Loeffler, Markus; Trippel, Michael; Nikkhah, Guido

2014-01-01

Adult brainstem gliomas are rare primary brain tumors (<2% of gliomas). The goal of this study was to analyze clinical, prognostic and therapeutic factors in a large series of histologically proven brainstem gliomas. Between 1997 and 2007, 104 patients with a histologically proven brainstem glioma were retrospectively analyzed. Data about clinical course of disease, neuropathological findings and therapeutic approaches were analyzed. The median age at diagnosis was 41 years (range 18-89 years), median KPS before any operative procedure was 80 (range 20-100) and median survival for the whole cohort was 18.8 months. Histopathological examinations revealed 16 grade I, 31 grade II, 42 grade III and 14 grade IV gliomas. Grading was not possible in 1 patient. Therapeutic concepts differed according to the histopathology of the disease. Median overall survival for grade II tumors was 26.4 months, for grade III tumors 12.9 months and for grade IV tumors 9.8 months. On multivariate analysis the relative risk to die increased with a KPS ≤ 70 by factor 6.7, with grade III/IV gliomas by the factor 1.8 and for age ≥ 40 by the factor 1.7. External beam radiation reduced the risk to die by factor 0.4. Adult brainstem gliomas present with a wide variety of neurological symptoms and postoperative radiation remains the cornerstone of therapy with no proven benefit of adding chemotherapy. Low KPS, age ≥ 40 and higher tumor grade have a negative impact on overall survival

Low-energy analysis of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kubis, Bastian.; Meissner, Ulf-G.

2001-01-01

We analyze the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon to fourth order in relativistic baryon chiral perturbation theory. We employ the recently proposed infrared regularization scheme and show that the convergence of the chiral expansion is improved as compared to the heavy-fermion approach. We also discuss the inclusion of vector mesons and obtain an accurate description of all four-nucleon form factors for momentum transfer squared up to Q 2 ≅0.4 GeV 2

An integrated approach shows different use of water resources from Mediterranean maquis species in a coastal dune ecosystem

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F. Manes

2009-11-01

Full Text Available An integrated approach has been used to analyse the dependence of three Mediterranean species, A. unedo L., Q. ilex L., and P. latifolia L. co-occurring in a coastal dune ecosystem on two different water resources: groundwater and rainfed upper soil layers. The approach included leaf level gas exchanges, sap flow measurements and structural adaptations between 15 May and 31 July 2007. During this period it was possible to capture different species-specific response patterns to an environment characterized by a sandy soil, with a low water retention capacity, and the presence of a water table. The latter did not completely prevent the development of a drought response and, combined with previous studies in the same area, response differences between species have been partially attributed to different root distributions. Sap flow of A. unedo decreased rapidly with the decline of soil water content, while that of Q. ilex decreased only moderately. Midday leaf water potential of P. latifolia and A. unedo ranged between −2.2 and −2.7 MPa throughout the measuring period, while in Q. ilex it decreased down to −3.4 MPa at the end of the season. A. unedo was the only species that responded to drought with a decrease of its leaf area to sapwood area ratio from 23.9±1.2 (May to 15.2±1.5 (July. While A. unedo also underwent an almost stepwise loss on hydraulic conductivity, such a loss did not occur for Q. ilex, whereas P. latifolia was able to slightly increase its hydraulic conducitivity. These differences show how different plant compartments coordinate differently between species in their responses to drought. The different responses appear to be mediated by different root distributions of the species and their relative resistances to drought are likely to depend on the duration of the periods in which water remains extractable in the upper soil layers.

An integrated approach shows different use of water resources from Mediterranean maquis species in a coastal dune ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Mereu, S.; Salvatori, E.; Fusaro, L.; Gerosa, G.; Muys, B.; Manes, F.

2009-11-01

An integrated approach has been used to analyse the dependence of three Mediterranean species, A. unedo L., Q. ilex L., and P. latifolia L. co-occurring in a coastal dune ecosystem on two different water resources: groundwater and rainfed upper soil layers. The approach included leaf level gas exchanges, sap flow measurements and structural adaptations between 15 May and 31 July 2007. During this period it was possible to capture different species-specific response patterns to an environment characterized by a sandy soil, with a low water retention capacity, and the presence of a water table. The latter did not completely prevent the development of a drought response and, combined with previous studies in the same area, response differences between species have been partially attributed to different root distributions. Sap flow of A. unedo decreased rapidly with the decline of soil water content, while that of Q. ilex decreased only moderately. Midday leaf water potential of P. latifolia and A. unedo ranged between -2.2 and -2.7 MPa throughout the measuring period, while in Q. ilex it decreased down to -3.4 MPa at the end of the season. A. unedo was the only species that responded to drought with a decrease of its leaf area to sapwood area ratio from 23.9±1.2 (May) to 15.2±1.5 (July). While A. unedo also underwent an almost stepwise loss on hydraulic conductivity, such a loss did not occur for Q. ilex, whereas P. latifolia was able to slightly increase its hydraulic conducitivity. These differences show how different plant compartments coordinate differently between species in their responses to drought. The different responses appear to be mediated by different root distributions of the species and their relative resistances to drought are likely to depend on the duration of the periods in which water remains extractable in the upper soil layers.

Design of psychosocial factors questionnaires: a systematic measurement approach

Science.gov (United States)

Vargas, Angélica; Felknor, Sarah A

2012-01-01

Background Evaluation of psychosocial factors requires instruments that measure dynamic complexities. This study explains the design of a set of questionnaires to evaluate work and non-work psychosocial risk factors for stress-related illnesses. Methods The measurement model was based on a review of literature. Content validity was performed by experts and cognitive interviews. Pilot testing was carried out with a convenience sample of 132 workers. Cronbach’s alpha evaluated internal consistency and concurrent validity was estimated by Spearman correlation coefficients. Results Three questionnaires were constructed to evaluate exposure to work and non-work risk factors. Content validity improved the questionnaires coherence with the measurement model. Internal consistency was adequate (α=0.85–0.95). Concurrent validity resulted in moderate correlations of psychosocial factors with stress symptoms. Conclusions Questionnaires´ content reflected a wide spectrum of psychosocial factors sources. Cognitive interviews improved understanding of questions and dimensions. The structure of the measurement model was confirmed. PMID:22628068

On determinant representations of scalar products and form factors in the SoV approach: the XXX case

Science.gov (United States)

Kitanine, N.; Maillet, J. M.; Niccoli, G.; Terras, V.

2016-03-01

In the present article we study the form factors of quantum integrable lattice models solvable by the separation of variables (SoVs) method. It was recently shown that these models admit universal determinant representations for the scalar products of the so-called separate states (a class which includes in particular all the eigenstates of the transfer matrix). These results permit to obtain simple expressions for the matrix elements of local operators (form factors). However, these representations have been obtained up to now only for the completely inhomogeneous versions of the lattice models considered. In this article we give a simple algebraic procedure to rewrite the scalar products (and hence the form factors) for the SoV related models as Izergin or Slavnov type determinants. This new form leads to simple expressions for the form factors in the homogeneous and thermodynamic limits. To make the presentation of our method clear, we have chosen to explain it first for the simple case of the XXX Heisenberg chain with anti-periodic boundary conditions. We would nevertheless like to stress that the approach presented in this article applies as well to a wide range of models solved in the SoV framework.

On determinant representations of scalar products and form factors in the SoV approach: the XXX case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitanine, N; Maillet, J M; Niccoli, G; Terras, V

2016-01-01

In the present article we study the form factors of quantum integrable lattice models solvable by the separation of variables (SoVs) method. It was recently shown that these models admit universal determinant representations for the scalar products of the so-called separate states (a class which includes in particular all the eigenstates of the transfer matrix). These results permit to obtain simple expressions for the matrix elements of local operators (form factors). However, these representations have been obtained up to now only for the completely inhomogeneous versions of the lattice models considered. In this article we give a simple algebraic procedure to rewrite the scalar products (and hence the form factors) for the SoV related models as Izergin or Slavnov type determinants. This new form leads to simple expressions for the form factors in the homogeneous and thermodynamic limits. To make the presentation of our method clear, we have chosen to explain it first for the simple case of the XXX Heisenberg chain with anti-periodic boundary conditions. We would nevertheless like to stress that the approach presented in this article applies as well to a wide range of models solved in the SoV framework. (paper)

Mastectomy or breast conserving surgery? Factors affecting type of surgical treatment for breast cancer – a classification tree approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, Michael A; Meyricke, Ramona; O'Neill, Terry; Roberts, Steven

2006-01-01

A critical choice facing breast cancer patients is which surgical treatment – mastectomy or breast conserving surgery (BCS) – is most appropriate. Several studies have investigated factors that impact the type of surgery chosen, identifying features such as place of residence, age at diagnosis, tumor size, socio-economic and racial/ethnic elements as relevant. Such assessment of 'propensity' is important in understanding issues such as a reported under-utilisation of BCS among women for whom such treatment was not contraindicated. Using Western Australian (WA) data, we further examine the factors associated with the type of surgical treatment for breast cancer using a classification tree approach. This approach deals naturally with complicated interactions between factors, and so allows flexible and interpretable models for treatment choice to be built that add to the current understanding of this complex decision process. Data was extracted from the WA Cancer Registry on women diagnosed with breast cancer in WA from 1990 to 2000. Subjects' treatment preferences were predicted from covariates using both classification trees and logistic regression. Tumor size was the primary determinant of patient choice, subjects with tumors smaller than 20 mm in diameter preferring BCS. For subjects with tumors greater than 20 mm in diameter factors such as patient age, nodal status, and tumor histology become relevant as predictors of patient choice. Classification trees perform as well as logistic regression for predicting patient choice, but are much easier to interpret for clinical use. The selected tree can inform clinicians' advice to patients

Three approaches for estimating recovery factors in carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery

Science.gov (United States)

Verma, Mahendra K.

2017-07-17

PrefaceThe Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 authorized the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to conduct a national assessment of geologic storage resources for carbon dioxide (CO2) and requested the USGS to estimate the “potential volumes of oil and gas recoverable by injection and sequestration of industrial carbon dioxide in potential sequestration formations” (42 U.S.C. 17271(b)(4)). Geologic CO2 sequestration associated with enhanced oil recovery (EOR) using CO2 in existing hydrocarbon reservoirs has the potential to increase the U.S. hydrocarbon recoverable resource. The objective of this report is to provide detailed information on three approaches that can be used to calculate the incremental recovery factors for CO2-EOR. Therefore, the contents of this report could form an integral part of an assessment methodology that can be used to assess the sedimentary basins of the United States for the hydrocarbon recovery potential using CO2-EOR methods in conventional oil reservoirs.

Hanseniaspora uvarum from winemaking environments show spatial and temporal genetic clustering

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Warren eAlbertin

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Hanseniaspora uvarum is one of the most abundant yeast species found on grapes and in grape must, at least before the onset of alcoholic fermentation which is usually performed by Saccharomyces species. The aim of this study was to characterise the genetic and phenotypic variability within the H. uvarum species. One hundred and fifteen strains isolated from winemaking environments in different geographical origins were analysed using 11 microsatellite markers and a subset of 47 strains were analysed by AFLP. H. uvarum isolates clustered mainly on the basis of their geographical localisation as revealed by microsatellites. In addition, a strong clustering based on year of isolation was evidenced, indicating that the genetic diversity of Hanseniaspora uvarum isolates was related to both spatial and temporal variations. Conversely, clustering analysis based on AFLP data provided a different picture with groups showing no particular characteristics, but provided higher strain discrimination. This result indicated that AFLP approaches are inadequate to establish the genetic relationship between individuals, but allowed good strain discrimination. At the phenotypic level, several extracellular enzymatic activities of enological relevance (pectinase, chitinase, protease, β-glucosidase were measured but showed low diversity. The impact of environmental factors of enological interest (temperature, anaerobia and copper addition on growth was also assessed and showed poor variation. Altogether, this work provided both new analytical tool (microsatellites and new insights into the genetic and phenotypic diversity of H. uvarum, a yeast species that has previously been identified as a potential candidate for co-inoculation in grape must, but whose intraspecific variability had never been fully assessed.

Where is My Pay? Critical Success Factors of a Payroll System – A System Life Cycle Approach

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Mohan Thite

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Majority of firms deploy technologies in HR administrative applications. While payroll processing is a routine transactional activity, poor design and implementation of payroll system can cause immense harm to employee and organizational well-being. Based on the case study of a flawed payroll system in a large and complex public sector organization in Australia, we highlight the key success factors using the system life cycle approach underpinned by the agile philosophy. It highlights the critical importance of strategic organizational review, user involvement and ongoing communication with diverse stakeholders during the planning, analysis, design, implementation and review stages of a payroll project. It reinforces the need for the adoption of and adherence to sound project and change management methodologies. We also explore the limitations of shared service center approach.

Aggregation factor analysis for protein formulation by a systematic approach using FTIR, SEC and design of experiments techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Yan Wen; Ooishi, Ayako; Honda, Shinya

2012-01-05

A simple systematic approach using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and design of experiments (DOE) techniques was applied to the analysis of aggregation factors for protein formulations in stress and accelerated testings. FTIR and SEC were used to evaluate protein conformational and storage stabilities, respectively. DOE was used to determine the suitable formulation and to analyze both the main effect of single factors and the interaction effect of combined factors on aggregation. Our results indicated that (i) analysis at a low protein concentration is not always applicable to high concentration formulations; (ii) an investigation of interaction effects of combined factors as well as main effects of single factors is effective for improving conformational stability of proteins; (iii) with the exception of pH, the results of stress testing with regard to aggregation factors would be available for suitable formulation instead of performing time-consuming accelerated testing; (iv) a suitable pH condition should not be determined in stress testing but in accelerated testing, because of inconsistent effects of pH on conformational and storage stabilities. In summary, we propose a three-step strategy, using FTIR, SEC and DOE techniques, to effectively analyze the aggregation factors and perform a rapid screening for suitable conditions of protein formulation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Factors and factorizations of graphs proof techniques in factor theory

CERN Document Server

Akiyama, Jin

2011-01-01

This book chronicles the development of graph factors and factorizations. It pursues a comprehensive approach, addressing most of the important results from hundreds of findings over the last century. One of the main themes is the observation that many theorems can be proved using only a few standard proof techniques. This stands in marked contrast to the seemingly countless, complex proof techniques offered by the extant body of papers and books. In addition to covering the history and development of this area, the book offers conjectures and discusses open problems. It also includes numerous explanatory figures that enable readers to progressively and intuitively understand the most important notions and proofs in the area of factors and factorization.

[Approach to the Development of Mind and Persona].

Science.gov (United States)

Sawaguchi, Toshiko

2018-01-01

To access medical specialists by health specialists working in the regional health field, the possibility of utilizing the voice approach for dissociative identity disorder (DID) patients as a health assessment for medical access (HAMA) was investigated. The first step is to investigate whether the plural personae in a single DID patient can be discriminated by voice analysis. Voices of DID patients including these with different personae were extracted from YouTube and were analysed using the software PRAAT with basic frequency, oral factors, chin factors and tongue factors. In addition, RAKUGO story teller voices made artificially and dramatically were analysed in the same manner. Quantitive and qualitative analysis method were carried out and nested logistic regression and a nested generalized linear model was developed. The voice from different personae in one DID patient could be visually and easily distinquished using basic frequency curve, cluster analysis and factor analysis. In the canonical analysis, only Roy's maximum root was personae could guide to the risky situation such as suicide. So if the voice approach can show the time threshold of changes between the different personae, it would be useful as an Access Assessment in the form of a simple HAMA.

Sequence2Vec: A novel embedding approach for modeling transcription factor binding affinity landscape

KAUST Repository

Dai, Hanjun

2017-07-26

Motivation: An accurate characterization of transcription factor (TF)-DNA affinity landscape is crucial to a quantitative understanding of the molecular mechanisms underpinning endogenous gene regulation. While recent advances in biotechnology have brought the opportunity for building binding affinity prediction methods, the accurate characterization of TF-DNA binding affinity landscape still remains a challenging problem. Results: Here we propose a novel sequence embedding approach for modeling the transcription factor binding affinity landscape. Our method represents DNA binding sequences as a hidden Markov model (HMM) which captures both position specific information and long-range dependency in the sequence. A cornerstone of our method is a novel message passing-like embedding algorithm, called Sequence2Vec, which maps these HMMs into a common nonlinear feature space and uses these embedded features to build a predictive model. Our method is a novel combination of the strength of probabilistic graphical models, feature space embedding and deep learning. We conducted comprehensive experiments on over 90 large-scale TF-DNA data sets which were measured by different high-throughput experimental technologies. Sequence2Vec outperforms alternative machine learning methods as well as the state-of-the-art binding affinity prediction methods.

Influencing Factors on Earnings Management, Empirical Evidence from Listed German and Austrian Companies

OpenAIRE

Thomas Dilger; Sabine Graschitz

2015-01-01

Purpose – Since the 1960s earnings management has been a widely researched area and became presumably known by the current accounting scandals. This paper aims at empirically showing which factors affect earnings management. Design/methodology/approach – According to former research literature factors are derived, which might influence the companies' earnings management behavior. These factors are the applied accounting standard, the industry sector and the country of official quotation. ...

Methodological approach to participatory formulation of agricultural technical assistance plans with territorial approach

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Holmes Rodríguez Espinosa

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The collective identification of needs and shared decision-making in projects’ formulation for agricultural development is a process that requires the identification of participatory methodologies to promote active and reflective engagement of producers. The aim of this study was to evaluate a methodological approach for participatory formulation of technical assistance plan with territorial approach. Matrix analysis for the identification and prioritization of the most limiting technical assistance factors for milk production was performed and alternative solutions were defined, through participatory workshops with farmers. The results show the advantages of a collective reflection with stakeholders and quantitative tools reducing subjectivity in decision-making, improving participation in their own development and identifying acceptable alternatives to farmers and viable to the municipality in order to improve lack of pasture and forage management, implementation of good agricultural practices GAP and rational use of agrochemicals.

An Easy Way to Show Memory Color Effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Witzel, Christoph

2016-01-01

This study proposes and evaluates a simple stimulus display that allows one to measure memory color effects (the effect of object knowledge and memory on color perception). The proposed approach is fast and easy and does not require running an extensive experiment. It shows that memory color effects are robust to minor variations due to a lack of color calibration.

An Easy Way to Show Memory Color Effects

OpenAIRE

Witzel, Christoph

2016-01-01

This study proposes and evaluates a simple stimulus display that allows one to measure memory color effects (the effect of object knowledge and memory on color perception). The proposed approach is fast and easy and does not require running an extensive experiment. It shows that memory color effects are robust to minor variations due to a lack of color calibration.

Investigating the effect of clamping force on the fatigue life of bolted plates using volumetric approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esmaeili, F.; Chakherlou, T. N.; Zehsaz, M.; Hasanifard, S.

2013-01-01

In this paper, the effects of bolt clamping force on the fatigue life for bolted plates made from Al7075-T6 have been studied on the values of notch strength reduction factor obtained by volumetric approach. To attain stress distribution around the notch (hole) which is required for volumetric approach, nonlinear finite element simulations were carried out. To estimate the fatigue life, the available smooth S-N curve of Al7075-T6 and the notch strength reduction factor obtained from volumetric method were used. The estimated fatigue life was compared with the available experimental test results. The investigation shows that there is a good agreement between the life predicted by the volumetric approach and the experimental results for various specimens with different amount of clamping forces. Volumetric approach and experimental results showed that the fatigue life of bolted plates improves because of the compressive stresses created around the plate hole due to clamping force.

Integrated approach to knowledge acquisition and safety management of complex plants with emphasis on human factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosmowski, K.T.

1998-01-01

In this paper an integrated approach to the knowledge acquisition and safety management of complex industrial plants is proposed and outlined. The plant is considered within a man-technology-environment (MTE) system. The knowledge acquisition is aimed at the consequent reliability evaluation of human factor and probabilistic modeling of the plant. Properly structured initial knowledge is updated in life-time of the plant. The data and knowledge concerning the topology of safety related systems and their functions are created in a graphical CAD system and are object oriented. Safety oriented monitoring of the plant includes abnormal situations due to external and internal disturbances, failures of hard/software components and failures of human factor. The operation and safety related evidence is accumulated in special data bases. Data/knowledge bases are designed in such a way to support effectively the reliability and safety management of the plant. (author)

Self-Organization in Aggregating Robot Swarms: A DW-KNN Topological Approach

KAUST Repository

Khaldi, Belkacem

2018-02-02

In certain swarm applications, where the inter-agent distance is not the only factor in the collective behaviours of the swarm, additional properties such as density could have a crucial effect. In this paper, we propose applying a Distance-Weighted K-Nearest Neighbouring (DW-KNN) topology to the behaviour of robot swarms performing self-organized aggregation, in combination with a virtual physics approach to keep the robots together. A distance-weighted function based on a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) interpolation approach, which is used to evaluate the robot density in the swarm, is applied as the key factor for identifying the K-nearest neighbours taken into account when aggregating the robots. The intra virtual physical connectivity among these neighbours is achieved using a virtual viscoelastic-based proximity model. With the ARGoS based-simulator, we model and evaluate the proposed approach, showing various self-organized aggregations performed by a swarm of N foot-bot robots. Also, we compared the aggregation quality of DW-KNN aggregation approach to that of the conventional KNN approach and found better performance.

Theoretical Approaches to Nuclear Proliferation

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Konstantin S. Tarasov

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This article analyses discussions between representatives of three schools in the theory of international relations - realism, liberalism and constructivism - on the driving factors of nuclear proliferation. The paper examines major theoretical approaches, outlined in the studies of Russian and foreign scientists, to the causes of nuclear weapons development, while unveiling their advantages and limitations. Much of the article has been devoted to alternative approaches, particularly, the role of mathematical modeling in assessing proliferation risks. The analysis also reveals a variety of different approaches to nuclear weapons acquisition, as well as the absence of a comprehensive proliferation theory. Based on the research results the study uncovers major factors both favoring and impeding nuclear proliferation. The author shows that the lack of consensus between realists, liberals and constructivists on the nature of proliferation led a number of scientists to an attempt to explain nuclear rationale by drawing from the insights of more than one school in the theory of IR. Detailed study of the proliferation puzzle contributes to a greater understating of contemporary international realities, helps to identify mechanisms that are most likely to deter states from obtaining nuclear weapons and is of the outmost importance in predicting short- and long-term security environment. Furthermore, analysis of the existing scientific literature on nuclear proliferation helps to determine future research agenda of the subject at hand.

Oriented Approach

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Seyed Mohammad Moghimi

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Promoting productivity is one of the goals of usinginformation technology in organizations. The purpose of this research isexamining the impact of IT on organizational productivity andrecognizing its mechanisms based on process-oriented approach. For thisend, by reviewing the literature of the subject a number of impacts of ITon organizational processes were identified. Then, through interviewswith IT experts, seven main factors were selected and presented in aconceptual model. This model was tested through a questionnaire in 148industrial companies. Data analysis shows that impact of IT onproductivity can be included in the eight major categories: Increasing ofthe Automation, Tracking, Communication, Improvement, Flexibility,Analytic, Coordination and Monitoring in organizational processes.Finally, to improve the impact of information technology onorganizational productivity, some suggestions are presented.

A biophysical approach using water deficit factor for daily estimations of evapotranspiration and CO2 uptake in Mediterranean environments

Science.gov (United States)

Helman, David; Lensky, Itamar M.; Osem, Yagil; Rohatyn, Shani; Rotenberg, Eyal; Yakir, Dan

2017-09-01

Estimations of ecosystem-level evapotranspiration (ET) and CO2 uptake in water-limited environments are scarce and scaling up ground-level measurements is not straightforward. A biophysical approach using remote sensing (RS) and meteorological data (RS-Met) is adjusted to extreme high-energy water-limited Mediterranean ecosystems that suffer from continuous stress conditions to provide daily estimations of ET and CO2 uptake (measured as gross primary production, GPP) at a spatial resolution of 250 m. The RS-Met was adjusted using a seasonal water deficit factor (fWD) based on daily rainfall, temperature and radiation data. We validated our adjusted RS-Met with eddy covariance flux measurements using a newly developed mobile lab system and the single active FLUXNET station operating in this region (Yatir pine forest station) at a total of seven forest and non-forest sites across a climatic transect in Israel (280-770 mm yr-1). RS-Met was also compared to the satellite-borne MODIS-based ET and GPP products (MOD16 and MOD17, respectively) at these sites.Results show that the inclusion of the fWD significantly improved the model, with R = 0.64-0.91 for the ET-adjusted model (compared to 0.05-0.80 for the unadjusted model) and R = 0.72-0.92 for the adjusted GPP model (compared to R = 0.56-0.90 of the non-adjusted model). The RS-Met (with the fWD) successfully tracked observed changes in ET and GPP between dry and wet seasons across the sites. ET and GPP estimates from the adjusted RS-Met also agreed well with eddy covariance estimates on an annual timescale at the FLUXNET station of Yatir (266 ± 61 vs. 257 ± 58 mm yr-1 and 765 ± 112 vs. 748 ± 124 gC m-2 yr-1 for ET and GPP, respectively). Comparison with MODIS products showed consistently lower estimates from the MODIS-based models, particularly at the forest sites. Using the adjusted RS-Met, we show that afforestation significantly increased the water use efficiency (the ratio of carbon uptake to ET) in this region

Note Onset Detection via Nonnegative Factorization of Magnitude Spectrum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saeid Sanei

2008-06-01

Full Text Available A novel approach for onset detection of musical notes from audio signals is presented. In contrast to most commonly used conventional approaches, the proposed method features new detection functions constructed from the linear temporal bases that are obtained from the decomposition of musical spectra using nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF. Three forms of detection function, namely, first-order difference function, psychoacoustically motivated relative difference function, and constant-balanced relative difference function, are considered. As the approach works directly on input data, no prior knowledge or statistical information is therefore required. Practical issues, including the choice of the factorization rank and detection robustness to instruments, are also examined experimentally. Due to the scalability issue with the generated nonnegative matrix, the proposed method is only applied to relatively short, single instrument (or voice recordings. Numerical examples are provided to show the good performance of the proposed method, including comparisons between the three detection functions.

Evolutionary genomics and HIV restriction factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Pyndiah, Nitisha; Telenti, Amalio; Rausell, Antonio

2015-03-01

To provide updated insights into innate antiviral immunity and highlight prototypical evolutionary features of well characterized HIV restriction factors. Recently, a new HIV restriction factor, Myxovirus resistance 2, has been discovered and the region/residue responsible for its activity identified using an evolutionary approach. Furthermore, IFI16, an innate immunity protein known to sense several viruses, has been shown to contribute to the defense to HIV-1 by causing cell death upon sensing HIV-1 DNA. Restriction factors against HIV show characteristic signatures of positive selection. Different patterns of accelerated sequence evolution can distinguish antiviral strategies--offense or defence--as well as the level of specificity of the antiviral properties. Sequence analysis of primate orthologs of restriction factors serves to localize functional domains and sites responsible for antiviral action. We use recent discoveries to illustrate how evolutionary genomic analyses help identify new antiviral genes and their mechanisms of action.

Exploratory graph analysis: A new approach for estimating the number of dimensions in psychological research.

Science.gov (United States)

Golino, Hudson F; Epskamp, Sacha

2017-01-01

The estimation of the correct number of dimensions is a long-standing problem in psychometrics. Several methods have been proposed, such as parallel analysis (PA), Kaiser-Guttman's eigenvalue-greater-than-one rule, multiple average partial procedure (MAP), the maximum-likelihood approaches that use fit indexes as BIC and EBIC and the less used and studied approach called very simple structure (VSS). In the present paper a new approach to estimate the number of dimensions will be introduced and compared via simulation to the traditional techniques pointed above. The approach proposed in the current paper is called exploratory graph analysis (EGA), since it is based on the graphical lasso with the regularization parameter specified using EBIC. The number of dimensions is verified using the walktrap, a random walk algorithm used to identify communities in networks. In total, 32,000 data sets were simulated to fit known factor structures, with the data sets varying across different criteria: number of factors (2 and 4), number of items (5 and 10), sample size (100, 500, 1000 and 5000) and correlation between factors (orthogonal, .20, .50 and .70), resulting in 64 different conditions. For each condition, 500 data sets were simulated using lavaan. The result shows that the EGA performs comparable to parallel analysis, EBIC, eBIC and to Kaiser-Guttman rule in a number of situations, especially when the number of factors was two. However, EGA was the only technique able to correctly estimate the number of dimensions in the four-factor structure when the correlation between factors were .7, showing an accuracy of 100% for a sample size of 5,000 observations. Finally, the EGA was used to estimate the number of factors in a real dataset, in order to compare its performance with the other six techniques tested in the simulation study.

A statistical approach to optimizing concrete mixture design.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, Shamsad; Alghamdi, Saeid A

2014-01-01

A step-by-step statistical approach is proposed to obtain optimum proportioning of concrete mixtures using the data obtained through a statistically planned experimental program. The utility of the proposed approach for optimizing the design of concrete mixture is illustrated considering a typical case in which trial mixtures were considered according to a full factorial experiment design involving three factors and their three levels (3(3)). A total of 27 concrete mixtures with three replicates (81 specimens) were considered by varying the levels of key factors affecting compressive strength of concrete, namely, water/cementitious materials ratio (0.38, 0.43, and 0.48), cementitious materials content (350, 375, and 400 kg/m(3)), and fine/total aggregate ratio (0.35, 0.40, and 0.45). The experimental data were utilized to carry out analysis of variance (ANOVA) and to develop a polynomial regression model for compressive strength in terms of the three design factors considered in this study. The developed statistical model was used to show how optimization of concrete mixtures can be carried out with different possible options.

A Statistical Approach to Optimizing Concrete Mixture Design

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Shamsad Ahmad

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A step-by-step statistical approach is proposed to obtain optimum proportioning of concrete mixtures using the data obtained through a statistically planned experimental program. The utility of the proposed approach for optimizing the design of concrete mixture is illustrated considering a typical case in which trial mixtures were considered according to a full factorial experiment design involving three factors and their three levels (33. A total of 27 concrete mixtures with three replicates (81 specimens were considered by varying the levels of key factors affecting compressive strength of concrete, namely, water/cementitious materials ratio (0.38, 0.43, and 0.48, cementitious materials content (350, 375, and 400 kg/m3, and fine/total aggregate ratio (0.35, 0.40, and 0.45. The experimental data were utilized to carry out analysis of variance (ANOVA and to develop a polynomial regression model for compressive strength in terms of the three design factors considered in this study. The developed statistical model was used to show how optimization of concrete mixtures can be carried out with different possible options.

Approaches for University Students and their Relationship to Academic Performance

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Evelyn Fernández-Castillo

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The way students perceive learning is influenced by multiple factors. The present study aimed at establishing relationships between the learning approaches, academic performance, and the academic year in a sample of students from different courses of Universidad Central  “Marta Abreu”, Las Villas. For this ex post facto study, a probabilistic sample was used based on a simple random sampling of 524 university students who participated in the Study Process Questionnaire.  The analysis of variance (MANOVA and ANOVA and the analysis of clusters reported associations between a deep approach to learning and a better academic performance.  These analyses showed differences in the learning approach in the different courses, predominantly a soft approach.

Determination of some radiative view factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, B.; Mukhopadhyay, D.; Lele, H.G.; Fichot, F.; Guillard, G.

2011-01-01

View factors are essential components for analysis for of radiative heat transfer through enclosure methods like radiosity approach, direct/total exchange area approach etc. View factor is defined as the integral over the interacting surface. View factor integral can be calculated by following various approaches, such as: view factor algebra, direction analytical approach, contour integration method, Monte Carlo method, numerical methods based of FDM or FEM, Hottle's string method etc. The present module of work on determination of view factor is aimed for use in ASTEC code system for severe accident analysis. There exist many routines (RADB, RADC, GRADEB, RADR, RADL) in the ICARE module of ASTEC code system to model radiative heat transfer from different types of assemblies of interacting surfaces of different nature. The present work is specially targeted for radiative heat transfer model for lower plenum (RADILOWE) and for extension of ICARE module for IPHWR. In interacting surfaces within the lower plenum comprises of different types of circular, cylindrical and conical surface. In the work completed so far, view factor relations have been derived/compiled based on exact/approximate analytical and numerical approaches. (author)

Psychosomatic Factors and Psychologic Status in Psoriatic Patients and Approach to the Psoriatic Patients

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Ertuğrul H. Aydemir

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Even if it has not been completely proven, psychosomatic factors are generally agreed and most of the patients talk about stress and the other emotional traumas at the beginning of disease and at the attacks. Furthermore since it is a difficult to treat disease easily seen on the skin, cause to hopeless, loneliness and isolation senses and they feel theirselves dirty and guilty. Then it leads to an unbreakable vicious circle. It is very important to make an approach with much care and affection. It is very important that to listen, to examine and to touch the dermatologist to the patient with patience and affection. Besides that to take a psychiatric support may also help too much to the treatment of the diseases.

TRASYS form factor matrix normalization

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuyuki, Glenn T.

1992-01-01

A method has been developed for adjusting a TRASYS enclosure form factor matrix to unity. This approach is not limited to closed geometries, and in fact, it is primarily intended for use with open geometries. The purpose of this approach is to prevent optimistic form factors to space. In this method, nodal form factor sums are calculated within 0.05 of unity using TRASYS, although deviations as large as 0.10 may be acceptable, and then, a process is employed to distribute the difference amongst the nodes. A specific example has been analyzed with this method, and a comparison was performed with a standard approach for calculating radiation conductors. In this comparison, hot and cold case temperatures were determined. Exterior nodes exhibited temperature differences as large as 7 C and 3 C for the hot and cold cases, respectively when compared with the standard approach, while interior nodes demonstrated temperature differences from 0 C to 5 C. These results indicate that temperature predictions can be artificially biased if the form factor computation error is lumped into the individual form factors to space.

A macroepigenetic approach to identify factors responsible for the autism epidemic in the United States

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Dufault Renee

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract The number of children ages 6 to 21 in the United States receiving special education services under the autism disability category increased 91% between 2005 to 2010 while the number of children receiving special education services overall declined by 5%. The demand for special education services continues to rise in disability categories associated with pervasive developmental disorders. Neurodevelopment can be adversely impacted when gene expression is altered by dietary transcription factors, such as zinc insufficiency or deficiency, or by exposure to toxic substances found in our environment, such as mercury or organophosphate pesticides. Gene expression patterns differ geographically between populations and within populations. Gene variants of paraoxonase-1 are associated with autism in North America, but not in Italy, indicating regional specificity in gene-environment interactions. In the current review, we utilize a novel macroepigenetic approach to compare variations in diet and toxic substance exposure between these two geographical populations to determine the likely factors responsible for the autism epidemic in the United States.

Radon in Austrian tourist mines and show caves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ringer, W.; Graeser, J.

2009-01-01

The radon situation in tourist mines and show caves is barely investigated in Austria. This paper investigates the influence of its determining factors, such as climate, structure and geology. For this purpose, long-term time-resolved measurements over 6 to 12 months in 4 tourist mines and 2 show caves - with 5 to 9 measuring points each - have been carried out to obtain the course of radon concentration throughout the year. In addition, temperature and air-pressure were measured and compared to the data outside where available. Results suggest that the dominating factors of the average radon concentration are structure and location (geology) of the tunnel-system, whereas the diurnal and annual variation is mainly caused by the changing airflow, which is driven by the difference in temperature inside and outside. Downcast air is connected with very low radon concentrations, upcast air with high concentrations. In some locations the maximum values appear when the airflow ceases. But airflow can be different in different parts of mines and caves. Systems close to the surface show generally lower radon levels than the ones located deeper underground. Due to variation of structure, geology and local climate, the radon situation in mines and caves can only be described by simultaneous measurements at several measuring points. (orig.)

Women-specific risk factors for heart failure: A genetic approach.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Kemp, Jet; van der Schouw, Yvonne T; Asselbergs, Folkert W; Onland-Moret, N Charlotte

2018-03-01

Heart failure is a complex disease, which is presented differently by men and women. Several studies have shown that reproductive factors, such as age at natural menopause, parity and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), may play a role in the development of heart failure. Shared genetics may provide clues to underlying mechanisms; however, this has never been examined. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to explore whether any reproductive factor is potentially related to heart failure in women, based on genetic similarities. Conducting a systematic literature review, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with reproductive factors, heart failure and its risk factors were extracted from recent genome-wide association studies. We tested whether there was any overlap between the SNPs and their proxies of reproductive risk factors with those known for heart failure or its risk factors. In total, 520 genetic variants were found that are associated with reproductive factors, namely age at menarche, age at natural menopause, menstrual cycle length, PCOS, preeclampsia, preterm delivery and spontaneous dizygotic twinning. For heart failure and associated phenotypes, 25 variants were found. Genetic variants for reproductive factors did not overlap with those for heart failure. However, age at menarche, gestational diabetes and PCOS were found to be genetically linked to risk factors for heart failure, such as atrial fibrillation, diabetes and smoking. Corresponding implicated genes, such as TNNI3K, ErbB3, MKL2, MTNR1B and PRKD1, may explain the associations between reproductive factors and heart failure. Exact effector mechanisms of these genes remain to be investigated further. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Evaluation of approaches to monitor Staphylococcus aureus virulence factor expression during human disease.

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Wouter Rozemeijer

Full Text Available Staphylococcus aureus is a versatile pathogen of medical significance, using multiple virulence factors to cause disease. A prophylactic S. aureus 4-antigen (SA4Ag vaccine comprising capsular polysaccharide (types 5 and 8 conjugates, clumping factor A (ClfA and manganese transporter C (MntC is under development. This study was designed to characterize S. aureus isolates recovered from infected patients and also to investigate approaches for examining expression of S. aureus vaccine candidates and the host response during human infection. Confirmation of antigen expression in different disease states is important to support the inclusion of these antigens in a prophylactic vaccine. Hospitalized patients with diagnosed S. aureus wound (27 or bloodstream (24 infections were enrolled. Invasive and nasal carriage S. aureus isolates were recovered and characterized for genotypic diversity. S. aureus antigen expression was evaluated directly by real-time, quantitative, reverse-transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR analysis and indirectly by serology using a competitive Luminex immunoassay. Study isolates were genotypically diverse and all had the genes encoding the antigens present in the SA4Ag vaccine. S. aureus nasal carriage was detected in 55% of patients, and in those subjects 64% of the carriage isolates matched the invasive strain. In swab samples with detectable S. aureus triosephosphate isomerase housekeeping gene expression, RNA transcripts encoding the S. aureus virulence factors ClfA, MntC, and capsule polysaccharide were detected by qRT-PCR. Antigen expression was indirectly confirmed by increases in antibody titer during the course of infection from acute to convalescent phase. Demonstration of bacterial transcript expression together with immunological response to the SA4Ag antigens in a clinically relevant patient population provides support for inclusion of these antigens in a prophylactic vaccine.

Evaluation of approaches to monitor Staphylococcus aureus virulence factor expression during human disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Rozemeijer, Wouter; Fink, Pamela; Rojas, Eduardo; Jones, C Hal; Pavliakova, Danka; Giardina, Peter; Murphy, Ellen; Liberator, Paul; Jiang, Qin; Girgenti, Douglas; Peters, Remco P H; Savelkoul, Paul H M; Jansen, Kathrin U; Anderson, Annaliesa S; Kluytmans, Jan

2015-01-01

Staphylococcus aureus is a versatile pathogen of medical significance, using multiple virulence factors to cause disease. A prophylactic S. aureus 4-antigen (SA4Ag) vaccine comprising capsular polysaccharide (types 5 and 8) conjugates, clumping factor A (ClfA) and manganese transporter C (MntC) is under development. This study was designed to characterize S. aureus isolates recovered from infected patients and also to investigate approaches for examining expression of S. aureus vaccine candidates and the host response during human infection. Confirmation of antigen expression in different disease states is important to support the inclusion of these antigens in a prophylactic vaccine. Hospitalized patients with diagnosed S. aureus wound (27) or bloodstream (24) infections were enrolled. Invasive and nasal carriage S. aureus isolates were recovered and characterized for genotypic diversity. S. aureus antigen expression was evaluated directly by real-time, quantitative, reverse-transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis and indirectly by serology using a competitive Luminex immunoassay. Study isolates were genotypically diverse and all had the genes encoding the antigens present in the SA4Ag vaccine. S. aureus nasal carriage was detected in 55% of patients, and in those subjects 64% of the carriage isolates matched the invasive strain. In swab samples with detectable S. aureus triosephosphate isomerase housekeeping gene expression, RNA transcripts encoding the S. aureus virulence factors ClfA, MntC, and capsule polysaccharide were detected by qRT-PCR. Antigen expression was indirectly confirmed by increases in antibody titer during the course of infection from acute to convalescent phase. Demonstration of bacterial transcript expression together with immunological response to the SA4Ag antigens in a clinically relevant patient population provides support for inclusion of these antigens in a prophylactic vaccine.

Systems approach to the study of brain damage in the very preterm newborn

Science.gov (United States)

Leviton, Alan; Gressens, Pierre; Wolkenhauer, Olaf; Dammann, Olaf

2015-01-01

Background: A systems approach to the study of brain damage in very preterm newborns has been lacking. Methods: In this perspective piece, we offer encephalopathy of prematurity as an example of the complexity and interrelatedness of brain-damaging molecular processes that can be initiated inflammatory phenomena. Results: Using three transcription factors, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), Notch-1, and nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2 (NRF2), we show the inter-connectedness of signaling pathways activated by some antecedents of encephalopathy of prematurity. Conclusions: We hope that as biomarkers of exposures and processes leading to brain damage in the most immature newborns become more readily available, those who apply a systems approach to the study of neuroscience can be persuaded to study the pathogenesis of brain disorders in the very preterm newborn. PMID:25926780

Resective surgical approach shows a high performance in the management of advanced cases of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws: a retrospective survey of 347 cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Graziani, Filippo; Vescovi, Paolo; Campisi, Giuseppina; Favia, Gianfranco; Gabriele, Mario; Gaeta, Giovanni Maria; Gennai, Stefano; Goia, Franco; Miccoli, Mario; Peluso, Franco; Scoletta, Matteo; Solazzo, Luigi; Colella, Giuseppe

2012-11-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of the surgical treatment of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) in a large cohort. A retrospective cohort multicenter study was designed. Patients were enrolled if they were diagnosed with BRONJ and received operative treatment. Data on demographic, health status, perioperative, and surgical factors were collected retrospectively. The primary outcome variable was a change in BRONJ staging (improvement, worsening, or no change). Interventions were grouped by local debridement and resective surgery. Data were collected for other variables as cofactors. Univariate analysis and logistic regressions were then performed. Of the 347 BRONJ-affected subjects, 59% showed improvement, 30% showed no change, and 11% showed worsening. Improvement was observed in 49% of cases treated with local debridement and 68% of cases treated with resective surgery. Multivariate analysis indicated that maxillary location, resective surgery, and no additional corticosteroid treatment were associated with a positive outcome. Surgical treatment of BRONJ appeared to be more effective when resective procedures were performed. Nonetheless, other factors, such as the absence of symptoms and the types of drug administration, should be taken into account before clinical decisions are made. Copyright © 2012 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Critical success factors for reverse logistics in Indian industries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mangla, Sachin Kumar; Govindan, Kannan; Luthra, Sunil

2016-01-01

Industries face significant pressures to enact eco-friendly practices in their supply chain due to the constraints of natural resources and growing ecological awareness among customers. Reverse logistics (RL) has been considered as a systematic approach for industries to improve their environmental...... Economic and Strategic main factors belong to effect group. This model will help business analysts and supply chain managers formulate both short-term and long-term, flexible decision strategies for successfully managing and implementing RL adoption in the supply chain scenarios....... of the CSFs, while the DEMATEL approach categorizes the causal relationships among them. The findings of this work shows that the Global competitiveness main factor is highly prioritized, and thus, needs to be focused greatly in order to increase the effectiveness of RL adoption in business. The relative...

Enhancing Road Safety Behaviour Using a Psychological and Spiritual Approaches

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Ghous Mohd Tarmizi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Main causes of accident is due to driver itself that is influenced by their bad attitude while driving. Human attitude is closely related to the human psychology. Apart from that, spiritual aspect also influence human attitude. Hence, this study carried out to improve driver safety using a new approach through psychology and spiritual factors. Objectives of this study are to identify then analyze factors of psychological and spiritual that contribute towards safety driving. A self-administered questionnaire were distributed among 256 respondents from various type of background. An analysis descriptive statistics show demographic and experience of respondents. Chi-square analysis showed only education level and traffic summon are significant to safety driving. Furthermore, correlation analysis shows psychological factors has strong linear relationship on attitude of drivers towards safety driving while spiritual factor, the perception of the spiritual and practices, both have a strong relationship to safety driving. Regression analysis demonstrates boths psychological and spiritual factors have strong evidence and significant relationship with safety driving. Thus, it can be identified that spiritual psychological factors encourage drivers to drive more safely and reduce road accidents. Therefore, this study propose useful guidelines to related agencies in order to enhance safety among drivers to be able drive safely on the road.

Non-viral generation of marmoset monkey iPS cells by a six-factor-in-one-vector approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Debowski, Katharina; Warthemann, Rita; Lentes, Jana; Salinas-Riester, Gabriela; Dressel, Ralf; Langenstroth, Daniel; Gromoll, Jörg; Sasaki, Erika; Behr, Rüdiger

2015-01-01

Groundbreaking studies showed that differentiated somatic cells of mouse and human origin could be reverted to a stable pluripotent state by the ectopic expression of only four proteins. The resulting pluripotent cells, called induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, could be an alternative to embryonic stem cells, which are under continuous ethical debate. Hence, iPS cell-derived functional cells such as neurons may become the key for an effective treatment of currently incurable degenerative diseases. However, besides the requirement of efficacy testing of the therapy also its long-term safety needs to be carefully evaluated in settings mirroring the clinical situation in an optimal way. In this context, we chose the long-lived common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus) as a non-human primate species to generate iPS cells. The marmoset monkey is frequently used in biomedical research and is gaining more and more preclinical relevance due to the increasing number of disease models. Here, we describe, to our knowledge, the first-time generation of marmoset monkey iPS cells from postnatal skin fibroblasts by non-viral means. We used the transposon-based, fully reversible piggyback system. We cloned the marmoset monkey reprogramming factors and established robust and reproducible reprogramming protocols with a six-factor-in-one-construct approach. We generated six individual iPS cell lines and characterized them in comparison with marmoset monkey embryonic stem cells. The generated iPS cells are morphologically indistinguishable from marmoset ES cells. The iPS cells are fully reprogrammed as demonstrated by differentiation assays, pluripotency marker expression and transcriptome analysis. They are stable for numerous passages (more than 80) and exhibit euploidy. In summary, we have established efficient non-viral reprogramming protocols for the derivation of stable marmoset monkey iPS cells, which can be used to develop and test cell replacement therapies in

Non-viral generation of marmoset monkey iPS cells by a six-factor-in-one-vector approach.

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Katharina Debowski

Full Text Available Groundbreaking studies showed that differentiated somatic cells of mouse and human origin could be reverted to a stable pluripotent state by the ectopic expression of only four proteins. The resulting pluripotent cells, called induced pluripotent stem (iPS cells, could be an alternative to embryonic stem cells, which are under continuous ethical debate. Hence, iPS cell-derived functional cells such as neurons may become the key for an effective treatment of currently incurable degenerative diseases. However, besides the requirement of efficacy testing of the therapy also its long-term safety needs to be carefully evaluated in settings mirroring the clinical situation in an optimal way. In this context, we chose the long-lived common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus as a non-human primate species to generate iPS cells. The marmoset monkey is frequently used in biomedical research and is gaining more and more preclinical relevance due to the increasing number of disease models. Here, we describe, to our knowledge, the first-time generation of marmoset monkey iPS cells from postnatal skin fibroblasts by non-viral means. We used the transposon-based, fully reversible piggyback system. We cloned the marmoset monkey reprogramming factors and established robust and reproducible reprogramming protocols with a six-factor-in-one-construct approach. We generated six individual iPS cell lines and characterized them in comparison with marmoset monkey embryonic stem cells. The generated iPS cells are morphologically indistinguishable from marmoset ES cells. The iPS cells are fully reprogrammed as demonstrated by differentiation assays, pluripotency marker expression and transcriptome analysis. They are stable for numerous passages (more than 80 and exhibit euploidy. In summary, we have established efficient non-viral reprogramming protocols for the derivation of stable marmoset monkey iPS cells, which can be used to develop and test cell replacement

Uranium and radium in Finnsjoen - an experimental approach for calculation of transfer factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, S.; Bergman, R.

1981-01-01

The radiological safety studies for underground disposal of HLW show that the future individual and collective doses to an important extent may originate from groundwater borne radium and uranium which reach the biosphere. Indications that the dispersion rates presently used give rise to overestimations of calculated doses justified an investigation for more realistic turnover rates of radium and uranium than those which now are in use. Within one of the sites selected for testing, the area around lake Finnsjoen, a small number of environmental samples were collected and analyzed with respect to radium and uranium and the new transfer coefficients between soil and lake water were derived. The dose rates obtained with the new transfer factors show a close agreement for radium and a slight increase for uranium compared with earlier calculations. (Auth.)

ANALYSIS OF FACTORS WHICH AFFECTING THE ECONOMIC GROWTH

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Suparna Wijaya

2017-03-01

Full Text Available High economic growth and sustainable process are main conditions for sustainability of economic country development. They are also become measures of the success of the country's economy. Factors which tested in this study are economic and non-economic factors which impacting economic development. This study has a goal to explain the factors that influence on macroeconomic Indonesia. It used linear regression modeling approach. The analysis result showed that Tax Amnesty, Exchange Rate, Inflation, and interest rate, they jointly can bring effect which amounted to 77.6% on economic growth whereas the remaining 22.4% is the influenced by other variables which not observed in this study. Keywords: tax amnesty, exchange rates, inflation, SBI and economic growth

Pion form factor in QCD sum rules, local duality approach, and O(A2) fractional analytic perturbation theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bakulev, Alexander P.

2010-01-01

Using the results on the electromagnetic pion Form Factor (FF) obtained in the O(α s ) QCD sum rules with non-local condensates [A.P. Bakulev, A.V. Pimikov, and N.G. Stefanis, Phys. Rev. D79 (2009) 093010] we determine the effective continuum threshold for the local duality approach. Then we apply it to construct the O(α s 2 ) estimation of the pion FF in the framework of the fractional analytic perturbation theory.

An evolutionary medicine approach to understanding factors that contribute to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Aoshiba, Kazutetsu; Tsuji, Takao; Itoh, Masayuki; Yamaguchi, Kazuhiro; Nakamura, Hiroyuki

2015-01-01

Although many studies have been published on the causes and mechanisms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the reason for the existence of COPD and the reasons why COPD develops in humans have hardly been studied. Evolutionary medical approaches are required to explain not only the proximate factors, such as the causes and mechanisms of a disease, but the ultimate (evolutionary) factors as well, such as why the disease is present and why the disease develops in humans. According to the concepts of evolutionary medicine, disease susceptibility is acquired as a result of natural selection during the evolutionary process of traits linked to the genes involved in disease susceptibility. In this paper, we discuss the following six reasons why COPD develops in humans based on current evolutionary medical theories: (1) evolutionary constraints; (2) mismatch between environmental changes and evolution; (3) co-evolution with pathogenic microorganisms; (4) life history trade-off; (5) defenses and their costs, and (6) reproductive success at the expense of health. Our perspective pursues evolutionary answers to the fundamental question, 'Why are humans susceptible to this common disease, COPD, despite their long evolutionary history?' We believe that the perspectives offered by evolutionary medicine are essential for researchers to better understand the significance of their work.

Compressed sensing approach for wrist vein biometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lantsov, Aleksey; Ryabko, Maxim; Shchekin, Aleksey

2018-04-01

The work describes features of the compressed sensing (CS) approach utilized for development of a wearable system for wrist vein recognition with single-pixel detection; we consider this system useful for biometrics authentication purposes. The CS approach implies use of a spatial light modulation (SLM) which, in our case, can be performed differently-with a liquid crystal display or diffusely scattering medium. We show that compressed sensing combined with above-mentioned means of SLM allows us to avoid using an optical system-a limiting factor for wearable devices. The trade-off between the 2 different SLM approaches regarding issues of practical implementation of CS approach for wrist vein recognition purposes is discussed. A possible solution of a misalignment problem-a typical issue for imaging systems based upon 2D arrays of photodiodes-is also proposed. Proposed design of the wearable device for wrist vein recognition is based upon single-pixel detection. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Chin Shan analyses show advantages of whole pool multi-rack approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singh, K.P.; Soler, A.I.

1991-01-01

Nuclear fuel storage racks are essentially thin-walled, cellular structures of prismatic cross-section. Although the details of design vary from one supplier to another, certain key physical attributes are common to all designs. For example, all racks feature square cells of sufficient opening size and height to enable insertion and withdrawal of the fuel assembly. The array of cells is positioned in a vertical orientation and is supported off the pool slab surface by four or more support legs. The spent fuel pool is filled with the individual fuel racks. The plenum created by the support legs is essential for proper cooling of the fuel assemblies stored in the rack, which relies on natural convective cooling to extract the heat emitted by the spent fuel. However, it has the insalutary effect of making it kinematically less stable. Regulatory authorities require careful and comprehensive analysis of the response of the racks under the seismic motions postulated for the pool slab. Results from whole pool multi-rack (WPMR) analyses at the Chin Shan and Oyster Creek nuclear plants point up the potential inadequacies of single rack 3D analyses, and show just how important it is to carry out WPMR simulations, despite their abstruseness and high cost. (author)

A new approach to evaluate factors controlling elemental sediment–seawater distribution coefficients (K{sub d}) in coastal regions, Japan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takata, Hyoe, E-mail: takata@kaiseiken.or.jp [Marine Ecology Research Institute, Central Laboratory, Onjuku, Chiba (Japan); National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba City, Chiba (Japan); Aono, Tatsuo; Tagami, Keiko; Uchida, Shigeo [National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba City, Chiba (Japan)

2016-02-01

In numerical models to simulate the dispersion of anthropogenic radionuclides in the marine environment, the sediment–seawater distribution coefficient (K{sub d}) for various elements is an important parameter. In coastal regions, K{sub d} values are largely dependent on hydrographic conditions and physicochemical characteristics of sediment. Here we report K{sub d} values for 36 elements (Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Se, Rb, Sr, Y, Mo, Cd, I, Cs, rare earth elements, Pb, {sup 232}Th and {sup 238}U) in seawater and sediment samples from 19 Japanese coastal regions, and we examine the factors controlling the variability of these K{sub d} values by investigating their relationships to hydrographic conditions and sediment characteristics. There was large variability in K{sub d} values for Al, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Se, Cd, I, Pb and Th. Variations of K{sub d} for Al, Mn, Fe, Co, Pb and Th appear to be controlled by hydrographic conditions. Although K{sub d} values for Ni, Cu, Se, Cd and I depend mainly on grain size, organic matter content, and the concentrations of hydrous oxides/oxides of Fe and Mn in sediments, heterogeneity in the surface characteristics of sediment particles appears to hamper evaluation of the relative importance of these factors. Thus, we report a new approach to evaluate the factors contributing to variability in K{sub d} for an element. By this approach, we concluded that the K{sub d} values for Cu, Se, Cd and I are controlled by grain size and organic matter in sediments, and the K{sub d} value for Ni is dependent on grain size and on hydrous oxides/oxides of Fe and Mn. - Highlights: • K{sub d}s for 36 elements were determined in 19 Japanese coastal regions. • K{sub d}s for several elements appeared to be controlled by multiple factors in sediments. • We evaluated these factors based on physico-chemical characteristics of sediments.

A Bayesian approach for incorporating economic factors in sample size design for clinical trials of individual drugs and portfolios of drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Nitin R; Ankolekar, Suresh

2007-11-30

Classical approaches to clinical trial design ignore economic factors that determine economic viability of a new drug. We address the choice of sample size in Phase III trials as a decision theory problem using a hybrid approach that takes a Bayesian view from the perspective of a drug company and a classical Neyman-Pearson view from the perspective of regulatory authorities. We incorporate relevant economic factors in the analysis to determine the optimal sample size to maximize the expected profit for the company. We extend the analysis to account for risk by using a 'satisficing' objective function that maximizes the chance of meeting a management-specified target level of profit. We extend the models for single drugs to a portfolio of clinical trials and optimize the sample sizes to maximize the expected profit subject to budget constraints. Further, we address the portfolio risk and optimize the sample sizes to maximize the probability of achieving a given target of expected profit.

Reliability-based approaches for safety margin assessment in the French nuclear industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ardillon, E.; Barthelet, B.; Meister, E.; Cambefort, P.; Hornet, P.; Le Delliou, P.

2003-01-01

The prevention of the fast fracture damage of the mechanical equipment important for the safety of nuclear islands of the French PWR relies on deterministic rules. These rules include flaw acceptance criteria involving safety factors applied to characteristic values (implicit margins) of the physical variables. The sets of safety factors that are currently under application in the industrial analyses with the agreement of the Safety Authority, are distributed across the two main physical parameters and have partly been based on a semi-probabilistic approach. After presenting the generic probabilistic pro-codification approach this paper shows its application to the evaluation of the performances of the existing regulatory flaw acceptance criteria. This application can be carried out in a realistic manner or in a more simplified one. These two approaches are applied to representative mechanical components. Their results are consistent. (author)

Approaches to acceptable risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Whipple, C.

1997-01-01

Several alternative approaches to address the question open-quotes How safe is safe enough?close quotes are reviewed and an attempt is made to apply the reasoning behind these approaches to the issue of acceptability of radiation exposures received in space. The approaches to the issue of the acceptability of technological risk described here are primarily analytical, and are drawn from examples in the management of environmental health risks. These include risk-based approaches, in which specific quantitative risk targets determine the acceptability of an activity, and cost-benefit and decision analysis, which generally focus on the estimation and evaluation of risks, benefits and costs, in a framework that balances these factors against each other. These analytical methods tend by their quantitative nature to emphasize the magnitude of risks, costs and alternatives, and to downplay other factors, especially those that are not easily expressed in quantitative terms, that affect acceptance or rejection of risk. Such other factors include the issues of risk perceptions and how and by whom risk decisions are made

Familial risk factors in social anxiety disorder: calling for a family-oriented approach for targeted prevention and early intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Knappe, Susanne; Beesdo-Baum, Katja; Wittchen, Hans-Ulrich

2010-12-01

Within the last decade, social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been identified as a highly prevalent and burdensome disorder. Both the characterization of its symptomatology and effective treatment options are widely documented. Studies particularly indicate that SAD aggregates in families and has its onset in early adolescence. Given the family as an important context for children's cognitive, emotional and behavioural development, familial risk factors could be expected to significantly contribute to the reliable detection of populations at risk for SAD. Reviewing studies on familial risk factors for SAD argues for the importance of parental psychopathology and unfavourable family environment, but also denotes to several shortcomings such as cross-sectional designs, short follow-up periods, diverging methodologies and the focus on isolated factors. Using a prospective longitudinal study that covers the high-risk period for SAD, including a broader spectrum of putative risk factors may help to overcome many of the methodological limitations. This review sets out to develop a more family-oriented approach for predicting the onset and maintenance of SAD that may be fruitful to derive targeted prevention and early intervention in SAD.

A novel statistical approach shows evidence for multi-system physiological dysregulation during aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Alan A; Milot, Emmanuel; Yong, Jian; Seplaki, Christopher L; Fülöp, Tamàs; Bandeen-Roche, Karen; Fried, Linda P

2013-03-01

Previous studies have identified many biomarkers that are associated with aging and related outcomes, but the relevance of these markers for underlying processes and their relationship to hypothesized systemic dysregulation is not clear. We address this gap by presenting a novel method for measuring dysregulation via the joint distribution of multiple biomarkers and assessing associations of dysregulation with age and mortality. Using longitudinal data from the Women's Health and Aging Study, we selected a 14-marker subset from 63 blood measures: those that diverged from the baseline population mean with age. For the 14 markers and all combinatorial sub-subsets we calculated a multivariate distance called the Mahalanobis distance (MHBD) for all observations, indicating how "strange" each individual's biomarker profile was relative to the baseline population mean. In most models, MHBD correlated positively with age, MHBD increased within individuals over time, and higher MHBD predicted higher risk of subsequent mortality. Predictive power increased as more variables were incorporated into the calculation of MHBD. Biomarkers from multiple systems were implicated. These results support hypotheses of simultaneous dysregulation in multiple systems and confirm the need for longitudinal, multivariate approaches to understanding biomarkers in aging. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reactivation of Latent HIV-1 Expression by Engineered TALE Transcription Factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Perdigão, Pedro; Gaj, Thomas; Santa-Marta, Mariana; Barbas, Carlos F; Goncalves, Joao

2016-01-01

The presence of replication-competent HIV-1 -which resides mainly in resting CD4+ T cells--is a major hurdle to its eradication. While pharmacological approaches have been useful for inducing the expression of this latent population of virus, they have been unable to purge HIV-1 from all its reservoirs. Additionally, many of these strategies have been associated with adverse effects, underscoring the need for alternative approaches capable of reactivating viral expression. Here we show that engineered transcriptional modulators based on customizable transcription activator-like effector (TALE) proteins can induce gene expression from the HIV-1 long terminal repeat promoter, and that combinations of TALE transcription factors can synergistically reactivate latent viral expression in cell line models of HIV-1 latency. We further show that complementing TALE transcription factors with Vorinostat, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, enhances HIV-1 expression in latency models. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that TALE transcription factors are a potentially effective alternative to current pharmacological routes for reactivating latent virus and that combining synthetic transcriptional activators with histone deacetylase inhibitors could lead to the development of improved therapies for latent HIV-1 infection.

Reactivation of Latent HIV-1 Expression by Engineered TALE Transcription Factors.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Perdigão

Full Text Available The presence of replication-competent HIV-1 -which resides mainly in resting CD4+ T cells--is a major hurdle to its eradication. While pharmacological approaches have been useful for inducing the expression of this latent population of virus, they have been unable to purge HIV-1 from all its reservoirs. Additionally, many of these strategies have been associated with adverse effects, underscoring the need for alternative approaches capable of reactivating viral expression. Here we show that engineered transcriptional modulators based on customizable transcription activator-like effector (TALE proteins can induce gene expression from the HIV-1 long terminal repeat promoter, and that combinations of TALE transcription factors can synergistically reactivate latent viral expression in cell line models of HIV-1 latency. We further show that complementing TALE transcription factors with Vorinostat, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, enhances HIV-1 expression in latency models. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that TALE transcription factors are a potentially effective alternative to current pharmacological routes for reactivating latent virus and that combining synthetic transcriptional activators with histone deacetylase inhibitors could lead to the development of improved therapies for latent HIV-1 infection.

Investigation of interactions in a biological membrane using structure factor/pair correlation function approach: a first communication on nerve myelin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gbordzoe, M.K.

1984-09-01

Interactions in biological and artificial membranes have been studied by applying mostly the methods of biochemical analysis and determination of thermodynamic parameters related to phase transition phenomena. Structure factor, obtained by measuring scattered intensity from small-angle X-ray or neutron scattering experiments, has been used mainly for determining electron density distribution. Drawing upon the experience of the theory of liquids, where Johnson and March (1963) and Johnson, Hutchinson and March (1964) first established the possibility of deriving interparticle potential from experimental measurement of structure factor, it is suggested that structure factor/distance correlation function approach, can be a useful method for studying interactions between various membrane components. Preliminary experimental data presented for nerve myelin are to demonstrate the possibility of studying interactions from the distance correlation function of a membrane pair. (author)

Lake Chini Water Quality Assessment Using Multivariate Approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, A.K.; Shuhaimi, Othman M.; Lim, E.C.; Aziz, Z.A.

2013-01-01

An analysis was undertaken using the multivariate approach to determine the important water quality for shallow lake water quality assessment. Fourteen water quality parameters which includes biological, physical and chemical components were collected monthly over twelve month period. The data were analysed using factor analysis which involves identification of factor correlation, factor extraction and factor permutations. The first process involved the clustering of high correlation parameters into its respective factor and the removal of parameters that have more than one factor. Agglomerative hierarchy (HACA) and discriminant analysis (DA) were also used to exhibit the important factors that has significant influence on lake water quality. The analysis showed that Lake Chini water quality was determined by more than one factor. The results indicated that the biological and chemical (nutrients) components have significant influence in determining the lake water quality. The biological parameters namely BOD5, COD, chlorophyll a and chemical (nitrate and orthophosphate) are important parameters in Lake Chini. All analysis demonstrated the importance of biological and chemical water quality components in the determination of Lake Chini water quality. (author)

[A comprehensive approach to designing of magnetotherapy techniques based on the Atos device].

Science.gov (United States)

Raĭgorodskiĭ, Iu M; Semiachkin, G P; Tatarenko, D A

1995-01-01

The paper determines how to apply a comprehensive approach to designing magnetic therapeutical techniques based on concomitant exposures to two or more physical factors. It shows the advantages of the running pattern of a magnetic field and photostimuli in terms of optimization of physiotherapeutical exposures. An Atos apparatus with an Amblio-1 attachment is used as an example to demonstrate how to apply the comprehensive approach for ophthalmology.

Rapid Prototyping and the Human Factors Engineering Process

Science.gov (United States)

2016-08-29

conventional systems development techniques. It is not clear, however, exactly how rapid prototyping could be used in relation to conventional human...factors engineering analyses. Therefore, an investigation of the use of the V APS virtual prototyping system was carried out in five organizations. The...results show that a variety of task analysis approaches can be used to initiate rapid prototyping . Overall, it appears that rapid prototyping

Low-energy analysis of the nucleon electromagnetic form factors[12.39.Fe; 13.40.Gp; 14.20.Dh; Nucleon electromagnetic form factors; Chiral perturbation theory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kubis, Bastian. E-mail: b.kubis@fz-juelich.de; Meissner, Ulf-G. E-mail: Ulf-G.Meissner@fz-juelich.de

2001-01-01

We analyze the electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon to fourth order in relativistic baryon chiral perturbation theory. We employ the recently proposed infrared regularization scheme and show that the convergence of the chiral expansion is improved as compared to the heavy-fermion approach. We also discuss the inclusion of vector mesons and obtain an accurate description of all four-nucleon form factors for momentum transfer squared up to Q{sup 2}{approx_equal}0.4 GeV{sup 2}.

A multidimensional approach to understanding the potential risk factors and covariates of adult picky eating.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Jordan M; Schenk, Rebecca R; Galloway, Amy T; Zickgraf, Hana F; Webb, Rose Mary; Martz, Denise M

2018-06-01

Adult picky eating (PE) has received increased attention in the eating behavior literature due to its important association with adult avoidant-restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). The current study tested a model of potential risk factors of adult PE behavior, including perceived early parental feeding practices. An exploratory model was also utilized to understand associations with different aspects of adult PE behaviors. A sample of 1339 US adults recruited through Amazon's MTurk completed an online survey that included the recently developed Adult Picky Eating Questionnaire (APEQ), retrospective reports of parental feeding practices, and other measures of eating behavior and demographic variables. A structural equation modeling procedure tested a series of regression models that included BMI and disordered eating behaviors as covariates. SEM modeling indicated that retrospective reports of greater parental pressure to eat, higher disgust sensitivity, lower PE age of onset, and experiencing an aversive food event were associated with general adult PE behavior. Results also indicated parental encouragement of healthy eating may be a protective factor, and that men endorsed higher levels of adult PE. Exploratory analyses indicated that cross-sectional predictors and covariates were differentially related to specific aspects of PE as measured by the APEQ subscales. Early experiences, including parental approaches to feeding, appear to be potential risk factors of PE behavior in adults. A nuanced understanding of adult PE is important for the prevention and treatment of severe PE behaviors, related psychosocial impairment, and ARFID. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Explaining African Growth Performance: A Production-Frontier Approach

OpenAIRE

Romain Houssa; Oleg Badunenko; Daniel J. Henderson

2010-01-01

This paper employs a production frontier approach that allows distinguishing technologic progress from efficiency development. Data on 35 African countries in 1970-2007 show that efficiency losses have constrained growth in Africa while technology progress has played a marginal growth enhancing role in the region. Moreover, physical and human capital accumulation are the main factors that drive productivity growth at the country level. Examining the outcomes of successful countries suggests t...

Biomechanical approaches to identify and quantify injury mechanisms and risk factors in women's artistic gymnastics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bradshaw, Elizabeth J; Hume, Patria A

2012-09-01

Targeted injury prevention strategies, based on biomechanical analyses, have the potential to help reduce the incidence and severity of gymnastics injuries. This review outlines the potential benefits of biomechanics research to contribute to injury prevention strategies for women's artistic gymnastics by identification of mechanisms of injury and quantification of the effects of injury risk factors. One hundred and twenty-three articles were retained for review after searching electronic databases using key words, including 'gymnastic', 'biomech*', and 'inj*', and delimiting by language and relevance to the paper aim. Impact load can be measured biomechanically by the use of instrumented equipment (e.g. beatboard), instrumentation on the gymnast (accelerometers), or by landings on force plates. We need further information on injury mechanisms and risk factors in gymnastics and practical methods of monitoring training loads. We have not yet shown, beyond a theoretical approach, how biomechanical analysis of gymnastics can help reduce injury risk through injury prevention interventions. Given the high magnitude of impact load, both acute and accumulative, coaches should monitor impact loads per training session, taking into consideration training quality and quantity such as the control of rotation and the height from which the landings are executed.

Ecological correlates of multiple sexual partnerships among adolescents and young adults in urban Cape Town: a cumulative risk factor approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Muchiri, Evans; Odimegwu, Clifford; Banda, Pamela; Ntoimo, Lorreta; Adedini, Sunday

2017-07-01

Studies in South Africa have reported unsafe levels of risky sexual behvaiours among adolescents and young adults, with the country reporting the highest burden of HIV/AIDS globally, as well as a high rate of teenage pregnancy. While determinants of risky sexual behaviours have been investigated for factors occurring at the individual and household levels, not fully explored in the literature is the effect of community level factors. Furthermore, it is unclear whether risk factors occurring within the ecology of adolescents and young adults act cumulatively to influence their sexual practices. This article aims to address this knowledge gap using a case study of the Cape Area Panel Study of adolescents and young adults in urban Cape Town, South Africa. The ecological framework was adopted to guide the selection of risk factors at the individual, household, and community levels. Multivariate linear discriminant function analyses were used to select significant risk factors for multiple sexual partnerships and used to produce risk indices for the respondents. The cumulative risk approach was applied to test whether significant risk factors acted cumulatively. Findings point to the importance of ecological factors in influencing outcomes of multiple sexual partnerships among respondents and further demonstrate that ecological risk factors may act cumulatively. These findings are important for South Africa that is grappling with teenage pregnancy and disproportionate HIV epidemic among the youth.

An Approach to Evaluate Stability for Cable-Based Parallel Camera Robots with Hybrid Tension-Stiffness Properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huiling Wei

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper focuses on studying the effect of cable tensions and stiffness on the stability of cable-based parallel camera robots. For this purpose, the tension factor and the stiffness factor are defined, and the expression of stability is deduced. A new approach is proposed to calculate the hybrid-stability index with the minimum cable tension and the minimum singular value. Firstly, the kinematic model of a cable-based parallel camera robot is established. Based on the model, the tensions are solved and a tension factor is defined. In order to obtain the tension factor, an optimization of the cable tensions is carried out. Then, an expression of the system's stiffness is deduced and a stiffness factor is defined. Furthermore, an approach to evaluate the stability of the cable-based camera robots with hybrid tension-stiffness properties is presented. Finally, a typical three-degree-of-freedom cable-based parallel camera robot with four cables is studied as a numerical example. The simulation results show that the approach is both reasonable and effective.

Sagittal abdominal diameter shows better correlation with cardiovascular risk factors than waist circumference and BMI

OpenAIRE

de Souza, Natalia Cavalheri; de Oliveira, Erick Prado

2013-01-01

Background Obesity (abdominal adiposity) is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and the most used methods to measure the adiposity are body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD). Objective To correlate BMI, WC, and SAD with biochemical parameters and blood pressure in adults. Methods A non-experimental exploratory/descriptive and cross sectional study was developed and it was assessed 133 subjects (59 men and 74 women) aging between 18 and 87?...

Treatment outcome and prognostic factor analysis in transplant-eligible Chinese myeloma patients receiving bortezomib-based induction regimens including the staged approach, PAD or VTD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chim Chor

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We have reported promising outcomes using a staged approach, in which bortezomib/thalidomide/dexamethasone was used only in 14 patients with suboptimal response to VAD (vincristine/adriamycin/dexamethasone before autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT. Here we compared the outcomes of the staged approach with frontline PAD (bortezomib/doxorubicin/dexamethasone or VTD (bortezomib/thalidomide/dexamethasone induction, and analysed prognostic factors for outcome. Patients and methods Ninety-one transplant-eligible Chinese patients received three induction regimens prior to ASCT [staged approach (N = 25, PAD (N = 31, VTD (N = 35]. and received thalidomide maintenance for 2 years post-ASCT. Results 43 (47.3% patients had International Staging System (ISS III disease. By an intention-to-treat analysis, the overall CR/nCR rate were 37.4% post-induction, and 62.6% post-ASCT. Five-year overall (OS and event-free (EFS survivals were 66% and 45.1%. There was no difference of the post-induction CR/nCR rate, EFS or OS between patients induced by these three regimens. Moreover, ISS III disease did not affect CR/nCR rates. Multivariate analysis showed that ISS and post-ASCT CR/nCR impacted OS while ISS and post-induction CR/nCR impacted EFS. Conclusions These three induction regimens produced comparable and favorable outcomes in myeloma. The unfavorable outcome of ISS stage III persisted despite upfront/early use of bortezomib. CR/nCR predicted favorable survivals.

EVALUATING KEY ENVIRONMENTAL RISK FACTORS FOR POLLUTION AT INTERNATIONAL PORTS IN TAIWAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuan-Hao Chang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of this paper is to use the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP approach to evaluate the key environmental risk factors for pollution at international ports in Taiwan. Relying on the literature and experts’ opinions, a hierarchical structure with three risk aspects and thirteen risk factors is first constructed, and a FAHP model then proposed. Based on data from the AHP experts’ questionnaires, we use the FAHP approach to determine key environmental risk factors. Finally, the results show that: (1 Air pollution is the most important aspect of environmental pollution at international ports in Taiwan. (2 In order of relative importance, the top five key environmental risk factors for pollution at international ports in Taiwan are the oil leaks from ships, volatile organic compounds (VOCs, exhaust emissions from ships at berth, harmful coatings on ships' hulls, and ships' failure to use low-pollution fuel. Furthermore, some discussions are provided for port authority in Taiwan.

A biophysical approach using water deficit factor for daily estimations of evapotranspiration and CO2 uptake in Mediterranean environments

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D. Helman

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Estimations of ecosystem-level evapotranspiration (ET and CO2 uptake in water-limited environments are scarce and scaling up ground-level measurements is not straightforward. A biophysical approach using remote sensing (RS and meteorological data (RS–Met is adjusted to extreme high-energy water-limited Mediterranean ecosystems that suffer from continuous stress conditions to provide daily estimations of ET and CO2 uptake (measured as gross primary production, GPP at a spatial resolution of 250 m. The RS–Met was adjusted using a seasonal water deficit factor (fWD based on daily rainfall, temperature and radiation data. We validated our adjusted RS–Met with eddy covariance flux measurements using a newly developed mobile lab system and the single active FLUXNET station operating in this region (Yatir pine forest station at a total of seven forest and non-forest sites across a climatic transect in Israel (280–770 mm yr−1. RS–Met was also compared to the satellite-borne MODIS-based ET and GPP products (MOD16 and MOD17, respectively at these sites.Results show that the inclusion of the fWD significantly improved the model, with R =  0.64–0.91 for the ET-adjusted model (compared to 0.05–0.80 for the unadjusted model and R =  0.72–0.92 for the adjusted GPP model (compared to R =  0.56–0.90 of the non-adjusted model. The RS–Met (with the fWD successfully tracked observed changes in ET and GPP between dry and wet seasons across the sites. ET and GPP estimates from the adjusted RS–Met also agreed well with eddy covariance estimates on an annual timescale at the FLUXNET station of Yatir (266 ± 61 vs. 257 ± 58 mm yr−1 and 765 ± 112 vs. 748 ± 124 gC m−2 yr−1 for ET and GPP, respectively. Comparison with MODIS products showed consistently lower estimates from the MODIS-based models, particularly at the forest sites. Using the adjusted RS–Met, we show that afforestation

The decay of Λ{sub b} → p K{sup -} in QCD factorization approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhu, Jie; Wei, Zheng-Tao [Nankai University, School of Physics, Tianjin (China); Ke, Hong-Wei [Tianjin University, School of Science, Tianjin (China)

2016-05-15

With only the tree-level operator, the decay of Λ{sub b} → p K{sup -} is predicted to be one order smaller than the experimental data. The QCD penguin effects should be taken into account. In this paper, we explore the one-loop QCD corrections to the decay of Λ{sub b} → p K{sup -} within the framework of QCD factorization approach. For the baryon system, the diquark approximation is adopted. The transition hadronic matrix elements between Λ{sub b} and p are calculated in the light-front quark model. The branching ratio of Λ{sub b} → p K{sup -} is predicted to be about 4.85 x 10{sup -6}, which is consistent with experimental data (4.9 ± 0.9) x 10{sup -6}. The CP violation is about 5 % in theory. (orig.)

RISK-FACTORS, PATHOGENESIS, AND PHARMACEUTICAL APPROACHES FOR TREATMENT OF STEROID-INDUCED BONE INFARCTION OF FEMORAL HEAD.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Fei; Wang, Yang; Hu, Ningning; Miao, Xuman

2016-01-01

During first year of steroid usage, osteocyte necrosis and blood vessel blockage may occur, which subsequently may produce steroid-induced bone infarction (SIBI) resulting in painful movement of patient. For treatment of SIBI, pharmaceutical strategy is the basic approach. It involves the use of various pharmacologically active compounds including bisphosphonates, hyperbaric oxygen (HBO), coenzyme Q10, erythropoietin, antihyperlipidemics, anticoagulants, antioxidants, and tissue repair protein. Out of these, there is no pharmaceutical agent that may completely treat this disease because many factors are found to be responsible for SIBI development; therefore, there are multiple biomarkers of this disease. This situation argues for need of new therapeutic agents for SIEB1.

A possible methodological approach to setting up control level of radiation factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devyatajkin, E.V.; Abramov, Yu.V.

1986-01-01

The mathematical formalization of the concept of control levels (CL) which enables one to obtain CL numerical values of controllable parameters required for rapid control purposes is described. The initial data for the assessment of environmental radioactivity are the controllable parameter values that is practical characteristic of controllable radiation factor showing technically measurable or calculation value. The controllable parameters can be divided into two classes depending on the degree of radiation effect on a man: possessing additivity properties (dosimetric class) and non-possessing (radiation class, which comprises the results of control of medium alteration dynamics, equipment operation safety, completeness of protection measures performance). The CL calculation formulas with account for requirements of radiation safety standards (RSS-76) are presented

An ISM approach for analyzing the factors in technology transfer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Mahdavi Mazdeh

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Technology transfer, from research and technology organizations (RTOs toward local industries, is considered as one of important and significant strategies for countries' industrial development. In addition to recover the enormous costs of research and development for RTOs, successful technology transfer from RTOs toward local firms forms technological foundations and develops the ability to enhance the competitiveness of firms. Better understanding of factors influencing process of technology transfer helps RTOs and local firms prioritize and manage their resources in an effective and efficient way to maximize the success of technology transfer. This paper aims to identify important effective factors in technology transfer from Iranian RTOs and provides a comprehensive model, which indicate the interactions of these factors. In this regard, first, research background is reviewed and Cummings and Teng’s model (2003 [Cummings, J. L., & Teng, B.-S. (2003. Transferring R&D knowledge: The key factors affecting knowledge transfer success. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 20(1-2, 39-68.] was selected as the basic model in this study and it was modified through suggesting new factors identified from literature of inter-organizational knowledge and technology transfer and finally a Delphi method was applied for validation of modified model. Then, research conducted used Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM to evaluate the relationship between the factors of final proposed model. Results indicate that there were twelve factors influencing on technology transfer process from Iranian RTOs to local firms and also the intensity of absorption capability in transferee could influence on the intensity of desorption capability in transferor.

The Need for an Ecological Approach to Parental Stress in Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Combined Role of Individual and Environmental Factors

Science.gov (United States)

Derguy, C.; M'Bailara, K.; Michel, G.; Roux, S.; Bouvard, M.

2016-01-01

This study aimed to identify parental stress predictors in ASD by considering individual and environmental factors in an ecological approach. Participants were 115 parents of children with ASD aged from 3 to 10 years. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the best predictors of parental stress among child-related, parent-related…

A critical review on factors influencing fermentative hydrogen production.

Science.gov (United States)

Kothari, Richa; Kumar, Virendra; Pathak, Vinayak V; Ahmad, Shamshad; Aoyi, Ochieng; Tyagi, V V

2017-03-01

Biohydrogen production by dark fermentation of different waste materials is a promising approach to produce bio-energy in terms of renewable energy exploration. This communication has reviewed various influencing factors of dark fermentation process with detailed account of determinants in biohydrogen production. It has also focused on different factors such as improved bacterial strain, reactor design, metabolic engineering and two stage processes to enhance the bioenergy productivity from substrate. The study also suggest that complete utilization of substrates for biological hydrogen production requires the concentrated research and development for efficient functioning of microorganism with integrated application for energy production and bioremediation. Various studies have been taken into account here, to show the comparative efficiency of different substrates and operating conditions with inhibitory factors and pretreatment option for biohydrogen production. The study reveals that an extensive research is needed to observe field efficiency of process using low cost substrates and integration of dark and photo fermentation process. Integrated approach of fermentation process will surely compete with conventional hydrogen process and replace it completely in future.

Show-Bix &

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2014-01-01

The anti-reenactment 'Show-Bix &' consists of 5 dias projectors, a dial phone, quintophonic sound, and interactive elements. A responsive interface will enable the Dias projectors to show copies of original dias slides from the Show-Bix piece ”March på Stedet”, 265 images in total. The copies are...

Metabolic and molecular analyses of white mutant Vaccinium berries show down-regulation of MYBPA1-type R2R3 MYB regulatory factor.

Science.gov (United States)

Primetta, Anja K; Karppinen, Katja; Riihinen, Kaisu R; Jaakola, Laura

2015-09-01

MYBPA1-type R2R3 MYB transcription factor shows down-regulation in white mutant berries of Vaccinium uliginosum deficient in anthocyanins but not proanthocyanidins suggesting a role in the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis. Berries of the genus Vaccinium are among the best natural sources of flavonoids. In this study, the expression of structural and regulatory flavonoid biosynthetic genes and the accumulation of flavonoids in white mutant and blue-colored wild-type bog bilberry (V. uliginosum) fruits were measured at different stages of berry development. In contrast to high contents of anthocyanins in ripe blue-colored berries, only traces were detected by HPLC-ESI-MS in ripe white mutant berries. However, similar profile and high levels of flavonol glycosides and proanthocyanidins were quantified in both ripe white and ripe wild-type berries. Analysis with qRT-PCR showed strong down-regulation of structural genes chalcone synthase (VuCHS), dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (VuDFR) and anthocyanidin synthase (VuANS) as well as MYBPA1-type transcription factor VuMYBPA1 in white berries during ripening compared to wild-type berries. The profiles of transcript accumulation of chalcone isomerase (VuCHI), anthocyanidin reductase (VuANR), leucoanthocyanidin reductase (VuLAR) and flavonoid 3'5' hydroxylase (VuF3'5'H) were more similar between the white and the wild-type berries during fruit development, while expression of UDP-glucose: flavonoid 3-O-glucosyltransferase (VuUFGT) showed similar trend but fourfold lower level in white mutant. VuMYBPA1, the R2R3 MYB family member, is a homologue of VmMYB2 of V. myrtillus and VcMYBPA1 of V. corymbosum and belongs to MYBPA1-type MYB family which members are shown in some species to be related with proanthocyanidin biosynthesis in fruits. Our results combined with earlier data of the role of VmMYB2 in white mutant berries of V. myrtillus suggest that the regulation of anthocyanin biosynthesis in Vaccinium species could differ

Massive pulmonary embolism: the predisposing and complicating factors, its current diagnostic approaches and critical importance of early diagnostic physical exam

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filip A. Konecny

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Massive pulmonary embolism (MPE often leads to circulation collapse, a form of shock. The process is set off by thrombus or multiple thrombi dislodgement followed by a rapid perfusion insufficiency of pulmonary arterial system. Patients experience severe hypotension with diastolic and systolic failure with an acute tricuspid regurgitation. On many occasions, release of an obstruction is unattainable and death is occurring frequently within one hour of presentation. A key reported source of MPE is its occurrence as a complication of deep vein thrombosis (DVT. While long-term immobilization and surgery are both directly associated with MPE, others such as previous DVT, malignancy, infectious lung and heart diseases, family thrombophilia, lower limb paralysis and pregnancy have to be considered as risk factors mainly due to its silent nature. Predisposing and complicating risks should be addressed by an early diagnostic physical exam. The clinician might offer a wide variety of diagnostic approaches, combining techniques into algorithms to better deal with the embolism severity. Multiple patient life-style changes and decisions to adhere to the proposed plan should be built up on patient-physician team effort. KEY WORDS: Massive pulmonary embolism, predisposing factors, current diagnostic approaches.

ALS skeletal muscle shows enhanced TGF-β signaling, fibrosis and induction of fibro/adipogenic progenitor markers.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David Gonzalez

Full Text Available Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in which upper and lower motoneurons degenerate leading to muscle wasting, paralysis and eventually death from respiratory failure. Several studies indicate that skeletal muscle contributes to disease progression; however the molecular mechanisms remain elusive. Fibrosis is a common feature in skeletal muscle under chronic damage conditions such as those caused by muscular dystrophies or denervation. However, the exact mechanisms of fibrosis induction and the cellular bases of this pathological response are unknown. We show that extracellular matrix (ECM components are augmented in skeletal muscles of symptomatic hSOD1G93A mice, a widely used murine model of ALS. These mice also show increased TGF-β1 mRNA levels, total Smad3 protein levels and p-Smad3 positive nuclei. Furthermore, platelet-derived growth factor receptor-α (PDGFRα, Tcf4 and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA levels are augmented in the skeletal muscle of symptomatic hSOD1G93A mice. Additionally, the fibro/adipogenic progenitors (FAPs, which are the main producers of ECM constituents, are also increased in these pathogenic conditions. Therefore, FAPs and ECM components are more abundant in symptomatic stages of the disease than in pre-symptomatic stages. We present evidence that fibrosis observed in skeletal muscle of symptomatic hSOD1G93A mice is accompanied with an induction of TGF-β signaling, and also that FAPs might be involved in triggering a fibrotic response. Co-localization of p-Smad3 positive cells together with PDGFRα was observed in the interstitial cells of skeletal muscles from symptomatic hSOD1G93A mice. Finally, the targeting of pro-fibrotic factors such as TGF-β, CTGF/CCN2 and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF signaling pathway might be a suitable therapeutic approach to improve muscle function in several degenerative diseases.

Pre-announcement of symbiotic guests: transcriptional reprogramming by mycorrhizal lipochitooligosaccharides shows a strict co-dependency on the GRAS transcription factors NSP1 and RAM1.

Science.gov (United States)

Hohnjec, Natalija; Czaja-Hasse, Lisa F; Hogekamp, Claudia; Küster, Helge

2015-11-23

More than 80 % of all terrestrial plant species establish an arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) symbiosis with Glomeromycota fungi. This plant-microbe interaction primarily improves phosphate uptake, but also supports nitrogen, mineral, and water aquisition. During the pre-contact stage, the AM symbiosis is controled by an exchange of diffusible factors from either partner. Amongst others, fungal signals were identified as a mix of sulfated and non-sulfated lipochitooligosaccharides (LCOs), being structurally related to rhizobial nodulation (Nod)-factor LCOs that in legumes induce the formation of nitrogen-fixing root nodules. LCO signals are transduced via a common symbiotic signaling pathway (CSSP) that activates a group of GRAS transcription factors (TFs). Using complex gene expression fingerprints as molecular phenotypes, this study primarily intended to shed light on the importance of the GRAS TFs NSP1 and RAM1 for LCO-activated gene expression during pre-symbiotic signaling. We investigated the genome-wide transcriptional responses in 5 days old primary roots of the Medicago truncatula wild type and four symbiotic mutants to a 6 h challenge with LCO signals supplied at 10(-7/-8) M. We were able to show that during the pre-symbiotic stage, sulfated Myc-, non-sulfated Myc-, and Nod-LCO-activated gene expression almost exclusively depends on the LysM receptor kinase NFP and is largely controled by the CSSP, although responses independent of this pathway exist. Our results show that downstream of the CSSP, gene expression activation by Myc-LCOs supplied at 10(-7/-8) M strictly required both the GRAS transcription factors RAM1 and NSP1, whereas those genes either co- or specifically activated by Nod-LCOs displayed a preferential NSP1-dependency. RAM1, a central regulator of root colonization by AM fungi, controled genes activated by non-sulfated Myc-LCOs during the pre-symbiotic stage that are also up-regulated in areas with early physical contact, e.g. hyphopodia and

HTO Approach Applications in ROSATOM CICET

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volkov, E.; Aspidov, V.

2016-01-01

The paper presents Rosatom Central Institute for Continuing Education and Training (CICET) (hereinafter “CICET”) current activity in areas of nuclear facilities personnel training and relevant research. CICET has a strategic goal to get the “Safety Culture” competence centre for ROSATOM organizations. Safety culture ensures for nuclear organization to achieve both the business goals and high safety level. Safety is a state of ergatic [sic] system when influence of internal and external factors impact does not lead to its operation deterioration or stoppage. Dramatic history of world nuclear energetics shows that HOF the main assembly of factors influencing on safety. Individual work performance and organizational processes are visible, “artefact” part of the organization culture. Approaches and tools to enhance human and organization behavior are under CICET activity focus.

Large-Scale No-Show Patterns and Distributions for Clinic Operational Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael L. Davies

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Patient no-shows for scheduled primary care appointments are common. Unused appointment slots reduce patient quality of care, access to services and provider productivity while increasing loss to follow-up and medical costs. This paper describes patterns of no-show variation by patient age, gender, appointment age, and type of appointment request for six individual service lines in the United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA. This retrospective observational descriptive project examined 25,050,479 VHA appointments contained in individual-level records for eight years (FY07-FY14 for 555,183 patients. Multifactor analysis of variance (ANOVA was performed, with no-show rate as the dependent variable, and gender, age group, appointment age, new patient status, and service line as factors. The analyses revealed that males had higher no-show rates than females to age 65, at which point males and females exhibited similar rates. The average no-show rates decreased with age until 75–79, whereupon rates increased. As appointment age increased, males and new patients had increasing no-show rates. Younger patients are especially prone to no-show as appointment age increases. These findings provide novel information to healthcare practitioners and management scientists to more accurately characterize no-show and attendance rates and the impact of certain patient factors. Future general population data could determine whether findings from VHA data generalize to others.

Large-Scale No-Show Patterns and Distributions for Clinic Operational Research.

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Michael L; Goffman, Rachel M; May, Jerrold H; Monte, Robert J; Rodriguez, Keri L; Tjader, Youxu C; Vargas, Dominic L

2016-02-16

Patient no-shows for scheduled primary care appointments are common. Unused appointment slots reduce patient quality of care, access to services and provider productivity while increasing loss to follow-up and medical costs. This paper describes patterns of no-show variation by patient age, gender, appointment age, and type of appointment request for six individual service lines in the United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA). This retrospective observational descriptive project examined 25,050,479 VHA appointments contained in individual-level records for eight years (FY07-FY14) for 555,183 patients. Multifactor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed, with no-show rate as the dependent variable, and gender, age group, appointment age, new patient status, and service line as factors. The analyses revealed that males had higher no-show rates than females to age 65, at which point males and females exhibited similar rates. The average no-show rates decreased with age until 75-79, whereupon rates increased. As appointment age increased, males and new patients had increasing no-show rates. Younger patients are especially prone to no-show as appointment age increases. These findings provide novel information to healthcare practitioners and management scientists to more accurately characterize no-show and attendance rates and the impact of certain patient factors. Future general population data could determine whether findings from VHA data generalize to others.

Gamma rays, Q-values, and kerma factors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muir, D.W.

1976-02-01

Formats have been proposed to allow the inclusion of evaluated neutron kerma factors in ENDF/B. The task of preparing evaluated kerma factors is analyzed in this report and is found to present numerous difficulties. Two alternative approaches to kerma-factor calculations are suggested, both of which require modifications of existing evaluations, notably through the inclusion of cross sections now missing for a number of neutron reactions, to allow postevaluation kerma-factor processing. The first approach requires neutron-induced charged-particle spectra, in addition to the missing reaction data. The second approach, which would not require the charged-particle spectra, would enforce energy conservation in the computed results

Transgenic mice overexpressing glia maturation factor-β, an oxidative stress inducible gene, show premature aging due to Zmpste24 down-regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Imai, Rika; Asai, Kanae; Hanai, Jun-ichi; Takenaka, Masaru

2015-07-01

Glia Maturation Factor-β (GMF), a brain specific protein, is induced by proteinuria in renal tubules. Ectopic GMF overexpression causes apoptosisin vitro via cellular vulnerability to oxidative stress. In order to examine the roles of GMF in non-brain tissue, we constructed transgenic mice overexpressing GMF (GMF-TG). The GMF-TG mice exhibited appearance phenotypes associated with premature aging. The GMF-TG mice also demonstrated short lifespans and reduced hair regrowth, suggesting an accelerated aging process. The production of an abnormal lamin A, a nuclear envelope protein, plays a causal role in both normal aging and accelerated aging diseases, known as laminopathies. Importantly, we identified the abnormal lamin A (prelamin A), accompanied by a down-regulation of a lamin A processing enzyme (Zmpste24) in the kidney of the GMF-TG mice. The GMF-TG mice showed accelerated aging in the kidney, compared with wild-type mice, showing increased TGF-β1, CTGF gene and serum creatinine. The gene expression of p21/waf1 was increased at an earlier stage of life, at 10 weeks, which was in turn down-regulated at a later stage, at 60 weeks. In conclusion, we propose that GMF-TG mice might be a novel mouse model of accelerated aging, due to the abnormal lamin A.

Public Transportation Hub Location with Stochastic Demand: An Improved Approach Based on Multiple Attribute Group Decision-Making

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Sen Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Urban public transportation hubs are the key nodes of the public transportation system. The location of such hubs is a combinatorial problem. Many factors can affect the decision-making of location, including both quantitative and qualitative factors; however, most current research focuses solely on either the quantitative or the qualitative factors. Little has been done to combine these two approaches. To fulfill this gap in the research, this paper proposes a novel approach to the public transportation hub location problem, which takes both quantitative and qualitative factors into account. In this paper, an improved multiple attribute group decision-making (MAGDM method based on TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution and deviation is proposed to convert the qualitative factors of each hub into quantitative evaluation values. A location model with stochastic passenger flows is then established based on the above evaluation values. Finally, stochastic programming theory is applied to solve the model and to determine the location result. A numerical study shows that this approach is applicable and effective.

Factors contributing to the fluctuations in residential construction in Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassan Gholipour Fereidouni

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Residential construction is one of the most important pillars of Iran’s economy. Although this sector had an increasing trend over the past two decades, however, the growth rate of residential construction was very volatile. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate those factors contributing to this fluctuation over the 1991:Q2-2008:Q4. By applying cointegration approach, the empirical results show that housing prices, construction costs, GDP and gold prices are important factors to explain swings in residential construction in Iran.

Tensor-Dictionary Learning with Deep Kruskal-Factor Analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stevens, Andrew J.; Pu, Yunchen; Sun, Yannan; Spell, Gregory; Carin, Lawrence

2017-04-20

We introduce new dictionary learning methods for tensor-variate data of any order. We represent each data item as a sum of Kruskal decomposed dictionary atoms within the framework of beta-process factor analysis (BPFA). Our model is nonparametric and can infer the tensor-rank of each dictionary atom. This Kruskal-Factor Analysis (KFA) is a natural generalization of BPFA. We also extend KFA to a deep convolutional setting and develop online learning methods. We test our approach on image processing and classification tasks achieving state of the art results for 2D & 3D inpainting and Caltech 101. The experiments also show that atom-rank impacts both overcompleteness and sparsity.

Soft factors for double parton scattering at NNLO

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Vladimirov, Alexey [Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Regensburg,D-93040 Regensburg (Germany)

2016-12-13

We show at NNLO that the soft factors for double parton scattering (DPS) for both integrated and unintegrated kinematics, can be presented entirely in the terms of the soft factor for single Drell-Yan process, i.e. the transverse momentum dependent (TMD) soft factor. Using the linearity of the logarithm of TMD soft factor in rapidity divergences, we decompose the DPS soft factor matrices into a product of matrices with rapidity divergences in given sectors, and thus, define individual double parton distributions at NNLO. The rapidity anomalous dimension matrices for double parton distributions are presented in the terms of TMD rapidity anomalous dimension. The analysis is done using the generating function approach to web diagrams. Significant part of the result is obtained from the symmetry properties of web diagrams without referring to explicit expressions or a particular rapidity regularization scheme. Additionally, we present NNLO expression for the web diagram generating function for Wilson lines with two light-like directions.

Radiation dose of workers originating from radon in the show Cave of Tapolca, Hungary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Somlai, J.; Szeiler, G.; Szabo, P.; Kovacs, T.; Tokonami, S.; Ishikawa, T.; Sorimachi, A.; Yoshinaga, S.

2009-01-01

In the last few decades attention has been given to improve workplace conditions, primarily to reduce the different health risks. In the air that accumulates in underground workplaces radon may constitute one of the health risks. The radon concentration in the show cave in Tapolca is especially high in summer months, with the annual average in the year 2005 being 7227 Bq/m 3 , in 2006 8591 Bq/m 3 . The radon concentration was found to be independent on the location of the measurement. Its value was rather similar for working hours and for the total period. The hours spent in the cave by the workers depend on the number of visitors. The radiation dose, estimated on the basis of personal dosimeters, is significant for those working there especially, employed during the whole year. Taking into consideration the actual working hours and the equilibrium factor, F = 0.4, given in the literature, it approaches and even exceeds the dose limit of 20 mSv/year. With a well organized work schedule, as well as the employment of outside workers during the summer period, the dose limit of 20 mSv/year can probably be maintained. However, on the basis of recent measurements, the actual equilibrium factor was determined to be F 0.5, which in turn means a further 25% increase in the dose effect. (author)

A Comparison of Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Approaches to Deforestation Analysis

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Jeff Felardo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The economics of deforestation has been explored in detail. Generally, the frame of analysis takes either a microeconomics or macroeconomics approach. The microeconomics approach assumes that individual decision makers are responsible for deforestation as a result of utility maximizing behavior and imperfect property right regimes. The macroeconomics approach explores nationwide trends thought to be associated with forest conversion. This paper investigates the relationship between these two approaches by empirically testing the determinants of deforestation using the same data set from Thailand. The theory for both the microeconomics-based and macroeconomics-based approaches are developed and then tested statistically. The models were constructed using established theoretical frames developed in the literature. The results from both models show statistical significance consistent with prior results in the tropical deforestation literature. A comparison of the two approaches demonstrates that the macro approach is useful in identifying relevant aggregate trends in the deforestation process; the micro approach provides the opportunity to isolate factors of those trends which are necessary for effective policy decisions.

[Muscle and bone health as a risk factor of fall among the elderly. An approach to identify high-risk fallers by risk assessment].

Science.gov (United States)

Kikuchi, Reiko; Kozaki, Koichi; Nakamura, Tetsuro; Toba, Kenji

2008-06-01

Fall-induced hip fracture is one of the major causes rendering the elderly to be in a low ADL or bed-ridden status. Fall is not only the cause for fractures, but it lowers elderly peoples'ADL. History of fall, age, decline of motor function, orthostatic hypotension, balance deficit, dementia, drug and environmental factors were raised as possible risk factor for falls. We created a fall predicting score which consist of 21 risk factors and a history of falls. We found that the score is useful to identify high-risk fallers. It would be necessary to identify high-risk fallers early and give an appropriate individual approach.

A statistical approach to estimating soil-to-plant transfer factor of strontium in agricultural fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishikawa, Nao; Tagami, Keiko; Uchida, Shigeo

2009-01-01

Soil-to-plant transfer factor (TF) is one of the important parameters in radiation dose assessment models for the environmental transfer of radionuclides. Since TFs are affected by several factors, including radionuclides, plant species and soil properties, development of a method for estimation of TF using some soil and plant properties would be useful. In this study, we took a statistical approach to estimating the TF of stable strontium (TF Sr ) from selected soil properties and element concentrations in plants, which was used as an analogue of 90 Sr. We collected the plant and soil samples used for the study from 142 agricultural fields throughout Japan. We applied a multiple linear regression analysis in order to get an empirical equation to estimate TF Sr . TF Sr could be estimated from the Sr concentration in soil (C Sr soil ) and Ca concentration in crop (C Ca crop ) using the following equation: log TF Sr =-0.88·log C Sr soil +0.93·log C Ca crop -2.53. Then, we replaced our data with Ca concentrations in crops from a food composition database compiled by the Japanese government. Finally, we predicted TF Sr using Sr concentration in soil from our data and Ca concentration in crops from the database of food composition. (author)

Regional determinants of FDI in China: a factor-based approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martijn A. Boermans; Zhang Yi; Hein Roelfsema

2011-01-01

We empirically investigate the factors that drive the uneven regional distribution of foreign direct investment (FDI) across Chinese provinces from 1995 to 2006. We first perform a factor analysis to summarize information embodied in around 40 variables and derive four FDI determinants:

A spatiotemporal dengue fever early warning model accounting for nonlinear associations with meteorological factors: a Bayesian maximum entropy approach

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Chieh-Han; Yu, Hwa-Lung; Chien, Lung-Chang

2014-05-01

Dengue fever has been identified as one of the most widespread vector-borne diseases in tropical and sub-tropical. In the last decade, dengue is an emerging infectious disease epidemic in Taiwan especially in the southern area where have annually high incidences. For the purpose of disease prevention and control, an early warning system is urgently needed. Previous studies have showed significant relationships between climate variables, in particular, rainfall and temperature, and the temporal epidemic patterns of dengue cases. However, the transmission of the dengue fever is a complex interactive process that mostly understated the composite space-time effects of dengue fever. This study proposes developing a one-week ahead warning system of dengue fever epidemics in the southern Taiwan that considered nonlinear associations between weekly dengue cases and meteorological factors across space and time. The early warning system based on an integration of distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) and stochastic Bayesian Maximum Entropy (BME) analysis. The study identified the most significant meteorological measures including weekly minimum temperature and maximum 24-hour rainfall with continuous 15-week lagged time to dengue cases variation under condition of uncertainty. Subsequently, the combination of nonlinear lagged effects of climate variables and space-time dependence function is implemented via a Bayesian framework to predict dengue fever occurrences in the southern Taiwan during 2012. The result shows the early warning system is useful for providing potential outbreak spatio-temporal prediction of dengue fever distribution. In conclusion, the proposed approach can provide a practical disease control tool for environmental regulators seeking more effective strategies for dengue fever prevention.

Dirac equation in low dimensions: The factorization method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sánchez-Monroy, J.A., E-mail: antosan@if.usp.br [Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, 05508-090, São Paulo, SP (Brazil); Quimbay, C.J., E-mail: cjquimbayh@unal.edu.co [Departamento de Física, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, D. C. (Colombia); CIF, Bogotá (Colombia)

2014-11-15

We present a general approach to solve the (1+1) and (2+1)-dimensional Dirac equations in the presence of static scalar, pseudoscalar and gauge potentials, for the case in which the potentials have the same functional form and thus the factorization method can be applied. We show that the presence of electric potentials in the Dirac equation leads to two Klein–Gordon equations including an energy-dependent potential. We then generalize the factorization method for the case of energy-dependent Hamiltonians. Additionally, the shape invariance is generalized for a specific class of energy-dependent Hamiltonians. We also present a condition for the absence of the Klein paradox (stability of the Dirac sea), showing how Dirac particles in low dimensions can be confined for a wide family of potentials. - Highlights: • The low-dimensional Dirac equation in the presence of static potentials is solved. • The factorization method is generalized for energy-dependent Hamiltonians. • The shape invariance is generalized for energy-dependent Hamiltonians. • The stability of the Dirac sea is related to the existence of supersymmetric partner Hamiltonians.

A data mining approach to investigate the factors influencing the crash severity of motorcycle pillion passengers.

Science.gov (United States)

Tavakoli Kashani, Ali; Rabieyan, Rahim; Besharati, Mohammad Mehdi

2014-12-01

Motorcycle passengers comprise a considerable proportion of traffic crash victims. During a 5 year period (2006-2010) in Iran, an average of 3.4 pillion passengers are killed daily due to motorcycle crashes. This study investigated the main factors influencing crash severity of this group of road users. The Classification and Regression Trees (CART) method was employed to analyze the injury severity of pillion passengers in Iran over a 4 y ear period (2009-2012). The predictive accuracy of the model built with a total of 16 variables was 74%, which showed a considerable improvement compared to previous studies. The results indicate that area type, land use, and injured part of the body (head, neck, etc.) are the most influential factors affecting the fatality of motorcycle passengers. Results also show that helmet usage could reduce the fatality risk among motorcycle passengers by 28%. The findings of this study might help develop more targeted countermeasures to reduce the death rate of motorcycle pillion passengers. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring key factors in online shopping with a hybrid model.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hsiao-Ming; Wu, Chia-Huei; Tsai, Sang-Bing; Yu, Jian; Wang, Jiangtao; Zheng, Yuxiang

2016-01-01

Nowadays, the web increasingly influences retail sales. An in-depth analysis of consumer decision-making in the context of e-business has become an important issue for internet vendors. However, factors affecting e-business are complicated and intertwined. To stimulate online sales, understanding key influential factors and causal relationships among the factors is important. To gain more insights into this issue, this paper introduces a hybrid method, which combines the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) with the analytic network process, called DANP method, to find out the driving factors that influence the online business mostly. By DEMATEL approach the causal graph showed that "online service" dimension has the highest degree of direct impact on other dimensions; thus, the internet vendor is suggested to made strong efforts on service quality throughout the online shopping process. In addition, the study adopted DANP to measure the importance of key factors, among which "transaction security" proves to be the most important criterion. Hence, transaction security should be treated with top priority to boost the online businesses. From our study with DANP approach, the comprehensive information can be visually detected so that the decision makers can spotlight on the root causes to develop effectual actions.

Drell-Yan lepton pair production at high energies in the k{sub T}-factorization approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lipatov, A.V.; Malyshev, M.A.; Zotov, N.P. [M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State Univ. (Russian Federation). D.V. Skobeltsyn Inst. of Nuclear Physics

2011-11-15

In the framework of the k{sub T}-factorization approach, the production of unpolarized Drell-Yan lepton pair at high energies is studied. The consideration is based on the O({alpha}) and O({alpha}{alpha}{sub s}) off-shell partonic matrix elements with virtual photon {gamma}{sup *} and Z boson exchange. The calculations include leptonic decays of Z bosons with full spin correlations as well as {gamma}{sup *}-Z interference. The unintegrated parton densities in a proton are determined by the Kimber-Martin-Ryskin prescription. Our numerical predictions are compared with the data taken by the D diameter, CDF and CMS collaborations at the Tevatron and LHC energies. Special attention is put on the specific angular distributions measured very recently by the CDF collaboration for the first time. (orig.)

Code-Aided Estimation and Detection on Time-Varying Correlated Mimo Channels: A Factor Graph Approach

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Simoens Frederik

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This paper concerns channel tracking in a multiantenna context for correlated flat-fading channels obeying a Gauss-Markov model. It is known that data-aided tracking of fast-fading channels requires a lot of pilot symbols in order to achieve sufficient accuracy, and hence decreases the spectral efficiency. To overcome this problem, we design a code-aided estimation scheme which exploits information from both the pilot symbols and the unknown coded data symbols. The algorithm is derived based on a factor graph representation of the system and application of the sum-product algorithm. The sum-product algorithm reveals how soft information from the decoder should be exploited for the purpose of estimation and how the information bits can be detected. Simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of our approach.

Acceptability of delivery of dietary advice in the dentistry setting to address obesity in pre-school children: a case study of the Common Risk Factor Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Emily J

2015-07-01

The Common Risk Factor Approach proposes that public health efforts can be improved by multiple agencies working together on a shared risk factor. The present study aimed to assess the acceptability to parents, dental practice staff and commissioners of the delivery of dietary advice in the dentistry setting in order to address obesity. Semi-structured focus groups with dental practice staff and one-to-one interviews with parents of pre-school children and public health commissioners involved in an oral health promotion initiative delivering dietary advice in dental surgeries. Data were analysed using the Framework Approach. General dental practice surgeries and pre-schools in areas of high deprivation in north-east England. Parents (n 4), dental practice staff (n 23) and one commissioner. All participants found acceptable the concept of delivering public health messages in non-conventional settings. Dental practice staff were concerned about the potential for conflicting messages and deprioritisation of oral health advice, and they identified practical barriers to delivery, such as lack of training. Parents were very apprehensive about the potential of such approaches to stigmatise overweight children, including bullying. Uncertainty over the causes of obesity led to confusion about its solutions and the roles of public health and health care. Major concerns about the implementation of the Common Risk Factor Approach were raised by parents and dental practice staff. Specific dietary guidance for both oral health and healthy weight, as well as further research into issues of suitability, feasibility and stigmatisation, are needed.

Influence of a veterinary curriculum on the approaches and study skills of veterinary medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Chigerwe, Munashe; Ilkiw, Jan E; Boudreaux, Karen A

2011-01-01

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate first-, second-, third-, and fourth-year veterinary medical students' approaches to studying and learning as well as the factors within the curriculum that may influence these approaches. A questionnaire consisting of the short version of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) was completed by 405 students, and it included questions relating to conceptions about learning, approaches to studying, and preferences for different types of courses and teaching. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha analysis, and log-linear analysis were performed on the data. Deep, strategic, and surface learning approaches emerged. There were a few differences between our findings and those presented in previous studies in terms of the correlation of the subscale monitoring effectiveness, which showed loading with both the deep and strategic learning approaches. In addition, the subscale alertness to assessment demands showed correlation with the surface learning approach. The perception of high workloads, the use of previous test files as a method for studying, and examinations that are based only on material provided in lecture notes were positively associated with the surface learning approach. Focusing on improving specific teaching and assessment methods that enhance deep learning is anticipated to enhance students' positive learning experience. These teaching methods include instructors who encourage students to be critical thinkers, the integration of course material in other disciplines, courses that encourage thinking and reading about the learning material, and books and articles that challenge students while providing explanations beyond lecture material.

Understanding factors associated with the translation of cardiovascular research: a multinational case study approach

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Funders of health research increasingly seek to understand how best to allocate resources in order to achieve maximum value from their funding. We built an international consortium and developed a multinational case study approach to assess benefits arising from health research. We used that to facilitate analysis of factors in the production of research that might be associated with translating research findings into wider impacts, and the complexities involved. Methods We built on the Payback Framework and expanded its application through conducting co-ordinated case studies on the payback from cardiovascular and stroke research in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. We selected a stratified random sample of projects from leading medical research funders. We devised a series of innovative steps to: minimize the effect of researcher bias; rate the level of impacts identified in the case studies; and interrogate case study narratives to identify factors that correlated with achieving high or low levels of impact. Results Twenty-nine detailed case studies produced many and diverse impacts. Over the 15 to 20 years examined, basic biomedical research has a greater impact than clinical research in terms of academic impacts such as knowledge production and research capacity building. Clinical research has greater levels of wider impact on health policies, practice, and generating health gains. There was no correlation between knowledge production and wider impacts. We identified various factors associated with high impact. Interaction between researchers and practitioners and the public is associated with achieving high academic impact and translation into wider impacts, as is basic research conducted with a clinical focus. Strategic thinking by clinical researchers, in terms of thinking through pathways by which research could potentially be translated into practice, is associated with high wider impact. Finally, we identified the complexity of

Sagittal abdominal diameter shows better correlation with cardiovascular risk factors than waist circumference and BMI.

Science.gov (United States)

de Souza, Natalia Cavalheri; de Oliveira, Erick Prado

2013-01-01

Obesity (abdominal adiposity) is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and the most used methods to measure the adiposity are body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD). To correlate BMI, WC, and SAD with biochemical parameters and blood pressure in adults. A non-experimental exploratory/descriptive and cross sectional study was developed and it was assessed 133 subjects (59 men and 74 women) aging between 18 and 87 years. It was registered the patients' weight (kg), height (m), BMI (kg/m(2)), WC (cm) and SAD (cm), and these parameters were correlated with glycemia, triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL-c, LDL-c and blood pressure. After adjustment for gender and age, it was observed a positive correlation between SAD and systolic arterial blood pressure (r = 0.20), glycemia (r = 0.20), triglycerides (r = 0.32), LDL (r = 0.26), total cholesterol (TC) (r = 0.33), and a negative correlation with HDL-c (r = -0.21) (p correlation between WC and systolic arterial blood pressure (r = 0.14), triglycerides (r = 0.31), total cholesterol (r = 0.21), and a negative correlation with HDL-c (r = -0.24) (p correlation with systolic arterial blood pressure (r = 0.22), total cholesterol (r = 0.20), and triglycerides (r = 0.23) (p correlated with almost all the cardiovascular risk factors analyzed and it might be considered the best predictor of abdominal fat and cardiovascular risk.

A Neuro-Fuzzy Approach in the Classification of Students’ Academic Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quang Hung Do

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Classifying the student academic performance with high accuracy facilitates admission decisions and enhances educational services at educational institutions. The purpose of this paper is to present a neuro-fuzzy approach for classifying students into different groups. The neuro-fuzzy classifier used previous exam results and other related factors as input variables and labeled students based on their expected academic performance. The results showed that the proposed approach achieved a high accuracy. The results were also compared with those obtained from other well-known classification approaches, including support vector machine, Naive Bayes, neural network, and decision tree approaches. The comparative analysis indicated that the neuro-fuzzy approach performed better than the others. It is expected that this work may be used to support student admission procedures and to strengthen the services of educational institutions.

Stochastic factor model for electricity spot price-the case of the Nordic market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vehvilaeinen, Iivo; Pyykkoenen, Tuomas

2005-01-01

This paper presents a stochastic factor based approach to mid-term modeling of spot prices in deregulated electricity markets. The fundamentals affecting the spot price are modeled independently and a market equilibrium model combines them to form spot price. Main advantage of the model is the transparency of the generated prices because each underlying factor and the dynamics between factors can be modeled and studied in detail. Paper shows realistic numerical examples on the forerunner Scandinavian electricity market. The model is used to price an exotic electricity derivative

Stochastic factor model for electricity spot price - the case of the Nordic market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vehvilainen, I.; Pyykkoenen, T.

2005-01-01

This paper presents a stochastic factor based approach to mid-term modeling of spot prices in deregulated electricity markets. The fundamentals affecting the spot price are modeled independently and a market equilibrium model combines them to form spot price. Main advantage of the model is the transparency of the generated prices because each underlying factor and the dynamics between factors can be modeled and studied in detail. Paper shows realistic numerical examples on the forerunner Scandinavian electricity market. The model is used to price an exotic electricity derivative. (author)

"A cigarette a day keeps the goodies away": Smokers show automatic approach tendencies for smoking - but not for food-related stimuli

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Machulska, A.; Zlomuzica, A.; Adolph, D.; Rinck, M.; Margraf, J.

2015-01-01

Smoking leads to the development of automatic tendencies that promote approach behavior toward smoking-related stimuli which in turn may maintain addictive behavior. The present study examined whether automatic approach tendencies toward smoking-related stimuli can be measured by using an adapted

Multilateral nuclear approaches (MNAs), factors and issues lessons from IAEA study to regional cooperation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, Yong Soo

2005-01-01

In response to the increasing emphasis being placed on the importance of international cooperation as part of global efforts to cope with growing non proliferation, and security concerns in the nuclear field, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohammed Elbaradei, appointed an international group of experts to consider possible multilateral approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle. The mandate of the Expert Group was three fold: · To identify and provide an analysis of issues and options relevant to multilateral approaches to the front and back ends of the nuclear fuel cycle; · To provide an overview of the policy, legal, security, economic, institutional and technological incentives and disincentives for cooperation in multilateral arrangements for the front and back ends of the nuclear fuel cycle; and · To provide a brief review of the historical and current experiences and analyses relating to multilateral fuel cycle arrangements relevant to the work of the Expert Group. The overall purpose was to assess MNAs in the framework of a double objective: strengthening the international nuclear non proliferation regime and making the peaceful uses of nuclear energy more economical and attractive. The Group identifies options for MNAs - options in terms of policy, institutional and legal factors - for those parts of the nuclear fuel cycle of greatest sensitivity from the point of view of proliferation risk. It also reflects the Groups deliberations on the corresponding benefits and disadvantages (pros and cons) of the various options and approaches. Although the Expert Group was able to agree to forward the resulting report to the Director General, it is important to note that the report does not reflect agreement by all of the experts on any of the options, nor a consensus assessment of their respective value. It is intended only to present options for MNAs, and to reflect on the range of considerations which could impact on the

Reliability-based Calibration of Partial Safety Factors for Wave Energy Converters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ambühl, Simon; Kramer, Morten Mejlhede; Sørensen, John Dalsgaard

2015-01-01

of partial safety factors for design of welded details for wave energy converter applications is presented in this paper using probabilistic methods. The paper presents an example with focus on the Wavestar device. SN curves and Rainflow counting are used to model fatigue without considering inspections....... The influence of inspections is modelled using a fracture mechanics approach, which is calibrated by the SN curve approach. Furthermore, the paper assesses the influence of the inspection quality. The results show that with multiple inspections during the lifetime of the device and by applying a good inspection...

Sub-sequence Factorization-an Effective Approach for Projective Reconstruction under Occlusion

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LU Le; HU Zhanyi

2001-01-01

Projective reconstruction is a key step for 3D metric reconstruction from a sequence of images captured by an uncalibrated camera. Due to its inherent robustness, the factorization method is widely used in literatures. However, the main shortcoming of the standard factorization method is that it requires the corresponding points to appear across ALL the images. When large changes of view angles occur in the image sequence, or the scene is easy to be self-occluded, nearly it will be very difficult to have some corresponding points visible across all the images. But it is much easier for only several images to have enough correspondences required by factorization method. These images are called as a subsequence in the whole image set. In this paper,a sub-sequence factorization method is proposed to cope with the problem. The basic principle of the sub-sequence factorization method is to divide a long image sequence into several short subsequences according to its spatial continuity, and the standard factorization method is employed for each subsequence.Then, a novel alignment process is invoked to transform different reconstructions under different subsequences into one reference coordinates system. It is more practical as it only demands that there are enough correspondences in each subsequence, not the whole sequence. The proposed sub-sequence factorization method preserves the robustness aspect embedded in the standard factorization method. The experiments on synthetic and real images validate our proposed new method.

Contributions of dopamine-related genes and environmental factors to highly sensitive personality: a multi-step neuronal system-level approach.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chunhui Chen

Full Text Available Traditional behavioral genetic studies (e.g., twin, adoption studies have shown that human personality has moderate to high heritability, but recent molecular behavioral genetic studies have failed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL with consistent effects. The current study adopted a multi-step approach (ANOVA followed by multiple regression and permutation to assess the cumulative effects of multiple QTLs. Using a system-level (dopamine system genetic approach, we investigated a personality trait deeply rooted in the nervous system (the Highly Sensitive Personality, HSP. 480 healthy Chinese college students were given the HSP scale and genotyped for 98 representative polymorphisms in all major dopamine neurotransmitter genes. In addition, two environment factors (stressful life events and parental warmth that have been implicated for their contributions to personality development were included to investigate their relative contributions as compared to genetic factors. In Step 1, using ANOVA, we identified 10 polymorphisms that made statistically significant contributions to HSP. In Step 2, these polymorphism's main effects and interactions were assessed using multiple regression. This model accounted for 15% of the variance of HSP (p<0.001. Recent stressful life events accounted for an additional 2% of the variance. Finally, permutation analyses ascertained the probability of obtaining these findings by chance to be very low, p ranging from 0.001 to 0.006. Dividing these loci by the subsystems of dopamine synthesis, degradation/transport, receptor and modulation, we found that the modulation and receptor subsystems made the most significant contribution to HSP. The results of this study demonstrate the utility of a multi-step neuronal system-level approach in assessing genetic contributions to individual differences in human behavior. It can potentially bridge the gap between the high heritability estimates based on traditional

Predictive and Prognostic Factors in Colorectal Cancer: A Personalized Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy A. Rockall

2011-03-01

Full Text Available It is an exciting time for all those engaged in the treatment of colorectal cancer. The advent of new therapies presents the opportunity for a personalized approach to the patient. This approach considers the complex genetic mechanisms involved in tumorigenesis in addition to classical clinicopathological staging. The potential predictive and prognostic biomarkers which have stemmed from the study of the genetic basis of colorectal cancer and therapeutics are discussed with a focus on mismatch repair status, KRAS, BRAF, 18qLOH, CIMP and TGF-β.

Multiple Kernel Learning for adaptive graph regularized nonnegative matrix factorization

KAUST Repository

Wang, Jim Jing-Yan; AbdulJabbar, Mustafa Abdulmajeed

2012-01-01

Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) has been continuously evolving in several areas like pattern recognition and information retrieval methods. It factorizes a matrix into a product of 2 low-rank non-negative matrices that will define parts-based, and linear representation of non-negative data. Recently, Graph regularized NMF (GrNMF) is proposed to find a compact representation, which uncovers the hidden semantics and simultaneously respects the intrinsic geometric structure. In GNMF, an affinity graph is constructed from the original data space to encode the geometrical information. In this paper, we propose a novel idea which engages a Multiple Kernel Learning approach into refining the graph structure that reflects the factorization of the matrix and the new data space. The GrNMF is improved by utilizing the graph refined by the kernel learning, and then a novel kernel learning method is introduced under the GrNMF framework. Our approach shows encouraging results of the proposed algorithm in comparison to the state-of-the-art clustering algorithms like NMF, GrNMF, SVD etc.

Barley plants over-expressing the NAC transcription factor gene HvNAC005 show stunting and delay in development combined with early senescence

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Michael W; Matthewman, Colette; Podzimska-Sroka, Dagmara

2016-01-01

-expressing plants showed up-regulation of genes involved with secondary metabolism, hormone metabolism, stress, signalling, development, and transport. Up-regulation of senescence markers and hormone metabolism and signalling genes supports a role of HvNAC005 in the cross field of different hormone and signalling......The plant-specific NAC transcription factors have attracted particular attention because of their involvement in stress responses, senescence, and nutrient remobilization. The HvNAC005 gene of barley encodes a protein belonging to subgroup NAC-a6 of the NAC family. This study shows that HvNAC005...... pathways. Binding of HvNAC005 to promoter sequences of putative target genes containing the T[G/A]CGT core motif was shown by direct protein-DNA interactions of HvNAC005 with promoters for two of the up-regulated genes. In conclusion, HvNAC005 was shown to be a strong positive regulator of senescence...

Detecting Differential Transcription Factor Activity from ATAC-Seq Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ignacio J. Tripodi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Transcription factors are managers of the cellular factory, and key components to many diseases. Many non-coding single nucleotide polymorphisms affect transcription factors, either by directly altering the protein or its functional activity at individual binding sites. Here we first briefly summarize high-throughput approaches to studying transcription factor activity. We then demonstrate, using published chromatin accessibility data (specifically ATAC-seq, that the genome-wide profile of TF recognition motifs relative to regions of open chromatin can determine the key transcription factor altered by a perturbation. Our method of determining which TFs are altered by a perturbation is simple, is quick to implement, and can be used when biological samples are limited. In the future, we envision that this method could be applied to determine which TFs show altered activity in response to a wide variety of drugs and diseases.

Time dependent patient no-show predictive modelling development.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yu-Li; Hanauer, David A

2016-05-09

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop evident-based predictive no-show models considering patients' each past appointment status, a time-dependent component, as an independent predictor to improve predictability. Design/methodology/approach - A ten-year retrospective data set was extracted from a pediatric clinic. It consisted of 7,291 distinct patients who had at least two visits along with their appointment characteristics, patient demographics, and insurance information. Logistic regression was adopted to develop no-show models using two-thirds of the data for training and the remaining data for validation. The no-show threshold was then determined based on minimizing the misclassification of show/no-show assignments. There were a total of 26 predictive model developed based on the number of available past appointments. Simulation was employed to test the effective of each model on costs of patient wait time, physician idle time, and overtime. Findings - The results demonstrated the misclassification rate and the area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic gradually improved as more appointment history was included until around the 20th predictive model. The overbooking method with no-show predictive models suggested incorporating up to the 16th model and outperformed other overbooking methods by as much as 9.4 per cent in the cost per patient while allowing two additional patients in a clinic day. Research limitations/implications - The challenge now is to actually implement the no-show predictive model systematically to further demonstrate its robustness and simplicity in various scheduling systems. Originality/value - This paper provides examples of how to build the no-show predictive models with time-dependent components to improve the overbooking policy. Accurately identifying scheduled patients' show/no-show status allows clinics to proactively schedule patients to reduce the negative impact of patient no-shows.

An adapted blockage factor correlation approach in wind tunnel experiments of a Savonius-style wind turbine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, Sukanta; Saha, Ujjwal K.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Significance of the blockage correction in wind tunnel experiments of Savonius-style wind turbine. • Adaptation of blockage factor correlations under open type test sections for blockage ratio of 21.16%. • Effectiveness of adapted correlations for smaller blockage ratios (BRs) of 16% and 12.25%. • Estimate the magnitude of the blockage correction under various loading conditions for each BR. • Variation of blockage correction factor with respect to tip speed ratio and BR. - Abstract: An investigation into the blockage correction effects in wind tunnel experiments of a small-scale wind energy conversion system in an open type test section is carried out. The energy conversion system includes a Savonius-style wind turbine (SSWT) and a power measurement assembly. As the available correlations for the closed type test sections may not be appropriate for the open test section under dynamic loading conditions, new correlations are adapted for the blockage correction factors with free stream wind speed, turbine rotational speed and variable load applied to the turbine to quantify the energy conversion coefficients more precisely. These are obtained for a blockage ratio of 21.16% through a comparison of present experimental data with those of established experimental data under dynamic loading conditions. Further, the accuracy of the adapted correlations is substantiated into the experiments with smaller blockage ratios of 16% and 12.25%. The relationships of the tip speed ratios and blockage ratios with the blockage correction factor are also discussed. Using these correlations, this study provides evidence of increase of blockage correction in the range 1–10% with the increase of both tip speed ratio and blockage ratio. The results also indicate that for blockage ratios approaching 10 and tip speed ratios below 0.5, the blockage effects are almost negligible in the open type test sections

Corporate social responsibility approaches and implementation in selected fast food restaurants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma E. Montalbo

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This study sought to determine Corporate Social Responsibility approaches and implementation in Fast Food Restaurants in Batangas City, Philippines. The researchers employed a descriptive design and quantitative method in the analysis of data with the questionnaire as the main instrument. Five (5 restaurant- participants were purposively chosen from the total population of 15. Results showed that CSR related mission/vision is clearly not embedded in the institutional websites of fast food restaurants while personal relation/social proximity approach is highly evident. Also, factors in the implementation of corporate social responsibility in relation to philanthropic behavior, shows a significant behavioral change from the statistical result such as moderately evident. CSR approaches and implementation are highly evident that clearly proves the responsible behavior of local fast food restaurants. Institutional integration of CSR in the company’s mission/vision statements, structure, decisions, activities, communication, practices stated appears to be beneficial in light of new corporate-state-market-society relationship.

Higher- and Lower-Order Factor Analyses of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire

Science.gov (United States)

Kotelnikova, Yuliya; Olino, Thomas M.; Klein, Daniel N.; Mackrell, Sarah V.M.; Hayden, Elizabeth P.

2017-01-01

The Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ; Simonds & Rothbart, 2004) is a widely used parent-report measure of temperament. However, neither its lower- nor higher-order structures have been tested via a bottom-up, empirically based approach. We conducted higher- and lower-order exploratory factor analyses (EFAs) of the TMCQ in a large (N = 654) sample of 9-year-olds. Item-level EFAs identified 92 items as suitable (i.e., with loadings ≥.40) for constructing lower-order factors, only half of which resembled a TMCQ scale posited by the measure’s authors. Higher-order EFAs of the lower-order factors showed that a three-factor structure (Impulsivity/Negative Affectivity, Negative Affectivity, and Openness/Assertiveness) was the only admissible solution. Overall, many TMCQ items did not load well onto a lower-order factor. In addition, only three factors, which did not show a clear resemblance to Rothbart’s four-factor model of temperament in middle childhood, were needed to account for the higher-order structure of the TMCQ. PMID:27002124

ESTIMATION OF AMPLIFICATION FACTOR IN EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nazarov Yuriy Pavlovich

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The authors are the developers of Odyssey Software (Eurosoft Co. for the analysis of seismological data and computing of seismic loads and their parameters. While communicating with the users of the software, the authors have revealed some uncertainty about both understanding of the term "amplification factor (AF" and calculation of the amplification factor using various methods. In this article, a simple example shows that the determination of the amplification factor as the ratio of the acceleration’s spectrum to the maximal acceleration is derived from the classical definition of AF in the form of the ratio of maximal dynamic displacement to the displacement by the action of static load. Deterministic and probabilistic ap-proaches for the calculating of the AF were discussed. There was an example of AFs calculation and their envelopes for translational and rotational components of seismic impact by using Odyssey Software.

Growth factor choice is critical for successful functionalization of nanoparticles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Josephine ePinkernelle

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Nanoparticles (NPs show new characteristics compared to the corresponding bulk material. These nanoscale properties make them interesting for various applications in biomedicine and life sciences. One field of application is the use of magnetic NPs to support regeneration in the nervous system. Drug delivery requires a functionalization of NPs with bio-functional molecules. In our study, we functionalized self-made PEI-coated iron oxide NPs with nerve growth factor (NGF and glial cell-line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF. Next, we tested the bio-functionality of NGF in a rat pheochromocytoma cell line (PC12 and the bio-functionality of GDNF in an organotypic spinal cord culture. Covalent binding of NGF to PEI-NPs impaired bio-functionality of NGF, but non-covalent approach differentiated PC12 cells reliably. Non-covalent binding of GDNF showed a satisfying bio-functionality of GDNF:PEI-NPs, but turned out to be instable in conjugation to the PEI-NPs. Taken together, our study showed the importance of assessing bio-functionality and binding stability of functionalized growth factors using proper biological models. It also shows that successful functionalization of magnetic NPs with growth factors is dependent on the used binding chemistry and that it is hardly predictable. For use as therapeutics, functionalization strategies have to be reproducible and future studies are needed.

Population impact of familial and environmental risk factors for schizophrenia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Holger J; Nielsen, Philip R; Pedersen, Carsten B

2014-01-01

Although several studies have examined the relative contributions of familial and environmental risk factors for schizophrenia, few have additionally examined the predictive power on the individual level and simultaneously examined the population impact associated with a wide range of familial...... 4.50-5.31). The study showed that risk factors with highest predictive power on the individual level have a relatively low population impact. The challenge in future studies with direct genetic data is to examine gene-environmental interactions that can move research beyond current approaches...... and environmental risk factors. The authors present rate ratios (IRR), population-attributable risks (PAR) and sex-specific cumulative incidences of the following risk factors: parental history of mental illness, urban place of birth, advanced paternal age, parental loss and immigration status. We established...

An innovative approach for planning and execution of pre-experimental runs for Design of Experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Arsalan Farooq

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the study of the pre-experimental planning phase of the Design of Experiments (DoE in order to improve the final product quality. The pre-experimental planning phase includes a clear identification of the problem statement, selection of control factors and their respective levels and ranges. To improve production quality based on the DoE a new approach for the pre-experimental planning phase, called Non-Conformity Matrix (NCM, is presented. This article also addresses the key steps of the pre-experimental runs considering a consumer goods manufacturing process. Results of the application for an industrial case show that this methodology can support a clear definition of the problem and also a correct identification of the factor ranges in particular situations. The proposed new approach allows modeling the entire manufacturing system holistically and correctly defining the factor ranges and respective levels for a more effective application of DoE. This new approach can be a useful resource for both research and industrial practitioners who are dedicated to large DoE projects with unknown factor interactions, when the operational levels and ranges are not completely defined.

The systems approach to error reduction: factors influencing inoculation injury reporting in the operating theatre.

Science.gov (United States)

Cutter, Jayne; Jordan, Sue

2013-11-01

To examine the frequency of, and factors influencing, reporting of mucocutaneous and percutaneous injuries in operating theatres. Surgeons and peri-operative nurses risk acquiring blood-borne viral infections during surgical procedures. Appropriate first-aid and prophylactic treatment after an injury can significantly reduce the risk of infection. However, studies indicate that injuries often go unreported. The 'systems approach' to error reduction relies on reporting incidents and near misses. Failure to report will compromise safety. A postal survey of all surgeons and peri-operative nurses engaged in exposure prone procedures in nine Welsh hospitals, face-to-face interviews with selected participants and telephone interviews with Infection Control Nurses. The response rate was 51.47% (315/612). Most respondents reported one or more percutaneous (183/315, 58.1%) and/or mucocutaneous injuries (68/315, 21.6%) in the 5 years preceding the study. Only 54.9% (112/204) reported every injury. Surgeons were poorer at reporting: 70/133 (52.6%) reported all or >50% of their injuries compared with 65/71 nurses (91.5%). Injuries are frequently under-reported, possibly compromising safety in operating theatres. A significant number of inoculation injuries are not reported. Factors influencing under-reporting were identified. This knowledge can assist managers in improving reporting and encouraging a robust safety culture within operating departments. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

EEG source space analysis of the supervised factor analytic approach for the classification of multi-directional arm movement

Science.gov (United States)

Shenoy Handiru, Vikram; Vinod, A. P.; Guan, Cuntai

2017-08-01

Objective. In electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) systems for motor control tasks the conventional practice is to decode motor intentions by using scalp EEG. However, scalp EEG only reveals certain limited information about the complex tasks of movement with a higher degree of freedom. Therefore, our objective is to investigate the effectiveness of source-space EEG in extracting relevant features that discriminate arm movement in multiple directions. Approach. We have proposed a novel feature extraction algorithm based on supervised factor analysis that models the data from source-space EEG. To this end, we computed the features from the source dipoles confined to Brodmann areas of interest (BA4a, BA4p and BA6). Further, we embedded class-wise labels of multi-direction (multi-class) source-space EEG to an unsupervised factor analysis to make it into a supervised learning method. Main Results. Our approach provided an average decoding accuracy of 71% for the classification of hand movement in four orthogonal directions, that is significantly higher (>10%) than the classification accuracy obtained using state-of-the-art spatial pattern features in sensor space. Also, the group analysis on the spectral characteristics of source-space EEG indicates that the slow cortical potentials from a set of cortical source dipoles reveal discriminative information regarding the movement parameter, direction. Significance. This study presents evidence that low-frequency components in the source space play an important role in movement kinematics, and thus it may lead to new strategies for BCI-based neurorehabilitation.

Factors affecting infestation by Triatoma infestans in a rural area of the humid Chaco in Argentina: a multi-model inference approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurevitz, Juan M; Ceballos, Leonardo A; Gaspe, María Sol; Alvarado-Otegui, Julián A; Enríquez, Gustavo F; Kitron, Uriel; Gürtler, Ricardo E

2011-10-01

Transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi by Triatoma infestans remains a major public health problem in the Gran Chaco ecoregion, where understanding of the determinants of house infestation is limited. We conducted a cross-sectional study to model factors affecting bug presence and abundance at sites within house compounds in a well-defined rural area in the humid Argentine Chaco. Triatoma infestans bugs were found in 45.9% of 327 inhabited house compounds but only in 7.4% of the 2,584 sites inspected systematically on these compounds, even though the last insecticide spraying campaign was conducted 12 years before. Infested sites were significantly aggregated at distances of 0.8-2.5 km. The most frequently infested ecotopes were domiciles, kitchens, storerooms, chicken coops and nests; corrals were rarely infested. Domiciles with mud walls and roofs of thatch or corrugated tarred cardboard were more often infested (32.2%) than domiciles with brick-and-cement walls and corrugated metal-sheet roofs (15.1%). A multi-model inference approach using Akaike's information criterion was applied to assess the relative importance of each variable by running all possible (17,406) models resulting from all combinations of variables. Availability of refuges for bugs, construction with tarred cardboard, and host abundance (humans, dogs, cats, and poultry) per site were positively associated with infestation and abundance, whereas reported insecticide use showed a negative association. Ethnic background (Creole or Toba) adjusted for other factors showed little or no association. Promotion and effective implementation of housing improvement (including key peridomestic structures) combined with appropriate insecticide use and host management practices are needed to eliminate infestations. Fewer refuges are likely to result in fewer residual foci after insecticide spraying, and will facilitate community-based vector surveillance. A more integrated perspective that considers simultaneously

Factors Affecting Infestation by Triatoma infestans in a Rural Area of the Humid Chaco in Argentina: A Multi-Model Inference Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Gurevitz, Juan M.; Ceballos, Leonardo A.; Gaspe, María Sol; Alvarado-Otegui, Julián A.; Enríquez, Gustavo F.; Kitron, Uriel; Gürtler, Ricardo E.

2011-01-01

Background Transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi by Triatoma infestans remains a major public health problem in the Gran Chaco ecoregion, where understanding of the determinants of house infestation is limited. We conducted a cross-sectional study to model factors affecting bug presence and abundance at sites within house compounds in a well-defined rural area in the humid Argentine Chaco. Methodology/Principal Findings Triatoma infestans bugs were found in 45.9% of 327 inhabited house compounds but only in 7.4% of the 2,584 sites inspected systematically on these compounds, even though the last insecticide spraying campaign was conducted 12 years before. Infested sites were significantly aggregated at distances of 0.8–2.5 km. The most frequently infested ecotopes were domiciles, kitchens, storerooms, chicken coops and nests; corrals were rarely infested. Domiciles with mud walls and roofs of thatch or corrugated tarred cardboard were more often infested (32.2%) than domiciles with brick-and-cement walls and corrugated metal-sheet roofs (15.1%). A multi-model inference approach using Akaike's information criterion was applied to assess the relative importance of each variable by running all possible (17,406) models resulting from all combinations of variables. Availability of refuges for bugs, construction with tarred cardboard, and host abundance (humans, dogs, cats, and poultry) per site were positively associated with infestation and abundance, whereas reported insecticide use showed a negative association. Ethnic background (Creole or Toba) adjusted for other factors showed little or no association. Conclusions/Significance Promotion and effective implementation of housing improvement (including key peridomestic structures) combined with appropriate insecticide use and host management practices are needed to eliminate infestations. Fewer refuges are likely to result in fewer residual foci after insecticide spraying, and will facilitate community-based vector

BDNF-Deficient Mice Show Reduced Psychosis-Related Behaviors Following Chronic Methamphetamine.

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, Elizabeth E; Halberstadt, Adam L; van den Buuse, Maarten

2016-04-01

One of the most devastating consequences of methamphetamine abuse is increased risk of psychosis. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor has been implicated in both psychosis and neuronal responses to methamphetamine. We therefore examined persistent psychosis-like behavioral effects of methamphetamine in brain-derived neurotrophic factor heterozygous mice. Mice were chronically treated with methamphetamine from 6 to 9 weeks of age, and locomotor hyperactivity to an acute D-amphetamine challenge was tested in photocell cages after a 2-week withdrawal period. Methamphetamine-treated wild-type mice, but not brain-derived neurotrophic factor heterozygous mice, showed locomotor sensitization to acute 3mg/kg D-amphetamine. Qualitative analysis of exploration revealed tolerance to D-amphetamine effects on entropy in methamphetamine-treated brain-derived neurotrophic factor heterozygous mice, but not wild-type mice. Chronic methamphetamine exposure induces contrasting profiles of behavioral changes in wild-type and brain-derived neurotrophic factor heterozygous mice, with attenuation of behaviors relevant to psychosis in methamphetamine-treated brain-derived neurotrophic factor heterozygous mice. This suggests that brain-derived neurotrophic factor signalling changes may contribute to development of psychosis in methamphetamine users. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of CINP.

Approach to performance based regulation development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spogen, L.R.; Cleland, L.L.

1977-06-01

An approach to the development of performance based regulations (PBR's) is described. Initially, a framework is constructed that consists of a function hierarchy and associated measures. The function at the top of the hierarchy is described in terms of societal objectives. Decomposition of this function into subordinate functions and their subsequent decompositions yield the function hierarchy. ''Bottom'' functions describe the roles of system components. When measures are identified for the performance of each function and means of aggregating performances to higher levels are established, the framework may be employed for developing PBR's. Consideration of system flexibility and performance uncertainty guide in determining the hierarchical level at which regulations are formulated. Ease of testing compliance is also a factor. To show the viability of the approach, the framework developed by Lawrence Livermore Laboratory for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for evaluation of material control systems at fixed facilities is presented

Temporal changes of spatial soil moisture patterns: controlling factors explained with a multidisciplinary approach

Science.gov (United States)

Martini, Edoardo; Wollschläger, Ute; Kögler, Simon; Behrens, Thorsten; Dietrich, Peter; Reinstorf, Frido; Schmidt, Karsten; Weiler, Markus; Werban, Ulrike; Zacharias, Steffen

2016-04-01

different hydrologic conditions and the factors controlling the temporal variability of the ECa-soil moisture relationship. The approach provided valuable insight into the time-varying contribution of local and nonlocal factors to the characteristic spatial patterns of soil moisture and the transition mechanisms. The spatial organization of soil moisture was controlled by different processes in different soil horizons, and the topsoil's moisture did not mirror processes that take place within the soil profile. Results show that, for the Schäfertal hillslope site which is presumed to be representative for non-intensively managed soils with moderate clay content, local soil properties (e.g., soil texture and porosity) are the major control on the spatial pattern of ECa. In contrast, the ECa-soil moisture relationship is small and varies over time indicating that ECa is not a good proxy for soil moisture estimation at the investigated site.Occasionally observed stronger correlations between ECa and soil moisture may be explained by background dependencies of ECa to other state variables such as pore water electrical conductivity. The results will help to improve conceptual understanding for hydrological model studies at similar or smaller scales, and to transfer observation concepts and process understanding to larger or less instrumented sites, as well as to constrain the use of EMI-based ECa data for hydrological applications.

Rough electricity: a new fractal multi-factor model of electricity spot prices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bennedsen, Mikkel

We introduce a new mathematical model of electricity spot prices which accounts for the most important stylized facts of these time series: seasonality, spikes, stochastic volatility and mean reversion. Empirical studies have found a possible fifth stylized fact, fractality, and our approach...... explicitly incorporates this into the model of the prices. Our setup generalizes the popular Ornstein Uhlenbeck-based multi-factor framework of Benth et al. (2007) and allows us to perform statistical tests to distinguish between an Ornstein Uhlenbeck-based model and a fractal model. Further, through...... the multi-factor approach we account for seasonality and spikes before estimating - and making inference on - the degree of fractality. This is novel in the literature and we present simulation evidence showing that these precautions are crucial to accurate estimation. Lastly, we estimate our model...

Emotional valence and contextual affordances flexibly shape approach-avoidance movements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Carolina eSaraiva

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Behaviour is influenced by the emotional content – or valence – of stimuli in our environment. Positive stimuli facilitate approach, whereas negative stimuli facilitate defensive actions such as avoidance (flight and attack (fight. Facilitation of approach or avoidance movements may also be influenced by whether it is the self that moves relative to a stimulus (self-reference or the stimulus that moves relative to the self (object-reference, adding flexibility and context-dependence to behaviour. Alternatively, facilitation of approach avoidance movements may happen in a predefined and muscle-specific way, whereby arm flexion is faster to approach positive (e.g. flexing the arm brings a stimulus closer and arm extension faster to avoid negative stimuli (e.g. extending the arm moves the stimulus away. While this allows for relatively fast responses, it may compromise the flexibility offered by contextual influences. Here we asked under which conditions approach-avoidance actions are influenced by contextual factors (i.e. reference-frame. We manipulated the reference-frame in which actions occurred by asking participants to move a symbolic manikin (representing the self towards or away from a positive or negative stimulus, and move a stimulus towards or away from the manikin. We also controlled for the type of movements used to approach or avoid in each reference. We show that the reference-frame influences approach-avoidance actions to emotional stimuli, but additionally we find muscle-specificity for negative stimuli in self-reference contexts. We speculate this muscle-specificity may be a fast and adaptive response to threatening stimuli. Our results confirm that approach-avoidance behaviour is flexible and reference-frame dependent, but can be muscle-specific depending on the context and valence of the stimulus. Reference-frame and stimulus-evaluation are key factors in guiding approach-avoidance behaviour towards emotional stimuli in our

The simulation of two-dimensional migration patterns - a novel approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Villar, Heldio Pereira

1997-01-01

A novel approach to the problem of simulation of two-dimensional migration of solutes in saturated soils is presented. In this approach, the two-dimensional advection-dispersion equation is solved by finite-differences in a stepwise fashion, by employing the one-dimensional solution first in the direction of flow and then perpendicularly, using the same time increment in both cases. As the results of this numerical model were to be verified against experimental results obtained by radioactive tracer experiments, an attenuation factor, to account for the contribution of the gamma rays emitted by the whole plume of tracer to the readings of the adopted radiation detectors, was introduced into the model. The comparison between experimental and simulated concentration contours showed good agreement, thus establishing the feasibility of the approach proposed herein. (author)

The interplay between motivation, self-efficacy, and approaches to studying.

Science.gov (United States)

Prat-Sala, Mercè; Redford, Paul

2010-06-01

The strategies students adopt in their study are influenced by a number of social-cognitive factors and impact upon their academic performance. The present study examined the interrelationships between motivation orientation (intrinsic and extrinsic), self-efficacy (in reading academic texts and essay writing), and approaches to studying (deep, strategic, and surface). The study also examined changes in approaches to studying over time. A total of 163 first-year undergraduate students in psychology at a UK university took part in the study. Participants completed the Work Preference Inventory motivation questionnaire, self-efficacy in reading and writing questionnaires and the short version of the Revised Approaches to Study Inventory. The results showed that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation orientations were correlated with approaches to studying. The results also showed that students classified as high in self-efficacy (reading and writing) were more likely to adopt a deep or strategic approach to studying, while students classified as low in self-efficacy (reading and writing) were more likely to adopt a surface approach. More importantly, changes in students' approaches to studying over time were related to their self-efficacy beliefs, where students with low levels of self-efficacy decreased in their deep approach and increased their surface approach across time. Students with high levels of self-efficacy (both reading and writing) demonstrated no such change in approaches to studying. Our results demonstrate the important role of self-efficacy in understanding both motivation and learning approaches in undergraduate students. Furthermore, given that reading academic text and writing essays are essential aspects of many undergraduate degrees, our results provide some indication that focusing on self-efficacy beliefs amongst students may be beneficial to improving their approaches to study.

A distance weighted-based approach for self-organized aggregation in robot swarms

KAUST Repository

Khaldi, Belkacem

2017-12-14

In this paper, a Distance-Weighted K Nearest Neighboring (DW-KNN) topology is proposed to study self-organized aggregation as an emergent swarming behavior within robot swarms. A virtual physics approach is applied among the proposed neighborhood topology to keep the robots together. A distance-weighted function based on a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH) interpolation approach is used as a key factor to identify the K-Nearest neighbors taken into account when aggregating the robots. The intra virtual physical connectivity among these neighbors is achieved using a virtual viscoelastic-based proximity model. With the ARGoS based-simulator, we model and evaluate the proposed approach showing various self-organized aggregations performed by a swarm of N foot-bot robots.

Structural Fingerprints of Transcription Factor Binding Site Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Willett

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Fourier transforms are a powerful tool in the prediction of DNA sequence properties, such as the presence/absence of codons. We have previously compiled a database of the structural properties of all 32,896 unique DNA octamers. In this work we apply Fourier techniques to the analysis of the structural properties of human chromosomes 21 and 22 and also to three sets of transcription factor binding sites within these chromosomes. We find that, for a given structural property, the structural property power spectra of chromosomes 21 and 22 are strikingly similar. We find common peaks in their power spectra for both Sp1 and p53 transcription factor binding sites. We use the power spectra as a structural fingerprint and perform similarity searching in order to find transcription factor binding site regions. This approach provides a new strategy for searching the genome data for information. Although it is difficult to understand the relationship between specific functional properties and the set of structural parameters in our database, our structural fingerprints nevertheless provide a useful tool for searching for function information in sequence data. The power spectrum fingerprints provide a simple, fast method for comparing a set of functional sequences, in this case transcription factor binding site regions, with the sequences of whole chromosomes. On its own, the power spectrum fingerprint does not find all transcription factor binding sites in a chromosome, but the results presented here show that in combination with other approaches, this technique will improve the chances of identifying functional sequences hidden in genomic data.

Exploring Barriers to Medication Safety in an Ethiopian Hospital Emergency Department: A Human Factors Engineering Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ephrem Abebe

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: To describe challenges associated with the medication use process and potential medication safety hazards in an Ethiopian hospital emergency department using a human factors approach. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study employing observations and semi-structured interviews guided by the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety model of work system as an analytical framework. The study was conducted in the emergency department of a teaching hospital in Ethiopia. Study participants included resident doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. We performed content analysis of the qualitative data using accepted procedures. Results: Organizational barriers included communication failures, limited supervision and support for junior staff contributing to role ambiguity and conflict. Compliance with documentation policy was minimal. Task related barriers included frequent interruptions and work-related stress resulting from job requirements to continuously prioritize the needs of large numbers of patients and family members. Person related barriers included limited training and work experience. Work-related fatigue due to long working hours interfered with staff’s ability to document and review medication orders. Equipment breakdowns were common as were non-calibrated or poorly maintained medical devices contributing to erroneous readings. Key environment related barriers included overcrowding and frequent interruption of staff’s work. Cluttering of the work space compounded the problem by impeding efforts to locate medications, medical supplies or medical charts. Conclusions: Applying a systems based approach allows a context specific understanding of medication safety hazards in EDs from low-income countries. When developing interventions to improve medication and overall patient safety, health leaders should consider the interactions of the different factors. Conflict of Interest We declare no conflicts of interest or

Factors Contributing to Learners’ Autonomy in EFL Reading

OpenAIRE

Sri Endah Tabiati

2016-01-01

Abstract: This study aims to discover factors that assist learners develop their autonomy in EFL reading. The approach employed is qualitative involving EFL learners in an English Department of the Faculty of Cultural Studies, Brawijaya University Malang. There are two stages in the study: the subject selection stage intended to gain potential subjects and the main study intended to find the answer of the research questions. The findings of the study show that the autonomy of EFL learners in ...

Developing a Causal Model of Human and Organizational Culture Factors Affecting the Knowledge Management Maturity Using Meta-Synthesis Approach

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Younis Jabarzadeh

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Identifying influential factors which contribute to the knowledge management maturity and studying their interaction over time helps managers to understand the complex behavior of knowledge management system. It also leads them to make right decisions for utilizing these factors in promoting knowledge management and achieve strategic goals of the organization by providing a sound insight and an appropriate mechanism to reach to the optimal maturity level. In this study, all aspects and components of knowledge management with an emphasis on human factors and organizational culture, and relations between them have been identified by using a systematic literature review and meta-synthesis qualitative research approach. Then by using consultation and consensus of experts, all results verified. The results include 64 codes which are classified in 9 dimensions and two categories. Finally, due to the obtained classification and their relations, the dynamic model of knowledge management maturity is presented. The results of this study could be a suitable framework for improving mental models of knowledge management executives and experts. It makes possible Developing dynamic analysis models and appropriate policies in order to improve the knowledge management maturity in organizations.

Understanding key factors affecting electronic medical record implementation: a sociotechnical approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Cucciniello, Maria; Lapsley, Irvine; Nasi, Greta; Pagliari, Claudia

2015-07-17

Recent health care policies have supported the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) but examples of failed ICT projects in this sector have highlighted the need for a greater understanding of the processes used to implement such innovations in complex organizations. This study examined the interaction of sociological and technological factors in the implementation of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system by a major national hospital. It aimed to obtain insights for managers planning such projects in the future and to examine the usefulness of Actor Network Theory (ANT) as a research tool in this context. Case study using documentary analysis, interviews and observations. Qualitative thematic analysis drawing on ANT. Qualitative analyses revealed a complex network of interactions between organizational stakeholders and technology that helped to shape the system and influence its acceptance and adoption. The EMR clearly emerged as a central 'actor' within this network. The results illustrate how important it is to plan innovative and complex information systems with reference to (i) the expressed needs and involvement of different actors, starting from the initial introductory phase; (ii) promoting commitment to the system and adopting a participative approach; (iii) defining and resourcing new roles within the organization capable of supporting and sustaining the change and (iv) assessing system impacts in order to mobilize the network around a common goal. The paper highlights the organizational, cultural, technological, and financial considerations that should be taken into account when planning strategies for the implementation of EMR systems in hospital settings. It also demonstrates how ANT may be usefully deployed in evaluating such projects.

The Study of the Historical Factors of the Foundation of Cities with the Approach to the Cities of Iran and Mesopotamia

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Hamiad Kavyani pooya

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In examining the time when communities began to dominate urbanization and civilization and the factors that led to this event, various historical and geographical schools have emphasized one of the major factors in the emergence and structure of ancient cities. In this context, the most common theories have stated the consequences of the "agricultural revolution" and "religiousism" and the religious contributions of the old people that have been the main source of the foundations of the cities. Therefore, following the verification of the veracity of these theories, by studying historical documents and archaeological findings with a library method and a descriptive approach, we found that, at least in the plateau of Iran and Mesopotamia, mankind created an agricultural revolution through a united geographical position. Then, following this revolution, the division of labor gradually took place, resulting in innovations, greater power and business relations and capital accumulation, and other factors such as religion, population, and political factors emerged in human culture and created cities. In fact, despite all these factors are not necessarily involved in the emergence and foundations of ancient cities, but considering the geographic area studied in this research geographical, economic, religious and political-military factors can be largely important and effective in the genesis and evolution of cities. And the ancient cities of Iran and Mesopotamia have had these characteristics. Of course, it should be in accordance with the above theories and emphasizing two factors of economic and religious.

Latent class factor and cluster models, bi-plots and tri-plots and related graphical displays

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Magidson, J.; Vermunt, J.K.

2001-01-01

We propose an alternative method of conducting exploratory latent class analysis that utilizes latent class factor models, and compare it to the more traditional approach based on latent class cluster models. We show that when formulated in terms of R mutually independent, dichotomous latent

A life-course approach to health: synergy with sustainable development goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuruvilla, Shyama; Sadana, Ritu; Montesinos, Eugenio Villar; Beard, John; Vasdeki, Jennifer Franz; Araujo de Carvalho, Islene; Thomas, Rebekah Bosco; Drisse, Marie-Noel Brunne; Daelmans, Bernadette; Goodman, Tracey; Koller, Theadora; Officer, Alana; Vogel, Joanna; Valentine, Nicole; Wootton, Emily; Banerjee, Anshu; Magar, Veronica; Neira, Maria; Bele, Jean Marie Okwo; Worning, Anne Marie; Bustreo, Flavia

2018-01-01

A life-course approach to health encompasses strategies across individuals' lives that optimize their functional ability (taking into account the interdependence of individual, social, environmental, temporal and intergenerational factors), thereby enabling well-being and the realization of rights. The approach is a perfect fit with efforts to achieve universal health coverage and meet the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Properly applied, a life-course approach can increase the effectiveness of the former and help realize the vision of the latter, especially in ensuring health and well-being for all at all ages. Its implementation requires a shared understanding by individuals and societies of how health is shaped by multiple factors throughout life and across generations. Most studies have focused on noncommunicable disease and ageing populations in high-income countries and on epidemiological, theoretical and clinical issues. The aim of this article is to show how the life-course approach to health can be extended to all age groups, health topics and countries by building on a synthesis of existing scientific evidence, experience in different countries and advances in health strategies and programmes. A conceptual framework for the approach is presented along with implications for implementation in the areas of: (i) policy and investment; (ii) health services and systems; (iii) local, multisectoral and multistakeholder action; and (iv) measurement, monitoring and research. The SDGs provide a unique context for applying a holistic, multisectoral approach to achieving transformative outcomes for people, prosperity and the environment. A life-course approach can reinforce these efforts, particularly given its emphasis on rights and equity.

Using television shows to teach communication skills in internal medicine residency.

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Roger Y; Saber, Sadra S; Ma, Irene; Roberts, J Mark

2009-02-03

To address evidence-based effective communication skills in the formal academic half day curriculum of our core internal medicine residency program, we designed and delivered an interactive session using excerpts taken from medically-themed television shows. We selected two excerpts from the television show House, and one from Gray's Anatomy and featured them in conjunction with a brief didactic presentation of the Kalamazoo consensus statement on doctor-patient communication. To assess the efficacy of this approach a set of standardized questions were given to our residents once at the beginning and once at the completion of the session. Our residents indicated that their understanding of an evidence-based model of effective communication such as the Kalamazoo model, and their comfort levels in applying such model in clinical practice increased significantly. Furthermore, residents' understanding levels of the seven essential competencies listed in the Kalamazoo model also improved significantly. Finally, the residents reported that their comfort levels in three challenging clinical scenarios presented to them improved significantly. We used popular television shows to teach residents in our core internal medicine residency program about effective communication skills with a focus on the Kalamazoo's model. The results of the subjective assessment of this approach indicated that it was successful in accomplishing our objectives.

An independent confirmatory factor analysis of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth Edition (WISC-IV) integrated: what do the process approach subtests measure?

Science.gov (United States)

Benson, Nicholas; Hulac, David M; Bernstein, Joshua D

2013-09-01

The Wechsler intelligence scale for children--fourth edition (WISC-IV) Integrated contains the WISC-IV core and supplemental subtests along with process approach subtests designed to facilitate a process-oriented approach to score interpretation. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which WISC-IV Integrated subtests measure the constructs they are purported to measure. In addition to examining the measurement and scoring model provided in the manual, this study also tested hypotheses regarding Cattell-Horn-Carroll abilities that might be measured along with other substantive questions regarding the factor structure of the WISC-IV Integrated and the nature of abilities measured by process approach subtests. Results provide insight regarding the constructs measured by these subtests. Many subtests appear to be good to excellent measures of psychometric g (i.e., the general factor presumed to cause the positive correlation of mental tasks). Other abilities measured by subtests are described. For some subtests, the majority of variance is not accounted for by theoretical constructs included in the scoring model. Modifications made to remove demands such as memory recall and verbal expression were found to reduce construct-irrelevant variance. The WISC-IV Integrated subtests appear to measure similar constructs across ages 6-16, although strict factorial invariance was not supported.

Prediction Effects of Personal, Psychosocial, and Occupational Risk Factors on Low Back Pain Severity Using Artificial Neural Networks Approach in Industrial Workers.

Science.gov (United States)

Darvishi, Ebrahim; Khotanlou, Hassan; Khoubi, Jamshid; Giahi, Omid; Mahdavi, Neda

2017-09-01

This study aimed to provide an empirical model of predicting low back pain (LBP) by considering the occupational, personal, and psychological risk factor interactions in workers population employed in industrial units using an artificial neural networks approach. A total of 92 workers with LBP as the case group and 68 healthy workers as a control group were selected in various industrial units with similar occupational conditions. The demographic information and personal, occupational, and psychosocial factors of the participants were collected via interview, related questionnaires, consultation with occupational medicine, and also the Rapid Entire Body Assessment worksheet and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index software. Then, 16 risk factors for LBP were used as input variables to develop the prediction model. Networks with various multilayered structures were developed using MATLAB. The developed neural networks with 1 hidden layer and 26 neurons had the least error of classification in both training and testing phases. The mean of classification accuracy of the developed neural networks for the testing and training phase data were about 88% and 96%, respectively. In addition, the mean of classification accuracy of both training and testing data was 92%, indicating much better results compared with other methods. It appears that the prediction model using the neural network approach is more accurate compared with other applied methods. Because occupational LBP is usually untreatable, the results of prediction may be suitable for developing preventive strategies and corrective interventions. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Identifying Risk Factors for Drug Use in an Iranian Treatment Sample: A Prediction Approach Using Decision Trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Amirabadizadeh, Alireza; Nezami, Hossein; Vaughn, Michael G; Nakhaee, Samaneh; Mehrpour, Omid

2018-05-12

Substance abuse exacts considerable social and health care burdens throughout the world. The aim of this study was to create a prediction model to better identify risk factors for drug use. A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted in South Khorasan Province, Iran. Of the total of 678 eligible subjects, 70% (n: 474) were randomly selected to provide a training set for constructing decision tree and multiple logistic regression (MLR) models. The remaining 30% (n: 204) were employed in a holdout sample to test the performance of the decision tree and MLR models. Predictive performance of different models was analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve using the testing set. Independent variables were selected from demographic characteristics and history of drug use. For the decision tree model, the sensitivity and specificity for identifying people at risk for drug abuse were 66% and 75%, respectively, while the MLR model was somewhat less effective at 60% and 73%. Key independent variables in the analyses included first substance experience, age at first drug use, age, place of residence, history of cigarette use, and occupational and marital status. While study findings are exploratory and lack generalizability they do suggest that the decision tree model holds promise as an effective classification approach for identifying risk factors for drug use. Convergent with prior research in Western contexts is that age of drug use initiation was a critical factor predicting a substance use disorder.

Identifying factors associated with fast food consumption among adolescents in Beijing China using a theory-based approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, R; Castellanos, D C; Bachman, J

2016-07-01

China is in the midst of the nutrition transition with increasing rates of obesity and dietary changes. One contributor is the increase in fast food chains within the country. The purpose of this study was to develop a theory-based instrument that explores influencing factors of fast food consumption in adolescents residing in Beijing, China. Cross-sectional study. Value expectancy and theory of planned behaviour were utilised to explore influencing factors of fast food consumption in the target population. There were 201 Chinese adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18. Cronbach's alpha correlation coefficients were used to examine internal reliability of the theory-based questionnaire. Bivariate correlations and a MANOVA were utilised to determine the relationship between theory-based constructs, body mass index (BMI)-for-age and fast food intake frequency as well as to determine differences in theory-based scores among fast food consumption frequency groupings. The theory-based questionnaire showed good reliability. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the theory-based subcategory scores between fast food frequency groups. A significant positive correlation was observed between times per week fast food was consumed and each theory-based subscale score. Using BMI-for-age of 176 participants, 81% were normal weight and 19% were considered overweight or obese. Results showed consumption of fast food to be on average 1.50 ± 1.33 per week. The relationship between BMI-for-age and times per week fast food was consumed was not significant. As the nutrition transition continues and fast food chains expand, it is important to explore factors effecting fast food consumption in China. Interventions targeting influencing factors can be developed to encourage healthy dietary choice in the midst of this transition. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Assessing a five factor model of PTSD: is dysphoric arousal a unique PTSD construct showing differential relationships with anxiety and depression?

Science.gov (United States)

Armour, Cherie; Elhai, Jon D; Richardson, Don; Ractliffe, Kendra; Wang, Li; Elklit, Ask

2012-03-01

Posttraumatic stress disorder's (PTSD) latent structure has been widely debated. To date, two four-factor models (Numbing and Dysphoria) have received the majority of factor analytic support. Recently, Elhai et al. (2011) proposed and supported a revised (five-factor) Dysphoric Arousal model. Data were gathered from two separate samples; War veterans and Primary Care medical patients. The three models were compared and the resultant factors of the Dysphoric Arousal model were validated against external constructs of depression and anxiety. The Dysphoric Arousal model provided significantly better fit than the Numbing and Dysphoria models across both samples. When differentiating between factors, the current results support the idea that Dysphoric Arousal can be differentiated from Anxious Arousal but not from Emotional Numbing when correlated with depression. In conclusion, the Dysphoria model may be a more parsimonious representation of PTSD's latent structure in these trauma populations despite superior fit of the Dysphoric Arousal model. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Live Reporting in a News / Current Affairs TV Show as a Factor of (Non Credibility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tena Perišin

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Only a perfunctory glance at the content of current aff airs/news programs makes it clear that in just a few years time, live reporting on Croatian TV news shows has increased dramatically. Technologicaladvancements, the equipping of TV stations with mobile satellite vans, and the pressure of competition have all resulted in increased instances of live reporting. When investigating news values, pictureand sound, as well as the possibility of immediate, timely reporting represent the key characteristics of TV journalism. In this context, live reports, as part of a news segment, should add to the authenticity and credibility of the program. Currently, however, TV broadcasting houses attempt to best one another in the number of live broadcasts as a means to purport a higher quality of their program. The direct address to the camera turns a reporter from an anonymous bearer of information into the “main star”. The figures accumulated on the extent of this form used in a news show do not determine the professional level of the editorial policy. Live reporting cannot be regarded as news value if other news values are neglected in the process. Recent research shows that live reports, in most cases, have been stripped of the initial notion of reporting on important and recent events. As such, they are becoming less of a justifi ed element in the creation of news.

Investigation of various factors influencing Raman spectra interpretation with the use of likelihood ratio approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Michalska, Aleksandra; Martyna, Agnieszka; Zadora, Grzegorz

2018-01-01

The main aim of this study was to verify whether selected analytical parameters may affect solving the comparison problem of Raman spectra with the use of the likelihood ratio (LR) approach. Firstly the LR methodologies developed for Raman spectra of blue automotive paints obtained with the use of 785nm laser source (results published by the authors previously) were implemented for good quality spectra recorded for these paints with the use of 514.5nm laser source. For LR models construction two types of variables were used i.e. areas under selected pigments bands and coefficients derived from discrete wavelet transform procedure (DWT). Few experiments were designed for 785nm and 514.5nm Raman spectra databases after constructing well performing LR models (low rates of false positive and false negative answers and acceptable results of empirical cross entropy approach). In order to verify whether objective magnification described by its numerical aperture affects spectra interpretation, three objective magnifications -20×(N.A.=0.4.), 50×(N.A.=0.75) and 100×(N.A.=0.85) within each of the applied laser sources (514.5nm and 785nm) were tested for a group of blue solid and metallic automotive paints having the same sets of pigments depending on the applied laser source. The findings obtained by two types of LR models indicate the importance of this parameter for solving the comparison problem of both solid and metallic automotive paints regardless of the laser source used for measuring Raman signal. Hence, the same objective magnification, preferably 50× (established based on the analysis of within- and between-samples variability and F-factor value), should be used when focusing the laser on samples during Raman measurements. Then the influence of parameters (laser power and time of irradiation) of one of the recommended fluorescence suppression techniques, namely photobleaching, was under investigation. Analysis performed on a group of solid automotive paint

Organizational factors related to occupational accidents in construction.

Science.gov (United States)

Filho, J M Jackson; Fonseca, E D; Lima, F P A; Duarte, F J C M

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to understand the influence of organizational factors on occupational accident causation. A field study was undertaken and focused on the phase of concreting the floors of a residential block in a building project in Brazil. The methodological approach was based on the analysis of carpenters' work practices and of the workers' accounts of minor falls. Observations were noted on work practices over this stage. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with the workers hired by the subcontractors and with professionals working for the main contractor. The results show that falls were related to the introduction of new building technology and its use by the workforce. The production planning and organization of activities by the subcontracted firms also led to temporary demands that were additional determining factors for falls on site. The work analysis reveals the need to consider organizational factors in prevention practices.

State-of-the-art report on systematic approaches to safety management - Special Expert Group on Human and Organisational Factors (SEGHOF)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van den Berghe, Yves; Frischknecht, Albert; Gil, Benito; Martin, Anibal; McRobbie, Helen; Reiersen, Craig; Tasset, Daniel; Aastrand, Kaisa; Dahlgren-Persson, Kerstin; Pyy, Pekka; Mauny, Elisabeth

2006-02-01

There is a growing awareness of the significant contribution which human and organisational factors (HOF) make to nuclear safety. Within the HOF area, attention is increasingly focused on addressing management and organisational issues. This reflects an evolving recognition that the members of a nuclear licensee form part of a socio-technological system, and that their performance is influenced by the organisation and the culture within that organisation. A series of events across the nuclear industry and other sectors has reinforced the appreciation of the importance of robust safety management. Also, the management and organisation of nuclear installations is impacted by a number of current challenges such as deregulation, change in institutional ownership of the industry, contractorization and an ageing plant and workforce. It is in this context that the CSNI (Committee on Safety of Nuclear Installations) Special Experts' Group on Human and Organisational Factors (SEGHOF) was requested by the CNRA (Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Actions) to examine the role and influence of safety management in nuclear plant operations in 2000. A workshop on 'systematic approaches to safety management' was held in spring 2002 and this was followed by a survey in 2003-4 of relevant practices and developments across licensees and regulators. This report provides a brief explanation of the relationship between safety management and safety culture. It reinforces the need for nuclear licensees and regulators to take positive steps to ensure that licensees develop and sustain a robust safety management system as a part of their management systems as a whole. The report draws out the main findings of the workshop and presents the results of the survey in more detail. It seeks to identify current issues and areas warranting further consideration. The workshop explored the development of current organisational theories and their application to nuclear plant safety management. It

Innovative and Organized Approaches to Foreign Language Teaching

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Max Florian Hertsch

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Innovation and organization in language education are more than just a teacher and students gathered in the same classroom at the same time, using the same materials and current motivation. The importance of innovations is highlighted by the European Label for innovative projects in language teaching and learning. For Turkey and its European Union membership ambitions, education is a prior section whose standard can be raised by innovations in foreign language education. Heyworth created a formula for innovations [C=(abc>x] which declares changes and its costs. The formula expresses that change for innovation equals several factors which must be more effective than the costs. In this article, Heyworth’s formula is transferred towards the language education system in Turkey. It will theoretically show advantages and changes and a way how Turkish organizations could change to provide more sustainable language education. Furthermore, the article will explain the already existing approaches and show their advantages and disadvantages. As a conclusion, a theoretical approach for innovations will be given and discussed.

Approaches to learning, need for cognition, and strategic flexibility among university students.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Christina J; Kirby, John R; Fabrigar, Leandre R

2003-12-01

Considerable research has described students' deep and surface approaches to learning. Other research has described individuals' self-regulated learning and need for cognition. There is a need for research examining the relationships among these constructs. This study explored relationships among approaches to learning (deep, surface), need for cognition, and three types of control of learning (adaptive, inflexible, irresolute). Theory suggested similarities among the deep approach, need for cognition, and adaptive control (aspects of self-regulated learning); and among surface, inflexible, and irresolute control (aspects of an ineffective approach to learning). One-factor and two-factor models were proposed. Participants were 226 Canadian military college students. Participants completed the following questionnaires: the Study Process Questionnaire (Biggs, 1978), the Need for Cognition Scale (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982), and the Strategic Flexibility Questionnaire (Cantwell & Moore, 1996). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the identification of the six scale factors. Second order confirmatory factor analysis indicated three factors representing constructs underlying these factors. Neither the one- nor two-factor models accounted adequately for the data. Self-regulated learning was defined by measures of the deep approach to learning, need for cognition, and adaptive control of learning. The second factor divided into one factor consisting of irresolute control, the surface approach, and negative need for cognition; and another consisting of inflexible and negative adaptive control. Substantial relationships among scales support the need for further theory development.

Lifestyle factors in U.S. residential electricity consumption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanquist, Thomas F.; Orr, Heather; Shui Bin; Bittner, Alvah C.

2012-01-01

A multivariate statistical approach to lifestyle analysis of residential electricity consumption is described and illustrated. Factor analysis of selected variables from the 2005 U.S. Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) identified five lifestyle factors reflecting social and behavioral patterns associated with air conditioning, laundry usage, personal computer usage, climate zone of residence, and TV use. These factors were also estimated for 2001 RECS data. Multiple regression analysis using the lifestyle factors yields solutions accounting for approximately 40% of the variance in electricity consumption for both years. By adding the household and market characteristics of income, local electricity price and access to natural gas, variance accounted for is increased to approximately 54%. Income contributed ∼1% unique variance to the models, indicating that lifestyle factors reflecting social and behavioral patterns better account for consumption differences than income. Geographic segmentation of factor scores shows distinct clusters of consumption and lifestyle factors, particularly in suburban locations. The implications for tailored policy and planning interventions are discussed in relation to lifestyle issues. - Highlights: ► Illustrates lifestyle analysis of residential electricity consumption. ► Lifestyle factors based on social and behavioral decisions and equipment use. ► Regression models using lifestyle factors account for 40% of consumption variance. ► Lifestyle factors are stable over time when applied to other data sets. ► Energy reduction opportunities are identified by segmentation analysis.

Heterogeneity of schizophrenia: Genetic and symptomatic factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Sakae

2013-10-01

Schizophrenia may have etiological heterogeneity, and may reflect common symptomatology caused by many genetic and environmental factors. In this review, we show the potential existence of heterogeneity in schizophrenia based on the results of our previous studies. In our study of the NOTCH4 gene, there were no significant associations between any single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of NOTCH4 and schizophrenia. However, exploratory analyses suggested that the SNP, rs3134928 may be associated with early-onset schizophrenia, and that rs387071 may be associated with schizophrenia characterized by negative symptoms. In our highly familial schizophrenia study, the African-American cohort without environmental exposure showed a possible linkage at marker 8p23.1 in the dominant model and in the European-American cohort, a marker at 22q13.32 showed a probable linkage in the recessive model. In the less familial schizophrenia families, these linkages were not shown. Based on our eye movement study, a putative subtype of schizophrenia with severe symptoms related to excitement/hostility, negative symptoms and disorganization may be associated with chromosome 22q11. We consider that a sample stratification approach may clarify the heterogeneity of schizophrenia. Therefore, this approach may lead to a more straightforward way of identifying susceptibility genes of schizophrenia. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The simulation of two-dimensional migration patterns - a novel approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Villar, Heldio Pereira [Universidade de Pernambuco, Recife, PE (Brazil). Escola Politecnica]|[Centro Regional de Ciencias Nucleares, Recife, PE (Brazil)

1997-12-31

A novel approach to the problem of simulation of two-dimensional migration of solutes in saturated soils is presented. In this approach, the two-dimensional advection-dispersion equation is solved by finite-differences in a stepwise fashion, by employing the one-dimensional solution first in the direction of flow and then perpendicularly, using the same time increment in both cases. As the results of this numerical model were to be verified against experimental results obtained by radioactive tracer experiments, an attenuation factor, to account for the contribution of the gamma rays emitted by the whole plume of tracer to the readings of the adopted radiation detectors, was introduced into the model. The comparison between experimental and simulated concentration contours showed good agreement, thus establishing the feasibility of the approach proposed herein. (author) 6 refs., 6 figs.

[Resilience: an interdisciplinary approach to concept and findings].

Science.gov (United States)

Korn, Lena

2012-01-01

First, the concept of the term "resilience" is introduced and summarized as an adaptive, dynamic "buffering process" of children's mental power of resistance against biological, psychological and psychosocial development risks. Subsequently, based on a critical discussion of the current research findings, protective factors are presented, which is followed by an approach to the concept of resilience from interdisciplinary perspectives. The latest findings from developmental neurobiology show that genetic as well as environmental factors have their important share in the development of resilience. This builds a bridge to the consideration of resilience with regard to attachment theory. Accordingly secure attachment could be seen as a condition for a resilient conduct of life. In this context, the concept of "earned security" is additionally taken into account. Furthermore, the relevance of resilience for the field of pedagogics is shortly and critically considered. With reference to a psychoanalytic approach to the concept of resilience self-regulation, internal integrity, mentalization and self-reflection are elaborated on, as well as the similarity to the psychoanalytic concept of ego strength. In conclusion, a critical discussion of the concept of resilience and its benefits as well as potential risks related to it is presented.

Classification of cancerous cells based on the one-class problem approach

Science.gov (United States)

Murshed, Nabeel A.; Bortolozzi, Flavio; Sabourin, Robert

1996-03-01

One of the most important factors in reducing the effect of cancerous diseases is the early diagnosis, which requires a good and a robust method. With the advancement of computer technologies and digital image processing, the development of a computer-based system has become feasible. In this paper, we introduce a new approach for the detection of cancerous cells. This approach is based on the one-class problem approach, through which the classification system need only be trained with patterns of cancerous cells. This reduces the burden of the training task by about 50%. Based on this approach, a computer-based classification system is developed, based on the Fuzzy ARTMAP neural networks. Experimental results were performed using a set of 542 patterns taken from a sample of breast cancer. Results of the experiment show 98% correct identification of cancerous cells and 95% correct identification of non-cancerous cells.

A semi-mechanistic approach to calculate the probability of fuel defects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tayal, M.; Millen, E.; Sejnoha, R.

1992-10-01

In this paper the authors describe the status of a semi-mechanistic approach to the calculation of the probability of fuel defects. This approach expresses the defect probability in terms of fundamental parameters such as local stresses, local strains, and fission product concentration. The calculations of defect probability continue to reflect the influences of the conventional parameters like power ramp, burnup and CANLUB. In addition, the new approach provides a mechanism to account for the impacts of additional factors involving detailed fuel design and reactor operation, for example pellet density, pellet shape and size, sheath diameter and thickness, pellet/sheath clearance, and coolant temperature and pressure. The approach has been validated against a previous empirical correlation. AN illustrative example shows how the defect thresholds are influenced by changes in the internal design of the element and in the coolant pressure. (Author) (7 figs., tab., 12 refs.)

Computational Modelling Approaches on Epigenetic Factors in Neurodegenerative and Autoimmune Diseases and Their Mechanistic Analysis

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Afroza Khanam Irin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Neurodegenerative as well as autoimmune diseases have unclear aetiologies, but an increasing number of evidences report for a combination of genetic and epigenetic alterations that predispose for the development of disease. This review examines the major milestones in epigenetics research in the context of diseases and various computational approaches developed in the last decades to unravel new epigenetic modifications. However, there are limited studies that systematically link genetic and epigenetic alterations of DNA to the aetiology of diseases. In this work, we demonstrate how disease-related epigenetic knowledge can be systematically captured and integrated with heterogeneous information into a functional context using Biological Expression Language (BEL. This novel methodology, based on BEL, enables us to integrate epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation or acetylation of histones into a specific disease network. As an example, we depict the integration of epigenetic and genetic factors in a functional context specific to Parkinson’s disease (PD and Multiple Sclerosis (MS.

Training in ionizing radiation metrology: a systematic approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peixoto, J.G.P.; Sales, E.; Wieland, P.

2001-01-01

This paper presents the systematic approach to training applied to the determination of backscattering factor of the mammography radiation qualities implemented at LNMRI/IRD/CNEN. The strategy for training includes the procedures described at the IAEA Safety Reports Series 201, i.e. analysis, design, implementation and evaluation with feedback . The training included theoretical and practical classes on dosimetry tools, interaction of radiation with matter, radiation protection, laboratory rules, and measurements and uncertainty analysis. At the end the trainee presents a seminar to show the competency acquired and to improve the scientific communication skills. (author)

A socio-ecological approach promoting physical activity and limiting sedentary behavior in adolescence showed weight benefits maintained 2.5 years after intervention cessation.

Science.gov (United States)

Simon, C; Kellou, N; Dugas, J; Platat, C; Copin, N; Schweitzer, B; Hausser, F; Bergouignan, A; Lefai, E; Blanc, S

2014-07-01

Obesity in youth remains a major public health issue. Yet no effective long-term preventive strategy exists. We previously showed that a school-based socio-ecological approach targeting behavior and social/environmental influences on physical activity (PA) prevented 4-year excessive weight gain in 12-year olds. In this study, we investigated if this efficacy persists 30 months after intervention cessation. The program targeted students, family, school and the living environment to promote/support PA and prevent sedentary behavior (SB). A total of 732 students from eight randomized middle schools completed the 4-year trial. At the 30-month post-trial follow-up, body mass index (BMI), fat mass index (FMI), leisure PA (LPA), home/school/workplace active commuting, TV/video time (TVT), and attitudes toward PA were measured in 531 adolescents. The beneficial effects of the intervention on the excess BMI increase (+0.01 vs +0.34 kg m(-2) in the intervention and control groups, respectively) and on the overweight incidence in initially non-overweight students (4.3% vs 8.6%; odds ratio=0.48 (95% confidence interval: 0.23-1.01)) were maintained at the post-trial follow-up. LPA was not maintained at the level achieved during the trial. However, we still observed a prevention of the age-related decrease of the adolescents' percentage reporting regular LPA (-14.4% vs -26.5%) and a higher intention to exercise in the intervention group. The intervention promoted lower TVT (-14.0 vs +13.6 min per day) and higher active commuting changes (+11.7% vs -4.8%). Trends in higher BMI reduction in students with high initial TVT and in the least wealthy group were noted. TVT changes throughout the follow-up predicted excess BMI and FMI changes. Long-term multilevel approach targeting PA and SB prevents excessive weight gain up to 30 months after intervention cessation. The efficacy may be higher in the most sedentary and least wealthy adolescents. Healthy PA-related behavior

Multiple cardiovascular risk factors in Kenya: evidence from a health and demographic surveillance system using the WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance.

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomfield, Gerald S; Mwangi, Ann; Chege, Patrick; Simiyu, Chrispinus J; Aswa, Daniel F; Odhiambo, David; Obala, Andrew A; Ayuo, Paul; Khwa-Otsyula, Barasa O

2013-09-01

To describe the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors in western Kenya using a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS). Population based survey of residents in an HDSS. Webuye Division in Bungoma East District, Western Province of Kenya. 4037 adults ≥ 18 years of age. Home based survey using the WHO STEPwise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance. Self-report of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, tobacco use, alcohol use, physical activity, and fruit/vegetable intake. The median age of the population was 35 years (IQR 26-50). Less than 6% of the population reported high blood pressure or blood sugar. Tobacco and alcohol use were reported in 7% and 16% of the population, respectively. The majority of the population (93%) was physically active. The average number of days per week that participants reported intake of fruits (3.1 ± 0.1) or vegetables (1.6 ± 0.1) was low. In multiple logistic regression analyses, women were more likely to report a history of high blood pressure (OR 2.72, 95% CI 1.9 to 3.9), less likely to report using tobacco (OR 0.08, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.11), less likely to report alcohol use (OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.15 to 0.21) or eat ≥ 5 servings per day of fruits or vegetables (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.99) compared to men. The most common cardiovascular risk factors in peri-urban western Kenya are tobacco use, alcohol use, and inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables. Our data reveal locally relevant subgroup differences that could inform future prevention efforts.

In Vitro Approaches to Evaluation of Sun Protectin Factor

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Bendová, H.; Akrman, J.; Krejčí, A.; Kubáč, L.; Jírová, D.; Kejlová, K.; Kolářová, H.; Brabec, Marek; Malý, M.

2007-01-01

Roč. 21, č. 7 (2007), s. 1268-1275 ISSN 0887-2333 Source of funding: V - iné verejné zdroje Keywords : sunscreens * in vitro * SPF * nonparametric model Subject RIV: BB - Applied Statistics, Operational Research Impact factor: 2.193, year: 2007

Effective factors in expansion of medical tourism in Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Rezaee, Reza; Mohammadzadeh, Mehdi

2016-01-01

Medical tourism (MT) refers to circumstances in which people travel for medical treatments. The present study focuses on determining factors affecting MT in Iran. The study uses a mixed method approach. Initially, through a qualitative study, 12 experts were interviewed deeply; then, 22 participants in three equal focus groups expressed their ideas about growth and development of MT in Iran. Based on the expressed ideas, 120 factors were identified and accordingly a structured questionnaire was developed. Some members from the focus groups confirmed the questionnaire's face and content validity. The reliability of pertinent items was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha=0.8. Afterwards, 61 eligible subjects filled out this questionnaire. The findings showed that "healthcare quality" and "high level of expertise" are two most attractive factors in MT. However, other factors such as "healthcare costs", and "visa facilities" are among key factors as well. Also, the role of "the healthcare providers" was found to be more prominent than the roles of "the government" and "the general tourist services". Although some attractive MT factors are present currently, MT expansion to a desirable level in Iran requires a comprehensive plan of which its factors were discussed in this paper.

Contextual Factors Affecting the Innovation Performance of Manufacturing SMEs in Korea: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ye Seul Choi

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This study empirically explores the relationship between innovation performance and the internal and contextual factors driving technological innovation in manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs in metropolitan areas of Korea using structural equation modeling (SEM. Our analysis is based on firm-level data from the Korean Innovation Survey conducted by the Science and Technology Policy Institute in 2012. According to the results, SMEs’ innovation capacity was positively related to technological innovation performance, and SMEs’ skills and technology acquisition is a contextual factor that positively influences their innovation performance. In this process, SMEs’ innovation capacity is a partial mediator between skills and technology acquisition and SMEs’ technological innovation performance. Moreover, the results show that the relationship between government and public policies and SMEs’ innovation performance is mediated by SMEs’ internal innovation capacity. The results imply that both skills and technology acquisition and government and public policies are important contextual factors can increase SMEs’ innovation performance. Based on the results, this study provides implications for policy makers in terms of the policies that provide both direct and support roles in fostering and sustaining innovation, which drives regional economic growth and development.

Identifying the customer satisfaction factors in furniture market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Majid Azizi

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose – the purpose of this research is to identify the influential factors on customer satisfaction in the Iranian furniture market in order to get acquainted with the fundamental items for planning future sales programs with the purposes of extolling competitive advantages. Design/methodology/approach – A commixture of 6 items and 31 factors were educed from interviewing with 20 experts in furniture designing and manufacturing industry. The collected data from customer need indexes in previous research were also used. Findings – results showed that such factors as economic factors weighting 0.32, product specifications weighting 0.21 and credibility weighting 0.19 were the most important indexes and price weighting 0.195, fame weighting 0.131, quality, durability and resistance weighting 0.116, paying conditions weighting 0.095, designing and decorating in virtual softwares before ordering weighting 0.074, updatedness weighting 0.064 and interaction approach with the weight of 0.42 were the most considerable influential sub-indexes on the satisfaction of the Iranian furniture market customers. Research limitations/implications – by the enhancement of competition throughout the world markets and the inevitable presence of Iran in it, the market activists’ concentration should shift towards paying comprehensive attention to desires and needs of furniture market customers. Practical implications – some important issues on planning suitable manufacturing and marketing programs in furniture market are introduce so that the activists be aware of considering the growing knowledge and awareness of end-users which increases the pressure on the manufacturer side. There are also some solutions in terms of internal and external organizational factors with regard to the complex nature of competitive environment in furniture market. Originality/value – the paper provides an examination of effective factors on customer satisfaction with a

Aspects of QCD factorization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neubert, Matthias

2001-01-01

The QCD factorization approach provides the theoretical basis for a systematic analysis of nonleptonic decay amplitudes of B mesons in the heavy-quark limit. After recalling the basic ideas underlying this formalism, several tests of QCD factorization in the decays B→D (*) L, B→K * γ, and B→πK, ππ are discussed. It is then illustrated how factorization can be used to obtain new constraints on the parameters of the unitarity triangle

Key Factors Affecting the Price of Airbnb Listings: A Geographically Weighted Approach

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Zhihua Zhang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Airbnb has been increasingly gaining popularity since 2008 due to its low prices and direct interactions with the local community. This paper employed a general linear model (GLM and a geographically weighted regression (GWR model to identify the key factors affecting Airbnb listing prices using data sets of 794 samples of Airbnb listings of business units in Metro Nashville, Tennessee. The results showed that the GWR model performs better than the GLM in terms of accuracy and affected variable selections. Statistically significant differences varied across regions in Metro Nashville. The coefficients illustrate a decreasing trend while there is an increase in the distance from the listed units to the convention center, which indicates that Airbnb listing prices are more sensitive to the distance from the convention center in the central area than in other areas. These findings can also provide implications for stakeholders such as Airbnb hosts to gain a better understanding of the market situation and formulate a suitable pricing strategy.

Testing of technology readiness index model based on exploratory factor analysis approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ariani, AF; Napitupulu, D.; Jati, RK; Kadar, JA; Syafrullah, M.

2018-04-01

SMEs readiness in using ICT will determine the adoption of ICT in the future. This study aims to evaluate the model of technology readiness in order to apply the technology on SMEs. The model is tested to find if TRI model is relevant to measure ICT adoption, especially for SMEs in Indonesia. The research method used in this paper is survey to a group of SMEs in South Tangerang. The survey measures the readiness to adopt ICT based on four variables which is Optimism, Innovativeness, Discomfort, and Insecurity. Each variable contains several indicators to make sure the variable is measured thoroughly. The data collected through survey is analysed using factor analysis methodwith the help of SPSS software. The result of this study shows that TRI model gives more descendants on some indicators and variables. This result can be caused by SMEs owners’ knowledge is not homogeneous about either the technology that they are used, knowledge or the type of their business.

Is There Really a Global Business Cycle? : A Dynamic Factor Model with Stochastic Factor Selection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

T. Berger (Tino); L.C.G. Pozzi (Lorenzo)

2016-01-01

textabstractWe investigate the presence of international business cycles in macroeconomic aggregates (output, consumption, investment) using a panel of 60 countries over the period 1961-2014. The paper presents a Bayesian stochastic factor selection approach for dynamic factor models with

Approach to the problem of combined radiation and environmental effect standardization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burykina, L.N.; Ajzina, N.L.; Vasil'eva, L.A.; Veselovskaya, K.A.; Likhachev, Yu.P.; Ponomareva, V.L.; Satarina, S.M.; Shmeleva, E.V.

1978-01-01

Rats were used to study combined forms of damage caused by radioactive substances with varioUs types of distribution ( 131 I and 147 Pm) and by external radiation sources (γ, X). Damage caused by radiation and dust factors was also studied. Synergism of the combined effect of the tolerance dose of 147 Pm introduced and preceding external general γ-irradiation was determined. The combined action of 131 I and external γ- and X-ray radiation exhibited an additional effect on rat thyroid glands. The combined action of dust and radiation factors showed that the biological effect depended on the dose abs.orbed in a critical organ (lungs). The results of the investigations point to an important role of critical organs (systems) and the degree of their radiosensitivity in response of body to combined internal and external irradiations. The facts presented show that the approach to standardizing radiation factors from the position of partial summation should be changed. This may be accomplished by using a combination factor which is determined experimentally and reflects a relative biological efficiency of the combined effects as compared to separate ones

Improving social connection through a communities-of-practice-inspired cognitive work analysis approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Euerby, Adam; Burns, Catherine M

2014-03-01

Increasingly, people work in socially networked environments. With growing adoption of enterprise social network technologies, supporting effective social community is becoming an important factor in organizational success. Relatively few human factors methods have been applied to social connection in communities. Although team methods provide a contribution, they do not suit design for communities. Wenger's community of practice concept, combined with cognitive work analysis, provided one way of designing for community. We used a cognitive work analysis approach modified with principles for supporting communities of practice to generate a new website design. Over several months, the community using the site was studied to examine their degree of social connectedness and communication levels. Social network analysis and communications analysis, conducted at three different intervals, showed increases in connections between people and between people and organizations, as well as increased communication following the launch of the new design. In this work, we suggest that human factors approaches can be effective in social environments, when applied considering social community principles. This work has implications for the development of new human factors methods as well as the design of interfaces for sociotechnical systems that have community building requirements.

Using television shows to teach communication skills in internal medicine residency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ma Irene

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To address evidence-based effective communication skills in the formal academic half day curriculum of our core internal medicine residency program, we designed and delivered an interactive session using excerpts taken from medically-themed television shows. Methods We selected two excerpts from the television show House, and one from Gray's Anatomy and featured them in conjunction with a brief didactic presentation of the Kalamazoo consensus statement on doctor-patient communication. To assess the efficacy of this approach a set of standardized questions were given to our residents once at the beginning and once at the completion of the session. Results Our residents indicated that their understanding of an evidence-based model of effective communication such as the Kalamazoo model, and their comfort levels in applying such model in clinical practice increased significantly. Furthermore, residents' understanding levels of the seven essential competencies listed in the Kalamazoo model also improved significantly. Finally, the residents reported that their comfort levels in three challenging clinical scenarios presented to them improved significantly. Conclusion We used popular television shows to teach residents in our core internal medicine residency program about effective communication skills with a focus on the Kalamazoo's model. The results of the subjective assessment of this approach indicated that it was successful in accomplishing our objectives.

Population dynamics of three songbird species in a nestbox population in Central Europe show effects of density, climate and competitive interactions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smallegange, I.M.; van der Meer, J.; Fiedler, W.

2011-01-01

Unravelling the contributions of density-dependent and density-independent factors in determining species population dynamics is a challenge, especially if the two factors interact. One approach is to apply stochastic population models to long-term data, yet few studies have included interactions

INFLUENCE FACTORS FOR STORE FORMAT CHOICE IN THE APPAREL AND FOOTWEAR MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioana - Nicoleta Abrudan

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The choice of retail formats has been a highly debated topic in international academic literature for a long time. In Romania, this topic has been hardly approached. This study investigates the buying habits of apparel and footwear, as well as the factors related to the purchase decision from a particular store format. Factors considered are both socio-demographic (education, occupation, net income per family member, size of discretionary income, household (family size, number of cars owned and shopping motivation. A quantitative research has been conducted using a sample of 642 urban buyers, in the second largest city in Romania. The results indicate that factors showing correlation with the frequency of purchases vary by the retail format.

Engineering growth factors for regenerative medicine applications.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitchell, Aaron C.; Briquez, Priscilla S.; Hubbell, Jeffrey A.; Cochran, Jennifer R.

2016-01-15

Growth factors are important morphogenetic proteins that instruct cell behavior and guide tissue repair and renewal. Although their therapeutic potential holds great promise in regenerative medicine applications, translation of growth factors into clinical treatments has been hindered by limitations including poor protein stability, low recombinant expression yield, and suboptimal efficacy. This review highlights current tools, technologies, and approaches to design integrated and effective growth factor-based therapies for regenerative medicine applications. The first section describes rational and combinatorial protein engineering approaches that have been utilized to improve growth factor stability, expression yield, biodistribution, and serum half-life, or alter their cell trafficking behavior or receptor binding affinity. The second section highlights elegant biomaterial-based systems, inspired by the natural extracellular matrix milieu, that have been developed for effective spatial and temporal delivery of growth factors to cell surface receptors. Although appearing distinct, these two approaches are highly complementary and involve principles of molecular design and engineering to be considered in parallel when developing optimal materials for clinical applications.

Structural factoring approach for analyzing stochastic networks

Science.gov (United States)

Hayhurst, Kelly J.; Shier, Douglas R.

1991-01-01

The problem of finding the distribution of the shortest path length through a stochastic network is investigated. A general algorithm for determining the exact distribution of the shortest path length is developed based on the concept of conditional factoring, in which a directed, stochastic network is decomposed into an equivalent set of smaller, generally less complex subnetworks. Several network constructs are identified and exploited to reduce significantly the computational effort required to solve a network problem relative to complete enumeration. This algorithm can be applied to two important classes of stochastic path problems: determining the critical path distribution for acyclic networks and the exact two-terminal reliability for probabilistic networks. Computational experience with the algorithm was encouraging and allowed the exact solution of networks that have been previously analyzed only by approximation techniques.

How lead consultants approach educational change in postgraduate medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Fokkema, Joanne P I; Westerman, Michiel; Teunissen, Pim W; van der Lee, Nadine; Scherpbier, Albert J J A; van der Vleuten, Cees P M; Dörr, P Joep; Scheele, Fedde

2012-04-01

  Consultants in charge of postgraduate medical education (PGME) in hospital departments ('lead consultants') are responsible for the implementation of educational change. Although difficulties in innovating in medical education are described in the literature, little is known about how lead consultants approach educational change.   This study was conducted to explore lead consultants' approaches to educational change in specialty training and factors influencing these approaches.   From an interpretative constructivist perspective, we conducted a qualitative exploratory study using semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 16 lead consultants in the Netherlands between August 2010 and February 2011. The study design was based on the research questions and notions from corporate business and social psychology about the roles of change managers. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically using template analysis.   The lead consultants described change processes with different stages, including cause, development of content, and the execution and evaluation of change, and used individual change strategies consisting of elements such as ideas, intentions and behaviour. Communication is necessary to the forming of a strategy and the implementation of change, but the nature of communication is influenced by the strategy in use. Lead consultants differed in their degree of awareness of the strategies they used. Factors influencing approaches to change were: knowledge, ideas and beliefs about change; level of reflection; task interpretation; personal style, and department culture.   Most lead consultants showed limited awareness of their own approaches to change. This can lead them to adopt a rigid approach, whereas the ability to adapt strategies to circumstances is considered important to effective change management. Interventions and research should be aimed at enhancing the awareness of lead consultants of approaches to change in PGME. �

Plane-wave and common-translation-factor treatments of He2++H collisions at high velocities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Errea, L.F.; Harel, C.; Jouin, H.; Maidagan, J.M.; Mendez, L.; Pons, B.; Riera, A.

1992-01-01

We complement previous work that showed that the molecular approach, modified with plane-wave translation factors, is able to reproduce the fall of charge-exchange cross sections in He 2+ +H collisions, by presenting the molecular data, and studying the corresponding mechanism. We test the accuracy of simplifications of the method that have been employed in the literature, and that lead to very simple calculations. We show that the common-translation-factor method is also successful at high nuclear velocities, provided that sufficiently excited states are included in the basis; moreover, it yields a simple picture of the mechanism and a description of ionization processes at high velocities

Merging Belief Propagation and the Mean Field Approximation: A Free Energy Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riegler, Erwin; Kirkelund, Gunvor Elisabeth; Manchón, Carles Navarro

2013-01-01

We present a joint message passing approach that combines belief propagation and the mean field approximation. Our analysis is based on the region-based free energy approximation method proposed by Yedidia et al. We show that the message passing fixed-point equations obtained with this combination...... correspond to stationary points of a constrained region-based free energy approximation. Moreover, we present a convergent implementation of these message passing fixed-point equations provided that the underlying factor graph fulfills certain technical conditions. In addition, we show how to include hard...

Spatial factors as contextual qualifiers of information seeking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Savolainen

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. This paper investigates the ways in which spatial factors have been approached in information seeking studies. The main attention was focused on studies discussing information seeking on the level of source selection and use. Method. Conceptual analysis of about 100 articles and books thematizing spatial issues of information seeking. Due to research economy, the main attention was paid to studies on everyday life information seeking. Results. Three major viewpoints were identified with regard to the degree of objectivity of spatial factors. The objectifying approach conceives of spatial factors as external and entity-like qualifiers that primarly constrain information seeking. The realistic-pragmatic approach emphasizes the ways in which the availabilty of information sources in different places such as daily work environments orient information seeking. The perspectivist approach focuses on how people subjectively assess the significance of various sources by means of spatial constructs such as information horizons. Conclusion. Spatial factors are centrally important contextual qualifiers of information seeking. There is a need to further explore the potential of the above viewpoints by relating the spatial and temporal factors of information seeking.

Incidence, risk factors, and pregnancy outcomes of gestational diabetes mellitus using one-step versus two-step diagnostic approaches: A population-based cohort study in Isfahan, Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini, Elham; Janghorbani, Mohsen; Aminorroaya, Ashraf

2018-06-01

To study the incidence, risk factors, and pregnancy outcomes associated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) diagnosed with one-step and two-step screening approaches. 1000 pregnant women who were eligible and consented to participate underwent fasting plasma glucose testing at the first prenatal visit (6-14 weeks). The women free from GDM or overt diabetes were screened at 24-28 weeks using the 50-g glucose challenge test (GCT) followed by 100-g, 3-h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) (two-step method). Regardless of the GCT result, all women underwent a 75-g, 2-h OGTT within one-week interval (one-step method). GDM incidence using the one-step and two-step methods was 9.3% (95% CI: 7.4-11.2) and 4.2% (95% CI: 2.9-5.5). GDM significantly increased the risk of macrosomia, gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, and cesarean section and older age and family history of diabetes significantly increased the risk of developing GDM in both approaches. In two-step method, higher pre-pregnancy body mass index and lower physical activity during pregnancy along with higher earlier cesarean section also increased significantly the risk of developing GDM. Despite a higher incidence of GDM using the one-step approach, more risk factors for and a stronger effect of GDM on adverse pregnancy outcomes were found when using the two-step approach. Longer follow-up of women with and without GDM may change the results using both approaches. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Functional Characterization of Tea (Camellia sinensis MYB4a Transcription Factor Using an Integrative Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingzhuo Li

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Green tea (Camellia sinensis, Cs abundantly produces a diverse array of phenylpropanoid compounds benefiting human health. To date, the regulation of the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis in tea remains to be investigated. Here, we report a cDNA isolated from leaf tissues, which encodes a R2R3-MYB transcription factor. Amino acid sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicate that it is a member of the MYB4-subgroup and named as CsMYB4a. Transcriptional and metabolic analyses show that the expression profile of CsMYB4a is negatively correlated to the accumulation of six flavan-3-ols and other phenolic acids. GFP fusion analysis shows CsMYB4a’s localization in the nucleus. Promoters of five tea phenylpropanoid pathway genes are isolated and characterized to contain four types of AC-elements, which are targets of MYB4 members. Interaction of CsMYB4a and five promoters shows that CsMYB4a decreases all five promoters’ activity. To further characterize its function, CsMYB4a is overexpressed in tobacco plants. The resulting transgenic plants show dwarf, shrinking and yellowish leaf, and early senescence phenotypes. A further genome-wide transcriptomic analysis reveals that the expression levels of 20 tobacco genes involved in the shikimate and the phenylpropanoid pathways are significantly downregulated in transgenic tobacco plants. UPLC-MS and HPLC based metabolic profiling reveals significant reduction of total lignin content, rutin, chlorogenic acid, and phenylalanine in CsMYB4a transgenic tobacco plants. Promoter sequence analysis of the 20 tobacco genes characterizes four types of AC-elements. Further CsMYB4a-AC element and CsMYB4a-promoter interaction analyses indicate that the negative regulation of CsMYB4a on the shikimate and phenylpropanoid pathways in tobacco is via reducing promoter activity. Taken together, all data indicate that CsMYB4a negatively regulates the phenylpropanoid and shikimate pathways.Highlight: A tea (Camellia

The Increase of Critical Thinking Skills through Mathematical Investigation Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Sumarna, N.; Wahyudin; Herman, T.

2017-02-01

Some research findings on critical thinking skills of prospective elementary teachers, showed a response that is not optimal. On the other hand, critical thinking skills will lead a student in the process of analysis, evaluation and synthesis in solving a mathematical problem. This study attempts to perform an alternative solution with a focus on mathematics learning conditions that is held in the lecture room through mathematical investigation approach. This research method was Quasi-Experimental design with pre-test post-test design. Data analysis using a mixed method with Embedded design. Subjects were regular students enrolled in 2014 at the study program of education of primary school teachers. The number of research subjects were 111 students consisting of 56 students in the experimental group and 55 students in the control group. The results of the study showed that (1) there is a significant difference in the improvement of critical thinking ability of students who receive learning through mathematical investigation approach when compared with students studying through expository approach, and (2) there is no interaction effect between prior knowledge of mathematics and learning factors (mathematical investigation and expository) to increase of critical thinking skills of students.