Stormy weather: 101 solutions to global climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dauncey, G.; Mazza, P.

2001-01-01

This book provides a comprehensive guide to energy efficiency measures that would rid the world of the threat of global warming caused by the wasteful use of hydrocarbon fuels and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. The actions to be taken are not directed to governments and industry alone; indeed, the change must involve every segment of society to be effective. Accordingly, the book recommends actions that could be taken by individuals, citizen organizations, municipalities, businesses and organizations, energy companies, automobile companies, states and provinces, national governments, developing nations and global solutions. The recommendations range from choosing energy efficient appliances and buying green power, through increased recycling, reuse and reduced consumption, building solar and other renewable energy capacity, using sustainable fuels in automobiles, introducing tax measures favouring energy efficiency and sustainable development, to launching macro-level plans for a global green deal, establishing a global climate fund, accelerating the phase-out of CHCs, HCFCs and HFCs, forming a global ecological alliance and declaring a century of ecological restoration. Bibliographic notes, illustrations

Global trends in milk quality: implications for the irish dairy industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

More SJ

2009-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract The quality of Irish agricultural product will become increasingly important with the ongoing liberalisation of international trade. This paper presents a review of the global and Irish dairy industries; considers the impact of milk quality on farm profitability, food processing and human health, examines global trends in quality; and explores several models that are successfully being used to tackle milk quality concerns. There is a growing global demand for dairy products, fuelled in part by growing consumer wealth in developing countries. Global dairy trade represents only 6.2% of global production and demand currently outstrips supply. Although the Irish dairy industry is small by global standards, approximately 85% of annual production is exported annually. It is also the world's largest producer of powdered infant formula. Milk quality has an impact on human health, milk processing and on-farm profitability. Somatic cell count (SCC is a key measure of milk quality, with a SCC not exceeding 400,000 cells/ml (the EU milk quality standard generally accepted as the international export standard. There have been ongoing improvements in milk quality among both established and emerging international suppliers. A number of countries have developed successful industry-led models to tackle milk quality concerns. Based on international experiences, it is likely that problems with effective translation of knowledge to practice, rather than incomplete knowledge per se, are the more important constraints to national progress towards improved milk quality.

75 FR 34171 - Trueheat, Inc., a Subsidiary of Global Heating Solutions, Inc., Currently Known as Truheat, a...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-16

..., Inc., a Subsidiary of Global Heating Solutions, Inc., Currently Known as Truheat, a Division of Three Heat LLC, Allegan, MI; Electro-Heat, Inc., a Subsidiary of Global Heating Solutions, Inc., Currently... subsidiary of Global Heating Solutions, Inc., Allegan, Michigan and Electro-Heat, Inc., a subsidiary of...

78 FR 41954 - TA-W-82,634, Prudential Global Business Technology Solutions Central Security Services Dresher...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-12

... Business Technology Solutions Central Security Services Iselin, New Jersey; TA-W-82,634B, Prudential Global Business Technology Solutions Central Security Services Plymouth, Minnesota; TA- W-82,634C, Prudential Global Business Technology Solutions Central Security Services Scottsdale, Arizona; TA-W-82,634D...

Global, decaying solutions of a focusing energy-critical heat equation in R4

Science.gov (United States)

Gustafson, Stephen; Roxanas, Dimitrios

2018-05-01

We study solutions of the focusing energy-critical nonlinear heat equation ut = Δu - | u|2 u in R4. We show that solutions emanating from initial data with energy and H˙1-norm below those of the stationary solution W are global and decay to zero, via the "concentration-compactness plus rigidity" strategy of Kenig-Merle [33,34]. First, global such solutions are shown to dissipate to zero, using a refinement of the small data theory and the L2-dissipation relation. Finite-time blow-up is then ruled out using the backwards-uniqueness of Escauriaza-Seregin-Sverak [17,18] in an argument similar to that of Kenig-Koch [32] for the Navier-Stokes equations.

Existence of global solutions to reaction-diffusion systems via a Lyapunov functional

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Said Kouachi

2001-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to construct polynomial functionals (according to solutions of the coupled reaction-diffusion equations which give $L^{p}$-bounds for solutions. When the reaction terms are sufficiently regular, using the well known regularizing effect, we deduce the existence of global solutions. These functionals are obtained independently of work done by Malham and Xin [11].

Using animation quality metric to improve efficiency of global illumination computation for dynamic environments

Science.gov (United States)

Myszkowski, Karol; Tawara, Takehiro; Seidel, Hans-Peter

2002-06-01

In this paper, we consider applications of perception-based video quality metrics to improve the performance of global lighting computations for dynamic environments. For this purpose we extend the Visible Difference Predictor (VDP) developed by Daly to handle computer animations. We incorporate into the VDP the spatio-velocity CSF model developed by Kelly. The CSF model requires data on the velocity of moving patterns across the image plane. We use the 3D image warping technique to compensate for the camera motion, and we conservatively assume that the motion of animated objects (usually strong attractors of the visual attention) is fully compensated by the smooth pursuit eye motion. Our global illumination solution is based on stochastic photon tracing and takes advantage of temporal coherence of lighting distribution, by processing photons both in the spatial and temporal domains. The VDP is used to keep noise inherent in stochastic methods below the sensitivity level of the human observer. As a result a perceptually-consistent quality across all animation frames is obtained.

Global Quality Management in Adjusting Prices

OpenAIRE

Bunta Levente Zoltán

2013-01-01

The following paper describes the basic principles of global quality management (T and the way that these influence pricing in a domain where due to the nature of the provided service, the provider who administers the network has a monopoly over the field.

Balancing Attended and Global Stimuli in Perceived Video Quality Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

You, Junyong; Korhonen, Jari; Perkis, Andrew

2011-01-01

. This paper proposes a quality model based on the late attention selection theory, assuming that the video quality is perceived via two mechanisms: global and local quality assessment. First we model several visual features influencing the visual attention in quality assessment scenarios to derive......The visual attention mechanism plays a key role in the human perception system and it has a significant impact on our assessment of perceived video quality. In spite of receiving less attention from the viewers, unattended stimuli can still contribute to the understanding of the visual content...... an attention map using appropriate fusion techniques. The global quality assessment as based on the assumption that viewers allocate their attention equally to the entire visual scene, is modeled by four carefully designed quality features. By employing these same quality features, the local quality model...

Global low-energy weak solution and large-time behavior for the compressible flow of liquid crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Guochun; Tan, Zhong

2018-06-01

In this paper, we consider the weak solution of the simplified Ericksen-Leslie system modeling compressible nematic liquid crystal flows in R3. When the initial data are of small energy and initial density is positive and essentially bounded, we prove the existence of a global weak solution in R3. The large-time behavior of a global weak solution is also established.

Global modelling of river water quality under climate change

Science.gov (United States)

van Vliet, Michelle T. H.; Franssen, Wietse H. P.; Yearsley, John R.

2017-04-01

Climate change will pose challenges on the quality of freshwater resources for human use and ecosystems for instance by changing the dilution capacity and by affecting the rate of chemical processes in rivers. Here we assess the impacts of climate change and induced streamflow changes on a selection of water quality parameters for river basins globally. We used the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model and a newly developed global water quality module for salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen demand. The modelling framework was validated using observed records of streamflow, water temperature, chloride, electrical conductivity, dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen demand for 1981-2010. VIC and the water quality module were then forced with an ensemble of bias-corrected General Circulation Model (GCM) output for the representative concentration pathways RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 to study water quality trends and identify critical regions (hotspots) of water quality deterioration for the 21st century.

Infectious Disinfection: "Exploring Global Water Quality"

Science.gov (United States)

Mahaya, Evans; Tippins, Deborah J.; Mueller, Michael P.; Thomson, Norman

2009-01-01

Learning about the water situation in other regions of the world and the devastating effects of floods on drinking water helps students study science while learning about global water quality. This article provides science activities focused on developing cultural awareness and understanding how local water resources are integrally linked to the…

Ademe et Vous. International Newsletter No. 43, December 2017. A global initiative for efficient solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, Valerie; Seguin-Jacques, Catherine; Aulas, Camille

2017-12-01

Content: - Focus: A global initiative for efficient solutions. On 14 November, during COP23, ADEME officially joined the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions, an initiative launched by the Solar Impulse Foundation. - Expertise: Energy: an industrial sector in transition. At a time when reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency seem to be essential to the development of a sustainable and competitive industry, electrical load management has emerged as a promising solution. - Worldwide: Ivory Coast: promoting sustainable construction. From 18 to 20 September, ADEME took part in two events held in Abidjan dedicated to sustainable construction in the Ivory Coast, a subject in which the Agency had a long-standing experience to share at the heart of the Global Alliance for Building and Construction (Global ABC)

Globally exponential stability and periodic solutions of CNNS with variable coefficients and variable delays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Haifei; Wang Li

2006-01-01

In this Letter, by using the inequality method and the Lyapunov functional method, we analyze the globally exponential stability and the existence of periodic solutions of a class of cellular neutral networks with delays and variable coefficients. Some simple and new sufficient conditions ensuring the existence and uniqueness of globally exponential stability of periodic solutions for cellular neutral networks with variable coefficients and delays are obtained. In addition, one example is also worked out to illustrate our theory

Globally exponential stability and periodic solutions of CNNS with variable coefficients and variable delays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu Haifei [School of Management and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)]. E-mail: hfliu80@126.com; Wang Li [School of Management and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China)

2006-09-15

In this Letter, by using the inequality method and the Lyapunov functional method, we analyze the globally exponential stability and the existence of periodic solutions of a class of cellular neutral networks with delays and variable coefficients. Some simple and new sufficient conditions ensuring the existence and uniqueness of globally exponential stability of periodic solutions for cellular neutral networks with variable coefficients and delays are obtained. In addition, one example is also worked out to illustrate our theory.

On the quality of global emission inventories. Approaches, methodologies, input data and uncertainties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olivier, J.G.J.

2002-01-01

Four key scientific questions will be investigated: (1) How does a user define the 'quality' of a global (or national) emission inventory? (Chapter 2); (2) What determines the quality of a global emission inventory? (Chapters 2 and 7); (3) How can inventory quality be achieved in practice and expressed in quantitative terms ('uncertainty')? (Chapters 3 to 6); and (4) What is the preferred approach for compiling a global emission inventory, given the practical limitations and the desired inventory quality? (Chapters 7 and 8)

The neglect of global oral health: symptoms and solutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Benzian, H.

2014-01-01

This thesis presents a sequence of papers to illustrate selected aspects of the neglect of global oral health, highlights new approaches to describing the extent and impact of dental caries, explains the difficulties related to quality assurance of fluoride toothpastes; and, finally, describes a

An accurate analytical solution of a zero-dimensional greenhouse model for global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foong, S K

2006-01-01

In introducing the complex subject of global warming, books and papers usually use the zero-dimensional greenhouse model. When the ratio of the infrared radiation energy of the Earth's surface that is lost to outer space to the non-reflected average solar radiation energy is small, the model admits an accurate approximate analytical solution-the resulting energy balance equation of the model is a quartic equation that can be solved analytically-and thus provides an alternative solution and instructional strategy. A search through the literature fails to find an analytical solution, suggesting that the solution may be new. In this paper, we review the model, derive the approximation and obtain its solution. The dependence of the temperature of the surface of the Earth and the temperature of the atmosphere on seven parameters is made explicit. A simple and convenient formula for global warming (or cooling) in terms of the percentage change of the parameters is derived. The dependence of the surface temperature on the parameters is illustrated by several representative graphs

Global existence of a generalized solution for the radiative transfer equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golse, F.; Perthame, B.

1984-01-01

We prove global existence of a generalized solution of the radiative transfer equations, extending Mercier's result to the case of a layer with an initially cold area. Our Theorem relies on the results of Crandall and Ligett [fr

Global, finite energy, weak solutions for the NLS with rough, time-dependent magnetic potentials

Science.gov (United States)

Antonelli, Paolo; Michelangeli, Alessandro; Scandone, Raffaele

2018-04-01

We prove the existence of weak solutions in the space of energy for a class of nonlinear Schrödinger equations in the presence of a external, rough, time-dependent magnetic potential. Under our assumptions, it is not possible to study the problem by means of usual arguments like resolvent techniques or Fourier integral operators, for example. We use a parabolic regularisation, and we solve the approximating Cauchy problem. This is achieved by obtaining suitable smoothing estimates for the dissipative evolution. The total mass and energy bounds allow to extend the solution globally in time. We then infer sufficient compactness properties in order to produce a global-in-time finite energy weak solution to our original problem.

A New Global Vertical Land Movement Data Set from the TIGA Combined Solution

Science.gov (United States)

Hunegnaw, Addisu; Teferle, Felix Norman; Ebuy Abraha, Kibrom; Santamaría-Gómez, Alvaro; Gravelle, Médéric; Wöppelman, Guy; Schöne, Tilo; Deng, Zhiguo; Bingley, Richard; Hansen, Dionne Nicole; Sanchez, Laura; Moore, Michael; Jia, Minghai

2017-04-01

Globally averaged sea level has been estimated from the network of tide gauges installed around the world since the 19th century. These mean sea level (MSL) records provide sea level relative to a nearby tide gauge benchmark (TGBM), which allows for the continuation of the instrumental record in time. Any changes in the benchmark levels, induced by vertical land movements (VLM) affect the MSL records and hence sea level estimates. Over the last two decades sea level has also been observed using satellite altimeters. While the satellite observations are globally more homogeneous providing a picture of sea level not confined to coastlines, they require the VLM-corrected MSL records for the bias calibration of instrumental drifts. Without this calibration altimeter instruments from different missions cannot be combined. GPS has made it possible to obtain highly accurate estimates of VLM in a geocentric reference frame for stations at or close to tide gauges. Under the umbrella of the International GNSS Service (IGS), the Tide Gauge Benchmark Monitoring (TIGA) Working Group (WG) has been established to apply the expertise of the GNSS community to solving issues related to the accuracy and reliability of the vertical component to provide estimates of VLM in a well-defined global reference frame. To achieve this objective, five TIGA Analysis Centers (TACs) contributed re-processed global GPS network solutions to TIGA, employing the latest bias models and processing strategies in accordance with the second re-processing campaign (repro2) of the IGS. These solutions include those of the British Isles continuous GNSS Facility - University of Luxembourg consortium (BLT), the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) Potsdam, the German Geodetic Research Institute (DGF) at the Technical University of Munich, Geoscience Australia (AUT) and the University of La Rochelle (ULR). In this study we present to the sea level community an evaluation of the VLM estimates from the

Some results about the global attractivity of bounded solutions of difference equations with applications to periodic solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dehghan, Mehdi; Mazrooei-Sebdani, Reza

2007-01-01

We obtain some results about the global attractivity of bounded solutions of difference equation x n+1 =f(x n ,x n-1 ,...,x n-k ), n=0,1,... where f is non-increasing or non-decreasing in each argument and every point in I is an equilibrium point of above equation where I is an invariant interval for this equation. By our results we prove that when k is an odd positive integer and p>=1 is a real number, every positive solution ofx n+1 =p+x n-k 1+x n ,n=0,1,...converges to a period-two solution of this equation. We also apply our results to the rational difference equationx n+1 =1+x n-2k+1 x n-2l ,n=0,1,...where k,l-bar {0,1,...}, and we show that every positive solution of this equation converges to a period-two solution of this equation

Global solution to the 3D inhomogeneous nematic liquid crystal flows with variable density

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xianpeng; Liu, Qiao

2018-04-01

In this paper, we investigate the global existence and uniqueness of solution to the 3D inhomogeneous incompressible nematic liquid crystal flows with variable density in the framework of Besov spaces. It is proved that there exists a global and unique solution to the nematic liquid crystal flows if the initial data (ρ0 - 1 ,u0 ,n0 -e3) ∈ M (B˙p,1 3/p - 1 (R3)) × B˙p,1 3/p - 1 (R3) × B˙p,1 3/p (R3) with 1 ≤ p < 6, and satisfies

Big Data Solution for CTBT Monitoring Using Global Cross Correlation

Science.gov (United States)

Gaillard, P.; Bobrov, D.; Dupont, A.; Grenouille, A.; Kitov, I. O.; Rozhkov, M.

2014-12-01

Due to the mismatch between data volume and the performance of the Information Technology infrastructure used in seismic data centers, it becomes more and more difficult to process all the data with traditional applications in a reasonable elapsed time. To fulfill their missions, the International Data Centre of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO/IDC) and the Département Analyse Surveillance Environnement of Commissariat à l'Energie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA/DASE) collect, process and produce complex data sets whose volume is growing exponentially. In the medium term, computer architectures, data management systems and application algorithms will require fundamental changes to meet the needs. This problem is well known and identified as a "Big Data" challenge. To tackle this major task, the CEA/DASE takes part during two years to the "DataScale" project. Started in September 2013, DataScale gathers a large set of partners (research laboratories, SMEs and big companies). The common objective is to design efficient solutions using the synergy between Big Data solutions and the High Performance Computing (HPC). The project will evaluate the relevance of these technological solutions by implementing a demonstrator for seismic event detections thanks to massive waveform correlations. The IDC has developed an expertise on such techniques leading to an algorithm called "Master Event" and provides a high-quality dataset for an extensive cross correlation study. The objective of the project is to enhance the Master Event algorithm and to reanalyze 10 years of waveform data from the International Monitoring System (IMS) network thanks to a dedicated HPC infrastructure operated by the "Centre de Calcul Recherche et Technologie" at the CEA of Bruyères-le-Châtel. The dataset used for the demonstrator includes more than 300,000 seismic events, tens of millions of raw detections and more than 30 terabytes of continuous seismic data

Breaking Boundaries: Quality E-Learning for the Global Knowledge Society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lalilta Rajasingham

2009-03-01

Full Text Available The ideas and issues raised in this paper reflect a global challenge to understand the nature of E-learning in a knowledge society so that appropriate quality frameworks can be developed for new educational environments. E-learning and virtual classes evolved from distance education and struggle to gain recognition in mainstream education as legitimate quality higher education providers. The increasing use of information technology advances, particularly the internet present new educational paradigms and models that challenge conventional assumptions and indicators of quality assurance. What is needed is the development of global standards and quality assurance frameworks that can improve pedagogy in diverse cultural, knowledge and delivery paradigms. This paper seeks to explore how quality is defined, who sets whose standards, who will teach what to whom with what effect in a world of competing paradigms and parallel worlds of reality and virtual reality.

Global solutions of nonlinear Schrödinger equations

CERN Document Server

Bourgain, J

1999-01-01

This volume presents recent progress in the theory of nonlinear dispersive equations, primarily the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation. The Cauchy problem for defocusing NLS with critical nonlinearity is discussed. New techniques and results are described on global existence and properties of solutions with large Cauchy data. Current research in harmonic analysis around Strichartz's inequalities and its relevance to nonlinear PDE is presented. Several topics in NLS theory on bounded domains are reviewed. Using the NLS as an example, the book offers comprehensive insight on current research r

Neutrons for global energy solutions. Book of abstracts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2010-07-01

The book of abstracts of the conference on neutrons for global energy solutions include contributions to the following topics: Views from politics: What do we need in European energy research: cooperation, large facilities, more science? Fundamental research for energy supply. View from the United States. View from industry: Neutrons for nuclear reactor development in transition stage between generation III and generation IV. Toyotas's expectations for neutron analysis. Instrumentation and cross cutting issues. Energy sources. Waste management and environment. Li ion batteries. Photovoltaics. Savings and catalysis. Fuel cells. Hydrogen storage.

Neutrons for global energy solutions. Book of abstracts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2010-07-01

The book of abstracts of the conference on neutrons for global energy solutions include contributions to the following topics: Views from politics: What do we need in European energy research: cooperation, large facilities, more science? Fundamental research for energy supply. View from the United States. View from industry: Neutrons for nuclear reactor development in transition stage between generation III and generation IV. Toyotas's expectations for neutron analysis. Instrumentation and cross cutting issues. Energy sources. Waste management and environment. Li ion batteries. Photovoltaics. Savings and catalysis. Fuel cells. Hydrogen storage.

Strategies for ensuring global consistency/comparability of water-quality data

Science.gov (United States)

Klein, J.M.

1999-01-01

In the past 20 years the water quality of the United States has improved remarkably-the waters are safer for drinking, swimming, and fishing. However, despite many accomplishments, it is still difficult to answer such basic questions as: 'How clean is the water?' and 'How is it changing over time?' These same questions exist on a global scale as well. In order to focus water-data issues in the United States, a national Intergovernmental Task Force on Monitoring Water Quality (ITFM) was initiated for public and private organizations, whereby key elements involved in data collection, analysis, storage, and management could be made consistent and comparable. The ITFM recommended and its members are implementing a nationwide strategy to improve water-quality monitoring, assessment, and reporting activities. The intent of this paper is to suggest that a voluntary effort be initiated to ensure the comparability and utility of hydrological data on a global basis. Consistent, long-term data sets that are comparable are necessary in order to formulate ideas regarding regional and global trends in water quantity and quality. The author recommends that a voluntary effort similar to the ITFM effort be utilized. The strategy proposed would involve voluntary representation from countries and international organizations (e.g. World Health Organization) involved in drinking-water assessments and/or ambient water-quality monitoring. Voluntary partnerships such as this will improve curability to reduce health risks and achieve a better return on public and private investments in monitoring, environmental protection, and natural resource management, and result in a collaborative process that will save millions of dollars.In this work it is suggested that a voluntary effort be initiated to ensure the comparability and utility of hydrological data on a global basis. The strategy proposed would involve voluntary representation from countries and international organizations involved in

Global existence of solutions to the Cauchy problem for time-dependent Hartree equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chadam, J.M.; Glassey, R.T.

1975-01-01

The existence of global solutions to the Cauchy problem for time-dependent Hartree equations for N electrons is established. The solution is shown to have a uniformly bounded H 1 (R 3 ) norm and to satisfy an estimate of the form two parallel PSI (t) two parallel/sub H 2 ; less than or equal to c exp(kt). It is shown that ''negative energy'' solutions do not converge uniformly to zero as t → infinity. (U.S.)

Warped AdS{sub 6}×S{sup 2} in Type IIB supergravity II: global solutions and five-brane webs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

D’Hoker, Eric; Gutperle, Michael; Uhlemann, Christoph F. [Mani L. Bhaumik Institute for Theoretical Physics,Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California Los Angeles,475 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States)

2017-05-23

Motivated by the construction of holographic duals to five-dimensional superconformal quantum field theories, we obtain global solutions to Type IIB supergravity invariant under the superalgebra F(4) on a space-time of the form AdS{sub 6}×S{sup 2} warped over a two-dimensional Riemann surface Σ. In earlier work, the general local solutions were expressed in terms of two locally holomorphic functions A{sub ±} on Σ and global solutions were sketched when Σ is a disk. In the present paper, the physical regularity conditions on the supergravity fields required for global solutions are implemented on A{sub ±} for arbitrary Σ. Global solutions exist only when Σ has a non-empty boundary ∂Σ. The differentials ∂A{sub ±} are allowed to have poles only on ∂Σ and each pole corresponds to a semi-infinite (p,q) five-brane. The construction for the disk is carried out in detail and the conditions for the existence of global solutions are articulated for surfaces with more than one boundary and higher genus.

A global limit load solution for plates with surface cracks under combined end force and cross-thickness bending

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lei Yuebao; Fox, Mike J.H.

2011-01-01

A global limit load solution for rectangular surface cracks in plates under combined end force and cross-thickness bending is derived, which allows any combination of positive/negative end force and positive/negative cross-thickness moment. The solution is based on the net-section plastic collapse concept and, therefore, gives limit load values based on the Tresca yielding criterion. Solutions for both cases with and without crack face contact are derived when whole or part of the crack is located in the compressive stress zone. From the solution, particular global limit load solutions for plates with extended surface cracks and through-thickness cracks under the same loading conditions are obtained. The solution is consistent with the limit load solution for surface cracks in plates under combined tension and positive bending due to Goodall and Webster and Lei when both the applied end force and bending moment are positive. The solution reduces to the limit load solution for plain plates under combined end force and cross-thickness bending when the crack vanishes. - Highlights: → A global limit load solution for plates with surface cracks in plates is derived. → Combined positive/negative end force and positive/negative cross-thickness moment are considered. → The solution is based on the net-section plastic collapse concept.

"Power quality system," a new system of quality management for globalization: towards innovation and competitive advantages.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdul-Rahman, H; Berawi, M A

Knowledge Management (KM) addresses the critical issues of organizational adoption, survival and competence in the face of an increasingly changing environment. KM embodies organizational processes that seek a synergistic combination of the data and information processing capabilities of information and communication technologies (ICT), and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings to improve ICT In that role, knowledge management will improve quality management and avoid or minimize losses and weakness that usually come from poor performance as well as increase the competitive level of the company and its ability to survive in the global marketplace. To achieve quality, all parties including the clients, company consultants, contractors, entrepreneurs, suppliers, and the governing bodies (i.e., all involved stake-holders) need to collaborate and commit to achieving quality. The design based organizations in major business and construction companies have to be quality driven to support healthy growth in today's competitive market. In the march towards vision 2020 and globalization (i.e., the one world community) of many companies, their design based organizations need to have superior quality management and knowledge management to anticipate changes. The implementation of a quality system such as the ISO 9000 Standards, Total Quality Management, or Quality Function Deployment (QFD) focuses the company's resources towards achieving faster and better results in the global market with less cost. To anticipate the needs of the marketplace and clients as the world and technology change, a new system, which we call Power Quality System (PQS), has been designed. PQS is a combination of information and communication technologies (ICT) and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings to meet the challenges of the new world business and to develop high quality products.

Small data global solutions for the Camassa–Choi equations

Science.gov (United States)

Harrop-Griffiths, Benjamin; Marzuola, Jeremy L.

2018-05-01

We consider solutions to the Cauchy problem for an internal-wave model derived by Camassa–Choi (1996 J. Fluid Mech. 313 83–103). This model is a natural generalization of the Benjamin–Ono and intermediate long wave equations for weak transverse effects as in the case of the Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equations for the Korteweg-de Vries equation. For that reason they are often referred to as the KP-ILW or the KP–Benjamin–Ono equations regarding finite or infinite depth respectively. We prove the existence and long-time dynamics of global solutions from small, smooth, spatially localized initial data on . The techniques applied here involve testing by wave packet techniques developed by Ifrim and Tataru in (2015 Nonlinearity 28 2661–75 2016 Bull. Soc. Math. France 144 369–94).

The impact of climate change on the global wine industry: Challenges & solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michelle Renée Mozell

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the impact of climate change upon the global production of winegrapes and wine. It includes a review of the literature on the cause and effects of climate change, as well as illustrations of the specific challenges global warming may bring to the production of winegrapes and wine. More importantly, this paper provides some practical solutions that industry professionals can take to mitigate and adapt to the coming change in both vineyards and wineries.

76 FR 13666 - Pitney Bowes, Inc., Mailing Solutions Management, Global Engineering Group, Including On-Site...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-14

...., Mailing Solutions Management, Global Engineering Group, Including On-Site Leased Workers From Guidant... workers and former workers of Pitney Bowes, Inc., Mailing Solutions Management Division, Engineering... reviewed the certification to clarify the subject worker group's identity. Additional information revealed...

The 'Alternative Quality Contract,' based on a global budget, lowered medical spending and improved quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zirui; Safran, Dana Gelb; Landon, Bruce E; Landrum, Mary Beth; He, Yulei; Mechanic, Robert E; Day, Matthew P; Chernew, Michael E

2012-08-01

Seven provider organizations in Massachusetts entered the Blue Cross Blue Shield Alternative Quality Contract in 2009, followed by four more organizations in 2010. This contract, based on a global budget and pay-for-performance for achieving certain quality benchmarks, places providers at risk for excessive spending and rewards them for quality, similar to the new Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations in Medicare. We analyzed changes in spending and quality associated with the Alternative Quality Contract and found that the rate of increase in spending slowed compared to control groups, more so in the second year than in the first. Overall, participation in the contract over two years led to savings of 2.8 percent (1.9 percent in year 1 and 3.3 percent in year 2) compared to spending in nonparticipating groups. Savings were accounted for by lower prices achieved through shifting procedures, imaging, and tests to facilities with lower fees, as well as reduced utilization among some groups. Quality of care also improved compared to control organizations, with chronic care management, adult preventive care, and pediatric care within the contracting groups improving more in year 2 than in year 1. These results suggest that global budgets with pay-for-performance can begin to slow underlying growth in medical spending while improving quality of care.

On global structure of general solution of the Chew-Sow equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerdt, V.P.

1981-01-01

The Chew-Low equations for static p-wave πN-scattering are considered. The equations are formulated in the form of a system of three nonlinear difference equations of the first order which have the general solution depending on three arbitrary periodic functions. An approach to the global construction of the general solution is suggested which is based on the series expansion in powers of one of the arbitrary functions C(ω) determining the structure of the invariant curve for the Chew-Low equations. It is shown that the initial nonlinear problem is reduced to the linear one in every order in C(ω). By means of solving the linear problem the general solution is found in the first-order approximation in C(ω) [ru

Implementation of the Global Parameters Determination in Gaia's Astrometric Solution (AGIS)

Science.gov (United States)

Raison, F.; Olias, A.; Hobbs, D.; Lindegren, L.

2010-12-01

Gaia is ESA’s space astrometry mission with a foreseen launch date in early 2012. Its main objective is to perform a stellar census of the 1000 Million brightest objects in our galaxy (completeness to V=20 mag) from which an astrometric catalog of micro-arcsec level accuracy will be constructed. A key element in this endeavor is the Astrometric Global Iterative Solution (AGIS). A core part of AGIS is to determine the accurate spacecraft attitude, geometric instrument calibration and astrometric model parameters for a well-behaved subset of all the objects (the ‘primary stars’). In addition, a small number of global parameters will be estimated, one of these being PPN γ. We present here the implementation of the algorithms dedicated to the determination of the global parameters.

Renewing focus on family planning service quality globally.

Science.gov (United States)

Hancock, Nancy L; Stuart, Gretchen S; Tang, Jennifer H; Chibwesha, Carla J; Stringer, Jeffrey S A; Chi, Benjamin H

2016-01-01

Reducing the global unmet need for contraception is currently a priority for many governments, multi-lateral initiatives, non-governmental organizations, and donors. Evidence strongly suggests that the provision of quality family planning services can increase uptake, prevalence, and continuation of contraception. While an accepted framework to define the components of family planning service quality exists, translating this framework into assessment tools that are accessible, easily utilized, and valid for service providers has remained a challenge. We propose new approaches to improve the standardization and accessibility of family planning service quality assessment tools to simplify family planning service quality evaluation. With easier approaches to program evaluation, quality improvements can be performed more swiftly to help increase uptake and continuation of contraception to improve the health of women and their families.

Global Classical and Weak Solutions to the Three-Dimensional Full Compressible Navier-Stokes System with Vacuum and Large Oscillations

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Xiangdi; Li, Jing

2018-03-01

For the three-dimensional full compressible Navier-Stokes system describing the motion of a viscous, compressible, heat-conductive, and Newtonian polytropic fluid, we establish the global existence and uniqueness of classical solutions with smooth initial data which are of small energy but possibly large oscillations where the initial density is allowed to vanish. Moreover, for the initial data, which may be discontinuous and contain vacuum states, we also obtain the global existence of weak solutions. These results generalize previous ones on classical and weak solutions for initial density being strictly away from a vacuum, and are the first for global classical and weak solutions which may have large oscillations and can contain vacuum states.

A Novel Consensus-Based Particle Swarm Optimization-Assisted Trust-Tech Methodology for Large-Scale Global Optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yong-Feng; Chiang, Hsiao-Dong

2017-09-01

A novel three-stage methodology, termed the "consensus-based particle swarm optimization (PSO)-assisted Trust-Tech methodology," to find global optimal solutions for nonlinear optimization problems is presented. It is composed of Trust-Tech methods, consensus-based PSO, and local optimization methods that are integrated to compute a set of high-quality local optimal solutions that can contain the global optimal solution. The proposed methodology compares very favorably with several recently developed PSO algorithms based on a set of small-dimension benchmark optimization problems and 20 large-dimension test functions from the CEC 2010 competition. The analytical basis for the proposed methodology is also provided. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed methodology can rapidly obtain high-quality optimal solutions that can contain the global optimal solution. The scalability of the proposed methodology is promising.

The Impact of Globalization on a Country's Quality of Life: Toward an Integrated Model

Science.gov (United States)

Sirgy, M. Joseph; Lee, Dong-Jin; Miller, Chad; Littlefield, James E.

2004-01-01

The purpose of the paper is to develop a set of theoretical propositions to explain the impact of globalization on a country's quality of life (QOL). In this paper, we describe how globalization impacts the quality of life of residents of a country by first articulating the globalization construct (in terms of inflows and outflows of goods,…

Global Assessment of New GRACE Mascons Solutions for Hydrologic Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Save, H.; Zhang, Z.; Scanlon, B. R.; Wiese, D. N.; Landerer, F. W.; Long, D.; Longuevergne, L.; Chen, J.

2016-12-01

Advances in GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellite data processing using new mass concentration (mascon) solutions have greatly increased the spatial localization and amplitude of recovered total Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS) signals; however, limited testing has been conduct on land hydrologic applications. In this study we compared TWS anomalies from (1) Center for Space Research mascons (CSR-M) solution with (2) NASA JPL mascon (JPL-M) solution, and with (3) a CSR gridded spherical harmonic rescaled (sf) solution from Tellus (CSRT-GSH.sf) in 176 river basins covering 80% of the global land area. There is good correspondence in TWS anomalies from mascons (CSR-M and JPL-M) and SH solutions based on high correlations between time series (rank correlation coefficients mostly >0.9). The long-term trends in basin TWS anomalies represent a relatively small signal (up to ±20 mm/yr) with differences among GRACE solutions and inter-basin variability increasing with decreasing basin size. Long-term TWS declines are greatest in (semi)arid and irrigated basins. Annual and semiannual signals have much larger amplitudes (up to ±250 mm). There is generally good agreement among GRACE solutions, increasing confidence in seasonal fluctuations from GRACE data. Rescaling spherical harmonics to restore lost signal increases agreement with mascons solutions for long-term trends and seasonal fluctuations. There are many advantages to using GRACE mascons solutions relative to SH solutions, such as reduced leakage from land to ocean increasing signal amplitude, and constraining results by applying geophysical data during processing with little or no post-processing requirements, making mascons more user friendly for non-geodetic users. This inter-comparison of various GRACE solutions should allow hydrologists to better select suitable GRACE products for hydrologic applications.

Existence and global exponential stability of periodic solution of CNNs with impulses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yongkun; Xing Zhiwei

2007-01-01

Sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence and global exponential stability of a unique periodic solution of cellular neural networks with variable time delays and impulses by using Mawhin's continuation theorem of coincidence degree and by means of a method based on delay differential inequality

76 FR 55060 - Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change: Challenges of Conducting Multi-Stressor...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-06

... ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL-9459-7] Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change... entitled, Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change: Challenges of Conducting Multi- stressor... vulnerability of water quality and aquatic ecosystems across the United States to the potential impacts of...

Stochastic Delay Population Dynamics under Regime Switching: Global Solutions and Extinction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zheng Wu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with a delay Lotka-Volterra model under regime switching diffusion in random environment. By using generalized Itô formula, Gronwall inequality and Young’s inequality, some sufficient conditions for existence of global positive solutions and stochastically ultimate boundedness are obtained, respectively. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the main results.

Nature-based solutions for urban landscapes under post-industrialization and globalization: Barcelona versus Shanghai.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Peilei; Ouyang, Zutao; Basnou, Corina; Pino, Joan; Park, Hogeun; Chen, Jiquan

2017-07-01

Using Barcelona and Shanghai as case studies, we examined the nature-based solutions (NBS) in urban settings-specifically within cities experiencing post-industrialization and globalization. Our specific research questions are: (1) What are the spatiotemporal changes in urban built-up land and green space in Barcelona and Shanghai? (2) What are the relationships between economic development, exemplified by post-industrialization, globalization, and urban green space? Urban land use and green space change were evaluated using data derived from a variety of sources, including satellite images, landscape matrix indicators, and a land conversion matrix. The relationships between economic development, globalization, and environmental quality were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling based on secondary statistical data. Both Barcelona and Shanghai have undergone rapid urbanization, with urban expansion in Barcelona beginning in the 1960s-1970s and in Shanghai in the last decade. While Barcelona's urban green space and green space per capita began declining between the 1950s and 1990s, they increased slightly over the past two decades. Shanghai, however, has consistently and significantly improved urban green space and green space per capita over the past six decades, especially since the economic reform in 1978. Economic development has a direct and significant influence on urban green space for both cities and post-industrialization had served as the main driving force for urban landscape change in Barcelona and Shanghai. Based on secondary statistical and qualitative data from on-site observations and interviews with local experts, we highlighted the institution's role in NBS planning. Furthermore, aspiration to become a global or globalizing city motivated both cities to use NBS planning as a place-making tool to attract global investment, which is reflected in various governing policies and regulations. The cities' effort to achieve a

A System to Produce Precise Global GPS Network Solutions for all Geodetic GPS Stations in the World

Science.gov (United States)

Blewitt, G.; Kreemer, C. W.

2010-12-01

We have developed an end-to-end system that automatically seeks and routinely retrieves geodetic GPS data from ~5000 stations (currently) around the globe, reduces the data into unique, daily global network solutions, and produces high precision time series for station coordinates ready for time-series analysis, geophysical modeling and interpretation. Moreover, “carrier range” data are produced for all stations, enabling epoch-by-epoch tracking of individual station motions by precise point positioning for investigation of sub-daily processes, such as post-seismic after-slip and ocean tidal loading. Solutions are computed in a global reference frame aligned to ITRF, and optionally in user-specified continental-scale reference frames that can filter out common-mode signals to enhance regional strain anomalies. We describe the elements of this system, the underlying signal processing theory, the products, operational statistics, and scientific applications of our system. The system is fundamentally based on precise point positioning using JPL's GIPSY OASIS II software, coupled with ambiguity resolution and a global network adjustment of ~300,000 parameters per day using our newly developed Ambizap3 software. The system is designed to easily and efficiently absorb stations that deliver data very late, by recycling prior computations in the network adjustment, such that the resulting network solution is identical to starting from scratch. Thus, it becomes possible to trawl continuously the Internet for late arriving data, or for newly discovered data, and seamlessly update all GPS station time series using the new information content. As new stations are added to the processing archive, automated e-mail requests are made to H.-G. Scherneck's server at Chalmers University to compute ocean loading coefficients used by the station motion model. Rinex file headers are parsed and compared with alias tables in order to infer the correct receiver type and antenna

Large Time Behavior for Weak Solutions of the 3D Globally Modified Navier-Stokes Equations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junbai Ren

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the large time behavior of the weak solutions for three-dimensional globally modified Navier-Stokes equations. With the aid of energy methods and auxiliary decay estimates together with Lp-Lq estimates of heat semigroup, we derive the optimal upper and lower decay estimates of the weak solutions for the globally modified Navier-Stokes equations as C1(1+t-3/4≤uL2≤C2(1+t-3/4,  t>1. The decay rate is optimal since it coincides with that of heat equation.

Existence and global exponential stability of periodic solution of CNNs with impulses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li Yongkun [Department of Mathematics, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan 650091 (China); Xing Zhiwei [Department of Mathematics, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan 650091 (China)

2007-08-15

Sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence and global exponential stability of a unique periodic solution of cellular neural networks with variable time delays and impulses by using Mawhin's continuation theorem of coincidence degree and by means of a method based on delay differential inequality.

Application of refractometry to quality assurance monitoring of parenteral nutrition solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Wei-Kuo; Chao, You-Chen; Yeh, Ming-Kung

2008-01-01

Parenteral nutrition (PN) solution contains various concentrations of dextrose, amino acids, lipids, vitamins, electrolytes, and trace elements. Incorrect preparation of PN solution could lead to patient death. In this study we used the refractive index as a quality assurance tool to monitor the preparation of PN solution. Refractive indices of single nutrient components and PN solutions consisting of various concentrations of dextrose, amino acids, electrolytes, and lipids were measured. A mathematical equation and its linear plot were generated then used to predict the refractive index of the PN solution. The best-fit refractive index for PN solution (i.e., the predicted refractive index)=0.9798x(% dextrose)+1.2889x(% amino acids)+1.1017x(% lipids)+0.9440x(% sum of the electrolytes)+0.5367 (r2=0.99). This equation was validated by comparing the measured refractive indices of 500 clinical PN solutions to their predicted refractive indices. We found that 2 of the 500 prepared samples (0.4%) had less than the predicted refractive index (<95%). Refractive index can be used as a reliable quality assurance tool for monitoring PN preparation. Such information can be obtained at the bedside and used to confirm the accuracy of the PN solution composition.

ANOVA-HDMR structure of the higher order nodal diffusion solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bokov, P. M.; Prinsloo, R. H.; Tomasevic, D. I.

2013-01-01

Nodal diffusion methods still represent a standard in global reactor calculations, but employ some ad-hoc approximations (such as the quadratic leakage approximation) which limit their accuracy in cases where reference quality solutions are sought. In this work we solve the nodal diffusion equations utilizing the so-called higher-order nodal methods to generate reference quality solutions and to decompose the obtained solutions via a technique known as High Dimensional Model Representation (HDMR). This representation and associated decomposition of the solution provides a new formulation of the transverse leakage term. The HDMR structure is investigated via the technique of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), which indicates why the existing class of transversely-integrated nodal methods prove to be so successful. Furthermore, the analysis leads to a potential solution method for generating reference quality solutions at a much reduced calculational cost, by applying the ANOVA technique to the full higher order solution. (authors)

Global weak solutions for coupled transport processes in concrete walls at high temperatures

OpenAIRE

Beneš, Michal; Štefan, Radek

2012-01-01

We consider an initial-boundary value problem for a fully nonlinear coupled parabolic system with nonlinear boundary conditions modelling hygro-thermal behavior of concrete at high temperatures. We prove a global existence of a weak solution to this system on an arbitrary time interval. The main result is proved by an approximation procedure. This consists in proving the existence of solutions to mollified problems using the Leray-Schauder theorem, for which a priori estimates are obtained. T...

A priori estimates of global solutions of superlinear parabolic systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julius Pacuta

2016-04-01

Full Text Available We consider the parabolic system $ u_{t}-\\Delta u = u^{r}v^{p}$, $v_{t}-\\Delta v = u^{q}v^{s}$ in $\\Omega\\times(0,\\infty$, complemented by the homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions and the initial conditions $(u,v(\\cdot,0 = (u_{0},v_{0}$ in $\\Omega$, where $\\Omega $ is a smooth bounded domain in $ \\mathbb{R}^{N} $ and $ u_{0},v_{0}\\in L^{\\infty}(\\Omega$ are nonnegative functions. We find conditions on $ p,q,r,s $ guaranteeing a priori estimates of nonnegative classical global solutions. More precisely every such solution is bounded by a constant depending on suitable norm of the initial data. Our proofs are based on bootstrap in weighted Lebesgue spaces, universal estimates of auxiliary functions and estimates of the Dirichlet heat kernel.

Implementing the Gaia Astrometric Global Iterative Solution (AGIS) in Java

OpenAIRE

O'Mullane, William; Lammers, Uwe; Lindegren, Lennart; Hernandez, Jose; Hobbs, David

2011-01-01

This paper provides a description of the Java software framework which has been constructed to run the Astrometric Global Iterative Solution for the Gaia mission. This is the mathematical framework to provide the rigid reference frame for Gaia observations from the Gaia data itself. This process makes Gaia a self calibrated, and input catalogue independent, mission. The framework is highly distributed typically running on a cluster of machines with a database back end. All code is written in ...

Global solutions to the equation of thermoelasticity with fading memory

Science.gov (United States)

Okada, Mari; Kawashima, Shuichi

2017-07-01

We consider the initial-history value problem for the one-dimensional equation of thermoelasticity with fading memory. It is proved that if the data are smooth and small, then a unique smooth solution exists globally in time and converges to the constant equilibrium state as time goes to infinity. Our proof is based on a technical energy method which makes use of the strict convexity of the entropy function and the properties of strongly positive definite kernels.

Biosimilars--global issues, national solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Knezevic, Ivana; Griffiths, Elwyn

2011-09-01

Biotechnology derived medicinal products are presently the best characterized biologicals with considerable production and clinical experience, and have revolutionized the treatment of some of the most difficult-to-treat diseases, prolonging and improving the quality of life and patient care. They are also currently one of the fastest growing segments of the pharmaceutical industry market. The critical challenge that the biopharmaceutical industry is facing is the expiry of patents for the first generation of biopharmaceuticals, mainly recombinant DNA derived products, such as interferons, growth hormone and erythropoetin. The question that immediately arose was how should such copies of the originator products be licensed, bearing in mind that they are highly complex biological molecules produced by equally complex biological production processes with their inherent problem of biological variability. Copying biologicals is much more complex than copying small molecules and the critical issue was how to handle the licensing of products if relying in part on data from an innovator product. Since 2004 there has been considerable international consultation on how to deal with biosimilars and biological copy products. This has led to a better understanding of the challenges in the regulatory evaluation of the quality, safety and efficacy of "biosimilars", to the exchange of information between regulators, as well as to the identification of key issues. The aim of this article is to provide a brief overview of the scientific and regulatory challenges faced in developing and evaluating similar biotherapeutic products for global use. It is intended as an introduction to the series of articles in this special issue of Biologicals devoted to similar biotherapeutic products. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Global solutions through simulation for better decommissioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scoto Di Suoccio, Ines; Testard, Vincent

2016-01-01

Decommissioning is a new activity in sense that it only exists a limited experience. Moreover, each facility is different due to their own history and there is no rule about choosing a decommissioning strategy. There are three major decommissioning strategies. First, 'immediate dismantling', which means the action of decommissioning begins immediately after the transfer of waste and nuclear material. Second, 'deferred dismantling strategy', which means that the facility is maintained into a containment zone from thirty to one hundred years before being decommissioned. Finally, 'entombment', means the facility is placed into a reinforced containment until the radionuclides decay and reach a level allowing the site release. When a strategy is decided many factors have to be taken into account. Into a major project such as a reactor decommissioning, there are many smaller projects. The decommissioning strategy can be different among these smaller projects. For some reasons, some entry data are not perfectly known. For example, dosimetric activity has not been updated through time or after specific events. Indeed, because of uncertainties and/or hypothesis existing around projects and their high level of interdependency, global solutions are a good way to choose the best decommissioning strategy. Actually, each entry data has consequences on output results whether it is on costs, cumulated dose, waste or delays. These output data are interdependent and cannot be taken apart from each other. Whether the dose, delays or waste management, all have impact on costs. To obtain an optimal scenario into a special environment, it is necessary to deal with all these items together. This global solution can be implemented thanks to simulation in dedicated software which helps to define the global strategy, to optimize the scenario, and to prevent contingencies. As a complete scenario simulation can be done quickly and efficiently, many strategies can

Global convergence of periodic solution of neural networks with discontinuous activation functions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Lihong; Guo Zhenyuan

2009-01-01

In this paper, without assuming boundedness and monotonicity of the activation functions, we establish some sufficient conditions ensuring the existence and global asymptotic stability of periodic solution of neural networks with discontinuous activation functions by using the Yoshizawa-like theorem and constructing proper Lyapunov function. The obtained results improve and extend previous works.

Focal Solute Trapping and Global Glymphatic Pathway Impairment in a Murine Model of Multiple Microinfarcts.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Minghuan; Ding, Fengfei; Deng, SaiYue; Guo, Xuequn; Wang, Wei; Iliff, Jeffrey J; Nedergaard, Maiken

2017-03-15

Microinfarcts occur commonly in the aging brain as a consequence of diffuse embolic events and are associated with the development of vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. However, the manner in which disperse microscopic lesions reduce global cognitive function and increase the risk for Alzheimer's disease is unclear. The glymphatic system, which is a brain-wide perivascular network that supports the recirculation of CSF through the brain parenchyma, facilitates the clearance of interstitial solutes including amyloid β and tau. We investigated whether glymphatic pathway function is impaired in a murine model of multiple microinfarcts induced by intraarterial injection of cholesterol crystals. The analysis showed that multiple microinfarcts markedly impaired global influx of CSF along the glymphatic pathway. Although suppression of global glymphatic function was transient, resolving within 2 weeks of injury, CSF tracers also accumulated within tissue associated with microinfarcts. The effect of diffuse microinfarcts on global glymphatic pathway function was exacerbated in the mice aged 12 months compared with the 2- to 3-month-old mice. These findings indicate that glymphatic function is focally disrupted around microinfarcts and that the aging brain is more vulnerable to this disruption than the young brain. These observations suggest that microlesions may trap proteins and other interstitial solutes within the brain parenchyma, increasing the risk of amyloid plaque formation. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Microinfarcts, small (glymphatic system is a brain-wide network of channels surrounding brain blood vessels that allows CSF to exchange with interstitial fluid, clearing away cellular wastes such as amyloid β. We observed that, in mice, microinfarcts impaired global glymphatic function and solutes from the CSF became trapped in tissue associated with microinfarcts. These data suggest that small, disperse ischemic lesions can impair glymphatic function across the

Global Warming and the Political Ecology of Health: Emerging Crisis and Systemic Solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kate Smith

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Review of Global Warming and the Political Ecology of Health: Emerging Crisis and Systemic Solutions. Hans Baer and Merrill Singer. 2008. Left Coast Press, Inc., Walnut Creek, CA. Pp. 238. $32.95 (paperback. ISBN 978-1-59874-354-8.

On Global Solutions for the Cauchy Problem of a Boussinesq-Type Equation

OpenAIRE

Taskesen, Hatice; Polat, Necat; Ertaş, Abdulkadir

2012-01-01

We will give conditions which will guarantee the existence of global weak solutions of the Boussinesq-type equation with power-type nonlinearity $\\gamma {|u|}^{p}$ and supercritical initial energy. By defining new functionals and using potential well method, we readdressed the initial value problem of the Boussinesq-type equation for the supercritical initial energy case.

ARCHITECTURE SOFTWARE SOLUTION TO SUPPORT AND DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT QUALITY SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milan Eric

2010-12-01

Full Text Available One of the basis of a series of standards JUS ISO 9000 is quality system documentation. An architecture of the quality system documentation depends on the complexity of business system. An establishment of an efficient management documentation of system of quality is of a great importance for the business system, as well as in the phase of introducing the quality system and in further stages of its improvement. The study describes the architecture and capability of software solutions to support and manage the quality system documentation in accordance with the requirements of standards ISO 9001:2001, ISO 14001:2005 HACCP etc.

Climate Change and Global Wine Quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, G.V. [Department of Geography, Southern Oregon University, 1250 Siskiyou Blvd, Ashland, Oregon, 97520 (United States); White, M.A. [Department of Aquatic, Watershed, and Earth Resources, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322 (United States); Cooper, O.R. [Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences CIRES, University of Colorado/NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado, 80305 (United States); Storchmann, K. [Department of Economics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 06520 (United States)

2005-12-01

From 1950 to 1999 the majority of the world's highest quality wine-producing regions experienced growing season warming trends. Vintage quality ratings during this same time period increased significantly while year-to-year variation declined. While improved winemaking knowledge and husbandry practices contributed to the better vintages it was shown that climate had, and will likely always have, a significant role in quality variations. This study revealed that the impacts of climate change are not likely to be uniform across all varieties and regions. Currently, many European regions appear to be at or near their optimum growing season temperatures, while the relationships are less defined in the New World viticulture regions. For future climates, model output for global wine producing regions predicts an average warming of 2C in the next 50 yr. For regions producing high-quality grapes at the margins of their climatic limits, these results suggest that future climate change will exceed a climatic threshold such that the ripening of balanced fruit required for existing varieties and wine styles will become progressively more difficult. In other regions, historical and predicted climate changes could push some regions into more optimal climatic regimes for the production of current varietals. In addition, the warmer conditions could lead to more poleward locations potentially becoming more conducive to grape growing and wine production.

Quality Indicators for Global Benchmarking of Localized Prostate Cancer Management.

Science.gov (United States)

Sampurno, Fanny; Zheng, Jia; Di Stefano, Lydia; Millar, Jeremy L; Foster, Claire; Fuedea, Ferran; Higano, Celestia; Hulan, Hartwig; Mark, Stephen; Moore, Caroline; Richardson, Alison; Sullivan, Frank; Wenger, Neil S; Wittmann, Daniela; Evans, Sue

2018-03-01

We sought to develop a core set of clinical indicators to enable international benchmarking of localized prostate cancer management using data available in the TrueNTH (True North) Global Registry. An international expert panel completed an online survey and participated in a face to face meeting. Participants included 3 urologists, 3 radiation oncologists, 2 psychologists, 1 medical oncologist, 1 nurse and 1 epidemiologist with prostate cancer expertise from a total of 7 countries. Current guidelines on prostate cancer treatment and potential quality indicators were identified from a literature review. These potential indicators were refined and developed through a modified Delphi process during which each panelist independently and repeatedly rated each indicator based on importance (satisfying the indicator demonstrated a provision of high quality care) and feasibility (the likelihood that data used to construct the indicator could be collected at a population level). The main outcome measure was items with panel agreement indicted by a disagreement index less 1, median importance 8.5 or greater and median feasibility 9 or greater. The expert panel endorsed 33 indicators. Seven of these 33 prostate cancer quality indicators assessed care relating to diagnosis, 7 assessed primary treatment, 1 assessed salvage treatment and 18 assessed health outcomes. We developed a set of quality indicators to measure prostate cancer care using numerous international evidence-based clinical guidelines. These indicators will be pilot tested in the TrueNTH Global Registry. Reports comparing indicator performance will subsequently be distributed to groups at participating sites with the purpose of improving the consistency and quality of prostate cancer management on a global basis. Copyright © 2018 American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Air quality management: challenges and solutions in delivering air quality action plans

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beattie, C.I.; Longhurst, J.W.S.; Woodfield, N.K.

2000-07-01

The Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (DETR, 2001) has the aim of showing how improved local air quality in the UK may be delivered. Through a process of reviewing and assessing local air quality in both urban and rural localities, a clear picture is emerging of areas of the UK where air quality objectives are not likely to be met. The next challenge will be the identification of the required actions and new ways of working to achieve specific air quality objectives. The declaration of air quality management areas, where objectives are not predicted to be met by their target years, involves co-ordinated local action and collaborative working, which can only be effective with support across local authority departments and external stake holders. This paper provides a background to the relevant legislation underpinning, local air quality management and summarises the review and assessment process. It then comments on future directions in relation to the designation of Air Quality Management Areas and considers the requirements of action plans to deliver the goal of cleaner air in the UK. It is concluded that the UK has developed a highly sophisticated system of air quality management over a relatively short period of time, and with it has brought a new way of local authority working. The challenge of the next stage of the process is likely to be in implementing cost effective and proportional solutions to identified problems at the local level. (Author)

Ecological significance of compatible solute accumulation by micro-organisms: from single cells to global climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Welsh, D T

2000-07-01

The osmoadaptation of most micro-organisms involves the accumulation of K(+) ions and one or more of a restricted range of low molecular mass organic solutes, collectively termed 'compatible solutes'. These solutes are accumulated to high intracellular concentrations, in order to balance the osmotic pressure of the growth medium and maintain cell turgor pressure, which provides the driving force for cell extension growth. In this review, I discuss the alternative roles which compatible solutes may also play as intracellular reserves of carbon, energy and nitrogen, and as more general stress metabolites involved in protection of cells against other environmental stresses including heat, desiccation and freezing. Thus, the evolutionary selection for the accumulation of a specific compatible solute may not depend solely upon its function during osmoadaptation, but also upon the secondary benefits its accumulation provides, such as increased tolerance of other environmental stresses prevalent in the organism's niche or even anti-herbivory or dispersal functions in the case of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP). In the second part of the review, I discuss the ecological consequences of the release of compatible solutes to the environment, where they can provide sources of compatible solutes, carbon, nitrogen and energy for other members of the micro-flora. Finally, at the global scale the metabolism of specific compatible solutes (betaines and DMSP) in brackish water, marine and hypersaline environments may influence global climate, due to the production of the trace gases, methane and dimethylsulfide (DMS) and in the case of DMS, also couple the marine and terrestrial sulfur cycles.

A global CO2 tax for sustainable development?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brandt, Urs Steiner; Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard

2014-01-01

The Rio+20 conference in 2012 called for goals of promoting green industries and improving the quality of institutions worldwide. Is a global CO2 tax the best global solution for achieving this twin goal? As most countries in the world are highly corrupt, an adequate regulatory instrument should...... and sustainability conferences substantially since the focus is on one issue rather than many....

The ‘Alternative Quality Contract’ in Massachusetts, Based on Global Budgets, Lowered Medical Spending and Improved Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zirui; Safran, Dana Gelb; Landon, Bruce E.; Landrum, Mary Beth; He, Yulei; Mechanic, Robert E.; Day, Matthew P.; Chernew, Michael E.

2012-01-01

Seven provider organizations in Massachusetts entered the Blue Cross Blue Shield Alternative Quality Contract in 2009, followed by four more organizations in 2010. This contract, based on a global budget and pay-for-performance for achieving certain quality benchmarks, places providers at risk for excessive spending and rewards them for quality, similar to the new Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations in Medicare. We analyzed changes in spending and quality associated with the Alternative Quality Contract and found that the rate of increase in spending slowed compared to control groups. Overall, participation in the contract over two years led to a savings of 3.3% (1.9% in year-1, 3.3% in year-2) compared to spending in groups not participating in the contract. The savings were even higher for groups whose previous experience had been only in fee-for-service contracting. Such groups’ quarterly savings over two years averaged 8.2% (6.3% in year-1, 9.9% in year-2). Quality of care also improved within organizations participating in the Alternative Quality Contract compared to control organizations in both years. Chronic care management, adult preventive care, and pediatric care improved from year 1 to year 2 within the contracting groups. These results suggest that global budgets coupled with pay-for-performance can begin to slow the underlying growth in medical spending while improving quality. PMID:22786651

A global numerical solution of the radial Schroedinger equation by second-order perturbation theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adam, G.

1979-01-01

A global numerical method, which uses second-order perturbation theory, is described for the solution of the radial Schroedinger equation. The perturbative numerical (PN) solution is derived in two stages: first, the original potential is approximated by a piecewise continuous parabolic function, and second, the resulting Schroedinger equation is solved on each integration step by second-order perturbation theory, starting with a step function reference approximation for the parabolic potential. We get a manageable PN algorithm, which shows an order of accuracy equal to six in the solution of the original Schroedinger equation, and is very stable against round off errors. (author)

The absence of global positive solutions of systems of semilinear elliptic inequalities in cones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laptev, G G

2000-01-01

Let K be a cone in R N , N>=2. We establish conditions for the absence of global non-trivial non-negative solutions of semilinear elliptic inequalities and systems of inequalities of the form -div(|x| α Du)>=|x| β u q , u| ∂K =0. We find the critical exponent q* that divides the domains of existence of these solutions from those of their absence. We prove that in the limiting case q=q* there are no solutions. The method is to multiply the system by a special factor and integrate the inequalities thus obtained

Quality of life after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis: an evaluation of diet and other factors using the Cleveland Global Quality of Life instrument.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Coffey, J C

2012-02-03

PURPOSE: Although functional results after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis are excellent, imperfections of function do occur. In this setting, quality-of-life assessment is an invaluable tool in determining overall therapeutic efficacy. We evaluated the impact of dietary restrictions, preoperative diagnosis (ulcerative colitis vs. familial adenomatous polyposis), and pregnancy (after pouch insertion) on quality of life. METHODS: After ethical approval, 64 patients were reviewed (mean age, 31 (range, 15-54) years). Long-term quality of life in patients after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis was assessed using the Cleveland Global Quality of Life instrument or Fazio score. The Cleveland Global Quality of Life score is a novel quality-of-life instrument specifically designed for patients with ileal pouches. Stool frequency and continence were recorded to establish the functional status of this group. RESULTS: Sixty-one patients (95.3 percent) complained of some form of dietary restriction and adopted a fixed dietary regimen. All such patients felt that a breach of this regimen would impinge significantly on their quality of life. Late eating and alcohol were associated with diarrhea, whereas smoking was not. Constipation was infrequently reported. The mean Cleveland Global Quality of Life score of patients with ulcerative colitis (0.81 +\\/- 0.13) was greater than that of patients with ulcerative colitis and a background of pouchitis (0.78 +\\/- 0.16; P = 0.042). Whereas postoperative stool frequency in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis was always higher than the preoperative level (4 vs. 2 movements per day; P = 0.04), the Cleveland Global Quality of Life score of this group was lower than that of ulcerative colitis patients (0.77 vs. 0.81; P = 0.047). The Cleveland Global Quality of Life score of females who had had pregnancies after pouch formation was 0.70, significantly lower (P = 0.039) than that of ulcerative colitis patients, although pouch function was

Global Classical Solutions for Partially Dissipative Hyperbolic System of Balance Laws

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jiang; Kawashima, Shuichi

2014-02-01

The basic existence theory of Kato and Majda enables us to obtain local-in-time classical solutions to generally quasilinear hyperbolic systems in the framework of Sobolev spaces (in x) with higher regularity. However, it remains a challenging open problem whether classical solutions still preserve well-posedness in the case of critical regularity. This paper is concerned with partially dissipative hyperbolic system of balance laws. Under the entropy dissipative assumption, we establish the local well-posedness and blow-up criterion of classical solutions in the framework of Besov spaces with critical regularity with the aid of the standard iteration argument and Friedrichs' regularization method. Then we explore the theory of function spaces and develop an elementary fact that indicates the relation between homogeneous and inhomogeneous Chemin-Lerner spaces (mixed space-time Besov spaces). This fact allows us to capture the dissipation rates generated from the partial dissipative source term and further obtain the global well-posedness and stability by assuming at all times the Shizuta-Kawashima algebraic condition. As a direct application, the corresponding well-posedness and stability of classical solutions to the compressible Euler equations with damping are also obtained.

A multi-model assessment of the co-benefits of climate mitigation for global air quality

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rao, Shilpa; Klimont, Zbigniew; Leitao, Joana; Riahi, Keywan; van Dingenen, Rita; Aleluia Reis, Lara; Calvin, Katherine; Dentener, Frank; Drouet, Laurent; Fujimori, Shinichiro; Harmsen, Mathijs; Luderer, Gunnar; Heyes, Chris; Strefler, Jessica; Tavoni, Massimo; van Vuuren, Detlef P.

2016-01-01

We present a model comparison study that combines multiple integrated assessment models with a reduced-form global air quality model to assess the potential co-benefits of global climate mitigation policies in relation to the World Health Organization (WHO) goals on air quality and health. We

Global smooth solutions of 3-D null-form wave equations in exterior domains with Neumann boundary conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Jun, Li; Huicheng, Yin

2018-05-01

The paper is devoted to investigating long time behavior of smooth small data solutions to 3-D quasilinear wave equations outside of compact convex obstacles with Neumann boundary conditions. Concretely speaking, when the surface of a 3-D compact convex obstacle is smooth and the quasilinear wave equation fulfills the null condition, we prove that the smooth small data solution exists globally provided that the Neumann boundary condition on the exterior domain is given. One of the main ingredients in the current paper is the establishment of local energy decay estimates of the solution itself. As an application of the main result, the global stability to 3-D static compressible Chaplygin gases in exterior domain is shown under the initial irrotational perturbation with small amplitude.

The Solutions Project: Educating the Public and Policy Makers About Solutions to Global Warming, Air Pollution, and Energy Security

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobson, M. Z.

2015-12-01

Three major global problems of our times are global warming, air pollution mortality and morbidity, and energy insecurity. Whereas, policy makers with the support of the public must implement solutions to these problems, it is scientists and engineers who are best equipped to evaluate technically sound, optimal, and efficient solutions. Yet, a disconnect exists between information provided by scientists and engineers and policies implemented. Part of the reason is that scientific information provided to policy makers and the public is swamped out by information provided by lobbyists and another part is the difficulty in providing information to the hundreds of millions of people who need it rather than to just a few thousand. What other ways are available, aside from issuing press releases on scientific papers, for scientists to disseminate information? Three growing methods are through social media, creative media, and storytelling. The Solutions Project is a non-profit non-governmental organization whose goal is to bring forth scientific information about 100% clean, renewable energy plans to the public, businesses, and policy makers using these and related tools. Through the use of social media, the development of engaging internet and video content, and storytelling, the group hopes to increase the dissemination of information for social good. This talk discusses the history and impacts to date of this group and its methods. Please see www.thesolutionsproject.org and 100.org for more information.

Implementing the Gaia Astrometric Global Iterative Solution (AGIS) in Java

Science.gov (United States)

O'Mullane, William; Lammers, Uwe; Lindegren, Lennart; Hernandez, Jose; Hobbs, David

2011-10-01

This paper provides a description of the Java software framework which has been constructed to run the Astrometric Global Iterative Solution for the Gaia mission. This is the mathematical framework to provide the rigid reference frame for Gaia observations from the Gaia data itself. This process makes Gaia a self calibrated, and input catalogue independent, mission. The framework is highly distributed typically running on a cluster of machines with a database back end. All code is written in the Java language. We describe the overall architecture and some of the details of the implementation.

Wind energy systems solutions for power quality and stabilization

CERN Document Server

Ali, Mohd Hasan

2012-01-01

Unlike conventional power plants, wind plants emit no air pollutants or greenhouse gases--and wind energy is a free, renewable resource. However, the induction machines commonly used as wind generators have stability problems similar to the transient stability of synchronous machines. To minimize power, frequency, and voltage fluctuations caused by network faults or random wind speed variations, control mechanisms are necessary. Wind Energy Systems: Solutions for Power Quality and Stabilization clearly explains how to solve stability and power quality issues of wind generator systems. Covering

Global existence and decay of solutions of the Cauchy problem in thermoelasticity with second sound

KAUST Repository

Kasimov, Aslan R.; Racke, Reinhard; Said-Houari, Belkacem

2013-01-01

We consider the one-dimensional Cauchy problem in non-linear thermoelasticity with second sound, where the heat conduction is modelled by Cattaneo's law. After presenting decay estimates for solutions to the linearized problem, including refined estimates for data in weighted Lebesgue-spaces, we prove a global existence theorem for small data together with improved decay estimates, in particular for derivatives of the solutions. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.

Global Air Quality and Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Fiore, Arlene M.; Naik, Vaishali; Steiner, Allison; Unger, Nadine; Bergmann, Dan; Prather, Michael; Righi, Mattia; Rumbold, Steven T.; Shindell, Drew T.; Skeie, Ragnhild B.;

Asymptotic profile of global solutions to the generalized double dispersion equation via the nonlinear term

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yu-Zhu; Wei, Changhua

2018-04-01

In this paper, we investigate the initial value problem for the generalized double dispersion equation in R^n. Weighted decay estimate and asymptotic profile of global solutions are established for n≥3 . The global existence result was already proved by Kawashima and the first author in Kawashima and Wang (Anal Appl 13:233-254, 2015). Here, we show that the nonlinear term plays an important role in this asymptotic profile.

Food Consumption and its Impact on Cardiovascular Disease: Importance of Solutions Focused on the Globalized Food System

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Anand, Sonia S.; Hawkes, Corinna; Souza, De Russell J.; Mente, Andrew; Dehghan, Mahshid; Nugent, Rachel; Zulyniak, Michael A.; Weis, Tony; Bernstein, Adam M.; Krauss, Ronald M.; Kromhout, Daan; Jenkins, David J.A.; Malik, Vasanti; Martinez-Gonzalez, Miguel A.; Mozaffarian, Dariush; Yusuf, Salim; Willett, Walter C.; Popkin, Barry M.

2015-01-01

Major scholars in the field, on the basis of a 3-day consensus, created an in-depth review of current knowledge on the role of diet in cardiovascular disease (CVD), the changing global food system and global dietary patterns, and potential policy solutions. Evidence from different countries and

Global existence and decay of solutions of the Cauchy problem in thermoelasticity with second sound

KAUST Repository

Kasimov, Aslan R.

2013-06-04

We consider the one-dimensional Cauchy problem in non-linear thermoelasticity with second sound, where the heat conduction is modelled by Cattaneo\\'s law. After presenting decay estimates for solutions to the linearized problem, including refined estimates for data in weighted Lebesgue-spaces, we prove a global existence theorem for small data together with improved decay estimates, in particular for derivatives of the solutions. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.

78 FR 10181 - Global Quality Systems-An Integrated Approach To Improving Medical Product Safety; Public Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-13

...] Global Quality Systems--An Integrated Approach To Improving Medical Product Safety; Public Workshop... (AFDO), is announcing a public workshop entitled ``Global Quality Systems--An Integrated Approach to... topics concerning FDA requirements related to the production and marketing of drugs and/or devices...

Hydrogen as a renewable and sustainable solution in reducing global fossil fuel consumption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Midilli, Adnan; Dincer, Ibrahim

2008-01-01

In this paper, hydrogen is considered as a renewable and sustainable solution for reducing global fossil fuel consumption and combating global warming and studied exergetically through a parametric performance analysis. The environmental impact results are then compared with the ones obtained for fossil fuels. In this regard, some exergetic expressions are derived depending primarily upon the exergetic utilization ratios of fossil fuels and hydrogen: the fossil fuel based global waste exergy factor, hydrogen based global exergetic efficiency, fossil fuel based global irreversibility coefficient and hydrogen based global exergetic indicator. These relations incorporate predicted exergetic utilization ratios for hydrogen energy from non-fossil fuel resources such as water, etc., and are used to investigate whether or not exergetic utilization of hydrogen can significantly reduce the fossil fuel based global irreversibility coefficient (ranging from 1 to +∞) indicating the fossil fuel consumption and contribute to increase the hydrogen based global exergetic indicator (ranging from 0 to 1) indicating the hydrogen utilization at a certain ratio of fossil fuel utilization. In order to verify all these exergetic expressions, the actual fossil fuel consumption and production data are taken from the literature. Due to the unavailability of appropriate hydrogen data for analysis, it is assumed that the utilization ratios of hydrogen are ranged between 0 and 1. For the verification of these parameters, the variations of fossil fuel based global irreversibility coefficient and hydrogen based global exergetic indicator as the functions of fossil fuel based global waste exergy factor, hydrogen based global exergetic efficiency and exergetic utilization of hydrogen from non-fossil fuels are analyzed and discussed in detail. Consequently, if exergetic utilization ratio of hydrogen from non-fossil fuel sources at a certain exergetic utilization ratio of fossil fuels increases

The global nephrology workforce: emerging threats and potential solutions!

Science.gov (United States)

Sharif, Muhammad U; Elsayed, Mohamed E; Stack, Austin G

2016-02-01

Amidst the rising tide of chronic kidney disease (CKD) burden, the global nephrology workforce has failed to expand in order to meet the growing healthcare needs of this vulnerable patient population. In truth, this shortage of nephrologists is seen in many parts of the world, including North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and the African continent. Moreover, expert groups on workforce planning as well as national and international professional organizations predict further reductions in the nephrology workforce over the next decade, with potentially serious implications. Although the full impact of this has not been clearly articulated, what is clear is that the delivery of care to patients with CKD may be threatened in many parts of the world unless effective country-specific workforce strategies are put in place and implemented. Multiple factors are responsible for this apparent shortage in the nephrology workforce and the underpinning reasons may vary across health systems and countries. Potential contributors include the increasing burden of CKD, aging workforce, declining interest in nephrology among trainees, lack of exposure to nephrology among students and residents, rising cost of medical education and specialist training, increasing cultural and ethnic disparities between patients and care providers, increasing reliance on foreign medical graduates, inflexible work schedules, erosion of nephrology practice scope by other specialists, inadequate training, reduced focus on scholarship and research funds, increased demand to meet quality of care standards and the development of new care delivery models. It is apparent from this list that the solution is not simple and that a comprehensive evaluation is required. Consequently, there is an urgent need for all countries to develop a policy framework for the provision of kidney disease services within their health systems, a framework that is based on accurate projections of disease burden, a

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service: facilitating the prediction of air quality from global to local scales

Science.gov (United States)

Engelen, R. J.; Peuch, V. H.

2017-12-01

The European Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) operationally provides daily forecasts of global atmospheric composition and regional air quality. The global forecasting system is using ECMWF's Integrated Forecasting System (IFS), which is used for numerical weather prediction and which has been extended with modules for atmospheric chemistry, aerosols and greenhouse gases. The regional forecasts are produced by an ensemble of seven operational European air quality models that take their boundary conditions from the global system and provide an ensemble median with ensemble spread as their main output. Both the global and regional forecasting systems are feeding their output into air quality models on a variety of scales in various parts of the world. We will introduce the CAMS service chain and provide illustrations of its use in downstream applications. Both the usage of the daily forecasts and the usage of global and regional reanalyses will be addressed.

A Satellite-Based Multi-Pollutant Index of Global Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Mathew J.; Martin, Randall V.; vanDonkelaar, Aaron; Lamsal, Lok; Brauer, Michael; Brook, Jeffrey R.

2012-01-01

Air pollution is a major health hazard that is responsible formillions of annual excess deaths worldwide. Simpleindicators are useful for comparative studies and to asses strends over time. The development of global indicators hasbeen impeded by the lack of ground-based observations in vast regions of the world. Recognition is growing of the need for amultipollutant approach to air quality to better represent human exposure. Here we introduce the prospect of amultipollutant air quality indicator based on observations from satellite remote sensing.

An innovative nuclear reactor as a solution to global warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, Robson Silva da; Sefidvash, Farhang

2007-01-01

The problem of global warming is no longer a philosophical discussion, but it is a fact seriously threatening the future of humanity. In this paper a practical solution to the problem of global warming resulting from the fossil fuelled energy suppliers is presented. The energy conservation and alternative forms of energy such as solar, wind, and bio even though having important roles, do not satisfy the energy demand generated by an increasing world population that desires to increase its standard of living. The fission process in the nuclear reactors does not produce greenhouse gases that cause global warming. The new paradigm in nuclear energy is the future innovative reactors that meet the new standards set by the INPRO Program of the IAEA. One such a reactor is presented in this paper, namely the Fixed Bed Nuclear Reactor (FBNR) that is supported by the International Atomic Energy (IAEA) in its program of Small Reactors Without On-Site Refuelling (SRWOSR), being one of the four water cooled reactors in this program. The other three reactor concepts are PFPWR50 of Japan, BWRPB of Russia and AFPR-100 of USA. It is shown that the nuclear energy of the future is totally different than what is today in respect to safety, economics, environmental impact and proliferation. In this manner, the public perception of nuclear energy will change and its acceptability is promoted. (author)

QUALITY-RELATED FUNDING IN ROMANIAN HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGHOUT 2003 – 2011: A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriel-Alexandru Vîiu

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article explores quality-related funding and its global outcomes in the context of Romanian higher education by focusing on the funding allocations provided to public universities throughout a period of nine years based on their institutional performance on the quality indicators integrated in the funding algorithm. Global funding allocations between universities are analysed and a summative appraisal for the entire nine-year window is provided. The article also explores the relation between quality- related funding, institutional disciplinary profiles and the results of a comprehensive evaluation conducted in 2011 by the Ministry of Education to complete a classification of the universities. The main findings indicate a low overall impact of qualityrelated funding for many institutions, but also a clear pattern in which universities focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics overwhelmingly outperformed mixed institutions, as well as those focused on humanities, arts and social sciences. Furthermore, the global quality-related funding outcomes of the 2003 – 2011 period studied in the paper are shown to be significantly associated with the results of the 2011 classification

Global bifurcation of solutions of the mean curvature spacelike equation in certain Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker spacetimes

Science.gov (United States)

Dai, Guowei; Romero, Alfonso; Torres, Pedro J.

2018-06-01

We study the existence of spacelike graphs for the prescribed mean curvature equation in the Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) spacetime. By using a conformal change of variable, this problem is translated into an equivalent problem in the Lorentz-Minkowski spacetime. Then, by using Rabinowitz's global bifurcation method, we obtain the existence and multiplicity of positive solutions for this equation with 0-Dirichlet boundary condition on a ball. Moreover, the global structure of the positive solution set is studied.

Global solutions to the initial-boundary value problem for the quasilinear viscoelastic equation with a derivative nonlinearity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mitsuhiro Nakao

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We prove the existence and uniqueness of a global decaying solution to the initial boundary value problem for the quasilinear wave equation with Kelvin-Voigt dissipation and a derivative nonlinearity. To derive the required estimates of the solutions we employ a 'loan' method and use a difference inequality on the energy.

Existence and uniqueness of global solutions for the modified anisotropic 3D Navier−Stokes equations

KAUST Repository

Bessaih, Hakima; Trabelsi, Saber; Zorgati, Hamdi

2016-01-01

obeys the Darcy−Forchheimer law instead of the classical Darcy law. We prove global in time existence and uniqueness of solutions without assuming the smallness condition on the initial data. This improves the result obtained for the classical 3D

The existence of global solution and ''blow up'' phenomenon for the system of multi-dimensional symmetric regularized wave equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Boling.

1988-08-01

The existence and uniqueness of the global smooth solution for the initial-boundary value problem of the system of multi-dimensions SRWE are proved. The sufficient conditions of ''blowing up'' of the solution are given. (author). 6 refs

Global existence of periodic solutions of BAM neural networks with variable coefficients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guo Shangjiang; Huang Lihong; Dai Binxiang; Zhang Zhongzhi

2003-01-01

In this Letter, we study BAM (bidirectional associative memory) networks with variable coefficients. By some spectral theorems and a continuation theorem based on coincidence degree, we not only obtain some new sufficient conditions ensuring the existence, uniqueness, and global exponential stability of the periodic solution but also estimate the exponentially convergent rate. Our results are less restrictive than previously known criteria and can be applied to neural networks with a broad range of activation functions assuming neither differentiability nor strict monotonicity. Moreover, these conclusions are presented in terms of system parameters and can be easily verified for the globally Lipschitz and the spectral radius being less than 1. Therefore, our results should be useful in the design and applications of periodic oscillatory neural circuits for neural networks with delays

Global Influences on National Definitions of Quality Education: Examples from Spain and Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, Laura C.; Rutkowski, David

2014-01-01

There is increasing attention worldwide to advancing quality education. Beyond a rhetorical aim, many international organizations and national education systems have articulated a commitment to promoting measures of quality education through the development of educational indicators. This article broadly explores the global influences on national…

Global existence of periodic solutions on a simplified BAM neural network model with delays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng Baodong; Zhang Yazhuo; Zhang Chunrui

2008-01-01

A simplified n-dimensional BAM neural network model with delays is considered. Some results of Hopf bifurcations occurring at the zero equilibrium as the delay increases are exhibited. Global existence of periodic solutions are established using a global Hopf bifurcation result of Wu [Wu J. Symmetric functional-differential equations and neural networks with memory. Trans Am Math Soc 1998;350:4799-838], and a Bendixson criterion for higher dimensional ordinary differential equations due to Li and Muldowney [Li MY, Muldowney J. On Bendixson's criterion. J Differ Equations 1994;106:27-39]. Finally, computer simulations are performed to illustrate the analytical results found

Transport of Aerosols: Regional and Global Implications for Climate, Weather, and Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Mian; Diehl, Thomas; Yu, Hongbin; Bian, Huisheng; Remer, Lorraine; Kahn, Ralph

2008-01-01

Long-range transport of atmospheric aerosols can have a significant impact on global climate, regional weather, and local air quality. In this study, we use a global model GOCART together with satellite data and ground-based measurements to assess the emission and transport of pollution, dust, biomass burning, and volcanic aerosols and their implications. In particular, we will show the impact of emissions and long-range transport of aerosols from major pollution and dust source regions to (1) the surface air quality, (2) the atmospheric heating rates, and (3) surface radiation change near the source and downwind regions.

Solution standards for quality control of nuclear-material analytical measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Clark, J.P.

1981-01-01

Analytical chemistry measurement control depends upon reliable solution standards. At the Savannah River Plant Control Laboratory over a thousand analytical measurements are made daily for process control, product specification, accountability, and nuclear safety. Large quantities of solution standards are required for a measurement quality control program covering the many different analytical chemistry methods. Savannah River Plant produced uranium, plutonium, neptunium, and americium metals or oxides are dissolved to prepare stock solutions for working or Quality Control Standards (QCS). Because extensive analytical effort is required to characterize or confirm these solutions, they are prepared in large quantities. These stock solutions are diluted and blended with different chemicals and/or each other to synthesize QCS that match the matrices of different process streams. The target uncertainty of a standard's reference value is 10% of the limit of error of the methods used for routine measurements. Standard Reference Materials from NBS are used according to special procedures to calibrate the methods used in measuring the uranium and plutonium standards so traceability can be established. Special precautions are required to minimize the effects of temperature, radiolysis, and evaporation. Standard reference values are periodically corrected to eliminate systematic errors caused by evaporation or decay products. Measurement control is achieved by requiring analysts to analyze a blind QCS each shift a measurement system is used on plant samples. Computer evaluation determines whether or not a measurement is within the +- 3 sigma control limits. Monthly evaluations of the QCS measurements are made to determine current bias correction factors for accountability measurements and detect significant changes in the bias and precision statistics. The evaluations are also used to plan activities for improving the reliability of the analytical chemistry measurements

Global solutions to the electrodynamic two-body problem on a straight line

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, G.; Deckert, D.-A.; Dürr, D.; Hinrichs, G.

2017-06-01

The classical electrodynamic two-body problem has been a long standing open problem in mathematics. For motion constrained to the straight line, the interaction is similar to that of the two-body problem of classical gravitation. The additional complication is the presence of unbounded state-dependent delays in the Coulomb forces due to the finiteness of the speed of light. This circumstance renders the notion of local solutions meaningless, and therefore, straightforward ODE techniques cannot be applied. Here, we study the time-symmetric case, i.e., the Fokker-Schwarzschild-Tetrode (FST) equations, comprising both advanced and retarded delays. We extend the technique developed in Deckert and Hinrichs (J Differ Equ 260:6900-6929, 2016), where existence of FST solutions was proven on the half line, to ensure global existence—a result that had been obtained by Bauer (Ein Existenzsatz für die Wheeler-Feynman-Elektrodynamik, Herbert Utz Verlag, München, 1997). Due to the novel technique, the presented proof is shorter and more transparent but also relies on the idea to employ asymptotic data to characterize solutions.

Global existence of periodic solutions in a simplified four-neuron BAM neural network model with multiple delays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2006-01-01

Full Text Available We consider a simplified bidirectional associated memory (BAM neural network model with four neurons and multiple time delays. The global existence of periodic solutions bifurcating from Hopf bifurcations is investigated by applying the global Hopf bifurcation theorem due to Wu and Bendixson's criterion for high-dimensional ordinary differential equations due to Li and Muldowney. It is shown that the local Hopf bifurcation implies the global Hopf bifurcation after the second critical value of the sum of two delays. Numerical simulations supporting the theoretical analysis are also included.

A globally convergent and closed analytical solution of the Blasius equation with beneficial applications

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jun; Han, Xinyue; Wang, ZhenTao; Li, Changfeng; Zhang, Jiazhong

2017-06-01

For about a century, people have been trying to seek for a globally convergent and closed analytical solution (CAS) of the Blasius Equation (BE). In this paper, we proposed a formally satisfied solution which could be parametrically expressed by two power series. Some analytical results of the laminar boundary layer of a flat plate, that were not analytically given in former studies, e.g. the thickness of the boundary layer and higher order derivatives, could be obtained based on the solution. Besides, the heat transfer in the laminar boundary layer of a flat plate with constant temperature could also be analytically formulated. Especially, the solution of the singular situation with Prandtl number Pr=0, which seems impossible to be analyzed in prior studies, could be given analytically. The method for finding the CAS of Blasius equation was also utilized in the problem of the boundary layer regulation through wall injection and slip velocity on the wall surface.

Using a biocultural approach to examine migration/globalization, diet quality, and energy balance.

Science.gov (United States)

Himmelgreen, David A; Cantor, Allison; Arias, Sara; Romero Daza, Nancy

2014-07-01

The aim of this paper is to examine the role and impact that globalization and migration (e.g., intra-/intercontinental, urban/rural, and circular) have had on diet patterns, diet quality, and energy balance as reported on in the literature during the last 20 years. Published literature from the fields of anthropology, public health, nutrition, and other disciplines (e.g., economics) was collected and reviewed. In addition, case studies from the authors' own research are presented in order to elaborate on key points and dietary trends identified in the literature. While this review is not intended to be comprehensive, the findings suggest that the effects of migration and globalization on diet quality and energy balance are neither lineal nor direct, and that the role of social and physical environments, culture, social organization, and technology must be taken into account to better understand this relationship. Moreover, concepts such as acculturation and the nutrition transition do not necessarily explain or adequately describe all of the global processes that shape diet quality and energy balance. Theories from nutritional anthropology and critical bio-cultural medical anthropology are used to tease out some of these complex interrelationships. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

76 FR 10892 - Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change: Challenges of Conducting Multi-Stressor...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-28

...: EPA is announcing the release of the draft report titled, ``Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and... relative vulnerability of water quality and aquatic ecosystems, across the United States, to the potential... mailing address, and the document title, ``Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change...

Global existence of solutions for semilinear damped wave equation in 2-D exterior domain

Science.gov (United States)

Ikehata, Ryo

We consider a mixed problem of a damped wave equation utt-Δ u+ ut=| u| p in the two dimensional exterior domain case. Small global in time solutions can be constructed in the case when the power p on the nonlinear term | u| p satisfies p ∗=2Japon. 55 (2002) 33) plays an effective role.

Existence and non-uniqueness of global weak solutions to inviscid primitive and Boussinesq equations

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Chiodaroli, E.; Michálek, Martin

2017-01-01

Roč. 353, č. 3 (2017), s. 1201-1216 ISSN 0010-3616 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 320078 - MATHEF Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Boussinesq equations * global weak solutions Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics Impact factor: 2.500, year: 2016 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00220-017-2846-5

Quality check carried out by bricklayers –An E-business solution in a chaotic environment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Koch, Christian; Vogelius, Peter

2006-01-01

E-business solutions with mobile elements receives increasing attention. The paper evaluates a system within management of quality in architecture, engineering and construction businesses as a test- success which however does not embed in the industry due to a laissez faire type of IT......-governance. This renders a perspective of Demingian quality development supported by E-business solutions and carried out by craftsmen less likely despite a fertile Scandinavian context....

Parallel processing and non-uniform grids in global air quality modeling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berkvens, P.J.F.; Bochev, Mikhail A.

2002-01-01

A large-scale global air quality model, running efficiently on a single vector processor, is enhanced to make more realistic and more long-term simulations feasible. Two strategies are combined: non-uniform grids and parallel processing. The communication through the hierarchy of non-uniform grids

The Effects of Silk Protein Solution on Quality of Mangosteen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Phadvibulya, Valailak; Sudatis, Boonya; Panyarum, Kanyarat; Junsaithong, Mayuree; Kerdchoechuen, Orapin

2011-06-01

Full text: Sericin silk protein solution prepared from irradiated silk waste was applied as a wax coating on mangosteen fruits but was found not appropriate. Nonetheless, when the solution was sprayed onto fruits from the setting stage till maturity, it enhanced the fruit quality. Fruits showed a bigger stalk and greener, thicker and larger-angled calyx than untreated ones. They were edible after being kept at 25 C for 3 to 4 weeks. Fruits sprayed with the silk protein solution and untreated fruits were separately harvested and packed for export. A half of them were irradiated with gamma radiation for insect eradication and then kept at 10 C with 80 percents relative humidity. The unirradiated half was stored similarly. Results showed that rind color of irradiated fruits changed slower than unirradiated ones. However, silk protein solution spraying and irradiation did not affect fruit firmness and total soluble solids of mangosteen flesh. For sensory evaluation, it was found that sprayed and irradiated fruits showed no differences from the untreated ones in their physical properties, color, taste and odor. Fruits sprayed with the silk protein solution without irradiation had the longest shelf life of 6 weeks

The Effects of Silk Protein Solution on Quality of Mangosteen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Phadvibulya, Valailak; Sudatis, Boonya; Panyarum, Kanyarat; Junsaithong, Mayuree [Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology, Nakhon Nayok, (Thailand); Kerdchoechuen, Orapin [School of Bioresources and Technology, King Mongkuts University, Bangkok (Thailand)

2011-06-15

Full text: Sericin silk protein solution prepared from irradiated silk waste was applied as a wax coating on mangosteen fruits but was found not appropriate. Nonetheless, when the solution was sprayed onto fruits from the setting stage till maturity, it enhanced the fruit quality. Fruits showed a bigger stalk and greener, thicker and larger-angled calyx than untreated ones. They were edible after being kept at 25{sup C} for 3 to 4 weeks. Fruits sprayed with the silk protein solution and untreated fruits were separately harvested and packed for export. A half of them were irradiated with gamma radiation for insect eradication and then kept at 10{sup C} with 80 percents relative humidity. The unirradiated half was stored similarly. Results showed that rind color of irradiated fruits changed slower than unirradiated ones. However, silk protein solution spraying and irradiation did not affect fruit firmness and total soluble solids of mangosteen flesh. For sensory evaluation, it was found that sprayed and irradiated fruits showed no differences from the untreated ones in their physical properties, color, taste and odor. Fruits sprayed with the silk protein solution without irradiation had the longest shelf life of 6 weeks.

Dispositional Optimism and Terminal Decline in Global Quality of Life

Science.gov (United States)

Zaslavsky, Oleg; Palgi, Yuval; Rillamas-Sun, Eileen; LaCroix, Andrea Z.; Schnall, Eliezer; Woods, Nancy F.; Cochrane, Barbara B.; Garcia, Lorena; Hingle, Melanie; Post, Stephen; Seguin, Rebecca; Tindle, Hilary; Shrira, Amit

2015-01-01

We examined whether dispositional optimism relates to change in global quality of life (QOL) as a function of either chronological age or years to impending death. We used a sample of 2,096 deceased postmenopausal women from the Women's Health Initiative clinical trials who were enrolled in the 2005-2010 Extension Study and for whom at least 1…

Global existence of weak solutions to dissipative transport equations with nonlocal velocity

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Hantaek; Granero-Belinchón, Rafael; Lazar, Omar

2018-04-01

We consider 1D dissipative transport equations with nonlocal velocity field: where is a nonlocal operator given by a Fourier multiplier. We especially consider two types of nonlocal operators: (1) , the Hilbert transform, (2) . In this paper, we show several global existence of weak solutions depending on the range of γ, δ and α. When , we take initial data having finite energy, while we take initial data in weighted function spaces (in the real variables or in the Fourier variables), which have infinite energy, when .

Managing Food Quality Risk in Global Supply Chain: A Risk Management Framework

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Jose Arevalo Chavez

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Today, the food sector is one of the sectors most vulnerable to intentional contamination by debilitating agents [1]. Some cases of contaminated food have indicated that product quality risk is one of the vulnerabilities in the global supply chain. A series of company scandals, affecting reputation and causing the recall of products and increasing costs have hit the food industry. The obvious problem is that even a minor incident in one part of the chain can have disastrous effects on other parts of the supply chain. Thus, risks are transmitted through the chain. Even though the dangers from members in the supply chain are small, the cumulative effect becomes significant. The aim of this study is to propose an integrated supply chain risk management framework for practitioners that can provide directions for how to evaluate food quality risk in the global supply chain. For validating the proposed model in‐depth, a case study is conducted on a food SME distributor in Central America. The case study investigates how product quality risks are handled according to the proposed framework.

Results from a global survey of contact lens-wearer satisfaction with OPTI-FREE® PureMoist® Multi-Purpose Disinfecting Solution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lemp J

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Jessie Lemp, Jami R Kern Global Medical Affairs, Alcon Laboratories, Inc, Fort Worth, Texas, USA Purpose: The objective of the study reported here was to obtain information on acceptance and satisfaction with OPTI-FREE® PureMoist® Multi-Purpose Disinfecting Solution (MPDS from contact lens wearers globally. Methods: Eligible contact lens wearers provided baseline demographic and lens-wear-regimen information, and advised their ocular dryness/discomfort level and current lens-wear experience. Volunteers received OPTI-FREE PureMoist MPDS and a survey consisting of ten statements about the trial solution. Volunteers were instructed to use the solution daily and to complete the survey after 2 weeks of use. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted on data from the entire group, from the subset of respondents reporting ocular dryness and/or discomfort at trial initiation (symptomatic subgroup, and from each geographic region. Results: Volunteers from nine countries returned 10,610 surveys, in which 50% of respondents classified themselves as having ocular dryness/discomfort. Lens comfort and visual performance responses from the total population and the symptomatic subgroup were significantly more positive after 2 weeks of OPTI-FREE PureMoist use than at baseline, irrespective of the habitual lens-care solution. In the USA, Southeast Asia, and Europe, 14% to 20% more respondents reported that their contact lenses provided all-day comfort after 2 weeks of OPTI-FREE PureMoist use compared with baseline (P<0.0001. Australia reported 31% more patients with all-day comfort after OPTI-FREE PureMoist use (P<0.0001. Approximately four out of five respondents from both populations reported their intent to continue using OPTI-FREE PureMoist. Globally, 39% of all respondents and 58% of symptomatic respondents experienced reduced end-of-day dryness with their contact lenses after use of OPTI-FREE PureMoist (P<0.0001. Conclusion: Results from this large

Global-in-time smoothness of solutions to the vacuum free boundary problem for compressible isentropic Navier–Stokes equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeng, Huihui

2015-01-01

In this paper we establish the global existence of smooth solutions to vacuum free boundary problems of the one-dimensional compressible isentropic Navier–Stokes equations for which the smoothness extends all the way to the boundaries. The results obtained in this work include the physical vacuum for which the sound speed is C 1/2 -Hölder continuous near the vacuum boundaries when 1 < γ < 3. The novelty of this result is its global-in-time regularity which is in contrast to the previous main results of global weak solutions in the literature. Moreover, in previous studies of the one-dimensional free boundary problems of compressible Navier–Stokes equations, the Lagrangian mass coordinates method has often been used, but in the present work the particle path (flow trajectory) method is adopted, which has the advantage that the particle paths and, in particular, the free boundaries can be traced. (paper)

Managing globally distributed expertise with new competence management solutions a big-science collaboration as a pilot case.

CERN Document Server

Ferguson, J; Livan, M; Nordberg, M; Salmia, T; Vuola, O

2003-01-01

In today's global organisations and networks, a critical factor for effective innovation and project execution is appropriate competence and skills management. The challenges include selection of strategic competences, competence development, and leveraging the competences and skills to drive innovation and collaboration for shared goals. This paper presents a new industrial web-enabled competence management and networking solution and its implementation and piloting in a complex big-science environment of globally distributed competences.

Existence and global attractivity of positive periodic solutions of periodic n-species Lotka-Volterra competition systems with several deviating arguments.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, M; Wang, K; Jiang, D

1999-08-01

In this paper, we study the existence and global attractivity of positive periodic solutions of periodic n-species Lotka-Volterra competition systems. By using the method of coincidence degree and Lyapunov functional, a set of easily verifiable sufficient conditions are derived for the existence of at least one strictly positive (componentwise) periodic solution of periodic n-species Lotka-Volterra competition systems with several deviating arguments and the existence of a unique globally asymptotically stable periodic solution with strictly positive components of periodic n-species Lotka-Volterra competition system with several delays. Some new results are obtained. As an application, we also examine some special cases of the system we considered, which have been studied extensively in the literature. Some known results are improved and generalized.

Existence and global attractivity of positive periodic solution for competition-predator system with variable delays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Hongyong; Ding Nan

2006-01-01

In this paper, Lotka-Volterra competition-predator system with variable delays is considered. Some sufficient conditions ensuring the existence and global attractivity of periodic solution for this system are obtained by using coincidence degree theory and Lyapunov functional method. An example is also worked out to demonstrate the advantages of our results

Global well-posedness and asymptotic behavior of the solutions to non-classical thermo(visco)elastic models

CERN Document Server

Qin, Yuming

2016-01-01

This book presents recent findings on the global existence, the uniqueness and the large-time behavior of global solutions of thermo(vis)coelastic systems and related models arising in physics, mechanics and materials science such as thermoviscoelastic systems, thermoelastic systems of types II and III, as well as Timoshenko-type systems with past history. Part of the book is based on the research conducted by the authors and their collaborators in recent years. The book will benefit interested beginners in the field and experts alike.

Global well-posedness and asymptotic behavior of solutions for the three-dimensional MHD equations with Hall and ion-slip effects

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xiaopeng; Zhu, Mingxuan

2018-04-01

In this paper, we consider the small initial data global well-posedness of solutions for the magnetohydrodynamics with Hall and ion-slip effects in R^3. In addition, we also establish the temporal decay estimates for the weak solutions. With these estimates in hand, we study the algebraic time decay for higher-order Sobolev norms of small initial data solutions.

Avian Influenza: a global threat needing a global solution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koh GCH

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract There have been three influenza pandemics since the 1900s, of which the 1919–1919 flu pandemic had the highest mortality rates. The influenza virus infects both humans and birds, and mutates using two mechanisms: antigenic drift and antigenic shift. Currently, the H5N1 avian flu virus is limited to outbreaks among poultry and persons in direct contact to infected poultry, but the mortality rate among infected humans is high. Avian influenza (AI is endemic in Asia as a result of unregulated poultry rearing in rural areas. Such birds often live in close proximity to humans and this increases the chance of genetic re-assortment between avian and human influenza viruses which may produce a mutant strain that is easily transmitted between humans. Once this happens, a global pandemic is likely. Unlike SARS, a person with influenza infection is contagious before the onset of case-defining symptoms which limits the effectiveness of case isolation as a control strategy. Researchers have shown that carefully orchestrated of public health measures could potentially limit the spread of an AI pandemic if implemented soon after the first cases appear. To successfully contain and control an AI pandemic, both national and global strategies are needed. National strategies include source surveillance and control, adequate stockpiles of anti-viral agents, timely production of flu vaccines and healthcare system readiness. Global strategies such as early integrated response, curbing the disease outbreak at source, utilization of global resources, continuing research and open communication are also critical.

Global solutions of restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock theory from semidefinite programming with applications to strongly correlated quantum systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Veeraraghavan, Srikant; Mazziotti, David A

2014-03-28

We present a density matrix approach for computing global solutions of restricted open-shell Hartree-Fock theory, based on semidefinite programming (SDP), that gives upper and lower bounds on the Hartree-Fock energy of quantum systems. While wave function approaches to Hartree-Fock theory yield an upper bound to the Hartree-Fock energy, we derive a semidefinite relaxation of Hartree-Fock theory that yields a rigorous lower bound on the Hartree-Fock energy. We also develop an upper-bound algorithm in which Hartree-Fock theory is cast as a SDP with a nonconvex constraint on the rank of the matrix variable. Equality of the upper- and lower-bound energies guarantees that the computed solution is the globally optimal solution of Hartree-Fock theory. The work extends a previously presented method for closed-shell systems [S. Veeraraghavan and D. A. Mazziotti, Phys. Rev. A 89, 010502-R (2014)]. For strongly correlated systems the SDP approach provides an alternative to the locally optimized Hartree-Fock energies and densities with a certificate of global optimality. Applications are made to the potential energy curves of C2, CN, Cr2, and NO2.

Co-benefits of global and regional greenhouse gas mitigation for US air quality in 2050

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yuqiang; Bowden, Jared H.; Adelman, Zachariah; Naik, Vaishali; Horowitz, Larry W.; Smith, Steven J.; West, J. Jason

2016-08-01

Policies to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will not only slow climate change but can also have ancillary benefits of improved air quality. Here we examine the co-benefits of both global and regional GHG mitigation for US air quality in 2050 at fine resolution, using dynamical downscaling methods, building on a previous global co-benefits study (West et al., 2013). The co-benefits for US air quality are quantified via two mechanisms: through reductions in co-emitted air pollutants from the same sources and by slowing climate change and its influence on air quality, following West et al. (2013). Additionally, we separate the total co-benefits into contributions from domestic GHG mitigation vs. mitigation in foreign countries. We use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to dynamically downscale future global climate to the regional scale and the Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions (SMOKE) program to directly process global anthropogenic emissions to the regional domain, and we provide dynamical boundary conditions from global simulations to the regional Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. The total co-benefits of global GHG mitigation from the RCP4.5 scenario compared with its reference are estimated to be higher in the eastern US (ranging from 0.6 to 1.0 µg m^-3) than the west (0–0.4 µg m^-3) for fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), with an average of 0.47 µg m^-3 over the US; for O₃, the total co-benefits are more uniform at 2–5 ppb, with a US average of 3.55 ppb. Comparing the two mechanisms of co-benefits, we find that reductions in co-emitted air pollutants have a much greater influence on both PM_2.5 (96 % of the total co-benefits) and O₃ (89 % of the total) than the second co-benefits mechanism via slowing climate change, consistent with West et al. (2013). GHG mitigation from foreign countries contributes more to the US O₃ reduction

Global stability of almost periodic solution of shunting inhibitory cellular neural networks with variable coefficients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Ling; Zhao Hongyong

2008-01-01

The paper investigates the almost periodicity of shunting inhibitory cellular neural networks with delays and variable coefficients. Several sufficient conditions are established for the existence and globally exponential stability of almost periodic solutions by employing fixed point theorem and differential inequality technique. The results of this paper are new and they complement previously known results

A new unconditionally stable and consistent quasi-analytical in-stream water quality solution scheme for CSTR-based water quality simulators

Science.gov (United States)

Woldegiorgis, Befekadu Taddesse; van Griensven, Ann; Pereira, Fernando; Bauwens, Willy

2017-06-01

Most common numerical solutions used in CSTR-based in-stream water quality simulators are susceptible to instabilities and/or solution inconsistencies. Usually, they cope with instability problems by adopting computationally expensive small time steps. However, some simulators use fixed computation time steps and hence do not have the flexibility to do so. This paper presents a novel quasi-analytical solution for CSTR-based water quality simulators of an unsteady system. The robustness of the new method is compared with the commonly used fourth-order Runge-Kutta methods, the Euler method and three versions of the SWAT model (SWAT2012, SWAT-TCEQ, and ESWAT). The performance of each method is tested for different hypothetical experiments. Besides the hypothetical data, a real case study is used for comparison. The growth factors we derived as stability measures for the different methods and the R-factor—considered as a consistency measure—turned out to be very useful for determining the most robust method. The new method outperformed all the numerical methods used in the hypothetical comparisons. The application for the Zenne River (Belgium) shows that the new method provides stable and consistent BOD simulations whereas the SWAT2012 model is shown to be unstable for the standard daily computation time step. The new method unconditionally simulates robust solutions. Therefore, it is a reliable scheme for CSTR-based water quality simulators that use first-order reaction formulations.

The Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions and Vygotsky: Fostering Ecological Action and Environmental Citizenship

Science.gov (United States)

Lysack, Mishka

2009-01-01

The Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions is part of a larger socio-environmental movement concerned with combating climate change. Highlighting the history and elements of the teach-in as a model of learning, the article examines the teach-in movement, using a local event at the University of Calgary as an illustration. Conceptual resources from…

Childhood socioeconomic status and risk in early family environments: predictors of global sleep quality in college students.

Science.gov (United States)

Counts, Cory J; Grubin, Fiona C; John-Henderson, Neha A

2018-06-01

Low socioeconomic status (SES) in childhood associates with poor sleep quality in adulthood. Separately, childhood family environments shape health into adulthood. Here, we investigated whether these early life factors independently or interactively inform global sleep quality in college students. Cross-sectional. College students at a state university (N = 391). As a measure of childhood SES, we asked participants to consider their families' socioeconomic standing relative to the rest of the society during their childhood. We used the Risky Family questionnaire to measure adversity and the presence of warmth and affection in the family environment during childhood, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index as a measure of current global sleep quality. We used linear regressions adjusting for age and sex to examine relationships between childhood SES, risk in childhood family environments, and global sleep quality. Lower childhood SES and greater risk in childhood family environments independently predicted poor sleep quality. Importantly, in low-risk family environments, there was no significant difference in sleep quality as a function of childhood SES. However, students who were from low childhood SES backgrounds who also reported high levels of risk in their early family environments had the worst sleep quality. Findings highlight the importance of considering socioeconomic and family environments in childhood as informants of sleep quality across the lifespan. Compromised sleep quality in college students could affect academic performance and health over time. Copyright © 2018 National Sleep Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Isolation of high quality graphene from Ru by solution phase intercalation

Science.gov (United States)

Koren, E.; Sutter, E.; Bliznakov, S.; Ivars-Barcelo, F.; Sutter, P.

2013-09-01

We introduce a method for isolating graphene grown on epitaxial Ru(0001)/α-Al2O3. The strong graphene/Ru(0001) coupling is weakened by electrochemically driven intercalation of hydrogen underpotentially deposited in aqueous KOH solution, which allows the penetration of water molecules at the graphene/Ru(0001) interface. Following these electrochemically driven processes, the graphene can be isolated by electrochemical hydrogen evolution and transferred to arbitrary supports. Raman and transport measurements demonstrate the high quality of the transferred graphene. Our results show that intercalation, typically carried out in vacuum, can be extended to solution environments for graphene processing under ambient conditions.

Developing Information Services and Tools to Access and Evaluate Data Quality in Global Satellite-based Precipitation Products

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Z.; Shie, C. L.; Meyer, D. J.

2017-12-01

Global satellite-based precipitation products have been widely used in research and applications around the world. Compared to ground-based observations, satellite-based measurements provide precipitation data on a global scale, especially in remote continents and over oceans. Over the years, satellite-based precipitation products have evolved from single sensor and single algorithm to multi-sensors and multi-algorithms. As a result, many satellite-based precipitation products have been enhanced such as spatial and temporal coverages. With inclusion of ground-based measurements, biases of satellite-based precipitation products have been significantly reduced. However, data quality issues still exist and can be caused by many factors such as observations, satellite platform anomaly, algorithms, production, calibration, validation, data services, etc. The NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) is home to NASA global precipitation product archives including the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM), as well as other global and regional precipitation products. Precipitation is one of the top downloaded and accessed parameters in the GES DISC data archive. Meanwhile, users want to easily locate and obtain data quality information at regional and global scales to better understand how precipitation products perform and how reliable they are. As data service providers, it is necessary to provide an easy access to data quality information, however, such information normally is not available, and when it is available, it is not in one place and difficult to locate. In this presentation, we will present challenges and activities at the GES DISC to address precipitation data quality issues.

Custom power - the utility solution to distribution power quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woodley, N H [Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

1997-04-01

The design of custom power products for electric power distribution system was discussed. Problems with power quality that result in loss of production to critical processes are costly and create a problem for the customer as well as the electric utility. Westinghouse has developed power quality improvement equipment for customers and utilities, using new technologies based on power electronics concepts. The Distribution Static Compensator (DSTATCOM) is a fast response, solid-state power controller that provides flexible voltage control for improving power quality at the point of connection to the utility`s 4.16 to 69 kV distribution feeder. STATCOM is a larger version of the DSTATCOM that can be used to solve voltage flicker problems caused by electric arc furnaces. Westinghouse has also developed a Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) which protects a critical customer plant load from power system voltage disturbances. Solid-State Breakers (SSB) have also been developed which offer a solution to many of the distribution system problems that result in voltage sags, swells, and power outages. 6 refs., 8 figs.

Global exponential stability and existence of periodic solutions of CNNs with delays

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Meifang

2002-07-01

In this Letter, we establish general sufficient conditions for global exponential stability and existence of periodic solutions of a class of cellular neural networks (CNNs) with delays. The key to proving the sufficient conditions is the construction of a new Lyapunov functional. An elementary inequality, which may be of independent interest, has been employed in the proof. Checking the sufficient conditions is often reduced to checking some algebraic relations among certain set of parameter. Our sufficient conditions recover the known results in literature as special cases. Finally, we give two examples to illustrate the usage of our main results.

Quality assurance systems – the difficulties in providing a global unified system for Surveyors

OpenAIRE

Goodhead, Tim

2012-01-01

This paper will analyse the difficulties in providing a global quality assurance system for Surveyors. Using case studies from the United Kingdom and elsewhere opportunities for harmonising Quality Assurance systems will be explored. The difficulties in moving towards common quality assurance systems will be analysed. Possible alternatives in the form of the development a knowledge bank of mutual agreements and top up qualifications will be investigated. The paper also looks at the role of FI...

Existence of global solutions to free boundary value problems for bipolar Navier-Stokes-Possion systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Liu

2013-09-01

Full Text Available In this article, we consider the free boundary value problem for one-dimensional compressible bipolar Navier-Stokes-Possion (BNSP equations with density-dependent viscosities. For general initial data with finite energy and the density connecting with vacuum continuously, we prove the global existence of the weak solution. This extends the previous results for compressible NS [27] to NSP.

Global Dislocations, Network Solutions

OpenAIRE

Pisani, Francis; Arquilla, John

2004-01-01

Globalization is essentially an attempt to foster universal commercial, social and political norms of behavior in a world where diversity—in all areas of interaction—has always ruled. Naturally, the great transformation called for by this vision of interconnectedness sparks tensions with existing institutions and practices. Yet there is nothing predetermined about the ways in which these tensions will be played out in the coming years; and by understanding the causes of potential difficulti...

DaimlerChrysler - powertrain-strategy. Global requirements - global solutions; DaimlerChrysler - Powertrain-Strategie. Globale Anforderungen - Globale Loesungen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mikulic, L. [Mercedes Car Group, DaimlerChrysler AG, Mercedes-Benz Technology Center, Stuttgart (Germany); Lee, R. [DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Auburn Hills, MI (United States)

2007-07-01

'Globalization' - few concepts have shaped the last fifteen years like this has. For some it is a synonym for unexpected economic and social revolution, a threatening change in familiar arrangements, whilst others see the coalescence of global structures as, more than anything, a challenge - which, if mastered, offers endless possibilities for success. The challenges facing an automotive manufacturer in a globalized world are of quite a different nature. Not least, the constantly increasing competitive pressure has reduced the number of independent automotive manufacturers, in what is known as the Triad (Europe, Japan and North America), from 42 at the beginning of the 1960's to just 15 today. Also in Europe, consolidation has led, on the one hand, to a reduction in individual brands and on the other, to a number of collaborative projects between companies. Even in the dynamically growing East Asia markets, where the number of independent carmakers is still large, such collaborations have already occurred. In the near future much dynamics can be expected within the two fastest growing markets, China and India. Within these competitive markets, a globally operating company like DaimlerChrysler is faced with new challenges. (orig.)

GNAQPMS v1.1: accelerating the Global Nested Air Quality Prediction Modeling System (GNAQPMS) on Intel Xeon Phi processors

OpenAIRE

H. Wang; H. Wang; H. Wang; H. Wang; H. Chen; H. Chen; Q. Wu; Q. Wu; J. Lin; X. Chen; X. Xie; R. Wang; R. Wang; X. Tang; Z. Wang

2017-01-01

The Global Nested Air Quality Prediction Modeling System (GNAQPMS) is the global version of the Nested Air Quality Prediction Modeling System (NAQPMS), which is a multi-scale chemical transport model used for air quality forecast and atmospheric environmental research. In this study, we present the porting and optimisation of GNAQPMS on a second-generation Intel Xeon Phi processor, codenamed Knights Landing (KNL). Compared with the first-generation Xeon Phi coprocessor (code...

Impact of global climate change on regional air quality: Introduction to the thematic issue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vautard, R.; Hauglustaine, D.

2007-01-01

Despite the major international efforts devoted to the understanding and to the future estimate of global climate change and its impact on regional scale processes, the evolution of the atmospheric composition in a changing climate is far to be understood. In particular, the future evolution of the concentration of near-surface pollutants determining air quality at a scale affecting human health and ecosystems is a subject of intense scientific research. This thematic issue reviews the current scientific knowledge of the consequences of global climate change on regional air quality and its related impact on the biosphere and on human mortality. This article provides a presentation of the key issues, summarizes the current knowledge, and introduces the thematic issue. (authors)

Conceptualising Education Quality in Zambia: A Comparative Analysis across the Local, National and Global Discourses

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jeongmin; Zuilkowski, Stephanie Simmons

2017-01-01

Building on the Education for All movement, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development re-emphasises quality education as a discrete goal. Contextualising the discussion surrounding this goal in Zambia, this study examines how education quality is conceptualised by educational stakeholders at local, national, and global levels. Triangulating…

Global attractivity of positive periodic solution to periodic Lotka-Volterra competition systems with pure delay

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Xianhua; Cao, Daomin; Zou, Xingfu

We consider a periodic Lotka-Volterra competition system without instantaneous negative feedbacks (i.e., pure-delay systems) x(t)=x(t)[r(t)-∑j=1na(t)x(t-τ(t))], i=1,2,…,n. We establish some 3/2-type criteria for global attractivity of a positive periodic solution of the system, which generalize the well-known Wright's 3/2 criteria for the autonomous delay logistic equation, and thereby, address the open problem proposed by both Kuang [Y. Kuang, Global stability in delayed nonautonomous Lotka-Volterra type systems without saturated equilibria, Differential Integral Equations 9 (1996) 557-567] and Teng [Z. Teng, Nonautonomous Lotka-Volterra systems with delays, J. Differential Equations 179 (2002) 538-561].

Radioactively contaminated metallic materials: the search for a global solution; Materiales metalicos con contaminacion radiactiva: en busca de una solucion global

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanz, S.

2009-07-01

Radioactively contaminated metallic materials: the search for a global solution. Tarragona hosted the first International Conference on Control and Management of Inadvertent Radioactive Material in Metal Scrap, which was sponsored by the IAEA and organised by various Spanish entities, among them the CSN. The meeting served for the exchange of ideas and precautionary measures, a field in which Spain already has a long and recognised experience, and focussed on the voluntary Protocol, endorsed by the majority of the Spanish steelyards. (Author)

[The occupational physician as global consultant for implementing the quality systems].

Science.gov (United States)

Apostoli, P; Pugliese, F

2010-01-01

From many years the quality systems and the occupational prevention have been compared and connected both on theoretical and practical fields. The opportunity to discuss again and to deepen these themes appears to be mandatory to be able to govern the new working processes which shall follow the worldwide financial and productive crisis of last period and in our country to try to adequately apply the preventive norms 81/08 and 106/09. In this contribution we will deal with quality systems more intertwined with prevention (ISO 14000, EMAS, SA8000 and OHSAS 18001 and discuss in particular the role of with occupational physician in his meaning of global consultant for enterprise, a crucial technical figure in a typical multidisciplinary process as the implementation of the quality systems.

The existence and global exponential stability of a periodic solution of a class of delay differential equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, X H; Zou, Xingfu

2009-01-01

By employing Schauder's fixed point theorem and a non-Liapunov method (matrix theory, inequality analysis), we obtain some new criteria that ensure existence and global exponential stability of a periodic solution to a class of functional differential equations. Applying these criteria to a cellular neural network with time delays (delayed cellular neural network, DCNN) under a periodic environment leads to some new results that improve and generalize many existing ones we know on this topic. These results are of great significance in designs and applications of globally stable periodic DCNNs

Global stability, periodic solutions, and optimal control in a nonlinear differential delay model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anatoli F. Ivanov

2010-09-01

Full Text Available A nonlinear differential equation with delay serving as a mathematical model of several applied problems is considered. Sufficient conditions for the global asymptotic stability and for the existence of periodic solutions are given. Two particular applications are treated in detail. The first one is a blood cell production model by Mackey, for which new periodicity criteria are derived. The second application is a modified economic model with delay due to Ramsey. An optimization problem for a maximal consumption is stated and solved for the latter.

A Framework for Quality Assurance in Globalization of Higher Education: A View toward the Future

Science.gov (United States)

Job, Jennifer; Sriraman, Bharath

2013-01-01

In this paper we theorize a framework for discussing quality assurance of globalized models of education used internationally. The philosophical assumption that homogeneity of perspectives achieves objectivity in practice is argued against using the examples of (a) Brain drain, and (b) Profit over quality. We present a coherent real world scenario…

The new rules for global trade: certification of origin and quality for safety food

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geni Satiko Sato

2009-03-01

Full Text Available The objective of this article was to describe and to analyze the new context of the global markets for foods, with focus in the certifications of origin and quality, used mechanisms to guarantee the safe, differentiated, traceable food and without frauds. The methodology is characterized as exploratory and descriptive and searched to deepen some excellent concepts on the economy of the quality to agriculture. The complexity of global market and the technology innovations in agriculture and food processing, make the consumer and origin of production so far. The asymmetries of information on the product had grown and increased the transaction costs and, a form to manage the chain productive was to create mechanisms of identification and reputation of the product.

Contemporary Business Education: a Solution for Global Leadership Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tudor Cristian Ţiclău

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Education and professional development is considered central issues in civil service development and public administration reform. While this may be true, the content of such programs bears equal influence in skill acquirement, which in turn, has an impact on managerial performance (Perry, 1989. The contemporary economic and social environment poses numerous and complex challenges to public leaders, who need to be equipped with the adequate set of skills and competencies in order to have a proper response. The present paper aims to find out the whether the current educational programs from the business field can be a solution for preparing the next generation of public (and private leaders. My argument is that the latest developments in public management reform (New Public Management, Good Governance and Public Entrepreneurship combined with new demands for effectiveness, efficiency and high quality public services could increase the relevance of such programs. In support for this I presented a series of research results that point to a set of common leadership challenges that transcend the public-private divide. Finally I explored the offerings of the top 5 MBA programs in the world to see whether this is reflected in their educational programs. Not surprisingly, three out of the five programs analysed offer dual degree programs that combine business and public management education as a solution for the leadership challenges that lay ahead.

Nuclear energy as a contribution to the solution of energetic and environmental global problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huttl, A.

1993-01-01

The sharp population growth has turned energy and environment problems into global problems. The yearly consumption of primary energy in the world is currently 11 billion TCE (Tons of Coal Equivalent). At the present time 88.1% of energy supply is produced by fossil fuels and nuclear only 5.2%. Fossil fuels are responsible for air pollutants like SO 2 , NO, NO 2 , CO 2 , and VOC. Most of them are responsible of the Greenhouse effect and global warming. Only two solutions may avoid this situation: Renewable energies (sun, water and wind) and Nuclear Energy. At the end of 1990 there were 424 nuclear power plants in the world with 1800 million Tu/year of CO 2 avoided (8% of the total emitted). New future scenarios of CO 2 avoided may only be reached with nuclear power contribution

Existence and Globally Asymptotic Stability of Equilibrium Solution for Fractional-Order Hybrid BAM Neural Networks with Distributed Delays and Impulses

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Hai Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the existence and globally asymptotic stability of equilibrium solution for Riemann-Liouville fractional-order hybrid BAM neural networks with distributed delays and impulses. The factors of such network systems including the distributed delays, impulsive effects, and two different fractional-order derivatives between the U-layer and V-layer are taken into account synchronously. Based on the contraction mapping principle, the sufficient conditions are derived to ensure the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium solution for such network systems. By constructing a novel Lyapunov functional composed of fractional integral and definite integral terms, the globally asymptotic stability criteria of the equilibrium solution are obtained, which are dependent on the order of fractional derivative and network parameters. The advantage of our constructed method is that one may directly calculate integer-order derivative of the Lyapunov functional. A numerical example is also presented to show the validity and feasibility of the theoretical results.

Managing global responsibility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Saur, K. [Five Winds International, Donzdorf (Germany)

2004-07-01

The electronics industry in particular is a global industry. Local and regional solutions require a globally applicable product design and use global value chains. Operating in increasingly integrated material and product loops offers a unique solution to not only providing markets with compatible solutions, but also offer a chance to significantly reduce the environmental footprint of the industry. Product lifespan extension in emerging economies, utilization of local market needs, utilize available and affordable labour forces and creating wealth and capacity in developing countries may serve as a way to make industry more sustainable and successful. Both the supply side and the product end of life management need to be considered in this global industry. Intelligent solution support the dematerialization and material throughput and help creating markets and build wealth. Critical success factors include knowledge management, capacity building, developing infrastructure. This paper presents a discussion on a solutions oriented approach towards product life cycle management and stewardship combined with sustainable production and consumption considerations, support the industries aspirations and the UNEP Life Cycle Initiative's mission in a perfect manner. The aim of this paper is to offer approaches and develop ideas how economic viable and sustainable solutions can be developed. (orig.)

Chapter 6. Scaling Up Solutions to State, National and Global Levels

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Daniel Kammen

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Scaling-up solutions require learning and adapting lessons between locations and at different scales. To accomplish this, common metrics are vital to building a shared language. For California, this has meant careful financial, cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessment methods leading to carbon accounting in many avenues of government (via the Low Carbon Fuel Standard or the Cap and Trade program. These methods themselves interact, such as the use of carbon accounting for the resources needed to manage water and other key resources; the use of criteria air pollution monitoring to identify environmental injustices; and the use of carbon market revenues to address these inequalities, through investment in best available abatement technologies (BACT and in job creation in disadvantaged communities anticipated in the emerging clean energy sector.  Creating interdisciplinary partnerships across the UC Campuses and the National Laboratories to innovate science and technology is critical to scalable carbon neutrality solutions. As an example, we can build coordinated research and development programs across UC and California, with strong partnerships with the Federal government to coordinate and “multiply” resources that accelerate development and deployment. These partnerships should be strongly goal-focused, i.e., they are created to solve specific, large problems, to enable quantitatively measurable outcomes within energy generation, efficiency and CO2 abatement categories. Intersectoral partnerships should be fostered across campuses, laboratories, with state, federal and multi-lateral organizations funding to develop technologies and deploy solutions at scale. Integrated partnerships with industry are required to influence markets, deploy solutions, and create new industries and jobs.  Beyond California, we need to establish consortia with industry and foundations to deploy solutions at the regional, state, national, and international scale to

WHO global salm-surv external quality assurance system (EQAS): an important step toward improving the quality of Salmonella serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility testing worldwide

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, A.; Aarestrup, Frank Møller; Angulo, F. J.

2002-01-01

% of the results were correct. For susceptibility testing, 92% of the results were in agreement with the expected results. However, only 78% of the performed tests with the E. coli ATCC 25922 reference strain were within the quality control range specified by National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards...... susceptibility testing through international training courses and an External Quality Assurance System (EQAS). In 2000, 44 WHO Global Salm-Surv member laboratories from 35 countries determined the serotype and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern for eight "blinded" Salmonella isolates. For serotyping, 73...... (NCCLS) guidelines. These EQAS results demonstrate the need for further training to improve the performance of some of the laboratories. WHO Global Salm-Surv activities, including international training courses and EQAS, represent an important step toward improving the quality of Salmonella serotyping...

Solutions for the food processing industry; Shokuhin seizogyo solution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toda, T; Iwami, N [Fuji Electric Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

1999-09-10

To improve quality control and maintain stable operation, the food processing industry requires problem solutions in total, including not only processing and operation control divisions but also quality control, design and production technology, and maintenance divisions. This paper describes solutions for HACCP (hazard analysis critical control point) support, quality control, and maintenance, in order to improve the quality level, ensure traceability and realize stable processing operations. (author)

Forward and pressure retarded osmosis: potential solutions for global challenges in energy and water supply.

Science.gov (United States)

Klaysom, Chalida; Cath, Tazhi Y; Depuydt, Tom; Vankelecom, Ivo F J

2013-08-21

Osmotically driven membrane processes (ODMP) have gained renewed interest in recent years and they might become a potential solution for the world's most challenging problems of water and energy scarcity. Though the concept of utilizing osmotic pressure difference between high and low salinity streams across semipermeable membranes has been explored for several decades, lack of optimal membranes and draw solutions hindered competition between forward osmosis (FO) and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) with existing water purification and power generation technologies, respectively. Driven by growing global water scarcity and by energy cost and negative environmental impacts, novel membranes and draw solutions are being developed for ODMPs, mass and heat transfer in osmotic process are becoming better understood, and new applications of ODMPs are emerging. Therefore, OMDPs might become promising green technologies to provide clean water and clean energy from abundantly available renewable resources. This review focuses primarily on new insights into osmotic membrane transport mechanisms and on novel membranes and draw solutions that are currently being developed. Furthermore, the effects of operating conditions on the overall performance of osmotic membranes will be highlighted and future perspectives will be presented.

Evaluation of global water quality - the potential of a data- and model-driven analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Bärlund, Ilona; Flörke, Martina; Alcamo, Joseph; Völker, Jeanette; Malsy, Marcus; Kaus, Andrew; Reder, Klara; Büttner, Olaf; Katterfeld, Christiane; Dietrich, Désirée; Borchardt, Dietrich

2016-04-01

The ongoing socio-economic development presents a new challenge for water quality worldwide, especially in developing and emerging countries. It is estimated that due to population growth and the extension of water supply networks, the amount of waste water will rise sharply. This can lead to an increased risk of surface water quality degradation, if the wastewater is not sufficiently treated. This development has impacts on ecosystems and human health, as well as food security. The United Nations Member States have adopted targets for sustainable development. They include, inter alia, sustainable protection of water quality and sustainable use of water resources. To achieve these goals, appropriate monitoring strategies and the development of indicators for water quality are required. Within the pre-study for a 'World Water Quality Assessment' (WWQA) led by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a methodology for assessing water quality, taking into account the above-mentioned objectives has been developed. The novelty of this methodology is the linked model- and data-driven approach. The focus is on parameters reflecting the key water quality issues, such as increased waste water pollution, salinization or eutrophication. The results from the pre-study show, for example, that already about one seventh of all watercourses in Latin America, Africa and Asia show high organic pollution. This is of central importance for inland fisheries and associated food security. In addition, it could be demonstrated that global water quality databases have large gaps. These must be closed in the future in order to obtain an overall picture of global water quality and to target measures more efficiently. The aim of this presentation is to introduce the methodology developed within the WWQA pre-study and to show selected examples of application in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Global impacts of conversions from natural to agricultural ecosystems on water resources: Quantity versus quality

Science.gov (United States)

Scanlon, Bridget R.; Jolly, Ian; Sophocleous, Marios; Zhang, Lu

2007-03-01

Past land use changes have greatly impacted global water resources, with often opposing effects on water quantity and quality. Increases in rain-fed cropland (460%) and pastureland (560%) during the past 300 years from forest and grasslands decreased evapotranspiration and increased recharge (two orders of magnitude) and streamflow (one order of magnitude). However, increased water quantity degraded water quality by mobilization of salts, salinization caused by shallow water tables, and fertilizer leaching into underlying aquifers that discharge to streams. Since the 1950s, irrigated agriculture has expanded globally by 174%, accounting for ˜90% of global freshwater consumption. Irrigation based on surface water reduced streamflow and raised water tables resulting in waterlogging in many areas (China, India, and United States). Marked increases in groundwater-fed irrigation in the last few decades in these areas has lowered water tables (≤1 m/yr) and reduced streamflow. Degradation of water quality in irrigated areas has resulted from processes similar to those in rain-fed agriculture: salt mobilization, salinization in waterlogged areas, and fertilizer leaching. Strategies for remediating water resource problems related to agriculture often have opposing effects on water quantity and quality. Long time lags (decades to centuries) between land use changes and system response (e.g., recharge, streamflow, and water quality), particularly in semiarid regions, mean that the full impact of land use changes has not been realized in many areas and remediation to reverse impacts will also take a long time. Future land use changes should consider potential impacts on water resources, particularly trade-offs between water, salt, and nutrient balances, to develop sustainable water resources to meet human and ecosystem needs.

Global Existence of Classical Solutions to the Equations of Motion for Materials with Fading Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

1984-02-01

influence function , history value problems, classical solutions, global existence, decay. Work Unit Number 1 - Applied Analysis Sponsored by the United...introduce an " influence function " h, intended to JIN. characterize the rate at which memory fades, and construct an LP-type space of admissible...histories using the influence function as a weight. Here we use the term influence function to mean a positive, nonincreasing, real-valued function h e L (0

Establishment of the system of innovative management of global corporations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yevhen Panchenko

2011-06-01

Full Text Available There have been highlighted the relevant issues of system establishment of the innovative management of global corporations and generalized the experience of the leading world corporations in the achievement and keeping leading positions on the highly technological segments of the global market. It shows the significance of the creative personal qualities of managers in the generation and implementation of effective innovative solutions in the global business, grounds the categorical and functional imperatives of the innovative development of global corporations. In the context of formation of the new knowledge economy there were highlighted contradictions and available instruments of reinforcement of leading positions among the leading global corporations in the innovative sphere. There was paid attention to the implementation of the new concepts of global corporations’ leadership of BRIC countries, in particular, Chinese highly technological companies. There has been made a conclusion about global institutionalization of the innovative activity.

The Conversion and Sustainable Use of Alumina Refinery Residues: Global Solution Examples

Science.gov (United States)

Fergusson, Lee

This paper introduces current industry best practice for the conversion of alumina refinery residues (or "red mud") from hazardous waste to benign, inert material. The paper will examine four neutralization methods and Basecon Technology, a sustainable conversion process. The paper will consider ways through which this converted material can be combined and processed for sustainable applications in the treatment of hazardous waste streams (such as industrial wastewater and sludges, biosolids, and CCA wastes), contaminated brownfield sites, and mine site wastes. Recent discoveries and applications, such as the successful treatment of high levels of radium in drinking water in the USA, will also be discussed. Examples of global solutions and their technical merits will be assessed.

Existence and Global Asymptotic Behavior of Positive Solutions for Nonlinear Fractional Dirichlet Problems on the Half-Line

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Imed Bachar

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We are interested in the following fractional boundary value problem: Dαu(t+atuσ=0, t∈(0,∞, limt→0⁡t2-αu(t=0, limt→∞⁡t1-αu(t=0, where 1<α<2, σ∈(-1,1, Dα is the standard Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative, and a is a nonnegative continuous function on (0,∞ satisfying some appropriate assumptions related to Karamata regular variation theory. Using the Schauder fixed point theorem, we prove the existence and the uniqueness of a positive solution. We also give a global behavior of such solution.

Optimizing Quality of Care and Patient Safety in Malaysia: The Current Global Initiatives, Gaps and Suggested Solutions

OpenAIRE

Jarrar, Mu?taman; Rahman, Hamzah Abdul; Don, Mohammad Sobri

2015-01-01

Background and Objective: Demand for health care service has significantly increased, while the quality of healthcare and patient safety has become national and international priorities. This paper aims to identify the gaps and the current initiatives for optimizing the quality of care and patient safety in Malaysia. Design: Review of the current literature. Highly cited articles were used as the basis to retrieve and review the current initiatives for optimizing the quality of care and patie...

Internalizing Economic Externalities on the Macroeconomic Stage. Exploring and Expanding Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability for Globalized Solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jay Cooper Beeks

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The problem of finding the method and means of internalizing the costs of externalities has stumped economists since Arthur Pigou first presented this issue in 1920.  Since Pigou, several mainstream economists and alternative economists have attempted to further his ideas because of the promise of curbing consumer behaviors and thereby reducing detrimental activities such as the production of greenhouse gases. The current call for a carbon tax to stem the causes of Global Climate Change is just one example of a present day method of internalizing externalities.  Of all of the modern day proponents for a carbon tax and other forms of “green fees”, however, Paul Hawken is arguably the most ardent supporter, believing this to be the most effective method of stemming many of humankind’s pollution activities.  His best selling book The Ecology of Commerce, A Declaration of Sustainability is examined here further, in order to explore Hawken’s arguments for these kinds of microeconomic solutions and to expand on these ideas to include macroeconomic solutions as well. As Hawken and others have noted, global climate change presents a size issue that must be countered using global forces in addition to microeconomic solutions such as with green fees.  This paper explores how global problems such as global climate change can be countered with the aid of international organizations for the benefit of global citizens.

Proof of existence of global solutions for m-component reaction-diffusion systems with mixed boundary conditions via the Lyapunov functional method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdelmalek, Salem; Kouachi, Said

2007-01-01

To prove global existence for solutions of m-component reaction-diffusion systems presents fundamental difficulties in the case in which some components of the system satisfy Neumann boundary conditions while others satisfy nonhomogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions and nonhomogeneous Robin boundary conditions. The purpose of this paper is to prove the existence of a global solution using a single inequality for the polynomial growth condition of the reaction terms. Our technique is based on the construction of polynomial functionals. This result generalizes those obtained recently by Kouachi et al (at press), Kouachi (2002 Electron. J. Diff. Eqns 2002 1), Kouachi (2001 Electron. J. Diff. Eqns 2001 1) and independently by Malham and Xin (1998 Commun. Math. Phys. 193 287)

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality: Two global challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Erickson, Larry E

2017-07-01

There are many good reasons to promote sustainable development and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other combustion emissions. The air quality in many urban environments is causing many premature deaths because of asthma, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and dementia associated with combustion emissions. The global social cost of air pollution is at least $3 trillion/year; particulates, nitrogen oxides and ozone associated with combustion emissions are very costly pollutants. Better air quality in urban environments is one of the reasons for countries to work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. There are many potential benefits associated with limiting climate change. In the recent past, the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been increasing and the number of weather and climate disasters with costs over $1 billion has been increasing. The average global temperature set new record highs in 2014, 2015, and 2016. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the transition to electric vehicles and electricity generation using renewable energy must take place in accord with the goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. This work reviews progress and identifies some of the health benefits associated with reducing combustion emissions. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 36: 982-988, 2017.

External Quality Assurance System (EQAS) of the WHO Global Salmonella Surveillance and Laboratory Support Project (Global Salm-Surv) Results from 2001

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, A.; Aarestrup, Frank Møller; Evans, M.C.

An international collaborative study on serotyping and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of eight Salmonella enterica strains was performed to enhance the capacity of national and regional reference laboratories in WHO Global Salm-Surv to conduct Salmonella serotyping and antimicrobial suscept...... of the quality control range specified by NCCLS guidelines....

Uniqueness of global quasi-classical solutions of the Cauchy problems for first-order nonlinear partial differential equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tran Duc Van

1994-01-01

The notion of global quasi-classical solutions of the Cauchy problems for first-order nonlinear partial differential equations is presented, some uniqueness theorems and a stability result are established by the method based on the theory of differential inclusions. In particular, the answer to an open problem of S.N. Kruzhkov is given. (author). 10 refs, 1 fig

Existence and global exponential stability of periodic solution of memristor-based BAM neural networks with time-varying delays.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hongfei; Jiang, Haijun; Hu, Cheng

2016-03-01

In this paper, we investigate a class of memristor-based BAM neural networks with time-varying delays. Under the framework of Filippov solutions, boundedness and ultimate boundedness of solutions of memristor-based BAM neural networks are guaranteed by Chain rule and inequalities technique. Moreover, a new method involving Yoshizawa-like theorem is favorably employed to acquire the existence of periodic solution. By applying the theory of set-valued maps and functional differential inclusions, an available Lyapunov functional and some new testable algebraic criteria are derived for ensuring the uniqueness and global exponential stability of periodic solution of memristor-based BAM neural networks. The obtained results expand and complement some previous work on memristor-based BAM neural networks. Finally, a numerical example is provided to show the applicability and effectiveness of our theoretical results. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global Existence and Uniqueness of Weak and Regular Solutions of Shallow Shells with Thermal Effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Menzala, G. Perla, E-mail: perla@lncc.br [National Laboratory of Scientific Computation, (LNCC/MCTI) (Brazil); Cezaro, F. Travessini De, E-mail: fabianacezaro@furg.br [Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG/IMEF), Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics (Brazil)

2016-10-15

We study a dynamical thin shallow shell whose elastic deformations are described by a nonlinear system of Marguerre–Vlasov’s type under the presence of thermal effects. Our main result is the proof of a global existence and uniqueness of a weak solution in the case of clamped boundary conditions. Standard techniques for uniqueness do not work directly in this case. We overcame this difficulty using recent work due to Lasiecka (Appl Anal 4:1376–1422, 1998).

Effects of some preservative solutions on vase life and keeping quality of snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus L. cut flowers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdul-Wasea A. Asrar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The effect of selected chemical agents used as preservative solutions to improve the keeping quality of cut snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus L. cv. Yellow Butterfly flowers had been studied. These preservative solutions (treatments were: 2% sucrose, 200 ppm 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate (8-HQS, pulsing treatment with 200 ppm 8-HQS in combination with 2% sucrose for 12 h, pulsing the spikes with 0.2 mM silver thiosulfate (STS for 1 h, pulsing with 0.2 mM STS for 1 h followed by 2% sucrose solution, or distilled water used as control. The results showed that all treatments had improved the keeping quality and vase life of the cut flowers comparing to control ones. Among all these treatments, the 8-HQS plus 2% sucrose treatment showed best water uptake, water balance, percentage of maximum increase in fresh weight of the cut flower stem and vase life which was extended up to 18 days. Moreover, this keeping solution treatment retarded the degradation of chlorophyll as well as carbohydrate of the cut flowers during their postharvest life. It has been concluded that 200 ppm 8-HQS combined with 2% sucrose solution has the potential to be used as a commercial cut flower preservative solution to delay flower senescence, enhance post-harvest quality and prolong the vase life of cut snapdragon flowers.

Challenges in global biodiversity conservation and solutions that cross sociology, politics, economics and ecology.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoban, Sean; Vernesi, Cristiano

2012-12-23

The study and practice of conservation biology is inherently interdisciplinary, addresses short and long time-scales and occurs within complex human-natural interfaces. Zoos and aquaria, in partnership with researchers, other non-government organizations, government, industry and educators, are combining knowledge of species and ecosystems with economics, psychology and law to create solutions for conserving biodiversity. From 22 to 25 May, the Conservation Forum of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria was a venue for discussing conservation research, education and interventions, from the scale of villages to global policy.

Global learning for local solutions: Reducing vulnerability of marine-dependent coastal communities

Science.gov (United States)

Salim, S. S.; Paytan, A.

2016-12-01

The project `Global learning for local solutions: Reducing vulnerability of marine-dependent coastal communities' (GULLS) falls within the Belmont Forum and G8 Research Councils Initiative on Multilateral Research Funding. Participants include teams from nine countries: Australia, Brazil, India, Madagascar, Mozambique, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The project focuses on five regional `hotspots' of climate and social change, defined as fast-warming marine areas and areas experiencing social tensions as a result of change: south-east Australia, Brazil, India, South Africa, and the Mozambique Channel and adjacent countries of Mozambique and Madagascar. These areas require most urgent attention and serve as valuable case studies for wider applications. The project aims to assist coastal communities and other stakeholders dependent on marine resources to adapt to climate change and variability through an integrated and trans-disciplinary approach. Combining best available global knowledge with local knowledge and conditions, it is exploring adaptation options and approaches to strengthen resilience at local and community levels, with a focus on options for reconciling the needs for food security with long-term sustainability and conservation. The project will also contribute to capacity development and empowering fishing communities and other fisheries-dependent stakeholders.A standardized vulnerability assessment framework is being developed that will be used to integrate results from natural, social and economic studies in order to identify needs and options for strengthening management and existing policies. Structured comparisons between the hot-spots will assist global efforts for adaptation and strengthening resilience in marine and coastal social-ecological systems.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Technology as a Global Learning Tool: Information Systems Success and Control Belief Perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Charlie C.; Vannoy, Sandra

2013-01-01

Voice over Internet Protocol- (VoIP) enabled online learning service providers struggling with high attrition rates and low customer loyalty issues despite VoIP's high degree of system fit for online global learning applications. Effective solutions to this prevalent problem rely on the understanding of system quality, information quality, and…

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Constant-time solution to the global optimization problem using Brüschweiler's ensemble search algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Protopopescu, V.; D'Helon, C.; Barhen, J.

2003-06-01

A constant-time solution of the continuous global optimization problem (GOP) is obtained by using an ensemble algorithm. We show that under certain assumptions, the solution can be guaranteed by mapping the GOP onto a discrete unsorted search problem, whereupon Brüschweiler's ensemble search algorithm is applied. For adequate sensitivities of the measurement technique, the query complexity of the ensemble search algorithm depends linearly on the size of the function's domain. Advantages and limitations of an eventual NMR implementation are discussed.

Premises and solutions regarding a global approach of gaseous pollutants emissions from the fossil fuel power plants in Romania

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tutuianu, O.; Fulger, E.D.; Vieru, A.; Feher, M.

1996-01-01

This paper deals with the present state of RENEL (Romanian Electricity Authority) - controlled thermal power plants from the point of view of technical aspects, utilized fuels and pollutant emissions. National and international regulations are also analyzed as well as their implications concerning the management of pollutant atmospheric emissions of the plants of RENEL. Starting from these premises the paper points out the advantage of global approach of pollution problems and offers solutions already implemented by RENEL. This global approach will result in an optimization of costs implied in pollutant emission limitations as the most efficient solution were found and applied. Having in view this treatment of the pollution problems, RENEL has submitted to the Ministry of the Industries and to the Ministry of Waters, Forests and Environmental Protection a 'Convention on the limitation of CO 2 , SO 2 and NO x emissions produced in the thermal power plants of RENEL'. (author)

Storage Solutions for Power Quality Problems in Cyprus Electricity Distribution Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Poullikkas

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this work, a prediction of the effects of introducing energy storage systems on the network stability of the distribution network of Cyprus and a comparison in terms of cost with a traditional solution is carried out. In particular, for solving possible overvoltage problems, several scenarios of storage units' installation are used and compared with the alternative solution of extra cable connection between the node with the lowest voltage and the node with the highest voltage of the distribution network. For the comparison, a case study of a typical LV distribution feeder in the power system of Cyprus is used. The results indicated that the performance indicator of each solution depends on the type, the size and the position of installation of the storage unit. Also, as more storage units are installed the better the performance indicator and the more attractive is the investment in storage units to solve power quality problems in the distribution network. In the case where the technical requirements in voltage limitations according to distribution regulations are satisfied with one storage unit, the installation of an additional storage unit will only increase the final cost. The best solution, however, still remains the alternative solution of extra cable connection between the node with the lowest voltage and the node with the highest voltage of the distribution network, due to the lower investment costs compared to that of the storage units.

Tired telomeres: Poor global sleep quality, perceived stress, and telomere length in immune cell subsets in obese men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Prather, Aric A; Gurfein, Blake; Moran, Patricia; Daubenmier, Jennifer; Acree, Michael; Bacchetti, Peter; Sinclair, Elizabeth; Lin, Jue; Blackburn, Elizabeth; Hecht, Frederick M; Epel, Elissa S

2015-07-01

Poor sleep quality and short sleep duration are associated with increased incidence and progression of a number of chronic health conditions observed at greater frequency among the obese and those experiencing high levels of stress. Accelerated cellular aging, as indexed by telomere attrition in immune cells, is a plausible pathway linking sleep and disease risk. Prior studies linking sleep and telomere length are mixed. One factor may be reliance on leukocytes, which are composed of varied immune cell types, as the sole measure of telomere length. To better clarify these associations, we investigated the relationships of global sleep quality, measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and diary-reported sleep duration with telomere length in different immune cell subsets, including granulocytes, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), CD8+ and CD4+ T lymphocytes, and B lymphocytes in a sample of 87 obese men and women (BMI mean=35.4, SD=3.6; 81.6% women; 62.8% Caucasian). Multiple linear regression analyses were performed adjusting for age, gender, race, education, BMI, sleep apnea risk, and perceived stress. Poorer PSQI global sleep quality was associated with statistically significantly shorter telomere length in lymphocytes but not granulocytes and in particular CD8+ T cells (b=-56.8 base pairs per one point increase in PSQI, SE=20.4, p=0.007) and CD4+ T cells (b=-37.2, SE=15.9, p=0.022). Among separate aspects of global sleep quality, low perceived sleep quality and decrements in daytime function were most related to shorter telomeres. In addition, perceived stress moderated the sleep-CD8+ telomere association. Poorer global sleep quality predicted shorter telomere length in CD8+ T cells among those with high perceived stress but not in low stress participants. These findings provide preliminary evidence that poorer global sleep quality is related to telomere length in several immune cell types, which may serve as a pathway linking sleep and

Existence and uniqueness of global solutions for the modified anisotropic 3D Navier−Stokes equations

KAUST Repository

Bessaih, Hakima

2016-01-27

We study a modified three-dimensional incompressible anisotropic Navier−Stokes equations. The modification consists in the addition of a power term to the nonlinear convective one. This modification appears naturally in porous media when a fluid obeys the Darcy−Forchheimer law instead of the classical Darcy law. We prove global in time existence and uniqueness of solutions without assuming the smallness condition on the initial data. This improves the result obtained for the classical 3D incompressible anisotropic Navier−Stokes equations.

The existence and global attractivity of almost periodic sequence solution of discrete-time neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Zhenkun; Wang Xinghua; Gao Feng

2006-01-01

In this Letter, we discuss discrete-time analogue of a continuous-time cellular neural network. Sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence of a unique almost periodic sequence solution which is globally attractive. Our results demonstrate dynamics of the formulated discrete-time analogue as mathematical models for the continuous-time cellular neural network in almost periodic case. Finally, a computer simulation illustrates the suitability of our discrete-time analogue as numerical algorithms in simulating the continuous-time cellular neural network conveniently

The Global Streamflow Indices and Metadata Archive (GSIM) - Part 2: Quality control, time-series indices and homogeneity assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Gudmundsson, Lukas; Do, Hong Xuan; Leonard, Michael; Westra, Seth

2018-04-01

This is Part 2 of a two-paper series presenting the Global Streamflow Indices and Metadata Archive (GSIM), which is a collection of daily streamflow observations at more than 30 000 stations around the world. While Part 1 (Do et al., 2018a) describes the data collection process as well as the generation of auxiliary catchment data (e.g. catchment boundary, land cover, mean climate), Part 2 introduces a set of quality controlled time-series indices representing (i) the water balance, (ii) the seasonal cycle, (iii) low flows and (iv) floods. To this end we first consider the quality of individual daily records using a combination of quality flags from data providers and automated screening methods. Subsequently, streamflow time-series indices are computed for yearly, seasonal and monthly resolution. The paper provides a generalized assessment of the homogeneity of all generated streamflow time-series indices, which can be used to select time series that are suitable for a specific task. The newly generated global set of streamflow time-series indices is made freely available with an digital object identifier at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.887470" target="_blank">https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.887470 and is expected to foster global freshwater research, by acting as a ground truth for model validation or as a basis for assessing the role of human impacts on the terrestrial water cycle. It is hoped that a renewed interest in streamflow data at the global scale will foster efforts in the systematic assessment of data quality and provide momentum to overcome administrative barriers that lead to inconsistencies in global collections of relevant hydrological observations.

Global Exponential Stability of Positive Almost Periodic Solutions for a Fishing Model with a Time-Varying Delay

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Hong Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with a nonautonomous fishing model with a time-varying delay. Under proper conditions, we employ a novel argument to establish a criterion on the global exponential stability of positive almost periodic solutions of the model with almost periodic coefficients and delays. Moreover, an example and its numerical simulation are given to illustrate the main results.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Global Pharma Health Fund Minilab™ in Assessing Pharmacopoeial Quality of Antimicrobials.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Hui; Ba-Thein, William

2018-01-01

Global Pharma Health Fund (GPHF) Minilab™, a semi-quantitative thin-layer chromatography (TLC)-based commercially available test kit, is widely used in drug quality surveillance globally, but its diagnostic accuracy is unclear. We investigated the diagnostic accuracy of Minilab system for antimicrobials, using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as reference standard. Following the Minilab protocols and the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China protocols, Minilab-TLC and HPLC were used to test five common antimicrobials (506 batches) for relative concentration of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The prevalence of poor-quality antimicrobials determined, respectively, by Minilab TLC and HPLC was amoxicillin (0% versus 14.9%), azithromycin (0% versus 17.4%), cefuroxime axetil (14.3% versus 0%), levofloxacin (0% versus 3.0%), and metronidazole (0% versus 38.0%). The Minilab TLC had false-positive and false-negative detection rates of 2.6% (13/506) and 15.2% (77/506) accordingly, resulting in the following test characteristics: sensitivity 0%, specificity 97.0%, positive predictive value 0, negative predictive value 0.8, positive likelihood ratio 0, negative likelihood ratio 1.0, diagnostic odds ratio 0, and adjusted diagnostic odds ratio 0.2. This study demonstrates unsatisfying diagnostic accuracy of Minilab system in screening poor-quality antimicrobials of common use. Using Minilab as a stand-alone system for monitoring drug quality should be reconsidered.

Local search for optimal global map generation using mid-decadal landsat images

Science.gov (United States)

Khatib, L.; Gasch, J.; Morris, Robert; Covington, S.

2007-01-01

NASA and the US Geological Survey (USGS) are seeking to generate a map of the entire globe using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) sensor data from the "mid-decadal" period of 2004 through 2006. The global map is comprised of thousands of scene locations and, for each location, tens of different images of varying quality to chose from. Furthermore, it is desirable for images of adjacent scenes be close together in time of acquisition, to avoid obvious discontinuities due to seasonal changes. These characteristics make it desirable to formulate an automated solution to the problem of generating the complete map. This paper formulates a Global Map Generator problem as a Constraint Optimization Problem (GMG-COP) and describes an approach to solving it using local search. Preliminary results of running the algorithm on image data sets are summarized. The results suggest a significant improvement in map quality using constraint-based solutions. Copyright ?? 2007, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (www.aaai.org). All rights reserved.

Quality of Life Theory I. The IQOL Theory: An Integrative Theory of the Global Quality of Life Concept

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Soren Ventegodt

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Quality of life (QOL means a good life and we believe that a good life is the same as living a life with a high quality. This paper presents the theoretical and philosophical framework of the Danish Quality of Life Survey, and of the SEQOL, QOL5, and QOL1 questionnaires.The notion of a good life can be observed from subjective to the objective, where this spectrum incorporates a number of existing quality of life theories. We call this spectrum the integrative quality-of-life (IQOL theory and discuss the following aspects in this paper: well being, satisfaction with life, happiness, meaning in life, the biological information system (�balance�, realizing life potential, fulfillment of needs, and objective factors.The philosophy of life outlined in this paper tries to measure the global quality of life with questions derived from the integrative theory of the quality of life. The IQOL theory is an overall theory or meta-theory encompassing eight more factual theories in a subjective-existential-objective spectrum. Other philosophies of life can stress other aspects of life, but by this notion of introducing such an existential depth into the health and social sciences, we believe to have taken a necessary step towards a new humility and respect for the richness and complexity of life.

Global limit load solutions for thick-walled cylinders with circumferential cracks under combined internal pressure, axial force and bending moment − Part II: Finite element validation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Yuebing; Lei, Yuebao; Gao, Zengliang

2014-01-01

Global limit load solutions for thick-walled cylinders with circumferential internal/external surface and through-wall defects under combined positive/negative axial force, positive/negative global bending moment and internal pressure have been developed in Part I of this paper. In this Part II, elastic-perfectly plastic 3-D finite element (FE) analyses are performed for selected cases, covering a wide range of geometries and load combinations, to validate the developed limit load solutions. The results show that these limit load solutions can predict the FE data very well for the cases with shallow or deep and short cracks and are conservative. For the cases with very long and deep cracks, the predictions are reasonably accurate and more conservative. -- Highlights: • Elastic-perfectly plastic 3D finite element limiting analyses of cylinders. • Thin/thick-walled cylinders with circumferential surface defects. • Combined loading for pressure, end-force and global bending moment. • Totally 1458 cases analysed and tabulated normalised results provided. • Results used to validate the developed limit load solutions in Part I of this paper

Preparing the Model for Prediction Across Scales (MPAS) for global retrospective air quality modeling

Science.gov (United States)

The US EPA has a plan to leverage recent advances in meteorological modeling to develop a "Next-Generation" air quality modeling system that will allow consistent modeling of problems from global to local scale. The meteorological model of choice is the Model for Predic...

Global warming: is weight loss a solution?

Science.gov (United States)

Gryka, A; Broom, J; Rolland, C

2012-03-01

The current climate change has been most likely caused by the increased greenhouse gas emissions. We have looked at the major greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO(2)), and estimated the reduction in the CO(2) emissions that would occur with the theoretical global weight loss. The calculations were based on our previous weight loss study, investigating the effects of a low-carbohydrate diet on body weight, body composition and resting metabolic rate of obese volunteers with type 2 diabetes. At 6 months, we observed decreases in weight, fat mass, fat free mass and CO(2) production. We estimated that a 10 kg weight loss of all obese and overweight people would result in a decrease of 49.560 Mt of CO(2) per year, which would equal to 0.2% of the CO(2) emitted globally in 2007. This reduction could help meet the CO(2) emission reduction targets and unquestionably would be of a great benefit to the global health.

A GLOBAL SOLUTION TO TOPOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF BUILDING ROOF MODELS FROM AIRBORNE LIDAR POINT CLOUDS

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J. Yan

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a global solution to building roof topological reconstruction from LiDAR point clouds. Starting with segmented roof planes from building LiDAR points, a BSP (binary space partitioning algorithm is used to partition the bounding box of the building into volumetric cells, whose geometric features and their topology are simultaneously determined. To resolve the inside/outside labelling problem of cells, a global energy function considering surface visibility and spatial regularization between adjacent cells is constructed and minimized via graph cuts. As a result, the cells are labelled as either inside or outside, where the planar surfaces between the inside and outside form the reconstructed building model. Two LiDAR data sets of Yangjiang (China and Wuhan University (China are used in the study. Experimental results show that the completeness of reconstructed roof planes is 87.5%. Comparing with existing data-driven approaches, the proposed approach is global. Roof faces and edges as well as their topology can be determined at one time via minimization of an energy function. Besides, this approach is robust to partial absence of roof planes and tends to reconstruct roof models with visibility-consistent surfaces.

AdS solutions in gauge supergravities and the global anomaly for the product of complex two-cycles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bytsenko, A.A. [Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Departamento de Fisica, Caixa Postal 6001, Londrina-Parana (Brazil); Elizalde, E. [Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (ICE/CSIC) and Institut d' Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), Facultat de Ciencies, Bellaterra (Barcelona) (Spain)

2011-03-15

Cohomological methods are applied for the special set of solutions corresponding to rotating branes in arbitrary dimensions, AdS black holes (which can be embedded in ten or eleven dimensions), and gauge supergravities. A new class of solutions is proposed, the Hilbert modular varieties, which consist of the 2n-fold product of the two-spaces H{sup n} /{gamma} (where H{sup n} denotes the product of n upper half-planes, H {sup 2}, equipped with the co-compact action of {gamma} is contained in SL(2, R){sup n}) and (H {sup n}){sup *}/{gamma} (where (H {sup 2}){sup *}=H {sup 2}{gamma} and {gamma} is a congruence subgroup of SL(2, R) {sup n}). The cohomology groups of the Hilbert variety, which inherit a Hodge structure (in the sense of Deligne), are analyzed, as well as bifiltered sequences, weight and Hodge filtrations, and it is argued that the torsion part of the cuspidal cohomology is involved in the global anomaly condition. Indeed, in the presence of the cuspidal part, all cohomology classes can be mapped to the boundary of the space and the cuspidal contribution can be involved in the global anomaly condition. (orig.)

Soil solution phosphorus turnover: derivation, interpretation, and insights from a global compilation of isotope exchange kinetic studies

Science.gov (United States)

Helfenstein, Julian; Jegminat, Jannes; McLaren, Timothy I.; Frossard, Emmanuel

2018-01-01

The exchange rate of inorganic phosphorus (P) between the soil solution and solid phase, also known as soil solution P turnover, is essential for describing the kinetics of bioavailable P. While soil solution P turnover (Km) can be determined by tracing radioisotopes in a soil-solution system, few studies have done so. We believe that this is due to a lack of understanding on how to derive Km from isotopic exchange kinetic (IEK) experiments, a common form of radioisotope dilution study. Here, we provide a derivation of calculating Km using parameters obtained from IEK experiments. We then calculated Km for 217 soils from published IEK experiments in terrestrial ecosystems, and also that of 18 long-term P fertilizer field experiments. Analysis of the global compilation data set revealed a negative relationship between concentrations of soil solution P and Km. Furthermore, Km buffered isotopically exchangeable P in soils with low concentrations of soil solution P. This finding was supported by an analysis of long-term P fertilizer field experiments, which revealed a negative relationship between Km and phosphate-buffering capacity. Our study highlights the importance of calculating Km for understanding the kinetics of P between the soil solid and solution phases where it is bioavailable. We argue that our derivation can also be used to calculate soil solution turnover of other environmentally relevant and strongly sorbing elements that can be traced with radioisotopes, such as zinc, cadmium, nickel, arsenic, and uranium.

Global Nonexistence of Solutions for Viscoelastic Wave Equations of Kirchhoff Type with High Energy

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Gang Li

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We consider viscoelastic wave equations of the Kirchhoff type utt-M(∥∇u∥22Δu+∫0tg(t-sΔu(sds+ut=|u|p-1u with Dirichlet boundary conditions, where ∥⋅∥p denotes the norm in the Lebesgue space Lp. Under some suitable assumptions on g and the initial data, we establish a global nonexistence result for certain solutions with arbitrarily high energy, in the sense that lim⁡t→T*-(∥u(t∥22+∫0t∥u(s∥22ds=∞ for some 0

The Economic Theory and the Global Crisis, between Theoretical Solutions and the Economic Reality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolae MOROIANU

2011-06-01

Full Text Available This work aims to study the evolution of the global crisis and its impact on various areas worldwide, as well as its impact on certain decisions which have been implemented by the authorized bodies.The general framework of this analysis starts with a short review of the relevant economic movements and trends; it continues with presenting the potential solutions aimed to overcome the dark period which is currently crossed by the contemporary economy.In the same time, the authors aim to highlight the impact of the monetary policies throughput the history on the real economy, until the current period.

Quality Scalability Compression on Single-Loop Solution in HEVC

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Mengmeng Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposes a quality scalable extension design for the upcoming high efficiency video coding (HEVC standard. In the proposed design, the single-loop decoder solution is extended into the proposed scalable scenario. A novel interlayer intra/interprediction is added to reduce the amount of bits representation by exploiting the correlation between coding layers. The experimental results indicate that the average Bjøntegaard delta rate decrease of 20.50% can be gained compared with the simulcast encoding. The proposed technique achieved 47.98% Bjøntegaard delta rate reduction compared with the scalable video coding extension of the H.264/AVC. Consequently, significant rate savings confirm that the proposed method achieves better performance.

Mass Evolution of Mediterranean, Black, Red, and Caspian Seas from GRACE and Altimetry: Accuracy Assessment and Solution Calibration

Science.gov (United States)

Loomis, B. D.; Luthcke, S. B.

2016-01-01

We present new measurements of mass evolution for the Mediterranean, Black, Red, and Caspian Seas as determined by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) GRACE time-variable global gravity mascon solutions. These new solutions are compared to sea surface altimetry measurements of sea level anomalies with steric corrections applied. To assess their accuracy, the GRACE and altimetry-derived solutions are applied to the set of forward models used by GSFC for processing the GRACE Level-1B datasets, with the resulting inter-satellite range acceleration residuals providing a useful metric for analyzing solution quality.

Managing globally distributed expertise with new competence management solutions: a big-science collaboration as a pilot case.

OpenAIRE

Ferguson, J; Koivula, T; Livan, M; Nordberg, M; Salmia, T; Vuola, O

2003-01-01

In today's global organisations and networks, a critical factor for effective innovation and project execution is appropriate competence and skills management. The challenges include selection of strategic competences, competence development, and leveraging the competences and skills to drive innovation and collaboration for shared goals. This paper presents a new industrial web-enabled competence management and networking solution and its implementation and piloting in a complex big-science ...

Data Quality Control: Challenges, Methods, and Solutions from an Eco-Hydrologic Instrumentation Network

Science.gov (United States)

Eiriksson, D.; Jones, A. S.; Horsburgh, J. S.; Cox, C.; Dastrup, D.

2017-12-01

Over the past few decades, advances in electronic dataloggers and in situ sensor technology have revolutionized our ability to monitor air, soil, and water to address questions in the environmental sciences. The increased spatial and temporal resolution of in situ data is alluring. However, an often overlooked aspect of these advances are the challenges data managers and technicians face in performing quality control on millions of data points collected every year. While there is general agreement that high quantities of data offer little value unless the data are of high quality, it is commonly understood that despite efforts toward quality assurance, environmental data collection occasionally goes wrong. After identifying erroneous data, data managers and technicians must determine whether to flag, delete, leave unaltered, or retroactively correct suspect data. While individual instrumentation networks often develop their own QA/QC procedures, there is a scarcity of consensus and literature regarding specific solutions and methods for correcting data. This may be because back correction efforts are time consuming, so suspect data are often simply abandoned. Correction techniques are also rarely reported in the literature, likely because corrections are often performed by technicians rather than the researchers who write the scientific papers. Details of correction procedures are often glossed over as a minor component of data collection and processing. To help address this disconnect, we present case studies of quality control challenges, solutions, and lessons learned from a large scale, multi-watershed environmental observatory in Northern Utah that monitors Gradients Along Mountain to Urban Transitions (GAMUT). The GAMUT network consists of over 40 individual climate, water quality, and storm drain monitoring stations that have collected more than 200 million unique data points in four years of operation. In all of our examples, we emphasize that scientists

Comparison of boundary conditions from Global Chemistry Model (GCM) for regional air quality application

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Yun Fat; Cheung, Hung Ming; Fu, Joshua; Huang, Kan

2015-04-01

Applying Global Chemistry Model (GCM) for regional Boundary Conditions (BC) has become a common practice to account for long-range transport of air pollutants in the regional air quality modeling. The limited domain model such as CMAQ and CAMx requires a global BC to prescribe the real-time chemical flux at the boundary grids, in order to give a realistic estimate of boundary impacts. Several GCMs have become available recently for use in regional air quality studies. In this study, three GCM models (i.e., GEOS-chem, CHASER and IFS-CB05 MACC provided by Seoul National University, Nagoya University and ECWMF, respectively) for the year of 2010 were applied in CMAQ for the East Asia domain under the framework of Model Inter-comparison Study Asia Phase III (MISC-Asia III) and task force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (HTAP) jointed experiments. Model performance evaluations on vertical profile and spatial distribution of O3 and PM2.5 have been made on those three models to better understand the model uncertainties from the boundary conditions. Individual analyses on various mega-cities (i.e., Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Taipei, Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Seoul and Tokyo) were also performed. Our analysis found that the monthly estimates of O3 for CHASER were a bit higher than GEOS-Chem and IFS-CB05 MACC, particularly in the northern part of China in the winter and spring, while the monthly averages of PM2.5 in GEOS-Chem were the lowest among the three models. The hourly maximum values of PM2.5 from those three models (GEOS-Chem, CHASER and IFS-CB05 MACC are 450, 321, 331 μg/m3, while the maximum O3 are 158, 212, 380 ppbv, respectively. Cross-comparison of CMAQ results from the 45 km resolution were also made to investigate the boundary impacts from the global GCMs. The results presented here provide insight on how global GCM selection influences the regional air quality simulation in East Asia.

Quality risk management during pharmaceutical ‘good distribution practices’ – A plausible solution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nirmal Kumar

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Quality of medicinal product is an important facet throughout lifecycle owing to its importance as acceptance criteria at customer’s end. Drugs regulatory agencies have issued guidelines for quality risk evaluation, mitigation and review management. Quality risk management has become an integral part of quality management system at manufacturing plants. Procedures for deviation control, change control, investigations of market complaints and batch failures are dealt with the principle of quality risk management at the manufacturing facility. The exploratory study shows a dearth of research on quality risk management during supply chain operation, however, a few study has been carried out by keeping financial risk into account. This study addresses the gap in literature on quality risk management during supply chain operations. There are cases of unresolved customer complaints and batch failures originated due to inadequacies during distribution of pharmaceutical products. In absence of established quality risk management system during product shipment, there is no effective preventive plan related to risk factors. A corollary of manufacturing quality risk management has been drawn to the distribution of pharmaceutical products through this study. The quality risk management during pharmaceutical distribution may be useful to avoid market complaints, drug recalls, and regulatory actions. This study produces one unique model solution for industry professionals and policymakers opening a scope to reduce the product rejection thereby paving the way for substantial business growth.

Global Clustering Quality Coefficient Assessing the Efficiency of PCA Class Assignment

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Mirela Praisler

2014-01-01

Full Text Available An essential factor influencing the efficiency of the predictive models built with principal component analysis (PCA is the quality of the data clustering revealed by the score plots. The sensitivity and selectivity of the class assignment are strongly influenced by the relative position of the clusters and by their dispersion. We are proposing a set of indicators inspired from analytical geometry that may be used for an objective quantitative assessment of the data clustering quality as well as a global clustering quality coefficient (GCQC that is a measure of the overall predictive power of the PCA models. The use of these indicators for evaluating the efficiency of the PCA class assignment is illustrated by a comparative study performed for the identification of the preprocessing function that is generating the most efficient PCA system screening for amphetamines based on their GC-FTIR spectra. The GCQC ranking of the tested feature weights is explained based on estimated density distributions and validated by using quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA.

Global trends and their impact on city logistics management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tadić Snežana R.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Changes in economic and social environments are more dynamic, and survival in the market requires a wide range, increase efficiency and quality of logistics services. The competitiveness of the region and the city, as the leader of economic development, depends on the efficiency of logistics solutions that must be adaptive to new conditions and demands of the market. This paper presents some of the most important global trends in terms of impact on the urban logistics. In order to define sustainable solutions, the analysis of presented social, economic, technological, environmental and other trends should be integral part of the city logistics planning and management.

Quality assessment of Isfahan Medical Faculty web site electronic services and prioritizing solutions using analytic hierarchy process approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Hajrahimi, Nafiseh; Dehaghani, Sayed Mehdi Hejazi; Hajrahimi, Nargess; Sarmadi, Sima

2014-01-01

Implementing information technology in the best possible way can bring many advantages such as applying electronic services and facilitating tasks. Therefore, assessment of service providing systems is a way to improve the quality and elevate these systems including e-commerce, e-government, e-banking, and e-learning. This study was aimed to evaluate the electronic services in the website of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in order to propose solutions to improve them. Furthermore, we aim to rank the solutions based on the factors that enhance the quality of electronic services by using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. Non-parametric test was used to assess the quality of electronic services. The assessment of propositions was based on Aqual model and they were prioritized using AHP approach. The AHP approach was used because it directly applies experts' deductions in the model, and lead to more objective results in the analysis and prioritizing the risks. After evaluating the quality of the electronic services, a multi-criteria decision making frame-work was used to prioritize the proposed solutions. Non-parametric tests and AHP approach using Expert Choice software. The results showed that students were satisfied in most of the indicators. Only a few indicators received low satisfaction from students including, design attractiveness, the amount of explanation and details of information, honesty and responsiveness of authorities, and the role of e-services in the user's relationship with university. After interviewing with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) experts at the university, measurement criteria, and solutions to improve the quality were collected. The best solutions were selected by EC software. According to the results, the solution "controlling and improving the process in handling users complaints" is of the utmost importance and authorities have to have it on the website and place great importance on updating this process

Relationships between Undergraduates' Argumentation Skills, Conceptual Quality of Problem Solutions, and Problem Solving Strategies in Introductory Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Rebello, Carina M.

2012-01-01

This study explored the effects of alternative forms of argumentation on undergraduates' physics solutions in introductory calculus-based physics. A two-phase concurrent mixed methods design was employed to investigate relationships between undergraduates' written argumentation abilities, conceptual quality of problem solutions, as well…

The Global Streamflow Indices and Metadata Archive (GSIM – Part 2: Quality control, time-series indices and homogeneity assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Gudmundsson

2018-04-01

Full Text Available This is Part 2 of a two-paper series presenting the Global Streamflow Indices and Metadata Archive (GSIM, which is a collection of daily streamflow observations at more than 30 000 stations around the world. While Part 1 (Do et al., 2018a describes the data collection process as well as the generation of auxiliary catchment data (e.g. catchment boundary, land cover, mean climate, Part 2 introduces a set of quality controlled time-series indices representing (i the water balance, (ii the seasonal cycle, (iii low flows and (iv floods. To this end we first consider the quality of individual daily records using a combination of quality flags from data providers and automated screening methods. Subsequently, streamflow time-series indices are computed for yearly, seasonal and monthly resolution. The paper provides a generalized assessment of the homogeneity of all generated streamflow time-series indices, which can be used to select time series that are suitable for a specific task. The newly generated global set of streamflow time-series indices is made freely available with an digital object identifier at https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.887470 and is expected to foster global freshwater research, by acting as a ground truth for model validation or as a basis for assessing the role of human impacts on the terrestrial water cycle. It is hoped that a renewed interest in streamflow data at the global scale will foster efforts in the systematic assessment of data quality and provide momentum to overcome administrative barriers that lead to inconsistencies in global collections of relevant hydrological observations.

Exploring the Relationship between Global Quality and Group Engagement in Toddler Child Care Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Hooper, Alison; Hallam, Rena

2017-01-01

Toddlers' engagement with their social and physical environment is an important aspect of their experience in early care and education programs. The purpose of this research study was to examine how global quality relates to children's engagement in toddler child care classrooms. Additionally, this study explored how toddlers' group engagement…

[Schools, office buildings, leisure settings: diversity of indoor air quality issues. Global review on indoor air quality in these settings].

Science.gov (United States)

Mandin, C; Derbez, M; Kirchner, S

2012-07-01

This review provides a global overview of indoor air quality issues in schools, office buildings and recreational settings. It presents the most recent scientific publications and the on-going work conducted in France in the frame of the indoor air quality Observatory. Monitoring campaigns on indoor air quality in schools have been carried out in the recent years in Europe. However, few studies have specifically addressed the role of exposure in these buildings on children's health. Indoor air quality in office buildings has been little studied so far. However, some specificities, such as emissions from electronic devices, frequent cleaning, impossibility to open windows in high-rise buildings, for example, should be examined and their role on the health and comfort studied. Finally, even if the time spent in recreational settings is short, the quality of indoor air should also be considered because of specific pollution. This is the case of indoor swimming pools (exposure to chlorination byproducts) and ice-rinks (exposure to exhaust from machines used to smooth the ice). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Stability and Global Hopf Bifurcation Analysis on a Ratio-Dependent Predator-Prey Model with Two Time Delays

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Huitao Zhao

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A ratio-dependent predator-prey model with two time delays is studied. By means of an iteration technique, sufficient conditions are obtained for the global attractiveness of the positive equilibrium. By comparison arguments, the global stability of the semitrivial equilibrium is addressed. By using the theory of functional equation and Hopf bifurcation, the conditions on which positive equilibrium exists and the quality of Hopf bifurcation are given. Using a global Hopf bifurcation result of Wu (1998 for functional differential equations, the global existence of the periodic solutions is obtained. Finally, an example for numerical simulations is also included.

The Water Quality in Rio Highlights the Global Public Health Concern Over Untreated Sewage Disposal

Science.gov (United States)

Water quality issues in Rio have been widely publicized because of the 2016 Olympics. Recent concerns about polluted waters that athletes may be exposed to highlights the conditions that more than a billion people globally are exposed to daily. Despite these unhealthy conditions,...

Global Optimization of Nonlinear Blend-Scheduling Problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro A. Castillo Castillo

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The scheduling of gasoline-blending operations is an important problem in the oil refining industry. This problem not only exhibits the combinatorial nature that is intrinsic to scheduling problems, but also non-convex nonlinear behavior, due to the blending of various materials with different quality properties. In this work, a global optimization algorithm is proposed to solve a previously published continuous-time mixed-integer nonlinear scheduling model for gasoline blending. The model includes blend recipe optimization, the distribution problem, and several important operational features and constraints. The algorithm employs piecewise McCormick relaxation (PMCR and normalized multiparametric disaggregation technique (NMDT to compute estimates of the global optimum. These techniques partition the domain of one of the variables in a bilinear term and generate convex relaxations for each partition. By increasing the number of partitions and reducing the domain of the variables, the algorithm is able to refine the estimates of the global solution. The algorithm is compared to two commercial global solvers and two heuristic methods by solving four examples from the literature. Results show that the proposed global optimization algorithm performs on par with commercial solvers but is not as fast as heuristic approaches.

Quality assessment of Isfahan Medical Faculty web site electronic services and prioritizing solutions using analytic hierarchy process approach

Science.gov (United States)

Hajrahimi, Nafiseh; Dehaghani, Sayed Mehdi Hejazi; Hajrahimi, Nargess; Sarmadi, Sima

2014-01-01

Context: Implementing information technology in the best possible way can bring many advantages such as applying electronic services and facilitating tasks. Therefore, assessment of service providing systems is a way to improve the quality and elevate these systems including e-commerce, e-government, e-banking, and e-learning. Aims: This study was aimed to evaluate the electronic services in the website of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in order to propose solutions to improve them. Furthermore, we aim to rank the solutions based on the factors that enhance the quality of electronic services by using analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method. Materials and Methods: Non-parametric test was used to assess the quality of electronic services. The assessment of propositions was based on Aqual model and they were prioritized using AHP approach. The AHP approach was used because it directly applies experts’ deductions in the model, and lead to more objective results in the analysis and prioritizing the risks. After evaluating the quality of the electronic services, a multi-criteria decision making frame-work was used to prioritize the proposed solutions. Statistical Analysis Used: Non-parametric tests and AHP approach using Expert Choice software. Results: The results showed that students were satisfied in most of the indicators. Only a few indicators received low satisfaction from students including, design attractiveness, the amount of explanation and details of information, honesty and responsiveness of authorities, and the role of e-services in the user's relationship with university. After interviewing with Information and Communications Technology (ICT) experts at the university, measurement criteria, and solutions to improve the quality were collected. The best solutions were selected by EC software. According to the results, the solution “controlling and improving the process in handling users complaints” is of the utmost importance and authorities

Managing Food Quality Risk in Global Supply Chain: A Risk Management Framework

OpenAIRE

Arevalo Chavez, Pablo Jose; Seow, Christopher

2012-01-01

Today, the food sector is one of the sectors most vulnerable to intentional contamination by debilitating agents [1]. Some cases of contaminated food have indicated that product quality risk is one of the vulnerabilities in the global supply chain. A series of company scandals, affecting reputation and causing the recall of products and increasing costs have hit the food industry. The obvious problem is that even a minor incident in one part of the chain can have disastrous effects on other p...

Global existence of solutions to a tear film model with locally elevated evaporation rates

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Yuan; Ji, Hangjie; Liu, Jian-Guo; Witelski, Thomas P.

2017-07-01

Motivated by a model proposed by Peng et al. (2014) for break-up of tear films on human eyes, we study the dynamics of a generalized thin film model. The governing equations form a fourth-order coupled system of nonlinear parabolic PDEs for the film thickness and salt concentration subject to non-conservative effects representing evaporation. We analytically prove the global existence of solutions to this model with mobility exponents in several different ranges and present numerical simulations that are in agreement with the analytic results. We also numerically capture other interesting dynamics of the model, including finite-time rupture-shock phenomenon due to the instabilities caused by locally elevated evaporation rates, convergence to equilibrium and infinite-time thinning.

Classical solutions in supergravity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baaklini, N.S.; Ferrara, S.; Nieuwenhuizen Van, P.

1977-06-01

Classical solutions of supergravity are obtained by making finite global supersymmetry rotation on known solutions of the field equations of the bosonic sector. The Schwarzschild and the Reissner-Nordstoem solutions of general relativity are extended to various supergravity systems and the modification to the perihelion precession of planets is discussed

Environmental impact via quality management system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Attia, A.I.A.; EL Nahas, M.M.

2005-01-01

Power Quality (PQ) is becoming of great concern to consumers and utilities. Utility companies, equipment manufacturers and electric power customers are the main three parameters who have great interests and growing concern with PQ. Alexandria Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) is one of the utility company who try to enhance power quality through decreasing disruptions and interruptions which occur by improving the reliability since reliability coupled with power quality and customer service are key components in delivering an effective electricity support to customers which consequently affect the global environment. One strategic solution which has been developed in recent years by AEDC is the Distribution Management System (DMS) that provide remote monitoring of currents, voltages and switch positions of various remote circuit components (direct measurements), control operation and improving the quality of customer service through the reduction of outage time and the monthly detection of reliability indices: System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) , System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDT) in order To save energy hoping to decrease the global wanning effect and greenhouse gas effect and acid rain phenomena. This paper will cover the effect of DMS on the reliability indices: SAIFI, SAIDI, CAIDI during the last few years and their improvement due to the accuracy of information taken by DMS. In addition, it will discuss the minimization of power losses and their environmental effects on the global warming and greenhouse gas phenomena

A global conformance quality model. A new strategic tool for minimizing defects caused by variation, error, and complexity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hinckley, C. Martin [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

1994-01-01

The performance of Japanese products in the marketplace points to the dominant role of quality in product competition. Our focus is motivated by the tremendous pressure to improve conformance quality by reducing defects to previously unimaginable limits in the range of 1 to 10 parts per million. Toward this end, we have developed a new model of conformance quality that addresses each of the three principle defect sources: (1) Variation, (2) Human Error, and (3) Complexity. Although the role of variation in conformance quality is well documented, errors occur so infrequently that their significance is not well known. We have shown that statistical methods are not useful in characterizing and controlling errors, the most common source of defects. Excessive complexity is also a root source of defects, since it increases errors and variation defects. A missing link in the defining a global model has been the lack of a sound correlation between complexity and defects. We have used Design for Assembly (DFA) methods to quantify assembly complexity and have shown that assembly times can be described in terms of the Pareto distribution in a clear exception to the Central Limit Theorem. Within individual companies we have found defects to be highly correlated with DFA measures of complexity in broad studies covering tens of millions of assembly operations. Applying the global concepts, we predicted that Motorola`s Six Sigma method would only reduce defects by roughly a factor of two rather than orders of magnitude, a prediction confirmed by Motorola`s data. We have also shown that the potential defects rates of product concepts can be compared in the earliest stages of development. The global Conformance Quality Model has demonstrated that the best strategy for improvement depends upon the quality control strengths and weaknesses.

Global building physics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rode, Carsten

2013-01-01

High ambitions are set for the building physics performance of buildings today. No single technology can achieve fulfilment of these ambitions alone. Integrated, multi-facetted solutions and optimization are necessary. A holistic, or ‘global’, technological perspective is needed, which includes all...... aspects of the building as defined in building engineering. We live in an international society and building solutions are developed across country borders. Building physics is a global theme. The International Association of Building Physics has global appeal. This brief article reports the keynote...

Global Building Physics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rode, Carsten

2012-01-01

High ambitions are set for the building physics performance of buildings today. No single technology can achieve fulfilment of these ambitions alone. Integrated, multi-facetted solutions and optimization are necessary. A holistic, or “global”, technological perspective is needed, which includes all...... aspects of the building as defined in building engineering. We live in an international society and building solutions are developed across country borders. Building physics is a global theme. The International Association of Building Physics has global appeal. The keynote lecture and this brief paper...

Changing Foundations for Global Business Systems Solutions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slepniov, Dmitrij; Wæhrens, Brian Vejrum; Gubi, Ebbe

2011-01-01

Companies are actively seeking new competitive advantages by changing the location and ownership of their manufacturing processes. This process results in increasing fragmentation and dispersion of global business systems of companies. The purpose of this paper is to identify how companies may...... improve the integration of such business systems. The paper draws on a case study of a Danish industrial equipment firm. The paper describes and analyzes the company’s operations network configurations, which lay at the foundations of the company’s global business system. It is demonstrated how...... the operations configurations have been changing over time and affecting the overall business system. The paper identifies the key determinants and outcomes of this change. Moreover, it proposes how the design of operations configurations can be improved through the development of a distinct systemic approach...

Data quality through a web-based QA/QC system: implementation for atmospheric mercury data from the global mercury observation system.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Amore, Francesco; Bencardino, Mariantonia; Cinnirella, Sergio; Sprovieri, Francesca; Pirrone, Nicola

2015-08-01

The overall goal of the on-going Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) project is to develop a coordinated global monitoring network for mercury, including ground-based, high altitude and sea level stations. In order to ensure data reliability and comparability, a significant effort has been made to implement a centralized system, which is designed to quality assure and quality control atmospheric mercury datasets. This system, GMOS-Data Quality Management (G-DQM), uses a web-based approach with real-time adaptive monitoring procedures aimed at preventing the production of poor-quality data. G-DQM is plugged on a cyberinfrastructure and deployed as a service. Atmospheric mercury datasets, produced during the first-three years of the GMOS project, are used as the input to demonstrate the application of the G-DQM and how it identifies a number of key issues concerning data quality. The major issues influencing data quality are presented and discussed for the GMOS stations under study. Atmospheric mercury data collected at the Longobucco (Italy) station is used as a detailed case study.

Accelerating the Global Nested Air Quality Prediction Modeling System (GNAQPMS) model on Intel Xeon Phi processors

OpenAIRE

Wang, Hui; Chen, Huansheng; Wu, Qizhong; Lin, Junming; Chen, Xueshun; Xie, Xinwei; Wang, Rongrong; Tang, Xiao; Wang, Zifa

2017-01-01

The GNAQPMS model is the global version of the Nested Air Quality Prediction Modelling System (NAQPMS), which is a multi-scale chemical transport model used for air quality forecast and atmospheric environmental research. In this study, we present our work of porting and optimizing the GNAQPMS model on the second generation Intel Xeon Phi processor codename “Knights Landing” (KNL). Compared with the first generation Xeon Phi coprocessor, KNL introduced many new hardware features such as a boo...

Global Scenarios of Air Pollution until 2030: Combining Air Quality, Climate Change and Energy Access Policies

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, S.; Dentener, F. J.; Klimont, Z.; Riahi, K.

2011-12-01

Outdoor air pollution is increasingly recognized as a significant contributor to global health outcomes. This has led to the implementation of a number of air quality policies worldwide, with total air pollution control costs in 2005 estimated at US$195 billion. More than 80% of the world's population is still found to be exposed to PM2.5 concentrations exceeding WHO air quality guidelines and health impacts resulting from these exposures estimated at around 2-5% of the global disease burden. Key questions to answer are 1) How will pollutant emissions evolve in the future given developments in the energy system and how will energy and environmental policies influence such emission trends. 2) What implications will this have for resulting exposures and related health outcomes. In order to answer these questions, varying levels of stringency of air quality legislation are analyzed in combination with policies on universal access to clean cooking fuels and limiting global temperature change to 2°C in 2100. Bottom-up methodologies using energy emissions modeling are used to derive sector-based pollutant emission trajectories until 2030. Emissions are spatially downscaled and used in combination with a global transport chemistry model to derive ambient concentrations of PM2.5. Health impacts of these exposures are further estimated consistent with WHO data and methodology. The results indicate that currently planned air quality legislation combined with rising energy demand will be insufficient in controlling future emissions growth in developing countries. In order to achieve significant reductions in pollutant emissions of the order of more than 50% from 2005 levels and reduce exposures to levels consistent with WHO standards, it will be necessary to increase the stringency of such legislations and combine them with policies on energy access and climate change. Combined policies also result in reductions in air pollution control costs as compared to those associated

The global kernel k-means algorithm for clustering in feature space.

Science.gov (United States)

Tzortzis, Grigorios F; Likas, Aristidis C

2009-07-01

Kernel k-means is an extension of the standard k -means clustering algorithm that identifies nonlinearly separable clusters. In order to overcome the cluster initialization problem associated with this method, we propose the global kernel k-means algorithm, a deterministic and incremental approach to kernel-based clustering. Our method adds one cluster at each stage, through a global search procedure consisting of several executions of kernel k-means from suitable initializations. This algorithm does not depend on cluster initialization, identifies nonlinearly separable clusters, and, due to its incremental nature and search procedure, locates near-optimal solutions avoiding poor local minima. Furthermore, two modifications are developed to reduce the computational cost that do not significantly affect the solution quality. The proposed methods are extended to handle weighted data points, which enables their application to graph partitioning. We experiment with several data sets and the proposed approach compares favorably to kernel k -means with random restarts.

Voltage quality: solutions of desensitization; Qualite de la tension: les solutions de desensibilisation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

1999-10-01

The occurrence of voltage drops and cuts can lead to major malfunctions in electrical installations with sometimes important economical impacts. Thus, the use of solutions of desensitization are needed to avoid such disturbances. This technical paper gives a summary of the basic solutions elaborated by Electricite de France (EdF) with the participation of electrical engineering associations in order to solve the problems encountered in existing installations and to provide specifications for the newly designed installations: the desensitization process (origin of voltage drops, solutions, costs), the diagnosis of industrial installations (identification, quantitative analysis and recording of disturbances, complementary informations, causes, economical impact, solutions, costs, remedial action), the general and specific solutions of desensitization (instrumentation and control systems, switches, relays, motors, speed regulators and variators), specific solutions for computerized and electronic systems, and the role of batteries. (J.S.)

Institutionalizing Global Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasche, Andreas; Gilbert, Dirk Ulrich

2012-01-01

The United Nations Global Compact – which is a Global Public Policy Network advocating 10 universal principles in the areas of human rights, labor standards, environmental protection, and anticorruption – has turned into the world's largest corporate responsibility initiative. Although the Global...... Compact is often characterized as a promising way to address global governance gaps, it remains largely unclear why this is the case. To address this problem, we discuss to what extent the initiative represents an institutional solution to exercise global governance. We suggest that new governance modes...

Measurement of Quality of Life III. From the IQOL Theory to the Global, Generic SEQOL Questionnaire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soren Ventegodt

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The Danish Quality of Life Survey is based on the philosophy of life known as the integrative quality-of-life (IQOL theory. It consists of eight different quality-of-life concepts, ranging from the superficially subjective via the deeply existential to the superficially objective (well being, satisfaction with life, happiness, meaning in life, biological order, realizing life potential, fulfillment of needs, and objective factors [ability of functioning and fulfilling societal norms].This paper presents the work underlying the formulation of the theories of a good life and how these theories came to be expressed in a comprehensive, multidimensional, generic questionnaire for the evaluation of the global quality of life � SEQOL (self-evaluation of quality of life � presented in full length in this paper. The instruments and theories on which the Quality of Life Survey was based are constantly being updated. It is an on-going process due to aspects such as human development, language, and culture. We arrived at eight rating scales for the quality of life that, guided by the IQOL theory, were combined into a global and generic quality-of-life rating scale. This was simplified to the validated QOL5 with only five questions, made for use in clinical databases. Unfortunately, the depth of human existence is to some extent lost in QOL5.We continue to aim towards greater simplicity, precision, and depth in the questions in order to explore the depths of human existence. We have not yet found a final form that enables us to fully rate the quality of life in practice. We hope that the several hundred questions we found necessary to adequately implement the theories of the Quality of Life Survey can be replaced by far fewer; ideally, only eight questions representing the eight component theories. These eight ideal questions have not yet been evaluated, and therefore they should not form the basis of a survey. However, the perspective is clear. If eight

In vitro cell quality of buffy coat platelets in additive solution treated with pathogen reduction technology

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ostrowski, Sisse R; Bochsen, Louise; Salado-Jimena, José A

2010-01-01

Pathogen reduction technologies (PRTs) may induce storage lesion in platelet (PLT) concentrates. To investigate this, buffy coat PLTs (BCPs) in PLT additive solution (AS; SSP+) with or without Mirasol PRT (CaridianBCT Biotechnologies) were assessed by quality control tests and four-color flow...

Nuclear fuel technology - Determination of uranium in uranyl nitrate solutions of nuclear grade quality - Gravimetric method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

This International Standard specifies a precise and accurate gravimetric method for determining the mass fraction of uranium in uranyl nitrate solutions of nuclear grade quality containing more than 100 g/kg of uranium. Non-volatile impurities influence the accuracy of the method

Quality control test solutions for diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and health physics with PTW equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Froescher, Olga

2007-01-01

Complete test of publication follows. In 1922 PTW-Freiburg was founded to produce and market a revolutionary new electromechanical component for measuring very small electrical charges. Today PTW is the specialist and one of the global market leaders for manufacturing and supplying high-quality products in diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine, radiation therapy and health physics. The quality control of X-ray images is influenced by a number of parameters. To maintain a consistent performance of X-ray installations, quality checks have to be conducted regularly. PTW offers a variety of diagnostic test tools for different X-ray devices, and therefore to reduce patient exposure and costs for X-ray departments. PTW's 'Code of Practice' defines in an easy and compact way how to perform quality control measurements on different diagnostic X-ray installations. The necessary equipment for measuring main parameters as well as acceptable limits are mentioned accordingly. The 'Code of Practice' bases on actual standards.

Phenomena of Blowup and Global Existence of the Solution to a Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaowei An

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We consider the following Cauchy problem: -iut=Δu-V(xu+f(x,|u|2u+(W(x⋆|u|2u, x∈ℝN,t>0, u(x, 0=u0(x,x∈ℝN, where V(x and W(x are real-valued potentials and V(x≥0 and W(x is even, f(x,|u|2 is measurable in x and continuous in |u|2, and u0(x is a complex-valued function of x. We obtain some sufficient conditions and establish two sharp thresholds for the blowup and global existence of the solution to the problem.

Searching for the Optimal Sampling Solution: Variation in Invertebrate Communities, Sample Condition and DNA Quality.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin M Gossner

Full Text Available There is a great demand for standardising biodiversity assessments in order to allow optimal comparison across research groups. For invertebrates, pitfall or flight-interception traps are commonly used, but sampling solution differs widely between studies, which could influence the communities collected and affect sample processing (morphological or genetic. We assessed arthropod communities with flight-interception traps using three commonly used sampling solutions across two forest types and two vertical strata. We first considered the effect of sampling solution and its interaction with forest type, vertical stratum, and position of sampling jar at the trap on sample condition and community composition. We found that samples collected in copper sulphate were more mouldy and fragmented relative to other solutions which might impair morphological identification, but condition depended on forest type, trap type and the position of the jar. Community composition, based on order-level identification, did not differ across sampling solutions and only varied with forest type and vertical stratum. Species richness and species-level community composition, however, differed greatly among sampling solutions. Renner solution was highly attractant for beetles and repellent for true bugs. Secondly, we tested whether sampling solution affects subsequent molecular analyses and found that DNA barcoding success was species-specific. Samples from copper sulphate produced the fewest successful DNA sequences for genetic identification, and since DNA yield or quality was not particularly reduced in these samples additional interactions between the solution and DNA must also be occurring. Our results show that the choice of sampling solution should be an important consideration in biodiversity studies. Due to the potential bias towards or against certain species by Ethanol-containing sampling solution we suggest ethylene glycol as a suitable sampling solution when

The endoscopy Global Rating Scale-Canada: development and implementation of a quality improvement tool.

Science.gov (United States)

MacIntosh, Donald; Dubé, Catherine; Hollingworth, Roger; Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Sander; Daniels, Sandra; Ghattas, George

2013-02-01

Increasing use of gastrointestinal endoscopy, particularly for colorectal cancer screening, and increasing emphasis on health care quality highlight the need for endoscopy facilities to review the quality of the service they offer. To adapt the United Kingdom Global Rating Scale (UK-GRS) to develop a web-based and patient-centred tool to assess and improve the quality of endoscopy services provided. Based on feedback from 22 sites across Canada that completed the UK endoscopy GRS, and integrating results of the Canadian consensus on safety and quality indicators in endoscopy and other Canadian consensus reports, a working group of endoscopists experienced with the GRS developed the GRS-Canada (GRS-C). The GRS-C mirrors the two dimensions (clinical quality and quality of the patient experience) and 12 patient-centred items of the UK-GRS, but was modified to apply to Canadian health care infrastructure, language and current practice. Each item is assessed by a yes⁄no response to eight to 12 statements that are divided into levels graded D (basic) through A (advanced). A core team consisting of a booking clerk, charge nurse and the physician responsible for the unit is recommended to complete the GRS-C twice yearly. The GRS-C is intended to improve endoscopic services in Canada by providing endoscopy units with a straightforward process to review the quality of the service they provide.

Accounting for Government in the Global South: do Global Solutions Match Local Problems?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stewart Lawrence

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the impact of globalised accounting and economic reforms on the public sectors of lessdeveloped countries. Our interest is in the international institutions that have been instrumental inintroducing common, global remedies which appear to be based on theoretical understandings as opposed toexperience of the effects of their interventions. A growing concern is being expressed about suchinterventions, but there is a sparcity of reports from the field. We argue that a re-think is required of type ofthe public sector financial management reforms which the international financial institutions and the nationalaid agencies have been promoting across the Global South for the last decade or so.

Biomass and air quality the UK experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dearnley, E.

2009-01-01

Policies to encourage the use of biomass in the UK can perhaps be held up as an example of how not to develop integrated environmental policy. The UK has considered the air quality effects of biomass burning only after putting in place policies that will hugely increase the amount of biomass burning plant that will be installed. Whilst these issues are now being addressed, it will be some time before a satisfactory framework will be in place. The current situation is not a positive one for all involved - air quality practitioners, climate change policy makers and the wider biomass industry. For clean air organisations such as Environmental Protection UK and our European counterparts there are essentially two lessons to take away. The first is that we have to raise our sights to look for potential threats to air quality from wider policy measures, and flag up potential concerns at the earliest opportunity. It is easy to focus on the job in hand (for example emissions from vehicles) and miss developments further afield. Secondly, and most importantly, we have to offer our own solutions to wider environmental challenges. Climate change is likely to remain the dominant global environmental issue for decades to come; clean air agencies need to understand this and put forward low carbon solutions that offer strong synergies with air quality. The alternative is for policy makers to see air i quality standards and clean air agencies as a barrier t to progress towards a low carbon economy, rather than a positive source of solutions. (N.C.)

Faster, Better, Cheaper: News on Seeking Gaia's Astrometric Solution with AGIS

Science.gov (United States)

Lammers, U.; Lindegren, L.; Bombrun, A.; O'Mullane, W.; Hobbs, D.

2010-12-01

Gaia is ESA’s ambitious space astrometry mission with a foreseen launch date in early 2012. Its main objective is to perform a stellar census of the 1000 Million brightest objects in our galaxy (completeness to V=20 mag) from which an astrometric catalog of micro-arcsec level accuracy will be constructed. A key element in this endeavor is the Astrometric Global Iterative Solution (AGIS) - the mathematical and numerical framework for combining the ≍80 available observations per star obtained during Gaia’s 5yr lifetime into a single global astrometric solution. At last year’s ADASS XVIII we presented (O4.1) in detail the fundamental working principles of AGIS, its development status, and selected results obtained by running the system on processing hardware at ESAC, Madrid with large-scale simulated data sets. We present here the latest developments around AGIS highlighting in particular a much improved algebraic solving method that has recently been implemented. This Conjugate Gradient scheme improves the convergence behavior in significant ways and leads to a solution of much higher scientific quality. We also report on a new collaboration aiming at processing the data from the future small Japanese astrometry mission Nano-Jasmine with AGIS.

Modeling Aircraft Emissions for Regional-scale Air Quality: Adapting a New Global Aircraft Emissions Database for the U.S

Science.gov (United States)

Arunachalam, S.; Baek, B. H.; Vennam, P. L.; Woody, M. C.; Omary, M.; Binkowski, F.; Fleming, G.

2012-12-01

Commercial aircraft emit substantial amounts of pollutants during their complete activity cycle that ranges from landing-and-takeoff (LTO) at airports to cruising in upper elevations of the atmosphere, and affect both air quality and climate. Since these emissions are not uniformly emitted over the earth, and have substantial temporal and spatial variability, it is vital to accurately evaluate and quantify the relative impacts of aviation emissions on ambient air quality. Regional-scale air quality modeling applications do not routinely include these aircraft emissions from all cycles. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has developed the Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT), a software system that dynamically models aircraft performance in space and time to calculate fuel burn and emissions from gate-to-gate for all commercial aviation activity from all airports globally. To process in-flight aircraft emissions and to provide a realistic representation of these for treatment in grid-based air quality models, we have developed an interface processor called AEDTproc that accurately distributes full-flight chorded emissions in time and space to create gridded, hourly model-ready emissions input data. Unlike the traditional emissions modeling approach of treating aviation emissions as ground-level sources or processing emissions only from the LTO cycles in regional-scale air quality studies, AEDTproc distributes chorded inventories of aircraft emissions during LTO cycles and cruise activities into a time-variant 3-D gridded structure. We will present results of processed 2006 global emissions from AEDT over a continental U.S. modeling domain to support a national-scale air quality assessment of the incremental impacts of aircraft emissions on surface air quality. This includes about 13.6 million flights within the U.S. out of 31.2 million flights globally. We will focus on assessing spatio-temporal variability of these commercial aircraft emissions, and

Qualitative behavior of global solutions to inhomogeneous quasilinear hyperbolic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hsiao, L.

1994-01-01

The emphasis is the influence to the qualitative behavior of solutions caused by the lower order term, which is certain dissipation, in quasilinear hyperbolic systems. Both classical solutions and discontinuous weak solutions are discussed. (author). 12 refs

Risk transfer solutions for the insurance industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Njegomir Vladimir

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper focuses on the traditional and alternative mechanisms for insurance risk transfer that are available to global as well as to domestic insurance companies. The findings suggest that traditional insurance risk transfer solutions available to insurance industry nowadays will be predominant in the foreseeable future but the increasing role of alternative solutions is to be expected as the complementary rather than supplementary solution to traditional transfer. Additionally, findings suggest that it is reasonable to expect that future development of risk transfer solutions in Serbia will follow the path that has been passed by global insurance industry.

Food Consumption and its impact on Cardiovascular Disease: Importance of Solutions focused on the globalized food system

Science.gov (United States)

Anand, Sonia S.; Hawkes, Corinna; de Souza, Russell J.; Mente, Andrew; Dehghan, Mahshid; Nugent, Rachel; Zulyniak, Michael A.; Weis, Tony; Bernstein, Adam M.; Krauss, Ronald; Kromhout, Daan; Jenkins, David J.A.; Malik, Vasanti; Martinez-Gonzalez, Miguel A.; Mozafarrian, Dariush; Yusuf, Salim; Willett, Walter C.; Popkin, Barry M

2015-01-01

Major scholars in the field, based on a 3-day consensus, created an in-depth review of current knowledge on the role of diet in CVD, the changing global food system and global dietary patterns, and potential policy solutions. Evidence from different countries, age/race/ethnicity/socioeconomic groups suggest the health effects studies of foods, macronutrients, and dietary patterns on CVD appear to be far more consistent though regional knowledge gaps are highlighted. There are large gaps in knowledge about the association of macronutrients to CVD in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), particularly linked with dietary patterns are reviewed. Our understanding of foods and macronutrients in relationship to CVD is broadly clear; however major gaps exist both in dietary pattern research and ways to change diets and food systems. Based on the current evidence, the traditional Mediterranean-type diet, including plant foods/emphasizing plant protein sources, provides a well-tested healthy dietary pattern to reduce CVD. PMID:26429085

A Comparative Survey of Adaptive Codec Solutions for VoIP over Multirate WLANs: A Capacity versus Quality Performance Trade-Off

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sfairopoulou A

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In multi-rate WLANs, users can suffer transmission rate changes due to the link adaptation mechanism. This results in a variable capacity channel, which is very hostile for VoIP and can cause serious quality of service (QoS degradation in all active calls. Various codec adaptation mechanisms have been proposed as a solution to this, as well as to solve congestion problems on WLAN environments. Here, these solutions are presented, categorized according to the adaptation policy and scenario they implement, and evaluated at call-level in terms of the resulting blocking and dropping probabilities, as well as the perceived voice quality. To define a common performance metric, a new index named VGoS-factor is presented, which, by combining these capacity and quality indicators, can provide an overall view of the capacity versus quality trade-off of the proposed mechanisms and consequently help in choosing the adequate policy for each scenario.

Global optimization methods for engineering design

Science.gov (United States)

Arora, Jasbir S.

1990-01-01

The problem is to find a global minimum for the Problem P. Necessary and sufficient conditions are available for local optimality. However, global solution can be assured only under the assumption of convexity of the problem. If the constraint set S is compact and the cost function is continuous on it, existence of a global minimum is guaranteed. However, in view of the fact that no global optimality conditions are available, a global solution can be found only by an exhaustive search to satisfy Inequality. The exhaustive search can be organized in such a way that the entire design space need not be searched for the solution. This way the computational burden is reduced somewhat. It is concluded that zooming algorithm for global optimizations appears to be a good alternative to stochastic methods. More testing is needed; a general, robust, and efficient local minimizer is required. IDESIGN was used in all numerical calculations which is based on a sequential quadratic programming algorithm, and since feasible set keeps on shrinking, a good algorithm to find an initial feasible point is required. Such algorithms need to be developed and evaluated.

Global stability and exact solution of an arbitrary-solute nonlinear cellular mass transport system.

Science.gov (United States)

Benson, James D

2014-12-01

The prediction of the cellular state as a function of extracellular concentrations and temperatures has been of interest to physiologists for nearly a century. One of the most widely used models in the field is one where mass flux is linearly proportional to the concentration difference across the membrane. These fluxes define a nonlinear differential equation system for the intracellular state, which when coupled with appropriate initial conditions, define the intracellular state as a function of the extracellular concentrations of both permeating and nonpermeating solutes. Here we take advantage of a reparametrization scheme to extend existing stability results to a more general setting and to a develop analytical solutions to this model for an arbitrary number of extracellular solutes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Global Atmosphere Watch Workshop on Measurement-Model Fusion for Global Total Atmospheric Deposition (MMF-GTAD)

Science.gov (United States)

The World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) Programme coordinates high-quality observations of atmospheric composition from global to local scales with the aim to drive high-quality and high-impact science while co-producing a new generation of pro...

Middle Eastern solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boersma, M.

2001-01-01

The need to consider the Middle East as a group of distinct countries and not as one single market and to tailor the services offered by companies is stressed. The cultures, political and social conditions, forms of the oil and gas industry in the countries making up the Middle East and their technology requirements are different and vary widely. The approach taken by Shell Global Solutions to these differences is described and illustrated with Shell's experiences in Oman and Saudi Arabia. Shell has found that Omanis are keen to work in their oil and gas industry, and to protect their country's natural environment. Saudi also have intense pride in their oil industry and here Shell supports refinery operators reduce costs while maintaining strict quality control. Shell has been selected to help Saudi Arabia develop its natural gas reserves; as part of the Core Venture 3 project, Shell will build a power desalination plant

Challenge in manufacturing electrolyte solutions for lithium and lithium ion batteries quality control and minimizing contamination level

Science.gov (United States)

Heider, U.; Oesten, R.; Jungnitz, M.

The quality of electrolytes for lithium batteries are a major topic in science and battery industries. The solvents and lithium salts should be of highest purity. Therefore, during preparation and handling of electrolyte solutions, the contamination level has to be minimized and the quality during packaging, storage and transportation has to be guaranteed. Especially, protic impurities are found to be very critical for LiPF 6-based electrolytes. The influence of water is reported to be tremendous. But also other protic impurities like alcohols are considered to play an important role in the electrolyte quality. The reaction of the protic impurities with LiPF 6 leads to the formation of HF which further reacts with cathode active materials (e.g., spinel) and the passivating films of the cathode and anode. For a better understanding of the protic impurities and their role in the electrolyte quality a systematic investigation of different impurities was carried out. Electrolytes were doped with different protic compounds. Then the electrolyte was analyzed for protic impurities and HF in dependence of time. First results showing the relation between protic impurities and HF are presented and discussed. In addition, different packaging materials for the electrolyte solutions were investigated. Storage tests were carried out at different temperatures and in different atmospheres. Results on contamination levels, influence of packaging, high temperature storage and handling are addressed.

[Cost-effectiveness analysis and diet quality index applied to the WHO Global Strategy].

Science.gov (United States)

Machado, Flávia Mori Sarti; Simões, Arlete Naresse

2008-02-01

To test the use of cost-effectiveness analysis as a decision making tool in the production of meals for the inclusion of the recommendations published in the World Health Organization's Global Strategy. Five alternative options for breakfast menu were assessed previously to their adoption in a food service at a university in the state of Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, in 2006. Costs of the different options were based on market prices of food items (direct cost). Health benefits were estimated based on adaptation of the Diet Quality Index (DQI). Cost-effectiveness ratios were estimated by dividing benefits by costs and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were estimated as cost differential per unit of additional benefit. The meal choice was based on health benefit units associated to direct production cost as well as incremental effectiveness per unit of differential cost. The analysis showed the most simple option with the addition of a fruit (DQI = 64 / cost = R$ 1.58) as the best alternative. Higher effectiveness was seen in the options with a fruit portion (DQI1=64 / DQI3=58 / DQI5=72) compared to the others (DQI2=48 / DQI4=58). The estimate of cost-effectiveness ratio allowed to identifying the best breakfast option based on cost-effectiveness analysis and Diet Quality Index. These instruments allow easy application easiness and objective evaluation which are key to the process of inclusion of public or private institutions under the Global Strategy directives.

Impacts of ozone-vegetation coupling and feedbacks on global air quality, ecosystems and food security

Science.gov (United States)

Tai, A. P. K.

2016-12-01

Surface ozone is an air pollutant of significant concerns due to its harmful effects on human health, vegetation and crop productivity. Chronic ozone exposure is shown to reduce photosynthesis and interfere with gas exchange in plants, thereby influencing surface energy balance and biogeochemical fluxes with important ramifications for climate and atmospheric composition, including possible feedbacks onto ozone itself that are not well understood. Ozone damage on crops has been well documented, but a mechanistic understanding is not well established. Here we present several results pertaining to the effects of ozone-vegetation coupling on air quality, ecosystems and agriculture. Using the Community Earth System Model (CESM), we find that inclusion of ozone damage on plants reduces the global land carbon sink by up to 5%, while simulated ozone is enhanced by up to 6 ppbv North America, Europe and East Asia. This strong positive feedback on ozone air quality via ozone-vegetation coupling arises mainly from reduced stomatal conductance, which induces two feedback pathways: 1) reduced dry deposition and ozone uptake; and 2) reduced evapotranspiration that enhances vegetation temperature and thus isoprene emission. Using the same ozone-vegetation scheme in a crop model within CESM, we further examine the impacts of historical ozone exposure on global crop production. We contrast our model results with a separate statistical analysis designed to characterize the spatial variability of crop-ozone-temperature relationships and account for the confounding effect of ozone-temperature covariation, using multidecadal global datasets of crop yields, agroclimatic variables and ozone exposures. We find that several crops (especially C4 crops such as maize) exhibit stronger sensitivities to ozone than found by field studies or in CESM simulations. We also find a strong anticorrelation between crop sensitivities and average ozone levels, reflecting biological adaptive ozone

Global Existence and Large Time Behavior of Solutions to the Bipolar Nonisentropic Euler-Poisson Equations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Min Chen

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We study the one-dimensional bipolar nonisentropic Euler-Poisson equations which can model various physical phenomena, such as the propagation of electron and hole in submicron semiconductor devices, the propagation of positive ion and negative ion in plasmas, and the biological transport of ions for channel proteins. We show the existence and large time behavior of global smooth solutions for the initial value problem, when the difference of two particles’ initial mass is nonzero, and the far field of two particles’ initial temperatures is not the ambient device temperature. This result improves that of Y.-P. Li, for the case that the difference of two particles’ initial mass is zero, and the far field of the initial temperature is the ambient device temperature.

A multi-model assessment of the co-benefits of climate mitigation for global air quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rao, Shilpa; Klimont, Zbigniew; Leitao, Joana; Riahi, Keywan; van Dingenen, Rita; Reis, Lara Aleluia; Calvin, Katherine; Dentener, Frank; Drouet, Laurent; Fujimori, Shinichiro; Harmsen, Mathijs; Luderer, Gunnar; Heyes, Chris; Strefler, Jessica; Tavoni, Massimo; van Vuuren, Detlef P.

2016-12-01

The recent International Panel on Climate change (IPCC) report identifies significant co-benefits from climate policies on near-term ambient air pollution and related human health outcomes [1]. This is increasingly relevant for policy making as the health impacts of air pollution are a major global concern- the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study identifies outdoor air pollution as the sixth major cause of death globally [2]. Integrated assessment models (IAMs) are an effective tool to evaluate future air pollution outcomes across a wide range of assumptions on socio-economic development and policy regimes. The Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) [3] were the first set of long-term global scenarios developed across multiple integrated assessment models that provided detailed estimates of a number of air pollutants until 2100. However these scenarios were primarily designed to cover a defined range of radiative forcing outcomes and thus did not specifically focus on the interactions of long-term climate goals on near-term air pollution impacts. More recently, [4] used the RCP4.5 scenario to evaluate the co-benefits of global GHG reductions on air quality and human health in 2030. [5-7] have further examined the interactions of more diverse pollution control regimes with climate policies. This paper extends the listed studies in a number of ways. Firstly it uses multiple IAMs to look into the co-benefits of a global climate policy for ambient air pollution under harmonized assumptions on near-term air pollution control. Multi-model frameworks have been extensively used in the analysis of climate change mitigation pathways, and the structural uncertainties regarding the underlying mechanisms (see for example [8-10]. This is to our knowledge the first time that a multi-model evaluation has been specifically designed and applied to analyze the co-benefits of climate change policy on ambient air quality, thus enabling a better understanding of at a detailed

The biosphere: Problems and solutions; Proceedings of the Miami International Symposium on the Biosphere, Miami Beach, FL, April 23, 24, 1984

Science.gov (United States)

Veziroglu, T. N.

The objective of the Miami International Symposium on the Biosphere was to provide a forum for the presentation of the latest research findings on the environmental effects of human activities. The topics discussed are related to biosphere reserves, environmental aspects of hydrocarbon fuels, radioactivity and nuclear waste, land management, acid rains, water quality, water resources, coastal resources management, the pollution of rivers, industrial waste, economic development and the environment, health hazards and solutions, endangered species, environmentally compatible systems, space pollution, and global considerations. Attention is given to questions regarding global security and sustainable development, environethics as a global strategy for environmental quality, a gestalt approach to the environment, potential indicators for monitoring biosphere reserves, a review of regional impacts associated with the development of U.S. synthetic fuel resources, water resources in the Soviet Union, and pollution-free pesticides.

Essays and surveys in global optimization

CERN Document Server

Audet, Charles; Savard, Giles

2005-01-01

Global optimization aims at solving the most general problems of deterministic mathematical programming. In addition, once the solutions are found, this methodology is also expected to prove their optimality. With these difficulties in mind, global optimization is becoming an increasingly powerful and important methodology. This book is the most recent examination of its mathematical capability, power, and wide ranging solutions to many fields in the applied sciences.

THE QUALITY OF CULTURAL SERVICES IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS CONTEXT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurica DVORACIC

2015-11-01

Full Text Available It suffices to browse the websites of only a few of the most noteworthy Romanian cultural organizations – including the website of the Ministry of Culture – to conclude that quality policies are missing. In fact, these are not the only policies that are missing, but this topic should be discussed in another paper. The objective of this paper is to analyze the progresses and the opportunities, as well as the problems and the challenges that the Romanian society and economy are facing as far as culture is concerned at the beginning of the new millennium, in the particular context of the global economic crisis: specifically, we will focus on the role of cultural organization managers in implementing quality management as the main factor in assuring the competitiveness needed to overcome the crisis. Cultural organization managers generally admit that a change is needed in order to cope with competitive pressure, but few understand how this change should be implemented. To avoid the issues associated with “change programs”, the management of cultural organizations must focus on the structure of processes, recognizing the roles and responsibilities of their employees in the processes in which they are involved.

Existence and global exponential stability of periodic solutions for n-dimensional neutral dynamic equations on time scales.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bing; Li, Yongkun; Zhang, Xuemei

2016-01-01

In this paper, by using the existence of the exponential dichotomy of linear dynamic equations on time scales and the theory of calculus on time scales, we study the existence and global exponential stability of periodic solutions for a class of n-dimensional neutral dynamic equations on time scales. We also present an example to illustrate the feasibility of our results. The results of this paper are completely new and complementary to the previously known results even in both the case of differential equations (time scale [Formula: see text]) and the case of difference equations (time scale [Formula: see text]).

Unique contributions of dynamic versus global measures of parent-child interaction quality in predicting school adjustment.

Science.gov (United States)

Bardack, Sarah; Herbers, Janette E; Obradović, Jelena

2017-09-01

This study investigates the unique contribution of microsocial and global measures of parent-child positive coregulation (PCR) in predicting children's behavioral and social adjustment in school. Using a community sample of 102 children, ages 4-6, and their parents, we conducted nested path analytic models to identify the unique effects of 2 measures of PCR on school outcomes. Microsocial PCR independently predicted fewer externalizing and inattention/impulsive behaviors in school. Global PCR did not uniquely relate to children's behavioral and social adjustment outcomes. Household socioeconomic status was related to both microsocial and global measures of PCR, but not directly associated with school outcomes. Findings illustrate the importance of using dynamic measures of PCR based on microsocial coding to further understand how the quality of parent-child interaction is related to children's self-regulatory and social development during school transition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI)

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Joint Global Change Research Institute (JGCRI) is dedicated to understanding the problems of global climate change and their potential solutions. The Institute...

A New Solution Assessment Approach and Its Application to Space Geodesy Data Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, X.; Huang, C.; Liao, X.

2001-12-01

The statistics of the residuals are used in this paper to perform a quality assessment of the solutions from space geodesy data analysis. With the stochastic estimation and the relatively arbitrary empirical parameters being employed to absorb unmodelled errors, it has long been noticed that different estimate combinations or analysis strategies may achieve the same level of fitting yet result in significantly different solutions. Based on the postulate that no conceivable signals should remain in the residuals, solutions of the same level of root mean square error (RMS) and variance-covariance may be differentiated in the sense that for reasonable solutions, the residuals are virtually identical with noise. While it is possible to develop complex noise models, the Gaussian white noise model simplifies the solution interpretation and implies the unmodelled errors have been smoothed out. Statistical moments of the residuals as well as the Pearson chi-square are computed in this paper to measure the discrepancies between the residuals and Gaussian white noise. Applying to both satellite laser ranging (SLR) and global positioning system (GPS) data analysis, we evaluate different parameter estimate combinations and/or different strategies that would be hardly discriminated by the level of fitting. Unlike most solution assessment methods broadly termed as external comparison, no information independent of the data analyzed is required. This makes the immediate solution assessment possible and easy to carry out. While the external comparison is the best and most convincing quality assessment of the solution, the statistics of the residuals provide important information on the solutions and, in some cases as discussed in this paper, can be supported with external comparison.

Quality of institution and the FEG (forest, energy intensity, and globalization) -environment relationships in sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin; Adom, Philip Kofi

2017-07-01

The current share of sub-Saharan Africa in global carbon dioxide emissions is negligible compared to major contributors like Asia, Americas, and Europe. This trend is, however, likely to change given that both economic growth and rate of urbanization in the region are projected to be robust in the future. The current study contributes to the literature by examining both the direct and the indirect impacts of quality of institution on the environment. Specifically, we investigate whether the institutional setting in the region provides some sort of a complementary role in the environment-FEG relationships. We use the panel two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to deal with the simultaneity problem. Data consists of 43 sub-Saharan African countries. The result shows that energy inefficiency compromises environmental standards. However, the quality of the institutional setting helps moderate this negative consequences; countries with good institutions show greater prospects than countries with poor institutions. On the other hand, globalization of the region and increased forest size generate positive environmental outcomes in the region. Their impacts are, however, independent of the quality of institution. Afforestation programs, promotion of other clean energy types, and investment in energy efficiency, basic city infrastructure, and regulatory and institutional structures, are desirable policies to pursue to safeguard the environment.

Securing the Global Airspace System Via Identity-Based Security

Science.gov (United States)

Ivancic, William D.

2015-01-01

Current telecommunications systems have very good security architectures that include authentication and authorization as well as accounting. These three features enable an edge system to obtain access into a radio communication network, request specific Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements and ensure proper billing for service. Furthermore, the links are secure. Widely used telecommunication technologies are Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) This paper provides a system-level view of network-centric operations for the global airspace system and the problems and issues with deploying new technologies into the system. The paper then focuses on applying the basic security architectures of commercial telecommunication systems and deployment of federated Authentication, Authorization and Accounting systems to provide a scalable, evolvable reliable and maintainable solution to enable a globally deployable identity-based secure airspace system.

Relationships between undergraduates' argumentation skills, conceptual quality of problem solutions, and problem solving strategies in introductory physics

Science.gov (United States)

Rebello, Carina M.

This study explored the effects of alternative forms of argumentation on undergraduates' physics solutions in introductory calculus-based physics. A two-phase concurrent mixed methods design was employed to investigate relationships between undergraduates' written argumentation abilities, conceptual quality of problem solutions, as well as approaches and strategies for solving argumentative physics problems across multiple physics topics. Participants were assigned via stratified sampling to one of three conditions (control, guided construct, or guided evaluate) based on gender and pre-test scores on a conceptual instrument. The guided construct and guided evaluate groups received tasks and prompts drawn from literature to facilitate argument construction or evaluation. Using a multiple case study design, with each condition serving as a case, interviews were conducted consisting of a think-aloud problem solving session paired with a semi-structured interview. The analysis of problem solving strategies was guided by the theoretical framework on epistemic games adapted by Tuminaro and Redish (2007). This study provides empirical evidence that integration of written argumentation into physics problems can potentially improve the conceptual quality of solutions, expand their repertoire of problem solving strategies and show promise for addressing the gender gap in physics. The study suggests further avenues for research in this area and implications for designing and implementing argumentation tasks in introductory college physics.

A local-global problem for linear differential equations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Put, Marius van der; Reversat, Marc

An inhomogeneous linear differential equation Ly = f over a global differential field can have a formal solution for each place without having a global solution. The vector space lgl(L) measures this phenomenon. This space is interpreted in terms of cohomology of linear algebraic groups and is

A local-global problem for linear differential equations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Put, Marius van der; Reversat, Marc

2008-01-01

An inhomogeneous linear differential equation Ly = f over a global differential field can have a formal solution for each place without having a global solution. The vector space lgl(L) measures this phenomenon. This space is interpreted in terms of cohomology of linear algebraic groups and is

Improvement of the Quality and the Shelf Life of the High Oxygen Modified Atmosphere Packaged Veal by Superficial Spraying with Dihydroquercetin Solution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Georgiev Dragoev

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The improvement of quality and the shelf life of veal by combination of 80%O2/20%CO2 modified atmosphere packaging and superficial spraying with 0.02% dihydroquercetin solutions was studied. The control samples C, air packaged only, D, air packaged sprayed by 0.02% dihydroquercetin solution, MAP, modified atmosphere packaging only, BMAP, modified atmosphere packaging sprayed by 0.02% butylated hydroxytoluene solution, and DMAP, modified atmosphere packaging sprayed by 0.02% dihydroquercetin solution, were measured. The best results were obtained in modified atmosphere packaging sprayed by 0.02% dihydroquercetin solution. Comparisons with control samples were expressed as reduction in acid value with 27.72%, peroxide value with 64.74%, 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS with 65.71%, and the pH with 6.18%. The acid and peroxide values, TBARS, and pH were decreased linearly in response when applying the combination of 80%O2/20%CO2 modified atmosphere packaging and superficial spraying with 0.02% dihydroquercetin solutions (P0.05. According to results obtained it was concluded that 80%O2/20%CO2 modified atmosphere packaged veal stored at 0±0.5°C after 0.02% dihydroquercetin solution treatment can preserve its quality and shelf life to 15 d postmortem.

Poverty + Hunger = Global Issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Richard H.

1983-01-01

Geography teachers can use mathematics to teach fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students about critical global issues. Five sample problems concerning population, poverty, waste, the arms race, and hunger are presented. The global issue related to each problem is discussed, and the solution and mathematical skill are provided. (RM)

The FRISBEE tool, a software for optimising the trade-off between food quality, energy use, and global warming impact of cold chains

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gwanpua, S.G.; Verboven, P.; Leducq, D.; Brown, T.; Verlinden, B.E.; Bekele, E.; Aregawi, W. Evans, J.; Foster, A.; Duret, S.; Hoang, H.M.; Sluis, S. van der; Wissink, E.; Hendriksen, L.J.A.M.; Taoukis, P.; Gogou, E.; Stahl, V.; El Jabri, M.; Le Page, J.F.; Claussen, I.; Indergård, E.; Nicolai, B.M.; Alvarez, G.; Geeraerd, A.H.

2015-01-01

Food quality (including safety) along the cold chain, energy use and global warming impact of refrigeration systems are three key aspects in assessing cold chain sustainability. In this paper, we present the framework of a dedicated software, the FRISBEE tool, for optimising quality of refrigerated

Global Change and Helminth Infections in Grazing Ruminants in Europe: Impacts, Trends and Sustainable Solutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hubertus Hertzberg

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Infections with parasitic helminths (nematodes and trematodes represent a significant economic and welfare burden to the global ruminant livestock industry. The increasing prevalence of anthelmintic resistance means that current control programmes are costly and unsustainable in the long term. Recent changes in the epidemiology, seasonality and geographic distribution of helminth infections have been attributed to climate change. However, other changes in environment (e.g., land use and in livestock farming, such as intensification and altered management practices, will also have an impact on helminth infections. Sustainable control of helminth infections in a changing world requires detailed knowledge of these interactions. In particular, there is a need to devise new, sustainable strategies for the effective control of ruminant helminthoses in the face of global change. In this paper, we consider the impact of helminth infections in grazing ruminants, taking a European perspective, and identify scientific and applied priorities to mitigate these impacts. These include the development and deployment of efficient, high-throughput diagnostic tests to support targeted intervention, modelling of geographic and seasonal trends in infection, more thorough economic data and analysis of the impact of helminth infections and greater translation and involvement of end-users in devising and disseminating best practices. Complex changes in helminth epidemiology will require innovative solutions. By developing and using new technologies and models, the use of anthelmintics can be optimised to limit the development and spread of drug resistance and to reduce the overall economic impact of helminth infections. This will be essential to the continued productivity and profitability of livestock farming in Europe and its contribution to regional and global food security.

Global EiBI-monopole

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JIN Xinghua

2014-04-01

Full Text Available A global EiBI-monopole problem is studied under EiBI gravitational theory.The equations of global EiBI-monopole are derived in the curved spacetime and the relation between the spacetime metric and auxiliary metric is found.In the case of a very small parameter,an asymptotic form of equations is given.The series solutions of global EiBI-monopole at infinity are found.

Global Ocean Data Quality Assessment of SARAL/AltiKa GDR products

Science.gov (United States)

Picot, Nicolas; Prandi, Pierre; desjonqueres, jean-damien

2015-04-01

The SARAL mission was successfully launched on February, 5th 2013 and cycle 1 started a few days later on March 14th. For more than 2 years, the Ka-band altimeter and dual frequency radiometer on board have been collecting high quality ocean topography measurements. Within the first months of the mission, a first patch (P1) was developed to correct some small anomalies detected in the products and to account for in-flight calibration data. At the beginning of year 2014, a second patch (P2) was produced (applied from cycle 10 pass 407 on OGDR data and from pass 566 on IGDR data) and the all GDR produced before this were reprocessed in order to deliver a consistent dataset to users. This new version of the products provides, among other changes, important improvements regarding radiometer data processing, sea-state bias and wind speed. Since the beginning of the mission, data quality assessment of OGDR, IGDR and GDR data has been routinely performed at CNES and CLS (as part of the CNES SALP project). We will present the main results of the data quality assessment over ocean based on SARAL/AltiKa GDR data reprocessed using the homogeneous P2 version. The main data quality metrics presented will include: Data availability and validity, Monitoring of the main altimeter and radiometer parameters and comparisons to other altimeter missions such as OSTM/Jason-2, Mission performance through mono-mission crossovers analysis, Investigation of inter-mission biases and large-scale regional differences from multi-mission crossovers between SARAL and Jason-2. Monitoring of the global mean SLA and comparison to Jason-2 Finally, we will present the new product version standard that is currently under development on CNES side.

Integrated Global Nuclear Materials Management Preliminary Concepts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jones, E; Dreicer, M.

2006-01-01

The world is at a turning point, moving away from the Cold War nuclear legacy towards a future global nuclear enterprise; and this presents a transformational challenge for nuclear materials management. Achieving safety and security during this transition is complicated by the diversified spectrum of threat 'players' that has greatly impacted nonproliferation, counterterrorism, and homeland security requirements. Rogue states and non-state actors no longer need self-contained national nuclear expertise, materials, and equipment due to availability from various sources in the nuclear market, thereby reducing the time, effort and cost for acquiring a nuclear weapon (i.e., manifestations of latency). The terrorist threat has changed the nature of military and national security requirements to protect these materials. An Integrated Global Nuclear Materials Management (IGNMM) approach would address the existing legacy nuclear materials and the evolution towards a nuclear energy future, while strengthening a regime to prevent nuclear weapon proliferation. In this paper, some preliminary concepts and studies of IGNMM will be presented. A systematic analysis of nuclear materials, activities, and controls can lead to a tractable, integrated global nuclear materials management architecture that can help remediate the past and manage the future. A systems approach is best suited to achieve multi-dimensional and interdependent solutions, including comprehensive, end-to-end capabilities; coordinated diverse elements for enhanced functionality with economy; and translation of goals/objectives or standards into locally optimized solutions. A risk-informed basis is excellent for evaluating system alternatives and performances, and it is especially appropriate for the security arena. Risk management strategies--such as defense-in-depth, diversity, and control quality--help to weave together various technologies and practices into a strong and robust security fabric. Effective

Simple Solutions to Complex Problems: Moral Panic and the Fluid Shift from "Equity" to "Quality" in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Mockler, Nicole

2014-01-01

Education is increasingly conceptualised by governments and policymakers in western democracies in terms of productivity and human capital, emphasising elements of individualism and competition over concerns around democracy and equity. More and more, solutions to intransigent educational problems related to equity are seen in terms of quality and…

Global Software Engineering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ebert, Christof; Kuhrmann, Marco; Prikladnicki, Rafael

2016-01-01

Professional software products and IT systems and services today are developed mostly by globally distributed teams, projects, and companies. Successfully orchestrating Global Software Engineering (GSE) has become the major success factor both for organizations and practitioners. Yet, more than...... and experience reported at the IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering (ICGSE) series. The outcomes of our analysis show GSE as a field highly attached to industry and, thus, a considerable share of ICGSE papers address the transfer of Software Engineering concepts and solutions to the global stage...

Antarctica, Greenland and Gulf of Alaska Land-Ice Evolution from an Iterated GRACE Global Mascon Solution

Science.gov (United States)

Luthcke, Scott B.; Sabaka, T. J.; Loomis, B. D.; Arendt, A. A.; McCarthy, J. J.; Camp, J.

2013-01-01

We have determined the ice mass evolution of the Antarctica and Greenland ice sheets (AIS and GIS) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) glaciers from a new GRACE global solution of equal-area surface mass concentration parcels (mascons) in equivalent height of water. The mascons were estimated directly from the reduction of the inter-satellite K-band range-rate (KBRR) observations, taking into account the full noise covariance, and formally iterating the solution. The new solution increases signal recovery while reducing the GRACE KBRR observation residuals. The mascons were estimated with 10 day and 1 arc degree equal-area sampling, applying anisotropic constraints. An ensemble empirical mode decomposition adaptive filter was applied to the mascon time series to compute annual mass balances. The details and causes of the spatial and temporal variability of the land-ice regions studied are discussed. The estimated mass trend over the total GIS, AIS and GOA glaciers for the time period 1 December 2003 to 1 December 2010 is -380 plus or minus 31 Gt a(exp -1), equivalent to -1.05 plus or minus 0.09 mma(exp -1) sea-level rise. Over the same time period we estimate the mass acceleration to be -41 plus or minus 27 Gt a(exp -2), equivalent to a 0.11 plus or minus 0.08 mm a(exp -2) rate of change in sea level. The trends and accelerations are dependent on significant seasonal and annual balance anomalies.

Influent of Carbonization of Sol Solution at the External Gelation Process on the Quality of Uranium Oxide Kernel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Damunir; Sukarsono

2007-01-01

The influent of carbonization of sol solution at the external gelation process on the quality of uranium oxide kernel was done. Variables observed are the influent of carbon, temperature and time of reduction process of U 3 O 8 kernel resulted from carbonization of sol solution. First of all, uranyl nitrate was reacted with 1 M NH 4 OH solution, producing the colloid of UO 3 . Then by mixing and heating up to the temperature of 60-80 °C, the colloid solution was reacted with PVA, mono sorbitol oleate and paraffin producing of uranium-PVA sol. Then sol solution was carbonized with carbon black of mol ratio of carbon to uranium =2.32-6.62, produce of carbide gel. Gel then washed, dried and calcined at 800 °C for 4 hours to produce of U 3 O 8 kernel containing carbon. Then the kernel was reduced by H 2 gas in the medium of N 2 gas at 500-800 °C, 50 mmHg pressure for 3 hours. The process was repeated at 700 °C, 50 mmHg pressure for 1-4 hours. The characterization of chemical properties of the gel grains and uranium oxide kernel using FTIR covering the analysis of absorption band of infra red spectrum of UO 3 , C-OH, NH 3 , C-C, C-H and OH functional group. The physical properties of uranium oxide covering specific surface area, void volume, mean diameter using surface area meter Nova-1000 and as N 2 gas an absorbent. And O/U ratio of uranium dioxide kernel by gravimetry method. The result of experiment showed that carbonization of sol solution at the external gelation process give influencing the quality of uranium oxide kernel. (author)

A coupled chemotaxis-fluid model: Global existence

KAUST Repository

Liu, Jian-Guo; Lorz, Alexander

2011-01-01

We consider a model arising from biology, consisting of chemotaxis equations coupled to viscous incompressible fluid equations through transport and external forcing. Global existence of solutions to the Cauchy problem is investigated under certain conditions. Precisely, for the chemotaxis-Navier- Stokes system in two space dimensions, we obtain global existence for large data. In three space dimensions, we prove global existence of weak solutions for the chemotaxis-Stokes system with nonlinear diffusion for the cell density.© 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

A coupled chemotaxis-fluid model: Global existence

KAUST Repository

Liu, Jian-Guo

2011-09-01

We consider a model arising from biology, consisting of chemotaxis equations coupled to viscous incompressible fluid equations through transport and external forcing. Global existence of solutions to the Cauchy problem is investigated under certain conditions. Precisely, for the chemotaxis-Navier- Stokes system in two space dimensions, we obtain global existence for large data. In three space dimensions, we prove global existence of weak solutions for the chemotaxis-Stokes system with nonlinear diffusion for the cell density.© 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Investigating Solution Convergence in a Global Ocean Model Using a 2048-Processor Cluster of Distributed Shared Memory Machines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chris Hill

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Up to 1920 processors of a cluster of distributed shared memory machines at the NASA Ames Research Center are being used to simulate ocean circulation globally at horizontal resolutions of 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16-degree with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology General Circulation Model, a finite volume code that can scale to large numbers of processors. The study aims to understand physical processes responsible for skill improvements as resolution is increased and to gain insight into what resolution is sufficient for particular purposes. This paper focuses on the computational aspects of reaching the technical objective of efficiently performing these global eddy-resolving ocean simulations. At 1/16-degree resolution the model grid contains 1.2 billion cells. At this resolution it is possible to simulate approximately one month of ocean dynamics in about 17 hours of wallclock time with a model timestep of two minutes on a cluster of four 512-way NUMA Altix systems. The Altix systems' large main memory and I/O subsystems allow computation and disk storage of rich sets of diagnostics during each integration, supporting the scientific objective to develop a better understanding of global ocean circulation model solution convergence as model resolution is increased.

Recycling of osmotic solutions in microwave-osmotic dehydration: product quality and potential for creation of a novel product.

Science.gov (United States)

Wray, Derek; Ramaswamy, Hosahalli S

2016-08-01

Despite osmotic dehydration being a cost effective process for moisture removal, the cost implications of making, regenerating, and properly disposing of the spent osmotic solutions contributes greatly to the economic feasibility of the drying operation. The potential for recycling of osmotic solutions and their use for creation of a novel product was explored using microwave-osmotic dehydration under continuous flow spray (MWODS) conditions. Identical runs were repeated 10 times to determine the progressive physical and compositional effects of the thermal treatment and leaching from the cranberry samples. The microbiological stability and constant drying performance indicated that MWODS would be well suited for employing recycled solutions. While the anthocyanin content of the solution never approached that of cranberry juice concentrate, it is demonstrated that the spent syrup can infuse these health positive components into another product (apple). This study found that re-using osmotic solutions is a viable option to reduce cost in future MWODS applications, with no detriment to product quality and potential to use the spent solution for novel products. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Generalized monotonicity from global minimization in fourth-order ODEs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.A. Peletier (Mark)

2000-01-01

textabstractWe consider solutions of the stationary Extended Fisher-Kolmogorov equation with general potential that are global minimizers of an associated variational problem. We present results that relate the global minimization property to a generalized concept of monotonicity of the solutions.

From Global Knowledge to Global Civic Engagement

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenzini, Michelle

2013-01-01

In this article, I argue that student learning is enhanced when civic engagement is a component of international education initiatives. When only presented with knowledge about global challenges, students can become frustrated and overwhelmed unless they also understand how they might contribute to solutions. Political science programs are…

Quantitative Evaluation of Acetaminophen in Oral Solutions by Dispersive Raman Spectroscopy for Quality Control

OpenAIRE

Borio, Viviane G.; Vinha, RubensJr.; Nicolau, Renata A.; de Oliveira, Hueder Paulo M.; de Lima, Carlos J.; Silveira, LandulfoJr.

2012-01-01

This work used dispersive Raman spectroscopy to evaluate acetaminophen in commercially available formulations as an analytical methodology for quality control in the pharmaceutical industry. Raman spectra were collected using a near-infrared dispersive Raman spectrometer (830 nm, 50 mW, 20 s exposure time) coupled to a fiber optic probe. Solutions of acetaminophen diluted in excipient (70 to 120% of the commercial concentration of 200 mg/mL) were used to develop a calibration model based on p...

Big Data solution for CTBT monitoring: CEA-IDC joint global cross correlation project

Science.gov (United States)

Bobrov, Dmitry; Bell, Randy; Brachet, Nicolas; Gaillard, Pierre; Kitov, Ivan; Rozhkov, Mikhail

2014-05-01

Waveform cross-correlation when applied to historical datasets of seismic records provides dramatic improvements in detection, location, and magnitude estimation of natural and manmade seismic events. With correlation techniques, the amplitude threshold of signal detection can be reduced globally by a factor of 2 to 3 relative to currently standard beamforming and STA/LTA detector. The gain in sensitivity corresponds to a body wave magnitude reduction by 0.3 to 0.4 units and doubles the number of events meeting high quality requirements (e.g. detected by three and more seismic stations of the International Monitoring System (IMS). This gain is crucial for seismic monitoring under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The International Data Centre (IDC) dataset includes more than 450,000 seismic events, tens of millions of raw detections and continuous seismic data from the primary IMS stations since 2000. This high-quality dataset is a natural candidate for an extensive cross correlation study and the basis of further enhancements in monitoring capabilities. Without this historical dataset recorded by the permanent IMS Seismic Network any improvements would not be feasible. However, due to the mismatch between the volume of data and the performance of the standard Information Technology infrastructure, it becomes impossible to process all the data within tolerable elapsed time. To tackle this problem known as "BigData", the CEA/DASE is part of the French project "DataScale". One objective is to reanalyze 10 years of waveform data from the IMS network with the cross-correlation technique thanks to a dedicated High Performance Computer (HPC) infrastructure operated by the Centre de Calcul Recherche et Technologie (CCRT) at the CEA of Bruyères-le-Châtel. Within 2 years we are planning to enhance detection and phase association algorithms (also using machine learning and automatic classification) and process about 30 terabytes of data provided by the IDC to

Challenges, Solutions, and Quality Metrics of Personal Genome Assembly in Advancing Precision Medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenming Xiao

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Even though each of us shares more than 99% of the DNA sequences in our genome, there are millions of sequence codes or structure in small regions that differ between individuals, giving us different characteristics of appearance or responsiveness to medical treatments. Currently, genetic variants in diseased tissues, such as tumors, are uncovered by exploring the differences between the reference genome and the sequences detected in the diseased tissue. However, the public reference genome was derived with the DNA from multiple individuals. As a result of this, the reference genome is incomplete and may misrepresent the sequence variants of the general population. The more reliable solution is to compare sequences of diseased tissue with its own genome sequence derived from tissue in a normal state. As the price to sequence the human genome has dropped dramatically to around $1000, it shows a promising future of documenting the personal genome for every individual. However, de novo assembly of individual genomes at an affordable cost is still challenging. Thus, till now, only a few human genomes have been fully assembled. In this review, we introduce the history of human genome sequencing and the evolution of sequencing platforms, from Sanger sequencing to emerging “third generation sequencing” technologies. We present the currently available de novo assembly and post-assembly software packages for human genome assembly and their requirements for computational infrastructures. We recommend that a combined hybrid assembly with long and short reads would be a promising way to generate good quality human genome assemblies and specify parameters for the quality assessment of assembly outcomes. We provide a perspective view of the benefit of using personal genomes as references and suggestions for obtaining a quality personal genome. Finally, we discuss the usage of the personal genome in aiding vaccine design and development, monitoring host

Results of Use of WHO Global Salm-Surv External Quality Assurance System for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Salmonella Isolates from 2000 to 2007

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hendriksen, Rene S.; Seyfarth, Anne Mette; Jensen, Arne Bent

2009-01-01

laboratories in 102 countries participated in at least one EQAS iteration. A large number of laboratories reported results for the E. coli ATCC 25922 reference strain which were outside the quality control ranges. Critical deviations for susceptibility testing of the Salmonella isolates varied from 4% in 2000......An international External Quality Assurance System (EQAS) for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Salmonella was initiated in 2000 by the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Salm-Surv in order to enhance the capacities of national reference laboratories to obtain reliable data....... In particular, further training and dissemination of information on quality control, appropriate interpretive criteria (breakpoints), and harmonization of the methodology worldwide through WHO Global Salm-Surv and other programs will contribute to the generation of comparable and reliable antimicrobial...

Determination of uranium in uranyl nitrate solutions of nuclear grade quality - Gravimetric method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

This international Standard specifies a precise and accurate gravimetric method for determining the uranium content in uranyl nitrate product solutions of nuclear grade quality at concentrations above 100 g/l of uranium. Non-volatile impurities influence the accuracy of the method. Uranyl nitrate is converted into uranium octoxide (U 3 O 8 ) by ignition in air to constant mass at 900 deg. C ± 10 deg. C. Calculation of the uranium content in the sample using a gravimetric conversion factor which depends on the isotopic composition of the uranium. The isotopic composition is determined by mass spectrometry

The endoscopy Global Rating Scale – Canada: Development and implementation of a quality improvement tool

Science.gov (United States)

MacIntosh, Donald; Dubé, Catherine; Hollingworth, Roger; van Zanten, Sander Veldhuyzen; Daniels, Sandra; Ghattas, George

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Increasing use of gastrointestinal endoscopy, particularly for colorectal cancer screening, and increasing emphasis on health care quality highlight the need for endoscopy facilities to review the quality of the service they offer. OBJECTIVE: To adapt the United Kingdom Global Rating Scale (UK-GRS) to develop a web-based and patient-centred tool to assess and improve the quality of endoscopy services provided. METHODS: Based on feedback from 22 sites across Canada that completed the UK endoscopy GRS, and integrating results of the Canadian consensus on safety and quality indicators in endoscopy and other Canadian consensus reports, a working group of endoscopists experienced with the GRS developed the GRS-Canada (GRS-C). RESULTS: The GRS-C mirrors the two dimensions (clinical quality and quality of the patient experience) and 12 patient-centred items of the UK-GRS, but was modified to apply to Canadian health care infrastructure, language and current practice. Each item is assessed by a yes/no response to eight to 12 statements that are divided into levels graded D (basic) through A (advanced). A core team consisting of a booking clerk, charge nurse and the physician responsible for the unit is recommended to complete the GRS-C twice yearly. CONCLUSION: The GRS-C is intended to improve endoscopic services in Canada by providing endoscopy units with a straightforward process to review the quality of the service they provide. PMID:23472242

Global product development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Zaza Nadja Lee; Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema

2011-01-01

Globalisation has enabled companies to globalise their product development process. Today, everything from manufacturing to R&D can be globally distributed. This has led to a more complex and disintegrated product development process. This paper investigates the impacts companies have experienced...... operational solutions to counteract the negative impacts with varying degrees of success. This paper presents a unique look into global product development through an investigation of its impact on the organisation, the product development process, and the product. Furthermore, it shows the solutions...... as a result of this, and how they have been addressed. Data was collected through case studies of five Danish multinational corporations. The findings showed that the companies experienced several challenges when they globalised their product development process. They consequently implemented various...

Steering urban environmental quality in a multi-level governance context. How can devolution be the solution to pollution?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stigt, van Rien; Driessen, Peter P.J.; Spit, Tejo

2016-01-01

Devolution is advocated as a solution to scale mismatches in urban environmental governance. However, urban environmental quality is a multi-scalar issue: its various aspects – noise, soil, odour, air, water et cetera – are influenced by processes at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Decisions

On global solutions of the random Hamilton-Jacobi equations and the KPZ problem

Science.gov (United States)

Bakhtin, Yuri; Khanin, Konstantin

2018-04-01

In this paper, we discuss possible qualitative approaches to the problem of KPZ universality. Throughout the paper, our point of view is based on the geometrical and dynamical properties of minimisers and shocks forming interlacing tree-like structures. We believe that the KPZ universality can be explained in terms of statistics of these structures evolving in time. The paper is focussed on the setting of the random Hamilton-Jacobi equations. We formulate several conjectures concerning global solutions and discuss how their properties are connected to the KPZ scalings in dimension 1  +  1. In the case of general viscous Hamilton-Jacobi equations with non-quadratic Hamiltonians, we define generalised directed polymers. We expect that their behaviour is similar to the behaviour of classical directed polymers, and present arguments in favour of this conjecture. We also define a new renormalisation transformation defined in purely geometrical terms and discuss conjectural properties of the corresponding fixed points. Most of our conjectures are widely open, and supported by only partial rigorous results for particular models.

Biomass burning in Indo-China peninsula and its impacts on regional air quality and global climate change-a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yadav, Ishwar Chandra; Linthoingambi Devi, Ningombam; Li, Jun; Syed, Jabir Hussain; Zhang, Gan; Watanabe, Hirozumi

2017-01-01

Although, many biomass burning (BB) emissions products (particulate matter and trace gases) are believed to be trans-boundary pollutants that originates from India and China (the two most populous countries in Asia), the information about BB emission and related contents is limited for Indo-China Peninsula (ICP) region. This motivated us to review this region pertaining to BB emission. The main objective of the review is to document the current status of BB emission in ICP region. In order to highlight the impact of BB on regional air quality and global climate change, the role of BB emission in ICP region is also discussed. Based on the available literature and modeling simulations studies, it is evidenced that ICP is one of the hotspot regional source for aerosols in terms of BB emissions. In addition, regional emissions through BB have significant implications for regional air quality especially in the neighboring countries such as China, Taiwan and India. Our assessment highlight that there is still a general lack of reliable data and research studies addressing BB related issues in context of environmental and human health. There is therefore a critical need to improve the current knowledge base, which should build upon the research experience and further research into these issues is considered vital to help inform future policies/control strategies. - Highlights: • Forest burning is the main sources of BB emissions in the ICP region. • ICP is one of the hotspot regional source for aerosols in terms of BB emissions. • BB emission in ICP significantly affects regional air quality and global climate. - Indo-China Peninsula is one of the hotspot sources of aerosols in terms of biomass burning emissions that significantly influence regional air quality and global climate change.

Problems in global fire evaluation: Is remote sensing the solution?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, J.M.

1991-01-01

In this chapter the author critically examines the prospects for reducing uncertainties over global biomass burning using remote sensing. First he considers the global temporal, spatial, and intensity distributions of fires and the remotely sensible signals they create and discusses the opportunities and problems that exist for matching available sensors to fire signal. Then he considers problems relating to instrumentation and to atmospheric interference

Deterministic global optimization algorithm based on outer approximation for the parameter estimation of nonlinear dynamic biological systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Miró, Anton; Pozo, Carlos; Guillén-Gosálbez, Gonzalo; Egea, Jose A; Jiménez, Laureano

2012-05-10

The estimation of parameter values for mathematical models of biological systems is an optimization problem that is particularly challenging due to the nonlinearities involved. One major difficulty is the existence of multiple minima in which standard optimization methods may fall during the search. Deterministic global optimization methods overcome this limitation, ensuring convergence to the global optimum within a desired tolerance. Global optimization techniques are usually classified into stochastic and deterministic. The former typically lead to lower CPU times but offer no guarantee of convergence to the global minimum in a finite number of iterations. In contrast, deterministic methods provide solutions of a given quality (i.e., optimality gap), but tend to lead to large computational burdens. This work presents a deterministic outer approximation-based algorithm for the global optimization of dynamic problems arising in the parameter estimation of models of biological systems. Our approach, which offers a theoretical guarantee of convergence to global minimum, is based on reformulating the set of ordinary differential equations into an equivalent set of algebraic equations through the use of orthogonal collocation methods, giving rise to a nonconvex nonlinear programming (NLP) problem. This nonconvex NLP is decomposed into two hierarchical levels: a master mixed-integer linear programming problem (MILP) that provides a rigorous lower bound on the optimal solution, and a reduced-space slave NLP that yields an upper bound. The algorithm iterates between these two levels until a termination criterion is satisfied. The capabilities of our approach were tested in two benchmark problems, in which the performance of our algorithm was compared with that of the commercial global optimization package BARON. The proposed strategy produced near optimal solutions (i.e., within a desired tolerance) in a fraction of the CPU time required by BARON.

Sci-Thur AM: Planning - 04: Evaluation of the fluence complexity, solution quality, and run efficiency produced by five fluence parameterizations implemented in PARETO multiobjective radiotherapy treatment planning software.

Science.gov (United States)

Champion, H; Fiege, J; McCurdy, B; Potrebko, P; Cull, A

2012-07-01

PARETO (Pareto-Aware Radiotherapy Evolutionary Treatment Optimization) is a novel multiobjective treatment planning system that performs beam orientation and fluence optimization simultaneously using an advanced evolutionary algorithm. In order to reduce the number of parameters involved in this enormous search space, we present several methods for modeling the beam fluence. The parameterizations are compared using innovative tools that evaluate fluence complexity, solution quality, and run efficiency. A PARETO run is performed using the basic weight (BW), linear gradient (LG), cosine transform (CT), beam group (BG), and isodose-projection (IP) methods for applying fluence modulation over the projection of the Planning Target Volume in the beam's-eye-view plane. The solutions of each run are non-dominated with respect to other trial solutions encountered during the run. However, to compare the solution quality of independent runs, each run competes against every other run in a round robin fashion. Score is assigned based on the fraction of solutions that survive when a tournament selection operator is applied to the solutions of the two competitors. To compare fluence complexity, a modulation index, fractal dimension, and image gradient entropy are calculated for the fluence maps of each optimal plan. We have found that the LG method results in superior solution quality for a spine phantom, lung patient, and cauda equina patient. The BG method produces solutions with the highest degree of fluence complexity. Most methods result in comparable run times. The LG method produces superior solution quality using a moderate degree of fluence modulation. © 2012 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

The association between poor sleep quality and global cortical atrophy is related to age. Results from the Atahualpa Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar H. Del Brutto

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Community-dwellers aged ≥60 years enrolled in the Atahualpa Project underwent brain MRI and were interviewed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Of 290 participants, 94 (32% had poor sleep quality and 143 (49% had global cortical atrophy (GCA. In a logistic regression model (adjusted for demographics, cardiovascular risk factor, severe edentulism, symptoms of depression, the MoCA score, and neuroimaging signatures of cerebrovascular damage, poor sleep quality was associated with GCA (p=0.004. A multivariate probability model showed that the probability of moderate-to-severe GCA significantly increased in individuals with poor sleep quality aged ≥67 years. This study provides evidence for an association between poor sleep quality and GCA in older adults and the important interaction of age in this association.

Attention modeling for video quality assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

You, Junyong; Korhonen, Jari; Perkis, Andrew

2010-01-01

averaged spatiotemporal pooling. The local quality is derived from visual attention modeling and quality variations over frames. Saliency, motion, and contrast information are taken into account in modeling visual attention, which is then integrated into IQMs to calculate the local quality of a video frame...... average between the global quality and the local quality. Experimental results demonstrate that the combination of the global quality and local quality outperforms both sole global quality and local quality, as well as other quality models, in video quality assessment. In addition, the proposed video...... quality modeling algorithm can improve the performance of image quality metrics on video quality assessment compared to the normal averaged spatiotemporal pooling scheme....

Information Systems Solutions for Environmental Sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gholami, Roya; Watson, Richard T.; Hasan, Helen

2016-01-01

We contend that too few information systems (IS) academics engage in impactful research that offers solutions to global warming despite the fact that climate change is one of the most critical challenges facing this generation. Climate change is a major threat to global sustainability in the 21st...... themselves in creating solutions for environmental problems. Moreover, information is a perquisite for assessing the state of the environment and making appropriate decisions to ameliorate identified problems. Indeed, the IS scholarly community needs to help create a sustainable society. While...

Field evaluation of personal digital assistant enabled by global positioning system : impact on quality of activity and diary data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bellemans, T.; Kochan, B.; Janssens, D.; Wets, G.; Timmermans, H.J.P.; Stopher, P.

2016-01-01

Tom Bellemans, Bruno Kochan, Davy Janssens, Geert Wets and Harry Timmermans (2008), ‘Field Evaluation of Personal Digital Assistant Enabled by Global Positioning System: Impact on Quality of Activity and Diary Data’, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, No.

Medicalization of global health 2: The medicalization of global mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Jocalyn

2014-01-01

Once an orphan field, 'global mental health' now has wide acknowledgement and prominence on the global health agenda. Increased recognition draws needed attention to individual suffering and the population impacts, but medicalizing global mental health produces a narrow view of the problems and solutions. Early framing by advocates of the global mental health problem emphasised biological disease, linked psychiatry with neurology, and reinforced categories of mental health disorders. Universality of biomedical concepts across culture is assumed in the globalisation of mental health but is strongly disputed by transcultural psychiatrists and anthropologists. Global mental health movement priorities take an individualised view, emphasising treatment and scale-up and neglecting social and structural determinants of health. To meet international targets and address the problem's broad social and cultural dimensions, the global mental health movement and advocates must develop more comprehensive strategies and include more diverse perspectives.

Existence and global exponential stability of periodic solution to BAM neural networks with periodic coefficients and continuously distributed delays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Tiejun; Chen Anping; Zhou Yuyuan

2005-01-01

By using the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory and Liapunov function, we obtain some sufficient criteria to ensure the existence and global exponential stability of periodic solution to the bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural networks with periodic coefficients and continuously distributed delays. These results improve and generalize the works of papers [J. Cao, L. Wang, Phys. Rev. E 61 (2000) 1825] and [Z. Liu, A. Chen, J. Cao, L. Huang, IEEE Trans. Circuits Systems I 50 (2003) 1162]. An example is given to illustrate that the criteria are feasible

Existence and global exponential stability of periodic solution to BAM neural networks with periodic coefficients and continuously distributed delays

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, distributed delays [rapid communication] T.; Chen, A.; Zhou, Y.

2005-08-01

By using the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory and Liapunov function, we obtain some sufficient criteria to ensure the existence and global exponential stability of periodic solution to the bidirectional associative memory (BAM) neural networks with periodic coefficients and continuously distributed delays. These results improve and generalize the works of papers [J. Cao, L. Wang, Phys. Rev. E 61 (2000) 1825] and [Z. Liu, A. Chen, J. Cao, L. Huang, IEEE Trans. Circuits Systems I 50 (2003) 1162]. An example is given to illustrate that the criteria are feasible.

Globalization vs. localization: global food challenges and local sollutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Quaye, W.; Jongerden, J.P.; Essegbey, G.; Ruivenkamp, G.T.P.

2010-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of global-local interactions on food production and consumption in Ghana, and identify possible local solutions. Primary data were collected using a combination of quantitative-qualitative methods, which included focus group discussions and

Existence of Periodic Solutions and Stability of Zero Solution of a Mathematical Model of Schistosomiasis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A mathematical model on schistosomiasis governed by periodic differential equations with a time delay was studied. By discussing boundedness of the solutions of this model and construction of a monotonic sequence, the existence of positive periodic solution was shown. The conditions under which the model admits a periodic solution and the conditions under which the zero solution is globally stable are given, respectively. Some numerical analyses show the conditional coexistence of locally stable zero solution and periodic solutions and that it is an effective treatment by simply reducing the population of snails and enlarging the death ratio of snails for the control of schistosomiasis.

Rethinking Global Water Governance for the 21st Century

Science.gov (United States)

Ajami, N. K.; Cooley, H.

2012-12-01

Growing pressure on the world's water resources is having major impacts on our social and economic well-being. According to the United Nations, today, at least 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water. Pressures on water resources are likely to continue to worsen in response to decaying and crumbling infrastructure, continued population growth, climate change, degradation of water quality, and other challenges. If these challenges are not addressed, they pose future risks for many countries around the world, making it urgent that efforts are made to understand both the nature of the problems and the possible solutions that can effectively reduce the associated risks. There is growing understanding of the need to rethink governance to meet the 21st century water challenges. More and more water problems extend over traditional national boundaries and to the global community and the types and numbers of organizations addressing water issues are large and growing. Economic globalization and transnational organizations and activities point to the need for improving coordination and integration on addressing water issues, which are increasingly tied to food and energy security, trade, global climate change, and other international policies. We will present some of the key limitations of global water governance institutions and provide recommendations for improving these institutions to address 21st century global water challenges more effectively.

Effects of Diquafosol Ophthalmic Solution on Quality of Life in Dry Eye Assessed Using the Dry Eye-Related Quality-of-Life Score Questionnaire: Effectiveness in Patients While Reading and Using Visual Display Terminals.

Science.gov (United States)

Utsunomiya, Tsugiaki; Kawahara, Atsushi; Hanada, Kazuomi; Yoshida, Akitoshi

2017-08-01

Diquafosol ophthalmic solution improves objective findings in the ocular surface and subjective symptoms in patients with dry eye. The Dry Eye-Related Quality-of-Life Score (DEQS) questionnaire was developed to assess dry eye symptoms and their effects on quality of life. However, because little research using the DEQS has been reported, we evaluated the effects of diquafosol ophthalmic solution on ocular surface findings and quality of life using the DEQS in patients with dry eye. Sixty-three patients with dry eye were assigned to the control group (artificial tears) or diquafosol group. Both groups instilled 1 drop of the solution in both eyes 6 times daily and were evaluated after 2 weeks; the diquafosol group also was instructed to be examined at 1 and 3 months. We evaluated the subjective symptoms using the DEQS, fluorescein staining score, tear film breakup time (BUT), Schirmer testing, and lower tear meniscus height with anterior-segment optical coherence tomography. In the diquafosol group, the fluorescein staining score, BUT, tear meniscus height, and DEQS scores improved significantly compared with before treatment in contrast to the control group. Furthermore, in the diquafosol group, the staining score and BUT improved significantly compared with the control group. Analysis of each DEQS item indicated that diquafosol ophthalmic solution relieved foreign body sensation and problems when reading and using visual display terminals compared with the control group. Diquafosol ophthalmic solution was effective in patients with dry eye, especially those with foreign body sensation and problems when reading and using visual display terminals.

Some Properties of Solutions for the Sixth-Order Cahn-Hilliard-Type Equation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao Wang

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We study the initial boundary value problem for a sixth-order Cahn-Hilliard-type equation which describes the separation properties of oil-water mixtures, when a substance enforcing the mixing of the phases is added. We show that the solutions might not be classical globally. In other words, in some cases, the classical solutions exist globally, while in some other cases, such solutions blow up at a finite time. We also discuss the existence of global attractor.

Influence of a fertilizer solution on yield and quality of bread wheat in Guadalquivir Valley (Córdoba, Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

Concepción Benítez, M.; González, José Luis; Tejada, Manuel

2014-05-01

The use of by-products of food industries in agricultural practices has become a routine over the last few decades. The addition of beet vinasse, by-products of the two sep olive mill process and by-products of defatted sunflower flour, etc., to soils is a common agricultural practice, since sensible use has been reported to improve the physical, chemical and biological aspects of the soil and to increase harvest yield, and in many cases harvest quality Previous research carried out by the authors (Ordóñez et al., 2001) examined a process whereby a protein concentrate is obtained from defatted sunflower flour. In this process, floating liquid phosphorus, potassium contents and smaller amounts of humic substances and nitrogen are obtained. The potential application of this solution as a fertiliser has been evaluated on rye grass, confirming that its effects are comparable to those produced by a nutritional solution in terms of phosphorus and potassium foliar levels. The experiment was performed on soil classified as Typic Haploxererts located in the Middle Valley of the river Guadalquivir Cajeme wheat (Triticum aestivum var) variety was used at a dose of 180 kg seeds / ha. For both crop, four fertiliser treatments were applied in triplicate to randomly distributed 7 x 8 m plots. The greatest positive effect of applying the experimental phospho-potassic solution was found for the leaf levels of K, in maturity; this influence was most significant when the highest dosage of said solution. With reference to the levels of N, P and K in wheat grain, the levels of potassium were significantly different for all the fertilising treatments, and the plot fertilised with the highest dosage of the experimental phospho-potassic solution presented the highest values. As for the data obtained for harvest yield and quality, the addition of the experimental solution was observed to have a significantly positive influence (but only in the highest dosages) on the production levels.

Calibration of an agricultural-hydrological model (RZWQM2) using surrogate global optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Xi, Maolong; Lu, Dan; Gui, Dongwei; Qi, Zhiming; Zhang, Guannan

2017-01-01

Robust calibration of an agricultural-hydrological model is critical for simulating crop yield and water quality and making reasonable agricultural management. However, calibration of the agricultural-hydrological system models is challenging because of model complexity, the existence of strong parameter correlation, and significant computational requirements. Therefore, only a limited number of simulations can be allowed in any attempt to find a near-optimal solution within an affordable time, which greatly restricts the successful application of the model. The goal of this study is to locate the optimal solution of the Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM2) given a limited simulation time, so as to improve the model simulation and help make rational and effective agricultural-hydrological decisions. To this end, we propose a computationally efficient global optimization procedure using sparse-grid based surrogates. We first used advanced sparse grid (SG) interpolation to construct a surrogate system of the actual RZWQM2, and then we calibrate the surrogate model using the global optimization algorithm, Quantum-behaved Particle Swarm Optimization (QPSO). As the surrogate model is a polynomial with fast evaluation, it can be efficiently evaluated with a sufficiently large number of times during the optimization, which facilitates the global search. We calibrate seven model parameters against five years of yield, drain flow, and NO3-N loss data from a subsurface-drained corn-soybean field in Iowa. Results indicate that an accurate surrogate model can be created for the RZWQM2 with a relatively small number of SG points (i.e., RZWQM2 runs). Compared to the conventional QPSO algorithm, our surrogate-based optimization method can achieve a smaller objective function value and better calibration performance using a fewer number of expensive RZWQM2 executions, which greatly improves computational efficiency.

Cloud infrastructure for providing tools as a service: quality attributes and potential solutions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chauhan, Muhammad Aufeef; Ali Babar, Muhammad

2012-01-01

Cloud computing is being increasingly adopted in various domains for providing on-demand infrastructure and Software as a service (SaaS) by leveraging the utility computing model and virtualization technologies. One of the domains, where cloud computing is expected to gain huge traction is Global...... Software Development (GSD) that has emerged as a popular software development model. Despite several promised benefits, GSD is characterized by not only technical issues but also the complexities associated with its processes. One of the key challenges of GSD is to provide appropriate tools more...... efficiently and cost-effectively. Moreover, variations in tools available/used by different GSD team members can also pose challenges. We assert that providing Tools as a Service (TaaS) to GSD teams through a cloud-based infrastructure can be a promising solution to address the tools related challenges in GSD...

Medicalization of global health 1: has the global health agenda become too medicalized?

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Jocalyn

2014-01-01

Medicalization analyses have roots in sociology and have critical usefulness for understanding contemporary health issues including the 'post-2015 global health agenda'. Medicalization is more complex than just 'disease mongering'--it is a process and not only an outcome; has both positive and negative elements; can be partial rather than complete; and is often sought or challenged by patients or others in the health field. It is understood to be expanding rather than contracting, plays out at the level of interaction or of definitions and agenda-setting, and is said to be largely harmful and costly to individuals and societies. Medicalization of global health issues would overemphasise the role of health care to health; define and frame issues in relation to disease, treatment strategies, and individual behaviour; promote the role of medical professionals and models of care; find support in industry or other advocates of technologies and pharmaceuticals; and discount social contexts, causes, and solutions. In subsequent articles, three case studies are explored, which critically examine predominant issues on the global health agenda: global mental health, non-communicable disease, and universal health coverage. A medicalization lens helps uncover areas where the global health agenda and its framing of problems are shifted toward medical and technical solutions, neglecting necessary social, community, or political action.

General overview: European Integrated project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality interactions (EUCAARI – integrating aerosol research from nano to global scales

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Simpson

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper we describe and summarize the main achievements of the European Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality Interactions project (EUCAARI. EUCAARI started on 1 January 2007 and ended on 31 December 2010 leaving a rich legacy including: (a a comprehensive database with a year of observations of the physical, chemical and optical properties of aerosol particles over Europe, (b comprehensive aerosol measurements in four developing countries, (c a database of airborne measurements of aerosols and clouds over Europe during May 2008, (d comprehensive modeling tools to study aerosol processes fron nano to global scale and their effects on climate and air quality. In addition a new Pan-European aerosol emissions inventory was developed and evaluated, a new cluster spectrometer was built and tested in the field and several new aerosol parameterizations and computations modules for chemical transport and global climate models were developed and evaluated. These achievements and related studies have substantially improved our understanding and reduced the uncertainties of aerosol radiative forcing and air quality-climate interactions. The EUCAARI results can be utilized in European and global environmental policy to assess the aerosol impacts and the corresponding abatement strategies.

Global Journal of Community Medicine

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Global Journal of Community Medicine is aimed at promoting research in all areas of community or public health. It addresses issues of primary and tertiary health care. It deals with problems and solutions of health problems at the grassroots and daily livings. Visit the Global Journal Series website here: ...

Supersymmetric Janus solutions in four dimensions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bobev, Nikolay [Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics,31 Caroline Street North, ON N2L 2Y5 (Canada); Pilch, Krzysztof [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California,Los Angeles, CA 90089 (United States); Warner, Nicholas P. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southern California,Los Angeles, CA 90089 (United States); Institut de Physique Théorique, CEA Saclay,CNRS-URA 2306, 91191 Gif sur Yvette (France); Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques,Le Bois-Marie, 35 route de Chartres, Bures-sur-Yvette, 91440 (France)

2014-06-10

We use maximal gauged supergravity in four dimensions to construct the gravity dual of a class of supersymmetric conformal interfaces in the theory on the world-volume of multiple M2-branes. We study three classes of examples in which the (1+1)-dimensional defects preserve (4,4), (0,2) or (0,1) supersymmetry. Many of the solutions have the maximally supersymmetric AdS{sub 4} vacuum dual to the N=8 ABJM theory on both sides of the interface. We also find new special classes of solutions including one that interpolates between the maximally supersymmetric vacuum and a conformal fixed point with N=1 supersymmetry and G{sub 2} global symmetry. We find another solution that interpolates between two distinct conformal fixed points with N=1 supersymmetry and G{sub 2} global symmetry. In eleven dimensions, this G{sub 2} to G{sub 2} solution corresponds to a domain wall across which a magnetic flux reverses orientation.

Supersymmetric Janus solutions in four dimensions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bobev, Nikolay; Pilch, Krzysztof; Warner, Nicholas P.

2014-01-01

We use maximal gauged supergravity in four dimensions to construct the gravity dual of a class of supersymmetric conformal interfaces in the theory on the world-volume of multiple M2-branes. We study three classes of examples in which the (1+1)-dimensional defects preserve (4,4), (0,2) or (0,1) supersymmetry. Many of the solutions have the maximally supersymmetric AdS 4 vacuum dual to the N=8 ABJM theory on both sides of the interface. We also find new special classes of solutions including one that interpolates between the maximally supersymmetric vacuum and a conformal fixed point with N=1 supersymmetry and G 2 global symmetry. We find another solution that interpolates between two distinct conformal fixed points with N=1 supersymmetry and G 2 global symmetry. In eleven dimensions, this G 2 to G 2 solution corresponds to a domain wall across which a magnetic flux reverses orientation

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Using the Local Environment to Explore Global Issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Simmons, Deborah

1994-01-01

Asserts that water pollution is a global problem and presents statistics indicating how much of the world's water is threatened. Presents three elementary school classroom activities on water quality and local water resources. Includes a figure describing the work of the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network. (CFR)

Trading Quality across Borders: Colonial Discourse and International Quality Assurance Policies in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Blanco Ramírez, Gerardo

2014-01-01

Accountability and quality assurance have become central discourses in higher education policy throughout the world. However, accountability and quality assurance involve power and control. Practices and ideas about quality developed in the Global North are spreading rapidly across the Global South, leading to increased uniformity in the…

Forty years of improvements in European air quality: regional policy-industry interactions with global impacts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Crippa

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The EDGARv4.3.1 (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research global anthropogenic emissions inventory of gaseous (SO2, NOx, CO, non-methane volatile organic compounds and NH3 and particulate (PM10, PM2.5, black and organic carbon air pollutants for the period 1970–2010 is used to develop retrospective air pollution emissions scenarios to quantify the roles and contributions of changes in energy consumption and efficiency, technology progress and end-of-pipe emission reduction measures and their resulting impact on health and crop yields at European and global scale. The reference EDGARv4.3.1 emissions include observed and reported changes in activity data, fuel consumption and air pollution abatement technologies over the past 4 decades, combined with Tier 1 and region-specific Tier 2 emission factors. Two further retrospective scenarios assess the interplay of policy and industry. The highest emission STAG_TECH scenario assesses the impact of the technology and end-of-pipe reduction measures in the European Union, by considering historical fuel consumption, along with a stagnation of technology with constant emission factors since 1970, and assuming no further abatement measures and improvement imposed by European emission standards. The lowest emission STAG_ENERGY scenario evaluates the impact of increased fuel consumption by considering unchanged energy consumption since the year 1970, but assuming the technological development, end-of-pipe reductions, fuel mix and energy efficiency of 2010. Our scenario analysis focuses on the three most important and most regulated sectors (power generation, manufacturing industry and road transport, which are subject to multi-pollutant European Union Air Quality regulations. Stagnation of technology and air pollution reduction measures at 1970 levels would have led to 129 % (or factor 2.3 higher SO2, 71 % higher NOx and 69 % higher PM2.5 emissions in Europe (EU27, demonstrating the large

Sustainable Cities: Local Solutions in the Global South | IDRC ...

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

2012-04-06

Apr 6, 2012 ... ... on sustainable natural resource management and urban issues in Asia, West Africa and Southern Africa. ... Sharing opportunities for innovation in climate change adaptation ... New Cyber Policy Centres for the Global South.

Occupational performance, pain, and global quality of life in women with upper extremity fractures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dekkers, Merete Klindt; Nielsen, Tove Lise

2010-01-01

on the COPM and with the COPM satisfaction score, and it can be argued that a finding of a low DASH score in elderly women with upper extremity fractures should be followed up by a referral to occupational therapy. Future studies, preferably follow-up studies, are called for to further explore the multiple......To examine pain, occupational performance problems, and quality of life (QoL) and possible associations between these variables, 41 elderly women with acute pain due to a fracture of the upper extremity were assessed with COPM, DASH, validated questions on pain, and a global question on Qo...

Global existence of strong solutions to the three- dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with special boundary conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Douglas A.

We study the three-dimensional incompressible Navier- Stokes equations in a domain of the form W'×(0,e) . First, we assume W' is a C3 bounded domain and impose no-slip boundary conditions on 6W'×(0,e ) , and periodic conditions on W'×0,e . Physically, this models fluid flow through a pipe with cross-section W' where the inlet and outlet conditions are assumed periodic. Secondly, we assume W'=(0,l4) ×(0,l5) and impose periodic boundary conditions. This problem is of interest mathematically, and has been more widely considered than the pipe flow problem. For both sets of boundary conditions, we show that a strong solution exists for all time with conditions on the initial data and forcing. We start by recalling that if the forcing function and initial condition do not depend on x3, then a global strong solution exists which also does not depend on x3. Here (x1,x2,x3) ∈W≡W'×( 0,e) . With this observation as motivation, and using an additive decomposition introduced by Raugel and Sell, we split the initial data and forcing into a portion independent of x3 and a remainder. In our first result, we impose a smallness condition on the remainder and assume the forcing function is square- integrable in time as a function into L2(W) . With these assumptions, we prove a global existence theorem that does not require a smallness condition on e or on the portion of the initial condition and forcing independent of x3. However, these quantities do affect the allowable size of the remainder. For our second result, we assume the forcing is only bounded in time as a function into L2(W) . In this case, we need a smallness condition on the initial data, the forcing, and e to obtain global existence. The interesting observation is that the allowable sizes for the initial data and forcing grow as e-->0 . Thus, we obtain a `thin-domain' result as originally obtained by Raugel and Sell. In fact, our results allow the portion of the initial data and forcing independent of x3 to

New childcare solution helps CERN’s global community

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2011-01-01

Commuting between the home institute and CERN is a tough task for a lot of scientists with families. However, thanks to a newly signed agreement between CERN and the “Jardin de Capucine” kindergarten, the task of looking for a childcare solution might turn out to be easier than originally expected: 4 places are reserved for all categories of CERN personnel for child enrolment periods that can vary between a few weeks and a few months.   Le Jardin de Capucine. CERN already has a well-established on-site kindergarten but the community is growing and the need for childcare is constantly increasing. In order to find a viable solution to the problem, CERN's Director-General, Rolf Heuer, signed an agreement with "Le Jardin de Zébulon" in January this year for the provision of 40 places at the "Jardin de Capucine", a new private crèche that opened this autumn. The agreement became fully operational on 2 November,...

Environmental Engineering Curricula assessment in the global world

Science.gov (United States)

Caporali, Enrica; Catelani, Marcantonio; Manfrida, Giampaolo; Valdiserri, Juna

2014-05-01

Environmental engineers are technicians with specific expertise on the sustainability of human presence in the environment. Among other global dilemmas, to the environmental engineers it is often demanded to be able in developing systematic, innovative solutions in order to simultaneously meet water and energy needs, to build resilience to natural and technological disasters, to more accurately gauge and manage countries' greenhouse gas emissions. The general objectives of the Environmental Engineers are to establish actions of environmental sustainability as well as to verify progress toward global goals or international commitments. The globalization of challenges and problems to be faced, leads, in general, to the globalization of the engineering profession. In particular, since the environmental issues are without boundaries, and many and different are the involved professions and the competences, the environmental engineer must have a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach to adequately answer to the demand of technical innovative knowledge at global scale. The environmental engineers, more and more, are involved in international projects were the effective collaboration requires not only the capacity to communicate in a common technical language, but also the assurance of an adequate and common level of technical competences, knowledge and understanding. The Europe-based EUR ACE system, currently operated by ENAEE - European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education, can represent the proper framework and accreditation system in order to provide a set of measures to assess the quality of engineering degree programmes in Europe and abroad. In the global frame of the knowledge triangle: education-innovation-research, the accreditation and quality assurance of engineering curricula in Europe is discussed with reference to the Environmental engineering curricula, of the 1st and 2nd cycle, based on the European Credit Transfer System and in

From City-States to Global Cities: the role of Cities in Global Governance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Domingos Martins Vaz

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Global governance has altered institutional architecture and the systemic and institutional conditions under which power is exercised, as well as the characteristics of the political system, the form of government, and the system of intermediation of interests. However, although it has surpassed the State’s dimension of power, it created new interstate dimensions and new relations between powers, particularly at the level of cities. Cities have helped to solve common problems in a more efficient and effective way by facilitating the exchange of knowledge, sharing of solutions and resources, and building capacity to implement and monitor progress in order to achieve collectively agreed goals, in a bottom-up approach. Cities have the virtue of securing the most direct social and political contract between societies and the notion of authority. This study, therefore, aims to reflect on this emerging, less hierarchical and rigid governance and address complex global challenges such as climate and demographic change; increasing crime rates; disruptive technology; and pressures on resources, infrastructure and energy. As a global/local interface, cities can ensure effective solutions to current challenges and act together in areas where the global agenda has stalled.

The global impact of ozone on agricultural crop yields under current and future air quality legislation

Science.gov (United States)

Van Dingenen, Rita; Dentener, Frank J.; Raes, Frank; Krol, Maarten C.; Emberson, Lisa; Cofala, Janusz

In this paper we evaluate the global impact of surface ozone on four types of agricultural crop. The study is based on modelled global hourly ozone fields for the year 2000 and 2030, using the global 1°×1° 2-way nested atmospheric chemical transport model (TM5). Projections for the year 2030 are based on the relatively optimistic "current legislation (CLE) scenario", i.e. assuming that currently approved air quality legislation will be fully implemented by the year 2030, without a further development of new abatement policies. For both runs, the relative yield loss due to ozone damage is evaluated based on two different indices (accumulated concentration above a 40 ppbV threshold and seasonal mean daytime ozone concentration respectively) on a global, regional and national scale. The cumulative metric appears to be far less robust than the seasonal mean, while the seasonal mean shows satisfactory agreement with measurements in Europe, the US, China and Southern India and South-East Asia. Present day global relative yield losses are estimated to range between 7% and 12% for wheat, between 6% and 16% for soybean, between 3% and 4% for rice, and between 3% and 5% for maize (range resulting from different metrics used). Taking into account possible biases in our assessment, introduced through the global application of "western" crop exposure-response functions, and through model performance in reproducing ozone-exposure metrics, our estimates may be considered as being conservative. Under the 2030 CLE scenario, the global situation is expected to deteriorate mainly for wheat (additional 2-6% loss globally) and rice (additional 1-2% loss globally). India, for which no mitigation measures have been assumed by 2030, accounts for 50% of these global increase in crop yield loss. On a regional-scale, significant reductions in crop losses by CLE-2030 are only predicted in Europe (soybean) and China (wheat). Translating these assumed yield losses into total global economic

On blow-up of solutions of the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pokhozhaev, S I

2008-01-01

The problem of the absence of global solutions of initial-boundary value problems for the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation is considered. Sufficient conditions for the absence of global solutions of the problems under consideration are obtained both for bounded and unbounded domains. These conditions imply a priori the blow-up of the solution of the corresponding initial-boundary value problem. The proof uses a generalization of the method of non-linear capacity based on the choice of asymptotically optimal test functions. Bibliography: 20 titles.

Validation of a global scale to assess the quality of interprofessional teamwork in mental health settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomizawa, Ryoko; Yamano, Mayumi; Osako, Mitue; Hirabayashi, Naotugu; Oshima, Nobuo; Sigeta, Masahiro; Reeves, Scott

2017-12-01

Few scales currently exist to assess the quality of interprofessional teamwork through team members' perceptions of working together in mental health settings. The purpose of this study was to revise and validate an interprofessional scale to assess the quality of teamwork in inpatient psychiatric units and to use it multi-nationally. A literature review was undertaken to identify evaluative teamwork tools and develop an additional 12 items to ensure a broad global focus. Focus group discussions considered adaptation to different care systems using subjective judgements from 11 participants in a pre-test of items. Data quality, construct validity, reproducibility, and internal consistency were investigated in the survey using an international comparative design. Exploratory factor analysis yielded five factors with 21 items: 'patient/community centred care', 'collaborative communication', 'interprofessional conflict', 'role clarification', and 'environment'. High overall internal consistency, reproducibility, adequate face validity, and reasonable construct validity were shown in the USA and Japan. The revised Collaborative Practice Assessment Tool (CPAT) is a valid measure to assess the quality of interprofessional teamwork in psychiatry and identifies the best strategies to improve team performance. Furthermore, the revised scale will generate more rigorous evidence for collaborative practice in psychiatry internationally.

Open access: changing global science publishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Ayvazyan, Lilit; Kitas, George D

2013-08-01

The article reflects on open access as a strategy of changing the quality of science communication globally. Successful examples of open-access journals are presented to highlight implications of archiving in open digital repositories for the quality and citability of research output. Advantages and downsides of gold, green, and hybrid models of open access operating in diverse scientific environments are described. It is assumed that open access is a global trend which influences the workflow in scholarly journals, changing their quality, credibility, and indexability.

Development and the global environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colombo, U.

1992-01-01

The development of the Third World and the protection of the environment are two major global problems interconnected by energy - the motor of economic growth and the main cause of deterioration of the global environment. They can no longer be separated. The threats of ozone, acid rain, and global warming are global in scope and solutions must involve energy consumption, conservations, and renewable resources. The precept that development should hinge on sound management of natural resources and the environment no longer has merely local or regional significance. It is a global concern and each person should feel a sense of ethical commitment as a world citizen

Quality services as a key factor of competitiveness of transport companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogetić Srđan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the question of the service quality as an important factor of transport companies in the process of improving competitiveness. Due to global competition and great opportunities that are offered to customers, transporting enterprises need to change their current relationship with the end consumer in order to improve the quality of offered services. Traffic enterprises have realized that improvement of the business processes comes with the use of modern ICT solutions and applications that will ensure that protection of the environment has been taken into account and the quality of service improved as well. Domestic traffic enterprises are not yet ready to accept the change of the way of conducting their business, which furtherly affects the quality of services, and they are still not prepared for the arrival of competition in the transport market.

75 FR 82010 - AceInfo Solutions and Avaya Government Solutions, Koansys LLC, and Quality Associates Inc...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-29

... Associates Inc., to fulfill the obligations of the contract. DATES: AceInfo Solutions and its subcontractors... Inc. have been awarded a contract to perform work for OPP, and access to this information will enable... Contract No. GS-06F-0337Z, AceInfo Solutions and its subcontractors, Avaya Government Solutions, Koansys...

Globalization and Economic Freedom

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørnskov, Christian

2006-01-01

This paper employs a panel data set to estimate the effect of globalization on four measures of economic freedom. Contrary to previous studies, the paper distinguishes between three separate types of globalization: economic, social and political. It also separates effects for poor and rich...... countries, and autocracies and democracies. The results show that economic globalization is negatively associated with government size and positively with regulatory freedom in rich countries; social globalization is positively associated with legal quality in autocracies and with the access to sound money...... in democracies. Political globalization is not associated with economic freedom...

Exact solutions for rotating charged dust

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Islam, J.N.

1984-01-01

Earlier work by the author on rotating charged dust is summarized. An incomplete class of exact solutions for differentially rotating charged dust in Newton-Maxwell theory for the equal mass and charge case that was found earlier is completed. A new global exact solution for cylindrically symmetric differentially rotating charged dust in Newton-Maxwell theory is presented. Lastly, a new exact solution for cylindrically symmetric rigidly rotating charged dust in general relativity is given. (author)

The Influence of Green Marketing, Brand Image, and the Product Quality Towards Customer Satisfaction of the Body Shop, Manado Town Square

OpenAIRE

Tumbuan, Willem A.; Mandey, Silvya; Wenur, Christy

2015-01-01

Global warming is a serious problem that is being faced by people around the world. However, global warming is viewed as a specific business opportunity for certain companies. Green marketing strategy is one of the solutions to deal with this business opportunity, especially for companies in the field of cosmetics. The Body Shop is an international cosmetic product retailer that already have a good image and quality while still promoties green marketing strategy. The research objective is to ...

A time for new north-south relationships in global health.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jin Un; Oleribe, Obinna; Njie, Ramou; Taylor-Robinson, Simon D

2017-01-01

The modern concept of globalization in health care and clinical research often carries a positive message for the "Global South" nations of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. However, bioethical abuse of participants in clinical trials still exists in the Global South. Unethical studies directed by the "Global North", formed by the medically advanced nations in North America, Western Europe and Japan, have been hugely concerning. The issue between the Global North and South is a well-recognized socioeconomic phenomenon of globalization. Medical exploitation has its roots in the socioeconomic interactions of a postcolonial world, and solutions to reducing exploitation require a deeper understanding of these societal models of globalization. We explore the fundamental causes of imbalance and suggest solutions. Reflecting on the globalization model, there must be an effort to empower the Global South nations to direct and govern their own health care systems efficiently on the basis of equality.

Comparison of long-term SLR and GNSS solutions from selected stations in the frame of GGOS realization

Science.gov (United States)

Szafranek, K.; Schillak, S.; Araszkiewicz, A.; Figurski, M.; Lehmann, M.; Lejba, P.

2012-04-01

Up-to-date investigations concerning space geodesy are mostly aimed at data of various techniques joint processing. The poster presents solutions (North, East, Up components) of selected stations (McDonald, Yarragadee, Greenbelt, Monument Peak, Zimmerwald, Borowiec, Mt.Stromlo-Orroral, Potsdam, Graz, Herstmonceux and Wettzell), which adopted Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) techniques and which were gathering the data in the same time (from 1994 to 2010). Processing of both types of data was made according to Global Geodetic Observing System (GGOS) recommendations, the same models and parameters from IERS Conventions 2010 were used in both processing strategies (if it was possible). The main goal was to obtain coordinates and their changes in time (velocities) basing on both techniques and to compare the results. The station coordinates were determined for the common reference epoch of both techniques - for first day of each month. Monthly orbital arcs for laser observations were created basing on solutions from several SLR sites (observations to LAGEOS-1 and LAGEOS-2 satellites) with the best solutions quality and the highest amount of observations. For GNSS coordinates determination about 130 sites belonging to International GNSS Service (IGS) were selected: 30 with local ties to SLR sites and others basing on their geolocalization (length of the baselines) and solutions time series analysis. Mainly, core IGS stations were used. Solutions of both techniques were analyzed in order to verify agreement of both techniques and for independent control of local ties.

Water quality-based real time control of integrated urban drainage: a preliminary study from Copenhagen, Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vezzaro, Luca; Lund Christensen, Margit; Thirsing, Carsten

2013-01-01

Global Real Time Control (RTC) of urban drainage systems is increasingly seen as cost-effective solution for responding to increasing performance demands. This study investigated the potential for including water-quality based RTC into the global control strategy which is under implementation...... in the Lynetten catchment (Copenhagen, Denmark). Two different strategies were simulated, considering: (i) water quality at the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) inlet and (ii) pollution discharge to the bathing areas. These strategies were included in the Dynamic Overflow Risk Assessment (DORA) RTC strategy......, which allows for prioritization of the discharge points in the systems according to their sensitivity. A conceptual hydrological model was used to assess the performance of the integrated control strategy over an entire year. The simulation results showed the benefits of the proposed approaches...

Engineering solutions for sustainability materials and resources II

CERN Document Server

Mishra, Brajendra; Anderson, Dayan; Sarver, Emily; Neelameggham, Neale

2016-01-01

With impending and burgeoning societal issues affecting both developed and emerging nations, the global engineering community has a responsibility and an opportunity to truly make a difference and contribute. The papers in this collection address what materials and resources are integral to meeting basic societal sustainability needs in critical areas of energy, transportation, housing, and recycling. Contributions focus on the engineering answers for cost-effective, sustainable pathways; the strategies for effective use of engineering solutions; and the role of the global engineering community. Authors share perspectives on the major engineering challenges that face our world today; identify, discuss, and prioritize engineering solution needs; and establish how these fit into developing global-demand pressures for materials and human resources.

Surgeons' and Trauma Care Physicians' Perception of the Impact of the Globalization of Medical Education on Quality of Care in Lima, Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

LaGrone, Lacey N; Isquith-Dicker, Leah N; Huaman Egoavil, Eduardo; Rodriguez Castro, Manuel J A; Allagual, Alfredo; Revoredo, Fernando; Mock, Charles N

2017-03-01

The globalization of medical education-the process by which trainees in any region gain access to international training (electronic or in-person)-is a growing trend. More data are needed to inform next steps in the responsible stewardship of this process, from the perspective of trainees and institutions at all income levels, and for use by national and international policymakers. To describe the impact of the globalization of medical education on surgical care in Peru from the perspective of Peruvian surgeons who received international training. Observational study of qualitative interviews conducted from September 2015 to January 2016 using grounded theory qualitative research methods. The study was conducted at 10 large public institutions that provide most of the trauma care in Lima, Peru, and included urban resident and faculty surgery and trauma care physicians. Access to international surgical rotations and medical information. Outcome measures defining the impact of globalization on surgical care were developed as part of simultaneous data collection and analysis during qualitative research as part of a larger project on trauma quality improvement practices in Peru. Fifty qualitative interviews of surgeons and emergency medicine physicians were conducted at 10 hospitals, including multiple from the public and social security systems. A median of 4 interviews were conducted at each hospital, and fewer than 3 interviews were conducted at only 1 hospital. From the broader theme of globalization emerged subthemes of an eroded sense of agency and a perception of inadequate training on the adaptation of international standards as negative effects of globalization on surgical care in Peru. Access to research funds, provision of incentives for acquisition of advanced clinical training, increased expectations for patient outcomes, and education in quality improvement skills are ways in which globalization positively affected surgeons and their patients in Peru

Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy is Associated With Improved Global Quality of Life Among Long-term Survivors of Head-and-Neck Cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Allen M.; Farwell, D. Gregory; Luu, Quang; Vazquez, Esther G.; Lau, Derick H.; Purdy, James A.

2012-01-01

Purpose: To compare the long-term quality of life among patients treated with and without intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for head-and-neck cancer. Methods and Materials: University of Washington Quality of Life instrument scores were reviewed for 155 patients previously treated with radiation therapy for locally advanced head-and-neck cancer. All patients were disease free and had at least 2 years of follow-up. Eighty-four patients (54%) were treated with IMRT. The remaining 71 patients (46%) were treated with three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D CRT) by use of initial opposed lateral fields matched to a low anterior neck field. Results: The mean global quality of life scores were 67.5 and 80.1 for the IMRT patients at 1 and 2 years, respectively, compared with 55.4 and 57.0 for the 3D CRT patients, respectively (p < 0.001). At 1 year after the completion of radiation therapy, the proportion of patients who rated their global quality of life as “very good” or “outstanding” was 51% and 41% among patients treated by IMRT and 3DCRT, respectively (p = 0.11). At 2 years, the corresponding percentages increased to 73% and 49%, respectively (p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis accounting for sex, age, radiation intent (definitive vs. postoperative), radiation dose, T stage, primary site, use of concurrent chemotherapy, and neck dissection, the use of IMRT was the only variable independently associated with improved quality of life (p = 0.01). Conclusion: The early quality of life improvements associated with IMRT not only are maintained but apparently become more magnified over time. These data provide powerful evidence attesting to the long-term benefits of IMRT for head-and-neck cancer.

Quality factor: conceptual problems and practical solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dennis, J.A.

1988-01-01

In the past ten years a growing divide has become apparent between the dosimetric concepts designed to provide measures of stochastic risks and those designed for the measurement and control of exposures to radiation. Those designed to provide estimates of risk, e.g. effective dose equivalent, might need to be further refined to incorporate the latest scientific beliefs and evidence about the dependence on radiation quality and dose rate as well as on age and sex. Both animal and human evidence strongly supports a belief that different tissues and different types of neoplasm will have different dependencies on radiation quality and dose rate. For practical purposes of risk estimation it is necessary to select the same values for all human neoplasms. There are reasons for using life shortening in animals as a basis for this purpose, but the data for the dependence on the whole range of radiation qualities is meagre. To provide some stability for the new concepts of measurement and calibration it may be better to accommodate changing perceptions on radiation risks by specifying different levels of exposure for different types of radiation without changing the current quality factors for the measurement quantities. (author)

Global Social Entrepreneurship Competitions: Incubators for Innovations in Global Health?

Science.gov (United States)

Huster, Karin; Petrillo, Carl; O'Malley, Gabrielle; Glassman, Debra; Rush, Jessica; Wasserheit, Judith

2017-01-01

A growing number of organizations have launched social entrepreneurship competitions to help students develop the knowledge and skills to create sustainable solutions to the intertwined challenges of health and development. We conducted a program evaluation of the first 9 years of the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GSEC) at the…

A time for new north–south relationships in global health

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jin Un; Oleribe, Obinna; Njie, Ramou; Taylor-Robinson, Simon D

2017-01-01

The modern concept of globalization in health care and clinical research often carries a positive message for the “Global South” nations of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. However, bioethical abuse of participants in clinical trials still exists in the Global South. Unethical studies directed by the “Global North”, formed by the medically advanced nations in North America, Western Europe and Japan, have been hugely concerning. The issue between the Global North and South is a well-recognized socioeconomic phenomenon of globalization. Medical exploitation has its roots in the socioeconomic interactions of a postcolonial world, and solutions to reducing exploitation require a deeper understanding of these societal models of globalization. We explore the fundamental causes of imbalance and suggest solutions. Reflecting on the globalization model, there must be an effort to empower the Global South nations to direct and govern their own health care systems efficiently on the basis of equality. PMID:29158688

Almost Periodic Solution for Memristive Neural Networks with Time-Varying Delays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huaiqin Wu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the dynamical stability analysis for almost periodic solution of memristive neural networks with time-varying delays. Under the framework of Filippov solutions, by applying the inequality analysis techniques, the existence and asymptotically almost periodic behavior of solutions are discussed. Based on the differential inclusions theory and Lyapunov functional approach, the stability issues of almost periodic solution are investigated, and a sufficient condition for the existence, uniqueness, and global exponential stability of the almost periodic solution is established. Moreover, as a special case, the condition which ensures the global exponential stability of a unique periodic solution is also presented for the considered memristive neural networks. Two examples are given to illustrate the validity of the theoretical results.

Some global charges in classical Yang-Mills theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chrus'ciel, P.T.; Kondracki, W.

1987-01-01

Three classes of boundary conditions allowing the definition of a global field strength (''global color'') are presented. A definition of global color of the sources and of the Yang-Mills field is proposed. Some exact solutions of Yang-Mills equations with point sources and with ''topologically nontrivial electric color'' are presented

The World Database for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery: The Dawn of a New Era of Global Communication and Quality Improvement in Congenital Heart Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

St Louis, James D; Kurosawa, Hiromi; Jonas, Richard A; Sandoval, Nestor; Cervantes, Jorge; Tchervenkov, Christo I; Jacobs, Jeffery P; Sakamoto, Kisaburo; Stellin, Giovanni; Kirklin, James K

2017-09-01

The World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery was founded with the mission to "promote the highest quality comprehensive cardiac care to all patients with congenital heart disease, from the fetus to the adult, regardless of the patient's economic means, with an emphasis on excellence in teaching, research, and community service." Early on, the Society's members realized that a crucial step in meeting this goal was to establish a global database that would collect vital information, allowing cardiac surgical centers worldwide to benchmark their outcomes and improve the quality of congenital heart disease care. With tireless efforts from all corners of the globe and utilizing the vast experience and invaluable input of multiple international experts, such a platform of global information exchange was created: The World Database for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease went live on January 1, 2017. This database has been thoughtfully designed to produce meaningful performance and quality analyses of surgical outcomes extending beyond immediate hospital survival, allowing capture of important morbidities and mortalities for up to 1 year postoperatively. In order to advance the societal mission, this quality improvement program is available free of charge to WSPCHS members. In establishing the World Database, the Society has taken an essential step to further the process of global improvement in care for children with congenital heart disease.

Global dynamics of a reaction-diffusion system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuncheng You

2011-02-01

Full Text Available In this work the existence of a global attractor for the semiflow of weak solutions of a two-cell Brusselator system is proved. The method of grouping estimation is exploited to deal with the challenge in proving the absorbing property and the asymptotic compactness of this type of coupled reaction-diffusion systems with cubic autocatalytic nonlinearity and linear coupling. It is proved that the Hausdorff dimension and the fractal dimension of the global attractor are finite. Moreover, the existence of an exponential attractor for this solution semiflow is shown.

Global Sensory Qualities and Aesthetic Experience in Music

Science.gov (United States)

Brattico, Pauli; Brattico, Elvira; Vuust, Peter

2017-01-01

A well-known tradition in the study of visual aesthetics holds that the experience of visual beauty is grounded in global computational or statistical properties of the stimulus, for example, scale-invariant Fourier spectrum or self-similarity. Some approaches rely on neural mechanisms, such as efficient computation, processing fluency, or the responsiveness of the cells in the primary visual cortex. These proposals are united by the fact that the contributing factors are hypothesized to be global (i.e., they concern the percept as a whole), formal or non-conceptual (i.e., they concern form instead of content), computational and/or statistical, and based on relatively low-level sensory properties. Here we consider that the study of aesthetic responses to music could benefit from the same approach. Thus, along with local features such as pitch, tuning, consonance/dissonance, harmony, timbre, or beat, also global sonic properties could be viewed as contributing toward creating an aesthetic musical experience. Several such properties are discussed and their neural implementation is reviewed in the light of recent advances in neuroaesthetics. PMID:28424573

Global asymptotic behavior in a Lotka–Volterra competition system with spatio-temporal delays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jia-Fang; Chen, Heshan

2014-01-01

This paper is concerned with a Lotka–Volterra competition system with spatio-temporal delays. By using the linearization method, we show the local asymptotic behavior of the nonnegative steady-state solutions. Especially, the global asymptotic stability of the positive steady-state solution is investigated by the method of upper and lower solutions. The result of global asymptotic stability implies that the system has no nonconstant positive steady-state solution

How global brands compete.

Science.gov (United States)

Holt, Douglas B; Quelch, John A; Taylor, Earl L

2004-09-01

It's time to rethink global branding. More than two decades ago, Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt argued that corporations should grow by selling standardized products all over the world. But consumers in most countries had trouble relating to generic products, so executives instead strove for global scale on backstage activities such as production while customizing product features and selling techniques to local tastes. Such "glocal" strategies now rule marketing. Global branding has lost more luster recently because transnational companies have been under siege, with brands like Coca-Cola and Nike becoming lightning rods for antiglobalization protests. The instinctive reaction of most transnational companies has been to try to fly below the radar. But global brands can't escape notice. In fact, most transnational corporations don't realize that because of their power and pervasiveness, people view them differently than they do other firms. In a research project involving 3,300 consumers in 41 countries, the authors found that most people choose one global brand over another because of differences in the brands'global qualities. Ratherthan ignore the global characteristics of their brands, firms must learn to manage those characteristics. That's critical, because future growth for most companies will likely come from foreign markets. Consumers base preferences on three dimensions of global brands--quality (signaled by a company's global stature); the cultural myths that brands author; and firms' efforts to address social problems. The authors also found that it didn't matter to consumers whether the brands they bought were American--a remarkable finding considering that the study was conducted when anti-American sentiment in many nations was on the rise.

Global existence for Volterra-Fredholm type neutral impulsive functional integrodifferential equations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Vijayakumar

2012-09-01

Full Text Available n this paper, we study the global existence of solutions for the initial value problems for Volterra-Fredholm type neutral impulsive functional integrodifferential equations. Using the Leray-Schauder's Alternative theorem, we derive conditions under which a solution exists globally. An application is provided to illustrate the theory.

Air quality

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Thambiran, Tirusha

2017-12-01

Full Text Available ., Blaikie, P., Cannon, T. & Davis, I. 2004. At risk: Natural hazards, people’s vulnerability, and disasters (2nd edition). London: Routledge. Ziervogel, G. & Calder R. 2003. Climate variability and rural livelihoods: Assessing the impact of seasonal... Julia Mambo Kristy Faccer 4 | Global Change Global Change Global Change Global Change | i the quality of research being conducted in South Africa. In addition, South African academics occupy key positions in the Future Earth initiative...

Influence of watershed topographic and socio-economic attributes on the climate sensitivity of global river water quality

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Afed U.; Jiang, Jiping; Wang, Peng; Zheng, Yi

2017-10-01

Surface waters exhibit regionalization due to various climatic conditions and anthropogenic activities. Here we assess the impact of topographic and socio-economic factors on the climate sensitivity of surface water quality, estimated using an elasticity approach (climate elasticity of water quality (CEWQ)), and identify potential risks of instability in different regions and climatic conditions. Large global datasets were used for 12 main water quality parameters from 43 water quality monitoring stations located at large major rivers. The results demonstrated that precipitation elasticity shows higher sensitivity to topographic and socio-economic determinants as compared to temperature elasticity. In tropical climate class (A), gross domestic product (GDP) played an important role in stabilizing the CEWQ. In temperate climate class (C), GDP played the same role in stability, while the runoff coefficient, slope, and population density fuelled the risk of instability. The results implied that watersheds with lower runoff coefficient, thick population density, over fertilization and manure application face a higher risk of instability. We discuss the socio-economic and topographic factors that cause instability of CEWQ parameters and conclude with some suggestions for watershed managers to bring sustainability in freshwater bodies.

Impacts on quality-induced water scarcity: drivers of nitrogen-related water pollution transfer under globalization from 1995 to 2009

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Liyang; Cai, Wenjia; Jiang, Yongkai; Wang, Can

2016-07-01

Globalization enables the transfer of impacts on water availability. We argue that the threat should be evaluated not only by decrease of quantity, but more importantly by the degradation of water quality in exporting countries. Grouping the world into fourteen regions, this paper establishes a multi-region input-output framework to calculate the nitrogen-related grey water footprint and a water quality-induced scarcity index caused by pollution, for the period of 1995 to 2009. It is discovered that grey water embodied in international trade has been growing faster than total grey water footprint. China, the USA and India were the three top grey water exporters which accounted for more than half the total traded grey water. Dilemma rose when China and India were facing highest grey water scarcity. The EU and the USA were biggest grey water importers that alleviated their water stress by outsourcing water pollution. A structural decomposition analysis is conducted to study the drivers to the evolution of virtual flows of grey water under globalization during the period of 1995 to 2009. The results show that despite the technical progress that offset the growth of traded grey water, structural effects under globalization including both evolution in the globalized economic system and consumption structure, together with consumption volume made a positive contribution. It is found that the structural effect intensified the pollution-induced water scarcity of exporters as it generally increased all nations’ imported grey water while resulting in increases in only a few nations’ exported grey water, such as Brazil, China and Indonesia. At last, drawing from the ‘cap-and-trade’ and ‘boarder-tax-adjustment’ schemes, we propose policy recommendations that ensure water security and achieve environmentally sustainable trade from both the sides of production and consumption.

Exact, rotational, infinite energy, blowup solutions to the 3-dimensional Euler equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuen, Manwai

2011-01-01

In this Letter, we construct a new class of blowup or global solutions with elementary functions to the 3-dimensional compressible or incompressible Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. And the corresponding blowup or global solutions for the incompressible Euler and Naiver-Stokes equations are also given. Our constructed solutions are similar to the famous Arnold-Beltrami-Childress (ABC) flow. The obtained solutions with infinite energy can exhibit the interesting behaviors locally. Furthermore, due to divu → =0 for the solutions, the solutions also work for the 3-dimensional incompressible Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. -- Highlights: → We construct a new class of solutions to the 3D compressible or incompressible Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. → The constructed solutions are similar to the famous Arnold-Beltrami-Childress flow. → The solutions with infinite energy can exhibit the interesting behaviors locally.

HydroGrid: Technologies for Global Water Quality and Sustainability

Science.gov (United States)

Yeghiazarian, L.

2017-12-01

Humans have been transforming planet Earth for millennia. We have recently come to understand that the collective impact of our decisions and actions has brought about severe water quality problems, which are likely to worsen in the light of rapid population growth to the projected nine billion by 2050. To sustainably manage our global water resources and possibly reverse these effects requires efforts in real-time monitoring of water contamination, analysis of monitoring data, and control of the state of water contamination. We develop technologies to address all three areas: monitoring, analysis and control. These efforts are carried out in the conceptual framework of the HydroGrid, an interconnected water system, which is (1) firmly rooted in the fundamental understanding of processes that govern microbial dynamics on multiple scales; and (2) used to develop watershed-specific management strategies. In the area of monitoring we are developing mobile autonomous sensors to detect surface water contamination, an effort supported by extensive materials research to provide multifunctional materials. We analyze environmental data within a stochastic modeling paradigm that bridges microscopic particle interactions to macroscopic manifestation of microbial population behavior in time and space in entire watersheds. These models are supported with laboratory and field experiments. Finally, we combine control and graph theories to derive controllability metrics of natural watersheds.

On exponential stability and periodic solutions of CNNs with delays

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Jinde

2000-03-01

In this Letter, the author analyses further problems of global exponential stability and the existence of periodic solutions of cellular neural networks with delays (DCNNs). Some simple and new sufficient conditions are given ensuring global exponential stability and the existence of periodic solutions of DCNNs by applying some new analysis techniques and constructing suitable Lyapunov functionals. These conditions have important leading significance in the design and applications of globally stable DCNNs and periodic oscillatory DCNNs and are weaker than those in the earlier works [Phys. Rev. E 60 (1999) 3244], [J. Comput. Syst. Sci. 59 (1999)].

Integrated and global pseudotargeted metabolomics strategy applied to screening for quality control markers of Citrus TCMs.

Science.gov (United States)

Shu, Yisong; Liu, Zhenli; Zhao, Siyu; Song, Zhiqian; He, Dan; Wang, Menglei; Zeng, Honglian; Lu, Cheng; Lu, Aiping; Liu, Yuanyan

2017-08-01

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) exerts its therapeutic effect in a holistic fashion with the synergistic function of multiple characteristic constituents. The holism philosophy of TCM is coincident with global and systematic theories of metabolomics. The proposed pseudotargeted metabolomics methodologies were employed for the establishment of reliable quality control markers for use in the screening strategy of TCMs. Pseudotargeted metabolomics integrates the advantages of both targeted and untargeted methods. In the present study, targeted metabolomics equipped with the gold standard RRLC-QqQ-MS method was employed for in vivo quantitative plasma pharmacochemistry study of characteristic prototypic constituents. Meanwhile, untargeted metabolomics using UHPLC-QE Orbitrap HRMS with better specificity and selectivity was employed for identification of untargeted metabolites in the complex plasma matrix. In all, 32 prototypic metabolites were quantitatively determined, and 66 biotransformed metabolites were convincingly identified after being orally administered with standard extracts of four labeled Citrus TCMs. The global absorption and metabolism process of complex TCMs was depicted in a systematic manner.

Managing Economic Solution for a global sustainable Development

OpenAIRE

Dumitrescu, Luigi; Mihaescu, Liviu; Mihaescu, DIiana

2010-01-01

We live in an imperfect world. The poverty, the disease, the lack of education, the environmental destruction, the energy crisis, the overpopulation, the increasing consumption of resources, the deforestation and desertification, the biodiversity loss, the pollution, the emissions of greenhouse gases, the climate change, water supply, human violence etc. are all current issues. What can be done to provide adequate solutions to these problems? How to respond to these issues?

Genetically Modified Organisms and the Future Global Nutrient Supply: Part of the Solution or a New Problem?

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Peter W B

2016-01-01

For almost a generation now, scientists and policy makers have enthusiastically advanced genetically modified (GM) crops as a solution to both global food security and, specifically, the micronutrient needs of the hidden hungry. While genetic modification offers the prospect of overcoming technological barriers to food security, the gap between the vision and reality remains large. This chapter examines the impact of GM crops at three levels. Undoubtedly, at the micro level, bio-fortification offers a real opportunity to enhance the availability of micronutrients. However, the inexorable 'research sieve' ruthlessly culls most technical candidates in the agri-food system. GM bio-fortified foods, such as Golden RiceTM, remain only a promise. At the meso level, GM crops have generated benefits for both producers and consumers who have adopted GM crops, but given that the technology has been differentially applied to maize, the average diet for the food insecure has become somewhat less balanced. Finally, while GM crops have increased yields and the global food supply, these have come at the cost of more complex and costly trade and market systems, which impair access and availability. In essence, while biotechnology offers some tantalizing technological prospects, the difficulties of getting the corresponding benefits to the most needy have dampened some of the enthusiasm. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Requirements elicitation for geo-information solutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Robbi Sluter, Claudia; van Elzakker, Corné P.J.M.; Ivanova, Ivana

2017-01-01

Geo-information solutions can achieve a higher level of quality if they are developed in accordance with a user-centred design that requires definition of the user requirements in the first step of solution construction. We treat a geo-information solution as a system designed to support human-based

Plutonium recovery from carbonate wash solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gray, J.H.; Reif, D.J.; Chostner, D.F.; Holcomb, H.P.

1991-01-01

540Periodically higher than expected levels of plutonium are found in carbonate solutions used to wash second plutonium cycle solvent. The recent accumulation of plutonium in carbonate wash solutions has led to studies to determine the cause of that plutonium accumulation, to evaluate the quality of all canyon solvents, and to develop additional criteria needed to establish when solvent quality is acceptable. Solvent from three canyon solvent extraction cycles was used to evaluate technology required to measure tributyl phosphate (TBP) degradation products and was used to evaluate solvent quality criteria during the development of plutonium recovery processes. 1 fig

Software quality in 1997

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, C. [Software Productivity Research, Inc., Burlington, MA (United States)

1997-11-01

For many years, software quality assurance lagged behind hardware quality assurance in terms of methods, metrics, and successful results. New approaches such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD) the ISO 9000-9004 standards, the SEI maturity levels, and Total Quality Management (TQM) are starting to attract wide attention, and in some cases to bring software quality levels up to a parity with manufacturing quality levels. Since software is on the critical path for many engineered products, and for internal business systems as well, the new approaches are starting to affect global competition and attract widespread international interest. It can be hypothesized that success in mastering software quality will be a key strategy for dominating global software markets in the 21st century.

Theorems on Existence and Global Dynamics for the Einstein Equations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rendall Alan

2002-01-01

Full Text Available This article is a guide to theorems on existence and global dynamics of solutions ofthe Einstein equations. It draws attention to open questions in the field. The local-in-time Cauchy problem, which is relatively well understood, is surveyed. Global results for solutions with various types of symmetry are discussed. A selection of results from Newtonian theory and special relativity that offer useful comparisons is presented. Treatments of global results in the case of small data and results on constructing spacetimes with prescribed singularity structure are given. A conjectural picture of the asymptotic behaviour of general cosmological solutions of the Einstein equations is built up. Some miscellaneous topics connected with the main theme are collected in a separate section.

Theorems on Existence and Global Dynamics for the Einstein Equations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rendall Alan D.

2005-10-01

Full Text Available This article is a guide to theorems on existence and global dynamics of solutions of the Einstein equations. It draws attention to open questions in the field. The local-in-time Cauchy problem, which is relatively well understood, is surveyed. Global results for solutions with various types of symmetry are discussed. A selection of results from Newtonian theory and special relativity that offer useful comparisons is presented. Treatments of global results in the case of small data and results on constructing spacetimes with prescribed singularity structure or late-time asymptotics are given. A conjectural picture of the asymptotic behaviour of general cosmological solutions of the Einstein equations is built up. Some miscellaneous topics connected with the main theme are collected in a separate section.

Modeling Global Water Use for the 21st Century: Water Futures and Solutions (WFaS) Initiative and Its Approaches

Science.gov (United States)

Wada, Y.; Florke, M.; Hanasaki, N.; Eisner, S.; Fischer, G.; Tramberend, S.; Satoh, Y.; van Vliet, M. T. H.; Yillia, P.; Ringler, C.;

Optimization of soymilk, mango nectar and sucrose solution mixes for better quality of soymilk based beverage.

Science.gov (United States)

Getu, Rahel; Tola, Yetenayet B; Neela, Satheesh

2017-01-01

Soy milk-based beverages play an important role as a healthy food alternative for human consumption. However, the ‘beany’ flavor and chalky mouth feel of soy milk often makes it unpalatable to consumers. The objective of the present study is to optimize a blend of soy milk, mango nectar and sucrose solution for the best quality soy milk-based beverage. This study was designed to develop a soy milk blended beverage, with mango nectar and sucrose solutions, with the best physicochemical and sensory properties. Fourteen combinations of formulations were determined by D-optimal mixture simplex lattice design, by using Design expert. The blended beverages were prepared by mixing the three basic ingredients with the range of 60−100% soy milk, 0–25% mango nectar and 0–15% sucrose solution. The prepared blended beverage was analyzed for selected physicochemical and sensory properties. The statistical significance of the terms in the regression equations were examined by Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for each response and the significance test level was set at 5% (p nectar and sucrose solution increased, total color change, total soluble solid, gross energy, titratable acidity, and beta-carotene contents increased but with a decrease in moisture , ash, protein, ether extract, minerals and phytic acid contents was observed. Fi- nally, numerical optimization determined that 81% soy milk, 16% Mango nectar and 3% sugar solution will give by a soy milk blended beverage with the best physicochemical and sensory properties, with a desirability of 0.564. Blending soy milk with fruit juice such as mango is beneficial, as it improves sensory as well as selected nutritional parameters.

Solution of Full Wave Equation for Global Modes in Small Aspect Ratio Tokamaks with Non-Circular Cross-Section

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burma, C.; Cuperman, S.; Komoshvili, K.

1998-01-01

The wave equation for strongly toroidal small aspect ratio (spherical) tokamaks with non-circular cross-section is properly formulated and solved for global waves, in the Alfven frequency range. The current-carrying toroidal plasma is surrounded by a helical sheet-current antenna, which is enclosed within a perfectly conducting wall. The problem is formulated in terms of the vector and scalar potentials (A,Φ), thus avoiding the numerical solution occurring in the case of (E,B) formulation. Adequate boundary conditions are applied at the vacuum - metallic wall interface and the magnetic axis. A recently derived dielectric tensor-operator, able to describe the anisotropic plasma response in spherical tokamaks, is used for this purpose; except for its linear character, no physical or geometrical limitations are imposed on it. The equilibrium profiles (magnetic field, pressure and current) are obtained from a numerical solution of the Grad-Shafranov equation. Specifically, the wave equation is solved by the aid of a numerical code we developed for the present problem, based on the well documented 2(1/2)D finite element solver proposed by E.G. Sewell. With the definitions V i (θ,ρ) = U i (-θ,ρ) (V i U i = A j , Φ; j = ρ,φ,θ), our code solves simultaneously 16 second order partial differential equations (eight equations for each of real and imaginary set of functions V i , U i ). A systematic analysis of the solutions obtained for various values and combinations of wavenumbers and frequencies in the Alfven range is presented

Nuclear energy–Any solution for sustainability and climate protection?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mez, Lutz

2012-01-01

For the future of nuclear power it will be decisive whether or not nuclear fission technologies offer a sustainable solution to global energy problems. The impressive expansion of nuclear reactors in the 1960s and 1970 slowed down after the meltdown in Harrisburg and the nuclear explosion in Chernobyl. Since the end of the 1980s installed nuclear capacity has stagnated, and in Europe declined. However, a nuclear revival or renaissance has been predicted for 30 years. This article reviews global scenarios and national nuclear programmes and analyses problems in the nuclear industry. Special attention is given to nuclear power and global warming and the nexus between nuclear power and nuclear proliferation. - Highlights: ► The status of nuclear programmes in the world is examined. ► Nuclear power has taken a nose-dive in Western industrialised countries. ► The nuclear renaissance has been announced since 1981 but never materialised. ► Share of nuclear power is 15.7% of global electricity but only 2.3% of global FEC. ► Nuclear energy is no sustainable solution and cannot avoid global warming.

Entomological Opportunities and Challenges for Sustainable Viticulture in a Global Market.

Science.gov (United States)

Daane, Kent M; Vincent, Charles; Isaacs, Rufus; Ioriatti, Claudio

2018-01-07

Viticulture has experienced dramatic global growth in acreage and value. As the international exchange of goods has increased, so too has the market demand for sustainably produced products. Both elements redefine the entomological challenges posed to viticulture and have stimulated significant advances in arthropod pest control programs. Vineyard managers on all continents are increasingly combating invasive species, resulting in the adoption of novel insecticides, semiochemicals, and molecular tools to support sustainable viticulture. At the local level, vineyard management practices consider factors such as the surrounding natural ecosystem, risk to fish populations, and air quality. Coordinated multinational responses to pest invasion have been highly effective and have, for example, resulted in eradication of the moth Lobesia botrana from California vineyards, a pest found in 2009 and eradicated by 2016. At the global level, the shared pests and solutions for their suppression will play an increasing role in delivering internationally sensitive pest management programs that respond to invasive pests, climate change, novel vector and pathogen relationships, and pesticide restrictions.

The Use of Tracer Gas Measurements in Detection and Solution of Indoor Air Quality Problems in a Danish Town Hall

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brohus, Henrik; Hyldgård, Carl-Erik

A Danish town hall with substantial complaints of poor indoor air quality is examined. This paper describes ·the use of traGer gas measurements which form an important part in the detection and solution of the problems. Investigations are carried out both in the field and in the laboratory using...

Orbital Resonances in the Vinti Solution

Science.gov (United States)

Zurita, L. D.

As space becomes more congested, contested, and competitive, high-accuracy orbital predictions become critical for space operations. Current orbit propagators use the two-body solution with perturbations added, which have significant error growth when numerically integrated for long time periods. The Vinti Solution is a more accurate model than the two-body problem because it also accounts for the equatorial bulge of the Earth. Unfortunately, the Vinti solution contains small divisors near orbital resonances in the perturbative terms of the Hamiltonian, which lead to inaccurate orbital predictions. One approach to avoid the small divisors is to apply transformation theory, which is presented in this research. The methodology of this research is to identify the perturbative terms of the Vinti Solution, perform a coordinate transformation, and derive the new equations of motion for the Vinti system near orbital resonances. An analysis of these equations of motion offers insight into the dynamics found near orbital resonances. The analysis in this research focuses on the 2:1 resonance, which includes the Global Positioning System. The phase portrait of a nominal Global Positioning System satellite orbit is found to contain a libration region and a chaotic region. Further analysis shows that the dynamics of the 2:1 resonance affects orbits with semi-major axes ranging from -5.0 to +5.4 kilometers from an exactly 2:1 resonant orbit. Truth orbits of seven Global Positioning System satellites are produced for 10 years. Two of the satellites are found to be outside of the resonance region and three are found to be influenced by the libration dynamics of the resonance. The final satellite is found to be influenced by the chaotic dynamics of the resonance. This research provides a method of avoiding the small divisors found in the perturbative terms of the Vinti Solution near orbital resonances.

ICT Impact on Competencies and Innovations: Regional Applicability of Global Indicators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antanas Buracas

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Paper deals with the multiple criteria assessment methodology applied for global evaluations of ICT impact on competency, talent potential and innovation, and aims to conclude how suitable it is for the regional assessment of education quality a/o processes determining skills in knowledge economy. Below the attention is given to interdependencies of education and knowledge components with the factors characterizing the ICT impact within multiple criteria evaluations for regional cases (Baltic States, also the factors used for international ratings of academic institutions in Lithuania. The task is to evaluate how much some indicators used by experts for global evaluations and popular ratings of universities could be applied for evaluations of the competencies determining competitive innovativeness of the social activity of countries under review. Also for detailing the intersectorial distributing of limited resources for more rational development of labour & vocational skills. Most of the conclusions emphasize that substantial part of ICT determinants applied for evaluations of global competitiveness help to rank the countries or academic institutions for investment solutions but do not detail the mechanisms determining the professional competencies and innovativeness of business at necessary level.

Nursing education challenges and solutions in Sub Saharan Africa: an integrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bvumbwe, Thokozani; Mtshali, Ntombifikile

2018-01-01

The Lancet Commission and the Global Health Workforce Alliance reported that professional education has generally not kept up the pace of health care challenges. Sub Saharan Africa needs an effective and efficient nursing education system to build an adequate, competent and relevant nursing workforce necessary for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. The Plan of Action for Scaling up Quality Nursing and Midwifery Education and Practice for the African Region 2012 - 2022 provided a framework for scale up of nurses and midwives. This integrative review examined literature on nursing education challenges and solutions in Sub Saharan Africa to inform development of a model for improving the quality, quantity and relevance of nursing education at local level. A search of PubMed, Medline on EBCSOhost and Google Scholar was conducted using key words: nursing education, challenges, solutions and/ or Africa. Published works from 2012 to 2016 were reviewed to explore reports about challenges and solution in nursing education in Sub Saharan Africa. Full texts of relevant studies were retrieved after reading the tittles and abstracts. Critical appraisal was undertaken and the findings of the relevant studies were analysed using thematic analysis. Twenty articles and five grey sources were included. Findings of the review generally supports World Health Organisation framework for transformative and scale up of health professions education. Six themes emerged; curriculum reforms, profession regulation, transformative teaching strategies, collaboration and partnership, capacity building and infrastructure and resources. Challenges and solutions in nursing education are common within countries. The review shows that massive investment by development partners is resulting in positive development of nursing education in Sub Saharan Africa. However, strategic leadership, networking and partnership to share expertise and best practices are critical. Sub Saharan Africa

Effect of uranyl nitrate and free acid concentration in feed solution of gelation on UO2 kernel quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masduki, B.; Wardaya; Widarmoko, A.

1996-01-01

An investigation on the effect of uranium and free nitric acid concentration of uranyl nitrate as feed of gelation process on quality of UO 2 kernel was done.The investigation is to look for some concentration of uranyl nitrate solutions those are optimum as feed for preparation of gelled UO 3 . Uranyl nitrate solution of various concentration of uranium (450; 500; 550; 600; 650; 700 g/l) and free nitric acid of (0.9; 1.0; 1.1 N) was made into feed solutions by adding urea and HMTA with mole ratio of urea/uranium and HMTA/uranium 2.1 and 2.0. The feed solutions were changed into spherical gelled UO 3 by dropping was done to get the optimum concentrations of uranyl nitrate solutions. The gelled UO 3 was soaked and washed with 2.5% ammonia solution for 17 hours, dried at 70 o C, calcined at 350 o C for 3 hours then reduced at 850 o C for 3 hours. At every step of the steps process the colour and percentage of well product of gelled UO 3 were noticed. The density and O/U ratio of end product (UO 2 kernel) was determined, the percentage of well product of all steps process was also determined. The three factor were used to chose the optimum concentration of uranyl nitrate solution. From this investigation it was concluded that the optimum concentration of uranyl nitrate was 600 g/l uranium with free nitric acid 0,9 - 1,0 N, the percentage of well product was 97% density of 6.12 - 4.8 g/cc and O/U ratio of 2.15 - 2.06. (author)

The global environment: An overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tolba, M.K.

1992-01-01

Global environmental chemistry today involves a rapidly expanding need both for new research and for the development of an interdiciplinary approach to the multiplicity of interconnected environmental problems. Every ecosystem shows signs of damage: growing quantities of wastes; decreasing water supplies; soil degradation; coastal zone deterioration; deforestation and climatic change; global warming due to ozone depletion. Solutions must involve a cooperative and holistic global effort in three areas: scientific understanding of how the interactive physical, chemical and biological processes regulate the total Earth system; public policy implications including closer liaison between scientists and policymakers;and understanding of the state of the global environment, what is going wrong, why, and whether it is getting worse

Consumers' quality perception

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bech, Anne C.; Grunert, Klaus G.; Bredahl, Lone

2001-01-01

Much has been said about food quality, and the disussion is endless because the notion of quality changes along with the changes in our life and society. This underlines the complexity of the issue of food quality. Today food production in Europe is highly concentrated, and the global market is r...... framework, the Total Food Quality Model, which we believe is useful in understanding consumers perception of food quality. We will then illustrate applications of the model using two recent examples of the quality perception of meat and fish.......Much has been said about food quality, and the disussion is endless because the notion of quality changes along with the changes in our life and society. This underlines the complexity of the issue of food quality. Today food production in Europe is highly concentrated, and the global market...... of quality and the ability of producers to react to changes in consumers' perception of quality may form the basis of market success or failure, independent of whether you are a local or multinational producer. This chapter deals with the analysis of consumers' quality perception. We will introduce a general...

Global bioethics: utopia or reality?

Science.gov (United States)

Hellsten, Sirkku K

2008-08-01

This article discusses what 'global bioethics' means today and what features make bioethical research 'global'. The article provides a historical view of the development of the field of 'bioethics', from medical ethics to the wider study of bioethics in a global context. It critically examines the particular problems that 'global bioethics' research faces across cultural and political borders and suggests some solutions on how to move towards a more balanced and culturally less biased dialogue in the issues of bioethics. The main thesis is that we need to bring global and local aspects closer together when looking for international guidelines, by paying more attention to particular cultures and local economic and social circumstances in reaching a shared understanding of the main values and principles of bioethics, and in building 'biodemocracy'.

Remarks on global anomalies in RCFT orientifolds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gato-Rivera, B. [NIKHEF Theory Group, Kruislaan 409, 1098 SJ Amsterdam (Netherlands); Instituto de Matematicas y Fisica Fundamental, CSIC, Serrano 123, Madrid 28006 (Spain); Schellekens, A.N. [NIKHEF Theory Group, Kruislaan 409, 1098 SJ Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Instituto de Matematicas y Fisica Fundamental, CSIC, Serrano 123, Madrid 28006 (Spain) and IMAPP, Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen (Netherlands)]. E-mail: t58@nikhef.nl

2006-01-26

We check the list of supersymmetric standard model orientifold spectra of Dijkstra, Huiszoon and Schellekens for the presence of global anomalies, using probe branes. Absence of global anomalies is found to impose strong constraints, but in nearly all cases they are automatically satisfied by the solutions to the tadpole cancellation conditions.

Co-benefits of global, domestic, and sectoral greenhouse gas mitigation for US air quality and human health in 2050

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, Yuqiang; Smith, Steven J.; Bowden, Jared H.; Adelman, Zachariah; West, J. Jason

2017-11-01

Policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can bring ancillary benefits of improved air quality and reduced premature mortality, in addition to slowing climate change. Here we study the co-benefits of global and domestic GHG mitigation on US air quality and human health in 2050 at fine resolution using dynamical downscaling, and quantify for the first time the co-benefits from foreign GHG mitigation. Relative to a reference scenario, global GHG reductions in RCP4.5 avoid 16000 PM2.5-related all-cause deaths yr-1 (90% confidence interval, 11700-20300), and 8000 (3600-12400) O3-related respiratory deaths yr-1 in the US in 2050. Foreign GHG mitigation avoids 15% and 62% of PM2.5- and O3-related total avoided deaths, highlighting the importance of foreign GHG mitigation on US human health benefits. GHG mitigation in the US residential sector brings the largest co-benefits for PM2.5-related deaths (21% of total domestic co-benefits), and industry for O3 (17%). Monetized benefits, for avoided deaths from ozone, PM2.5, and heat stress from a related study, are $148 ($96-201) per ton CO2 at high valuation and $49 ($32-67) at low valuation, of which 36% are from foreign GHG reductions. These benefits likely exceed the marginal cost of GHG reductions in 2050. The US gains significantly greater co-benefits when coordinating GHG reductions with foreign countries. Similarly, previous studies estimating co-benefits locally or regionally may greatly underestimate the full co-benefits of coordinated global actions.

Making sense of the global health crisis: policy narratives, conflict, and global health governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Ney, Steven

2012-04-01

Health has become a policy issue of global concern. Worried that the unstructured, polycentric, and pluralist nature of global health governance is undermining the ability to serve emergent global public health interests, some commentators are calling for a more systematic institutional response to the "global health crisis." Yet global health is a complex and uncertain policy issue. This article uses narrative analysis to explore how actors deal with these complexities and how uncertainties affect global health governance. By comparing three narratives in terms of their basic assumptions, the way they define problems as well as the solutions they propose, the analysis shows how the unstructured pluralism of global health policy making creates a wide scope of policy conflict over the global health crisis. This wide scope of conflict enables effective policy-oriented learning about global health issues. The article also shows how exclusionary patterns of cooperation and competition are emerging in health policy making at the global level. These patterns threaten effective learning by risking both polarization of the policy debate and unanticipated consequences of health policy. Avoiding these pitfalls, the analysis suggests, means creating global health governance regimes that promote openness and responsiveness in deliberation about the global health crisis.

Optimisation-Based Solution Methods for Set Partitioning Models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Matias Sevel

The scheduling of crew, i.e. the construction of work schedules for crew members, is often not a trivial task, but a complex puzzle. The task is complicated by rules, restrictions, and preferences. Therefore, manual solutions as well as solutions from standard software packages are not always su......_cient with respect to solution quality and solution time. Enhancement of the overall solution quality as well as the solution time can be of vital importance to many organisations. The _elds of operations research and mathematical optimisation deal with mathematical modelling of di_cult scheduling problems (among...... other topics). The _elds also deal with the development of sophisticated solution methods for these mathematical models. This thesis describes the set partitioning model which has been widely used for modelling crew scheduling problems. Integer properties for the set partitioning model are shown...

Global Access to Safe Water: Accounting for Water Quality and the Resulting Impact on MDG Progress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joe LoBuglio

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Monitoring of progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG drinking water target relies on classification of water sources as “improved” or “unimproved” as an indicator for water safety. We adjust the current Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP estimate by accounting for microbial water quality and sanitary risk using the only-nationally representative water quality data currently available, that from the WHO and UNICEF “Rapid Assessment of Drinking Water Quality”. A principal components analysis (PCA of national environmental and development indicators was used to create models that predicted, for most countries, the proportions of piped and of other-improved water supplies that are faecally contaminated; and of these sources, the proportions that lack basic sanitary protection against contamination. We estimate that 1.8 billion people (28% of the global population used unsafe water in 2010. The 2010 JMP estimate is that 783 million people (11% use unimproved sources. Our estimates revise the 1990 baseline from 23% to 37%, and the target from 12% to 18%, resulting in a shortfall of 10% of the global population towards the MDG target in 2010. In contrast, using the indicator “use of an improved source” suggests that the MDG target for drinking-water has already been achieved. We estimate that an additional 1.2 billion (18% use water from sources or systems with significant sanitary risks. While our estimate is imprecise, the magnitude of the estimate and the health and development implications suggest that greater attention is needed to better understand and manage drinking water safety.

Global Access to Safe Water: Accounting for Water Quality and the Resulting Impact on MDG Progress

Science.gov (United States)

Onda, Kyle; LoBuglio, Joe; Bartram, Jamie

2012-01-01

Monitoring of progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) drinking water target relies on classification of water sources as “improved” or “unimproved” as an indicator for water safety. We adjust the current Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) estimate by accounting for microbial water quality and sanitary risk using the only-nationally representative water quality data currently available, that from the WHO and UNICEF “Rapid Assessment of Drinking Water Quality”. A principal components analysis (PCA) of national environmental and development indicators was used to create models that predicted, for most countries, the proportions of piped and of other-improved water supplies that are faecally contaminated; and of these sources, the proportions that lack basic sanitary protection against contamination. We estimate that 1.8 billion people (28% of the global population) used unsafe water in 2010. The 2010 JMP estimate is that 783 million people (11%) use unimproved sources. Our estimates revise the 1990 baseline from 23% to 37%, and the target from 12% to 18%, resulting in a shortfall of 10% of the global population towards the MDG target in 2010. In contrast, using the indicator “use of an improved source” suggests that the MDG target for drinking-water has already been achieved. We estimate that an additional 1.2 billion (18%) use water from sources or systems with significant sanitary risks. While our estimate is imprecise, the magnitude of the estimate and the health and development implications suggest that greater attention is needed to better understand and manage drinking water safety. PMID:22690170

Telehealth solutions to enable global collaboration in rheumatic heart disease screening.

Science.gov (United States)

Lopes, Eduardo Lv; Beaton, Andrea Z; Nascimento, Bruno R; Tompsett, Alison; Dos Santos, Julia Pa; Perlman, Lindsay; Diamantino, Adriana C; Oliveira, Kaciane Kb; Oliveira, Cassio M; Nunes, Maria do Carmo P; Bonisson, Leonardo; Ribeiro, Antônio Lp; Sable, Craig

2018-02-01

Background The global burden of rheumatic heart disease is nearly 33 million people. Telemedicine, using cloud-server technology, provides an ideal solution for sharing images performed by non-physicians with cardiologists who are experts in rheumatic heart disease. Objective We describe our experience in using telemedicine to support a large rheumatic heart disease outreach screening programme in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Methods The Programa de Rastreamento da Valvopatia Reumática (PROVAR) is a prospective cross-sectional study aimed at gathering epidemiological data on the burden of rheumatic heart disease in Minas Gerais and testing of a non-expert, telemedicine-supported model of outreach rheumatic heart disease screening. The primary goal is to enable expert support of remote rheumatic heart disease outreach through cloud-based sharing of echocardiographic images between Minas Gerais and Washington. Secondary goals include (a) developing and sharing online training modules for non-physicians in echocardiography performance and interpretation and (b) utilising a secure web-based system to share clinical and research data. Results PROVAR included 4615 studies that were performed by non-experts at 21 schools and shared via cloud-telemedicine technology. Latent rheumatic heart disease was found in 251 subjects (4.2% of subjects: 3.7% borderline and 0.5% definite disease). Of the studies, 50% were preformed on full functional echocardiography machines and transmitted via Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) and 50% were performed on handheld echocardiography machines and transferred via a secure Dropbox connection. The average time between study performance date and interpretation was 10 days. There was 100% success in initial image transfer. Less than 1% of studies performed by non-experts could not be interpreted. Discussion A sustainable, low-cost telehealth model, using task-shifting with non-medical personal in low and middle

Potential Air Quality Impacts of Global Bioenergy Crop Cultivation

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, W. C.; Rosenstiel, T. N.; Barsanti, K. C.

2012-12-01

The use of bioenergy crops as a replacement for traditional coal-powered electricity generation will require large-scale land-use change, and the resulting changes in emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) may have negative impacts on local to regional air quality. BVOCs contribute to the formation of both ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), with magnitudes of specific compound emissions governed largely by plant speciation and land coverage. For this reason, large-scale land-use change has the potential to markedly alter regional O3 and PM2.5 levels, especially if there are large differences between the emission profiles of the replacement bioenergy crops (many of which are high BVOC emitters) and the previous crops or land cover. In this work, replacement areas suitable for the cultivation of the bioenergy crops switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and giant reed (Arundo donax) were selected based on existing global inventories of under-utilized cropland and local climatological conditions. These two crops are among the most popular current candidates for bioenergy production, and provide contrasting examples of energy densities and emissions profiles. While giant reed has been selected in an ongoing large-scale coal-to-biocharcoal conversion in the Northwestern United States due to its high crop yields and energy density, it is also among the highest biogenic emitters of isoprene. On the other hand, switchgrass produces less biomass per acre, but also emits essentially no isoprene and low total BVOCs. The effects of large-scale conversion to these crops on O3 and PM2.5 were simulated using version 1.1 of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) coupled with version 2.1 of the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN). By comparing crop replacement scenarios involving A. donax and P. virgatum, the sensitivities of O3 and PM2.5 levels to worldwide increases in bioenergy production were examined, providing an initial

The emergence of a global right to health norm--the unresolved case of universal access to quality emergency obstetric care.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammonds, Rachel; Ooms, Gorik

2014-02-27

The global response to HIV suggests the potential of an emergent global right to health norm, embracing shared global responsibility for health, to assist policy communities in framing the obligations of the domestic state and the international community. Our research explores the extent to which this global right to health norm has influenced the global policy process around maternal health rights, with a focus on universal access to emergency obstetric care. In examining the extent to which arguments stemming from a global right to health norm have been successful in advancing international policy on universal access to emergency obstetric care, we looked at the period from 1985 to 2013 period. We adopted a qualitative case study approach applying a process-tracing methodology using multiple data sources, including an extensive literature review and limited key informant interviews to analyse the international policy agenda setting process surrounding maternal health rights, focusing on emergency obstetric care. We applied John Kingdon's public policy agenda setting streams model to analyse our data. Kingdon's model suggests that to succeed as a mobilising norm, the right to health could work if it can help bring the problem, policy and political streams together, as it did with access to AIDS treatment. Our analysis suggests that despite a normative grounding in the right to health, prioritisation of the specific maternal health entitlements remains fragmented. Despite United Nations recognition of maternal mortality as a human rights issue, the relevant policy communities have not yet managed to shift the policy agenda to prioritise the global right to health norm of shared responsibility for realising access to emergency obstetric care. The experience of HIV advocates in pushing for global solutions based on right to health principles, including participation, solidarity and accountability; suggest potential avenues for utilising right to health based

Transition to a green economy – a challenge and a solution for the world economy in multiple crisis context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina-Mihaela BABONEA

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The concept of "Green Economy" is heavily debated recently because it is considered to be essential for the future global economy. This concept aims to find practical solutions that can be applied in international affairs regarding the environment development as a result of the massive problems caused by multiple crises that are no longer solvable. However, the international community is looking for long-term alternatives to improve the quality of life and eliminate poverty population as much as possible.To make sustainable economic development requires a transition with multiple implications for both the government and the private sector. In other words, you need a joint effort between public and private, in order to separate economic growth from excessive use of resources; the main objective should be considered the quality of life along with reducing the environmental and social deficit.The transition to a "Green Economy" means practicing a certain type of economy based on policies and investment that should be able to create a connection between economic development, biodiversity, ecosystem, climate change, health and welfare on the medium and long term. These premises must be connected together to achieve sustainable development – which is considered the resumption of economic growth at global scale.Switching to "Green Economy" implies a proper concern based on adequate knowledge, research and innovation in order to create a framework for promoting sustainable development on long term. This study aims to generate an overview on the concept of "Green Economy", considered by some experts as the main solution to the problems that countries of the world are facing nowadays. It is well known that the economic system is situated in a collapse and requires a rethinking from all points of view. A solution to adapt the economy and its development to these new global challenges can be the transition to "Green Economy", especially by integrating the

A Multilevel Congestion-Based Global Router

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Logan Rakai

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Routing in nanometer nodes creates an elevated level of importance for low-congestion routing. At the same time, advances in mathematical programming have increased the power to solve complex problems, such as the routing problem. Hence, new routing methods need to be developed that can combine advanced mathematical programming and modeling techniques to provide low-congestion solutions. In this paper, a hierarchical mathematical programming-based global routing technique that considers congestion is proposed. The main contributions presented in this paper include (i implementation of congestion estimation based on actual routing solutions versus purely probabilistic techniques, (ii development of a congestion-based hierarchy for solving the global routing problem, and (iii generation of a robust framework for solving the routing problem using mathematical programming techniques. Experimental results illustrate that the proposed global router is capable of reducing congestion and overflow by as much as 36% compared to the state-of-the-art mathematical programming models.

Development Education and Education in International Development Policy: Raising Quality through Critical Pedagogy and Global Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy Skinner

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Development education is an approach to learning that questions dominant paradigms of development and inspires citizen- and community-driven change towards a world of greater social justice. This article provides an overview of development education and reflects on the extent to which development education principles are currently reflected in, or missing from, mainstream educational policies pursued within an international development framework. In particular, the article addresses the issue of quality in education – one of the key current debates within international education policy – and suggests that, through its critical pedagogy and focus on the development of global skills, development education has a significant contribution to make to these debates. The article suggests that greater collaboration between the field of development education and international education policy could facilitate the creation of an agenda that focuses on education quality and learning processes, as opposed to the current preoccupation with education access and outcomes.

Social exclusion in academia through biases in methodological quality evaluation: On the situation of women in science and philosophy.

Science.gov (United States)

Leuschner, Anna

2015-12-01

Empirical studies show that academia is socially exclusive. I argue that this social exclusion works, at least partly, through the systematic methodological disqualification of contributions from members of underrepresented social groups. As methodological quality criteria are underdetermined their interpretation and weighting can be biased with relation to gender, race, social background, etc. Such biased quality evaluation can take place on a local or global level. The current situation of women in academic philosophy illuminates this. I conclude that only mechanical solutions can effectively change the situation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Robust and efficient solution procedures for association models

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Michelsen, Michael Locht

2006-01-01

Equations of state that incorporate the Wertheim association expression are more difficult to apply than conventional pressure explicit equations, because the association term is implicit and requires solution for an internal set of composition variables. In this work, we analyze the convergence...... behavior of different solution methods and demonstrate how a simple and efficient, yet globally convergent, procedure for the solution of the equation of state can be formulated....

Factors Influencing Global Health Related Quality of Life in Elderly Cancer Patients: Results of a Secondary Data Analysis

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Heike Schmidt

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Cancer treatment for elderly patients is often complicated by poor physical condition, impaired functioning and comorbidities. Patient reported health related quality of life (HRQOL can contribute to decisions about treatment goals and supportive therapy. Knowledge about factors influencing HRQOL is therefore needed for the development of supportive measures and care pathways. An exploratory secondary data analysis on 518 assessments of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC core questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30 and the elderly module (EORTC QLQ-ELD14 was performed to identify factors predictive for global HRQOL. Preliminary simple and multivariable regression analyses were conducted resulting in a final model comprising sociodemographic and disease specific variables and scales of the QLQ-C30 and QLQ-ELD14. Age, sex and disease related variables explained only part of the variance of global HRQOL (adjusted R2 = 0.203. In the final model (adjusted R2 = 0.504 fatigue, social function, burden of illness and joint stiffness showed possible influence on global HRQOL. Fatigue, social function and burden of illness seem to have the largest impact on global HRQOL of elderly cancer patients. Further prospective studies should examine these domains. Actionable symptoms should be given special attention to initiate targeted supportive measures aiming to maximize HRQOL of older cancer patients.

Sociodemographic, disease status, and illness perceptions predictors of global self-ratings of health and quality of life among those with coronary heart disease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aalto, Anna-Mari; Aro, Arja R; Weinman, John

2006-01-01

This one-year follow-up study (n = 130 at baseline, n =2745 at follow-up, aged 45-74 years) examined the relationship of patients' perceptions of coronary heart disease (CHD) and illness-related factors with global health status and global quality of life (QOL) ratings. The independent variables...... were CHD history (myocardial infarction, revascularisation), CHD severity (use of nitrates, CHD risk factors and co-morbidities) and illness perceptions. In multivariate regression analysis, CHD history and severity explained 13% of variance in global health status and 8% in global QOL ratings...... at the baseline. Illness perceptions increased the share of explained variance by 18% and 16% respectively. In the follow-up, illness perceptions explained a significant but modest share of variance in change in health status and QOL when baseline health status and QOL and CHD severity were adjusted for more...

Environmental and economic assessment of hybrid FO-RO/NF system with selected inorganic draw solutes for the treatment of mine impaired water

KAUST Repository

Kim, Jung Eun

2018-01-01

A hybrid forward osmosis (FO) and reverse osmosis (RO)/nanofiltration (NF) system in a closed-loop operation with selected draw solutes was evaluated to treat coal mine impaired water. This study provides an insight of selecting the most suitable draw solution (DS) by conducting environmental and economic life cycle assessment (LCA). Baseline environmental LCA showed that the dominant components to energy use and global warming are the DS recovery processes (i.e. RO or NF processes) and FO membrane materials, respectively. When considering the DS replenishment in FO, the contribution of chemical use to the overall global warming impact was significant for all hybrid systems. Furthermore, from an environmental perspective, the FO-NF hybrid system with Na2SO4 shows the lowest energy consumption and global warming with additional considerations of final product water quality and FO brine disposal. From an economic perspective, the FO-NF with Na2SO4 showed the lowest total operating cost due to its lower DS loss and relatively low solute cost. In a closed-loop system, FO-NF with NaCl and Na2SO4 had the lowest total water cost at optimum NF recovery rates of 90 and 95%, respectively. FO-NF with Na2SO4 had the lowest environmental and economic impacts. Overall, draw solute performances and cost in FO and recovery rate in RO/NF play a crucial role in determining the total water cost and environmental impact of FO hybrid systems in a closed-loop operation.

Smooth solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pokhozhaev, S I

2014-01-01

We consider smooth solutions of the Cauchy problem for the Navier-Stokes equations on the scale of smooth functions which are periodic with respect to x∈R 3 . We obtain existence theorems for global (with respect to t>0) and local solutions of the Cauchy problem. The statements of these depend on the smoothness and the norm of the initial vector function. Upper bounds for the behaviour of solutions in both classes, which depend on t, are also obtained. Bibliography: 10 titles

Hot house global climate change and the human condition

CERN Document Server

Strom, Robert G

2007-01-01

Global warming is addressed by almost all sciences including many aspects of geosciences, atmospheric, the biological sciences, and even astronomy. It has recently become the concern of other diverse disciplines such as economics, agriculture, demographics and population statistics, medicine, engineering, and political science. This book addresses these complex interactions, integrates them, and derives meaningful conclusions and possible solutions. The text provides an easy-to-read explanation of past and present global climate change, causes and possible solutions to the problem, including t

A Comparative Study on Recently-Introduced Nature-Based Global Optimization Methods in Complex Mechanical System Design

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Abdulbaset El Hadi Saad

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Advanced global optimization algorithms have been continuously introduced and improved to solve various complex design optimization problems for which the objective and constraint functions can only be evaluated through computation intensive numerical analyses or simulations with a large number of design variables. The often implicit, multimodal, and ill-shaped objective and constraint functions in high-dimensional and “black-box” forms demand the search to be carried out using low number of function evaluations with high search efficiency and good robustness. This work investigates the performance of six recently introduced, nature-inspired global optimization methods: Artificial Bee Colony (ABC, Firefly Algorithm (FFA, Cuckoo Search (CS, Bat Algorithm (BA, Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA and Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO. These approaches are compared in terms of search efficiency and robustness in solving a set of representative benchmark problems in smooth-unimodal, non-smooth unimodal, smooth multimodal, and non-smooth multimodal function forms. In addition, four classic engineering optimization examples and a real-life complex mechanical system design optimization problem, floating offshore wind turbines design optimization, are used as additional test cases representing computationally-expensive black-box global optimization problems. Results from this comparative study show that the ability of these global optimization methods to obtain a good solution diminishes as the dimension of the problem, or number of design variables increases. Although none of these methods is universally capable, the study finds that GWO and ABC are more efficient on average than the other four in obtaining high quality solutions efficiently and consistently, solving 86% and 80% of the tested benchmark problems, respectively. The research contributes to future improvements of global optimization methods.

Cyber Governance : Challenges, Solutions, and Lessons for Effective Global Governance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jayawardane, S.; Larik, J.E.; Jackson, E.

2015-01-01

Cyberspace permeates global social and economic relations in the 21st Century. It is an integral part of the critical infrastructure on which modern societies depend and has revolutionized how we communicate and socialize. The governance of cyberspace is, therefore, an indispensable component of

Global ethics: the nature and purpose

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ye. M. Sulima

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the factors of forming, the essence and importance of a global ethic as a moral regulator of intercultural interaction in the modern global society. The current global ethics built around basic common goals - peace and dignity of people, social justice, individual freedom, cultural pluralism, sustainable development - and allow plans to achieve different objectives, functioning set of identities and nationalities. It lies in increasing awareness of common fate, common human and social rights, interests, shared vulnerability to global environmental, social and political crises of necessity, consequent, to find common solutions and act on the basis of cultural dialogue and cooperation.

Influence of nutrient solutions in an open-field soilless system on the quality characteristics and shelf life of fresh-cut red and green lettuces (Lactuca sativa L.) in different seasons.

Science.gov (United States)

Luna, María C; Martínez-Sánchez, Ascensión; Selma, María V; Tudela, Juan A; Baixauli, Carlos; Gil, María I

2013-01-01

Little information is available about the impact of nutrient solution ion concentration on quality characteristics and shelf life of fresh-cut lettuce grown in soilless systems in open field. Three lettuce genotypes, lollo rosso and red oak leaf as red-leafed genotypes and butterhead as green-leafed genotype, were studied. The influence of three nutrient solutions with low, medium and high ion concentrations, which varied in the macroanion (NO₃⁻) and macrocations (K⁺, Ca²⁺ and NH₄⁺), were compared in summer and winter. The nutrient solutions evaluated in this study for the production of lettuce in a soilless system did not strongly influence the quality characteristics of the raw material. When the ion concentration of the nutrient solution was increased, fresh weight decreased, although it depended on the genotype and season. Maturity index and dry matter content varied with the season but independently of the nutrient solution. In summer, maturity index was higher and dry matter lower than in winter. Initial texture and visual quality were not influenced by the nutrient solution. Medium ion concentration provided the highest content of vitamin C and phenolic compounds. Our observations pointed out that the genotype had a strong influence on the shelf life of the fresh-cut product with minor differences among nutrient solutions. In general, red-leafed lettuces showed the highest antioxidant content, helping the maintenance of sensory characteristics throughout storage. The combination of optimal nutrient solution ion concentration and suitable cultivar is considered essential to ensure lettuce post-cutting life. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.

Performance and Quality Assessment of the Forthcoming Copernicus Marine Service Global Ocean Monitoring and Forecasting Real-Time System

Science.gov (United States)

Lellouche, J. M.; Le Galloudec, O.; Greiner, E.; Garric, G.; Regnier, C.; Drillet, Y.

2016-02-01

Mercator Ocean currently delivers in real-time daily services (weekly analyses and daily forecast) with a global 1/12° high resolution system. The model component is the NEMO platform driven at the surface by the IFS ECMWF atmospheric analyses and forecasts. Observations are assimilated by means of a reduced-order Kalman filter with a 3D multivariate modal decomposition of the forecast error. It includes an adaptive-error estimate and a localization algorithm. Along track altimeter data, satellite Sea Surface Temperature and in situ temperature and salinity vertical profiles are jointly assimilated to estimate the initial conditions for numerical ocean forecasting. A 3D-Var scheme provides a correction for the slowly-evolving large-scale biases in temperature and salinity.Since May 2015, Mercator Ocean opened the Copernicus Marine Service (CMS) and is in charge of the global ocean analyses and forecast, at eddy resolving resolution. In this context, R&D activities have been conducted at Mercator Ocean these last years in order to improve the real-time 1/12° global system for the next CMS version in 2016. The ocean/sea-ice model and the assimilation scheme benefit among others from the following improvements: large-scale and objective correction of atmospheric quantities with satellite data, new Mean Dynamic Topography taking into account the last version of GOCE geoid, new adaptive tuning of some observational errors, new Quality Control on the assimilated temperature and salinity vertical profiles based on dynamic height criteria, assimilation of satellite sea-ice concentration, new freshwater runoff from ice sheets melting …This presentation doesn't focus on the impact of each update, but rather on the overall behavior of the system integrating all updates. This assessment reports on the products quality improvements, highlighting the level of performance and the reliability of the new system.

Combination of monthly gravity field solutions from different processing centers

Science.gov (United States)

Jean, Yoomin; Meyer, Ulrich; Jäggi, Adrian

2015-04-01

Currently, the official GRACE Science Data System (SDS) monthly gravity field solutions are generated independently by the Centre for Space Research (CSR) and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). Additional GRACE SDS monthly fields are provided by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for validation and outside the SDS by a number of other institutions worldwide. Although the adopted background models and processing standards have been harmonized more and more by the various processing centers during the past years, notable differences still exist and the users are more or less left alone with a decision which model to choose for their individual applications. Combinations are well-established in the area of other space geodetic techniques, such as the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR), and Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), where regular comparisons and combinations of space-geodetic products have tremendously increased the usefulness of the products in a wide range of disciplines and scientific applications. In the frame of the recently started Horizon 2020 project European Gravity Service for Improved Emergency Management (EGSIEM), a scientific combination service shall therefore be established to deliver the best gravity products for applications in Earth and environmental science research based on the unified knowledge of the European GRACE community. In a first step the large variety of available monthly GRACE gravity field solutions shall be mutually compared spatially and spectrally. We assess the noise of the raw as well as filtered solutions and compare the secular and seasonal periodic variations fitted to the monthly solutions. In a second step we will explore ways to generate combined solutions, e.g., based on a weighted average of the individual solutions using empirical weights derived from pair-wise comparisons. We will also assess the quality of such a combined solution and discuss the

Are water markets globally applicable?

Science.gov (United States)

Endo, Takahiro; Kakinuma, Kaoru; Yoshikawa, Sayaka; Kanae, Shinjiro

2018-03-01

Water scarcity is a global concern that necessitates a global perspective, but it is also the product of multiple regional issues that require regional solutions. Water markets constitute a regionally applicable non-structural measure to counter water scarcity that has received the attention of academics and policy-makers, but there is no global view on their applicability. We present the global distribution of potential nations and states where water markets could be instituted in a legal sense, by investigating 296 water laws internationally, with special reference to a minimum set of key rules: legalization of water reallocation, the separation of water rights and landownership, and the modification of the cancellation rule for non-use. We also suggest two additional globally distributed prerequisites and policy implications: the predictability of the available water before irrigation periods and public control of groundwater pumping throughout its jurisdiction.

Globalization and the diffusion of ideas: why we should acknowledge the roots of mainstream ideas in global health.

Science.gov (United States)

Robert, Emilie; Hajizadeh, Mohammad; El-Bialy, Rowan; Bidisha, Sayema Haque

2014-06-01

Although globalization has created ample opportunities and spaces to share experiences and information, the diffusion of ideas, especially in global health, is primarily influenced by the unequal distribution of economic, political and scientific powers around the world. These ideas in global health are generally rooted in High-Income Countries (HICs), and then reach Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). We argue that acknowledging and addressing this invisible trend would contribute to a greater degree of open discussions in global health. This is expected to favor innovative, alternative, and culturally sound solutions for persistent health problems and reducing inequities.

Global stability and existence of periodic solutions of discrete delayed cellular neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yongkun

2004-01-01

We use the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory and Lyapunov functions to study the existence and stability of periodic solutions for the discrete cellular neural networks (CNNs) with delays xi(n+1)=xi(n)e-bi(n)h+θi(h)-bar j=1maij(n)fj(xj(n))+θi(h)-bar j=1mbij(n)fj(xj(n- τij(n)))+θi(h)Ii(n),i=1,2,...,m. We obtain some sufficient conditions to ensure that for the networks there exists a unique periodic solution, and all its solutions converge to such a periodic solution

Quality assessment of Isfahan Medical Faculty web site electronic services and prioritizing solutions using analytic hierarchy process approach

OpenAIRE

Hajrahimi, Nafiseh; Dehaghani, Sayed Mehdi Hejazi; Hajrahimi, Nargess; Sarmadi, Sima

2014-01-01

Context: Implementing information technology in the best possible way can bring many advantages such as applying electronic services and facilitating tasks. Therefore, assessment of service providing systems is a way to improve the quality and elevate these systems including e-commerce, e-government, e-banking, and e-learning. Aims: This study was aimed to evaluate the electronic services in the website of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in order to propose solutions to improve them. F...

The globalization of accreditation in the professions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lenn, M P

1996-01-01

The direct relationship between educational quality and a successful economy, the proliferation of regional and global trade agreements which encourage professional mobility, and the growing international recognition of academic degrees are contributing factors to the globalization of quality assurance in higher education, including accreditation. On every continent, attention is being paid to developing professional educational standards within an international context, assuring that ¿world class¿ professionals are produced for international as well as national practice.

Economic Globalization - a Phenomenon of Global Business Integration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radu-Marcel Joia

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Tumultuous economic life led scientists to seek explanations to the negative economic events,events that take many forms, and to whom it is a must to find a solution or even a mitigating factor. Thefoundation of the economy has undergone many changes. The recent events manifested in the world economyshow that the underlying fundamentals of this science must be revised because they proved to be wrong. Itnotes several times, mainly due to present economic crisis, that currently the economics have no theoreticaland practical means and no tools of analysis and intervention in the economy, proving that the existing onesare exceeded and insufficient, so that the creation of an unifying principle and of some generalizing conceptsthat could systematize and forecast the current economic phenomena in the microeconomics andmacroeconomics, especially in the transnational companies field, those which are the base of the foreigndirect investment flows, should become the main objective of the new economic science. Through this paper,we tried to illustrate the important aspects of economic globalization, the challenges that this phenomenonposes to economies and the way in which an economy can become globally competitive, under massiveconstraints of the global competition, how a national company can become globally integrated, study basedon representative references.

Integral system of management quality - company quality assurance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dimitrovski, Aleksandar

1999-01-01

Integral System of Management Quality is imposed as a solution which in the future will be applied in the companies more frequently, provoked from the needs for solving management quality, working conditions, ecology, safety at work, way of leaving, etc. (Original)

A time for new north–south relationships in global health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim JU

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Jin Un Kim,1 Obinna Oleribe,2 Ramou Njie,3 Simon D Taylor-Robinson1 1Division of Digestive Health, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, UK; 2Excellence and Friends Management Care Centre, Abuja, Nigeria; 3MRC, Serekunda, The Gambia Abstract: The modern concept of globalization in health care and clinical research often carries a positive message for the “Global South” nations of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. However, bioethical abuse of participants in clinical trials still exists in the Global South. Unethical studies directed by the “Global North”, formed by the medically advanced nations in North America, Western Europe and Japan, have been hugely concerning. The issue between the Global North and South is a well-recognized socioeconomic phenomenon of globalization. Medical exploitation has its roots in the socioeconomic interactions of a postcolonial world, and solutions to reducing exploitation require a deeper understanding of these societal models of globalization. We explore the fundamental causes of imbalance and suggest solutions. Reflecting on the globalization model, there must be an effort to empower the Global South nations to direct and govern their own health care systems efficiently on the basis of equality. Keywords: global health, bioethics, clinical trials, Africa, exploitation, imperialism

Automated MAD and MIR structure solution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terwilliger, Thomas C.; Berendzen, Joel

1999-01-01

A fully automated procedure for solving MIR and MAD structures has been developed using a scoring scheme to convert the structure-solution process into an optimization problem. Obtaining an electron-density map from X-ray diffraction data can be difficult and time-consuming even after the data have been collected, largely because MIR and MAD structure determinations currently require many subjective evaluations of the qualities of trial heavy-atom partial structures before a correct heavy-atom solution is obtained. A set of criteria for evaluating the quality of heavy-atom partial solutions in macromolecular crystallography have been developed. These have allowed the conversion of the crystal structure-solution process into an optimization problem and have allowed its automation. The SOLVE software has been used to solve MAD data sets with as many as 52 selenium sites in the asymmetric unit. The automated structure-solution process developed is a major step towards the fully automated structure-determination, model-building and refinement procedure which is needed for genomic scale structure determinations

Nonexistence of global solutions to the system of semilinear parabolic equations with biharmonic operator and singular potential

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shirmayil Bagirov

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In the domain $Q_{R}'= \\{ x:| x| >R\\}\\times( 0,+\\infty$ we consider the problem $$\\displaylines{ \\frac{\\partial u_1}{\\partial t}+\\Delta^2 u_1-\\frac{C_1}{|x| ^4}u_1 =| x| ^{\\sigma _1}| u_2| ^{q_1}, \\quad u_1| _{t=0}=u_{10}( x\\geq0, \\cr \\frac{\\partial u_2}{\\partial t}+\\Delta^2 u_2-\\frac{C_2}{| x| ^4}u_2=| x| ^{\\sigma _2}| u_1| ^{q_2},\\quad u_2| _{t=0}=u_{20}( x\\geq0, \\cr \\int_0^\\infty \\int_{\\partial B_{R}} u_i\\,ds\\,dt\\geq 0, \\quad \\int_0^\\infty \\int_{\\partial B_{R}}\\Delta u_i\\,ds\\,dt\\leq 0, }$$ where $\\sigma_i\\in \\mathbb{R} $, $ q_i>1 $, $ 0\\leq C_i<( \\frac{n( n-4 }{4} ^2$, $ i=1,2 $. Sufficient condition for the nonexistence of global solutions is obtained.The proof is based on the method of test functions.

Teach for All: Storytelling "Shared Solutions" and Scaling Global Reform

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmann, Chloe

2015-01-01

"Teach For All" is a global network of state-based organizations that translate "Teach For America's" market model of school reform into moral projects of nation-building abroad. Referring to this challenge as one of "scaling" the organization, its leaders elaborate a theory of change that hinges on replicability: in…

Social Theories of Urban Violence in the Global South | IDRC ...

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

2018-04-25

Apr 25, 2018 ... Book cover: Social Theories of Urban Violence in the Global South ... Call for new OWSD Fellowships for Early Career Women Scientists now open ... adaptive water management: Innovative solutions from the Global South”.

Food Security: Selected Global and U.S. Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Kocher, Megan

2015-01-01

Food security is researched and dealt with on local, regional, national, and global levels with solutions ranging from local farmers' market initiatives to increasing crop yields through genetically modified plants to streamlining global supply chains. Because of its broad, interdisciplinary nature, it is necessary to narrow the focus of this…

Full-reference quality assessment of stereoscopic images by learning binocular receptive field properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Shao, Feng; Li, Kemeng; Lin, Weisi; Jiang, Gangyi; Yu, Mei; Dai, Qionghai

2015-10-01

Quality assessment of 3D images encounters more challenges than its 2D counterparts. Directly applying 2D image quality metrics is not the solution. In this paper, we propose a new full-reference quality assessment for stereoscopic images by learning binocular receptive field properties to be more in line with human visual perception. To be more specific, in the training phase, we learn a multiscale dictionary from the training database, so that the latent structure of images can be represented as a set of basis vectors. In the quality estimation phase, we compute sparse feature similarity index based on the estimated sparse coefficient vectors by considering their phase difference and amplitude difference, and compute global luminance similarity index by considering luminance changes. The final quality score is obtained by incorporating binocular combination based on sparse energy and sparse complexity. Experimental results on five public 3D image quality assessment databases demonstrate that in comparison with the most related existing methods, the devised algorithm achieves high consistency with subjective assessment.

Real-time precision pedestrian navigation solution using Inertial Navigation System and Global Positioning System

OpenAIRE

Yong-Jin Yoon; King Ho Holden Li; Jiahe Steven Lee; Woo-Tae Park

2015-01-01

Global Positioning System and Inertial Navigation System can be used to determine position and velocity. A Global Positioning System module is able to accurately determine position without sensor drift, but its usage is limited in heavily urbanized environments and heavy vegetation. While high-cost tactical-grade Inertial Navigation System can determine position accurately, low-cost micro-electro-mechanical system Inertial Navigation System sensors are plagued by significant errors. Global Po...

POSTHARVEST QUALITY OF FEIJOA FLOWERS TREATED WITH DIFFERENT PRESERVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND 1-METHYLCYCLOPROPENE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ALEXANDRA GOEDE DE SOUZA

Full Text Available ABSTRACT This study was carried out to assess the postharvest quality preservation of feijoa(Acca sellowiana Berg flowers in response to treatments with different preservative solutions and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP. Recently opened feijoa flowers were harvested in the morning (between 8h and 10h and immediately after pulsed with preservative solutions of salicylic acid, ascorbic acid and sucrose, all at doses of 0 (control, 2, 5 or 10%, and treated with 1-MCP at doses of 0 (control, 250, 500 or 1,000 nL L-1. Each trial with preservative solutions or 1-MCP treatment was a distinct experiment conducted in a completely randomized design with four replicates, each replicate with four flowers. After the treatment, the flowers were stored for 12 days at 10±1 oC and 85±5% RH. At every two-days intervals the flower petals were visually evaluated for wilting and darkening according to a hedonic scale varying from 1 (less intense to 5 (more intense. Petal color was ranked from 1 (intense pink to 5 (white. The 1-MCP at 500 nL L-1 and the salicylic acid (regardless of the dose delayed the changes of petal color for up to eight and six days of storage, respectively. Flowers treated with salicylic acid, 1-MCP or ascorbic acid had a more substantial delay in petal wilting. Flowers treated with salicylic acid had wilting rank of 2 after six days of storage when treated with doses of 5% or 10%, and after eight days when treated with the dose of 2%, while flowers treated with 1-MCP at 500 and 1,000 nL L-1 and ascorbic acid at 2% and 5% had wilting rank of 2 after four days of storage. The most substantial delay of petal darkening (until the fourth day of storage was achieved with 1-MCP at 500 nL L-1.

Improving Water Resources Management on Global and Region Scales - Evaluating Strategies for Water Futures with the IIASA's Community Water Model

Science.gov (United States)

Burek, P.; Kahil, T.; Satoh, Y.; Greve, P.; Byers, E.; Langan, S.; Wada, Y.

2017-12-01

Half of the planet's population is severely impacted by severe water issues including absent or unreliable water supply, sanitation, poor water quality, unmitigated floods and droughts, and degraded water environments. In recent years, global water security has been highlighted not only by the science community but also by business leaders as one of the greatest threats to sustainable human development for different generations. How can we ensure the well-being of people and ecosystems with limited water, technology and financial resources? To evaluate this, IIASA's Water Futures and Solutions Initiative (WFaS) is identifying a portfolios of robust and cost-effective options across different economic sectors including agriculture, energy, manufacturing, households, and environment and ecosystems. Options to increase water supply and accessibility are evaluated together with water demand management and water governance options. To test these solution-portfolios in order to obtain a clear picture of the opportunities but also of the risks and the trade-offs we have developed the Community Water Model (CWATM) which joins IIASA's integrated assessment modeling framework, coupling hydrology with hydro-economics (ECHO model), energy (MESSAGE model) and land use (GLOBIOM model). CWATM has been developed to work flexibly with varying spatial resolutions from global to regional levels. The model is open source and community-driven to promote our work amongst the wider water and other science community worldwide, with flexibility to link to other models and integrate newly developed modules such as water quality. In order to identify the solution portfolios, we present a global hotspots assessment of water-related risks with the ability to zoom in at regional scale using the example of the Lake Victoria basin in E. Africa. We show how socio-economic and climate change will alter spatial patterns of the hydrological cycle and have regional impacts on water availability. At

Comparison of Visuospatial and Verbal Abilities in First Psychotic Episode of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder: Impact on Global Functioning and Quality of Life

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Rodriquez, M.; Španiel, F.; Konrádová, L.; Sedláková, K.; Dvorská, K.; Prajsová, J.; Kratochvílová, Z.; Levčík, David; Vlček, Kamil; Fajnerová, Iveta

2015-01-01

Roč. 9, Dec 18 (2015), s. 322 ISSN 1662-5153 R&D Projects: GA MZd(CZ) NT13386 Institutional support: RVO:67985823 Keywords : cognitive deficit * first psychotic episode * schizophrenia spectrum disorder * global functioning * quality of life * visuospatial functions * verbal functions * antipsychotic medication Subject RIV: FH - Neurology Impact factor: 3.392, year: 2015

On The Solution Of N-Person Cooperative Games | Chigbu | Global ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Global Journal of Mathematical Sciences. Journal Home · ABOUT THIS JOURNAL · Advanced Search · Current Issue · Archives · Journal Home > Vol 7, No 1 (2008) >. Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. Username, Password, Remember me, or Register · Download this PDF file. The PDF file you selected ...

Strategi Pemasaran Global di Pasar Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Freddy Simbolon

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Globalization is a new challenge for companies in the implementation of marketing strategy. Due to globalization, companies are required to compete with world class companies that have large capital and higher quality products. Indonesia currently becomes the market target for global companies to enjoy huge profits, while the Indonesian companies lost the competition. This study aims to obtain global marketing strategy for Indonesian companies in Indonesian market. Research method used is descriptive analisys. Merger between adaptation of marketing strategies and standard marketing strategy is appropriate strategy in Indonesian market.

Global representations of the Heat and Schrodinger equation with singular potential

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose A. Franco

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The n-dimensional Schrodinger equation with a singular potential $V_lambda(x=lambda |x|^{-2}$ is studied. Its solution space is studied as a global representation of $widetilde{SL(2,mathbb{R}}imes O(n$. A special subspace of solutions for which the action globalizes is constructed via nonstandard induction outside the semisimple category. The space of K-finite vectors is calculated, obtaining conditions for $lambda$ so that this space is non-empty. The direct sum of solution spaces over such admissible values of $lambda$ is studied as a representation of the (2n+1-dimensional Heisenberg group.

Aqueduct: a methodology to measure and communicate global water risks

Science.gov (United States)

Gassert, Francis; Reig, Paul

2013-04-01

The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas (Aqueduct) is a publicly available, global database and interactive tool that maps indicators of water related risks for decision makers worldwide. Aqueduct makes use of the latest geo-statistical modeling techniques to compute a composite index and translate the most recently available hydrological data into practical information on water related risks for companies, investors, and governments alike. Twelve global indicators are grouped into a Water Risk Framework designed in response to the growing concerns from private sector actors around water scarcity, water quality, climate change, and increasing demand for freshwater. The Aqueduct framework organizes indicators into three categories of risk that bring together multiple dimensions of water related risk into comprehensive aggregated scores and includes indicators of water stress, variability in supply, storage, flood, drought, groundwater, water quality and social conflict, addressing both spatial and temporal variation in water hazards. Indicators are selected based on relevance to water users, availability and robustness of global data sources, and expert consultation, and are collected from existing datasets or derived from a Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) based integrated water balance model. Indicators are normalized using a threshold approach, and composite scores are computed using a linear aggregation scheme that allows for dynamic weighting to capture users' unique exposure to water hazards. By providing consistent scores across the globe, the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas enables rapid comparison across diverse aspects of water risk. Companies can use this information to prioritize actions, investors to leverage financial interest to improve water management, and governments to engage with the private sector to seek solutions for more equitable and sustainable water governance. The Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas enables practical applications of scientific data

Influence of electro-activated solutions of weak organic acid salts on microbial quality and overall appearance of blueberries during storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Liato, Viacheslav; Hammami, Riadh; Aïder, Mohammed

2017-06-01

The aim of this work was to study the potential of diluted electro-activated solutions of weak organic acid salts (potassium acetate, potassium citrate and calcium lactate) to extend the shelf life of blueberries during post-harvest storage. The sanitizing capacity of these solutions was studied against pathogenic bacteria Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 as well as phytopathogenic fungi A. alternata, F. oxysporum and B. cinerea. The results showed that a 5-min treatment of inoculated blueberries with electro-activated solutions resulted in a 4 log CFU/g reduction in Listeria monocytogenes for all solutions. For E. coli O157:H7, the electro-activated potassium acetate and potassium citrate solutions achieved a decrease of 3.5 log CFU/g after 5 min of berry washing. The most important fungus reduction was found when blueberries were washed with an electro-activated solution of potassium acetate and a NaOCl solution. After 5 min of blueberry washing with an electro-activated potassium acetate solution, a very high reduction effect was observed for A. alternata, F. oxysporum and B. cinerea, which showed survival levels of only 2.2 ± 0.16, 0.34 ± 0.15 and 0.21 ± 0.16 log CFU/g, respectively. Regarding the effect of the washing on the organoleptic quality of blueberries, the obtained results showed no negative effect on the product color or textural profile. Finally, this work suggests that washing with electro-activated solutions of weak organic acid salts can be used to enhance the shelf-life of blueberries during post-harvest storage. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Post-Military West: Globalization’s Impact on U.S. Strategic Culture

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

Western nation- states.14 As the economy, climate change, terrorism, and health risks are considered to be global issues with global solutions...atmosphere where foreign and domestic issues blend into global issues . Some experts argue that globalization is creating a single homogeneous or

GNAQPMS v1.1: accelerating the Global Nested Air Quality Prediction Modeling System (GNAQPMS) on Intel Xeon Phi processors

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Hui; Chen, Huansheng; Wu, Qizhong; Lin, Junmin; Chen, Xueshun; Xie, Xinwei; Wang, Rongrong; Tang, Xiao; Wang, Zifa

2017-08-01

The Global Nested Air Quality Prediction Modeling System (GNAQPMS) is the global version of the Nested Air Quality Prediction Modeling System (NAQPMS), which is a multi-scale chemical transport model used for air quality forecast and atmospheric environmental research. In this study, we present the porting and optimisation of GNAQPMS on a second-generation Intel Xeon Phi processor, codenamed Knights Landing (KNL). Compared with the first-generation Xeon Phi coprocessor (codenamed Knights Corner, KNC), KNL has many new hardware features such as a bootable processor, high-performance in-package memory and ISA compatibility with Intel Xeon processors. In particular, we describe the five optimisations we applied to the key modules of GNAQPMS, including the CBM-Z gas-phase chemistry, advection, convection and wet deposition modules. These optimisations work well on both the KNL 7250 processor and the Intel Xeon E5-2697 V4 processor. They include (1) updating the pure Message Passing Interface (MPI) parallel mode to the hybrid parallel mode with MPI and OpenMP in the emission, advection, convection and gas-phase chemistry modules; (2) fully employing the 512 bit wide vector processing units (VPUs) on the KNL platform; (3) reducing unnecessary memory access to improve cache efficiency; (4) reducing the thread local storage (TLS) in the CBM-Z gas-phase chemistry module to improve its OpenMP performance; and (5) changing the global communication from writing/reading interface files to MPI functions to improve the performance and the parallel scalability. These optimisations greatly improved the GNAQPMS performance. The same optimisations also work well for the Intel Xeon Broadwell processor, specifically E5-2697 v4. Compared with the baseline version of GNAQPMS, the optimised version was 3.51 × faster on KNL and 2.77 × faster on the CPU. Moreover, the optimised version ran at 26 % lower average power on KNL than on the CPU. With the combined performance and energy

Socio-Cultural Challenges in Global Software Engineering Education

Science.gov (United States)

Hoda, Rashina; Babar, Muhammad Ali; Shastri, Yogeshwar; Yaqoob, Humaa

2017-01-01

Global software engineering education (GSEE) is aimed at providing software engineering (SE) students with knowledge, skills, and understanding of working in globally distributed arrangements so they can be prepared for the global SE (GSE) paradigm. It is important to understand the challenges involved in GSEE for improving the quality and…