Weight gain in women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Demark-Wahnefried, W; Rimer, B K; Winer, E P

1997-05-01

This review of the literature indicates that weight gain is a common observation among women after the diagnosis of breast cancer. Gains in weight range from 0 to 50 lb and are influenced by menopausal status; nodal status; and the type, duration, and intensity of treatment. Weight gain appears to be greater among premenopausal women; among those who are node positive; and among those receiving higher dose, longer duration, and multiagent regimens. Psychosocial research suggests that weight gain has a profoundly negative impact on quality of life in patients with breast cancer. Recent findings also suggest that weight gain during therapy may increase the risk of recurrence and decrease survival. Although weight gain in patients with breast cancer is clinically well appreciated, little research has been conducted to investigate the underlying mechanisms of energy imbalance. Changes in rates of metabolism, physical activity, and dietary intake are all plausible mechanisms and call for more research. Further study will provide valuable insight into the problem of weight gain and encourage effective interventions to improve the quality and quantity of life for the woman with breast cancer. Until more is known, however, dietetics practitioners will have to monitor and work individually with patients with breast cancer and use empirical approaches to achieve the important goal of weight management.

Radio Frequency Transistors Using Aligned Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes with Current-Gain Cutoff Frequency and Maximum Oscillation Frequency Simultaneously Greater than 70 GHz.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Yu; Brady, Gerald J; Gui, Hui; Rutherglen, Chris; Arnold, Michael S; Zhou, Chongwu

2016-07-26

In this paper, we report record radio frequency (RF) performance of carbon nanotube transistors based on combined use of a self-aligned T-shape gate structure, and well-aligned, high-semiconducting-purity, high-density polyfluorene-sorted semiconducting carbon nanotubes, which were deposited using dose-controlled, floating evaporative self-assembly method. These transistors show outstanding direct current (DC) performance with on-current density of 350 μA/μm, transconductance as high as 310 μS/μm, and superior current saturation with normalized output resistance greater than 100 kΩ·μm. These transistors create a record as carbon nanotube RF transistors that demonstrate both the current-gain cutoff frequency (ft) and the maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) greater than 70 GHz. Furthermore, these transistors exhibit good linearity performance with 1 dB gain compression point (P1dB) of 14 dBm and input third-order intercept point (IIP3) of 22 dBm. Our study advances state-of-the-art of carbon nanotube RF electronics, which have the potential to be made flexible and may find broad applications for signal amplification, wireless communication, and wearable/flexible electronics.

Experimental Comparison of Gains in Achievable Information Rates from Probabilistic Shaping and Digital Backpropagation for DP-256QAM/1024QAM WDM Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Porto da Silva, Edson; Yankov, Metodi Plamenov; Da Ros, Francesco

2016-01-01

Gains in achievable information rates from probabilistic shaping and digital backpropagation are compared for WDM transmission of 5 × 10 GBd DP-256QAM/1024QAM up to 1700 km of reach. The combination of both techniques its shown to provide gains of up to ∼0.5 bits/QAM symbol...

Maximal intended velocity training induces greater gains in bench press performance than deliberately slower half-velocity training.

Science.gov (United States)

González-Badillo, Juan José; Rodríguez-Rosell, David; Sánchez-Medina, Luis; Gorostiaga, Esteban M; Pareja-Blanco, Fernando

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the effect on strength gains of two isoinertial resistance training (RT) programmes that only differed in actual concentric velocity: maximal (MaxV) vs. half-maximal (HalfV) velocity. Twenty participants were assigned to a MaxV (n = 9) or HalfV (n = 11) group and trained 3 times per week during 6 weeks using the bench press (BP). Repetition velocity was controlled using a linear velocity transducer. A complementary study (n = 10) aimed to analyse whether the acute metabolic (blood lactate and ammonia) and mechanical response (velocity loss) was different between the MaxV and HalfV protocols used. Both groups improved strength performance from pre- to post-training, but MaxV resulted in significantly greater gains than HalfV in all variables analysed: one-repetition maximum (1RM) strength (18.2 vs. 9.7%), velocity developed against all (20.8 vs. 10.0%), light (11.5 vs. 4.5%) and heavy (36.2 vs. 17.3%) loads common to pre- and post-tests. Light and heavy loads were identified with those moved faster or slower than 0.80 m · s(-1) (∼ 60% 1RM in BP). Lactate tended to be significantly higher for MaxV vs. HalfV, with no differences observed for ammonia which was within resting values. Both groups obtained the greatest improvements at the training velocities (≤ 0.80 m · s(-1)). Movement velocity can be considered a fundamental component of RT intensity, since, for a given %1RM, the velocity at which loads are lifted largely determines the resulting training effect. BP strength gains can be maximised when repetitions are performed at maximal intended velocity.

Achieving Appropriate Gestational Weight Gain: The Role of Healthcare Provider Advice.

Science.gov (United States)

Deputy, Nicholas P; Sharma, Andrea J; Kim, Shin Y; Olson, Christine K

2018-01-10

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) revised gestational weight gain recommendations in 2009. We examined associations between healthcare provider advice about gestational weight gain and inadequate or excessive weight gain, stratified by prepregnancy body mass index category. We analyzed cross-sectional data from women delivering full-term (37-42 weeks of gestation), singleton infants from four states that participated in the 2010-2011 Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (unweighted n = 7125). Women reported the weight gain range (start and end values) advised by their healthcare provider; advice was categorized as follows: starting below recommendations, starting and ending within recommendations (IOM consistent), ending above recommendations, not remembered, or not received. We examined associations between healthcare provider advice and inadequate or excessive, compared with appropriate, gestational weight gain using adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Overall, 26.3% of women reported receiving IOM-consistent healthcare provider advice; 26.0% received no advice. Compared with IOM-consistent advice, advice below recommendations was associated with higher likelihood of inadequate weight gain among underweight (aPR 2.22, CI 1.29-3.82) and normal weight women (aPR 1.57, CI 1.23-2.02); advice above recommendations was associated with higher likelihood of excessive weight gain among all but underweight women (aPR range 1.36, CI 1.08-1.72 to aPR 1.42, CI 1.19-1.71). Not remembering or not receiving advice was associated with both inadequate and excessive weight gain. Few women reported receiving IOM-consistent advice; not receiving IOM-consistent advice put women at-risk for weight gain outside recommendations. Strategies that raise awareness of IOM recommendations and address barriers to providing advice are needed.

Nova Upgrade: A proposed ICF facility to demonstrate ignition and gain, revision 1

Science.gov (United States)

1992-07-01

The present objective of the national Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) Program is to determine the scientific feasibility of compressing and heating a small mass of mixed deuterium and tritium (DT) to conditions at which fusion occurs and significant energy is released. The potential applications of ICF will be determined by the resulting fusion energy yield (amount of energy produced) and gain (ratio of energy released to energy required to heat and compress the DT fuel). Important defense and civilian applications, including weapons physics, weapons effects simulation, and ultimately the generation of electric power will become possible if yields of 100 to 1,000 MJ and gains exceeding approximately 50 can be achieved. Once ignition and propagating bum producing modest gain (2 to 10) at moderate drive energy (1 to 2 MJ) has been achieved, the extension to high gain (greater than 50) is straightforward. Therefore, the demonstration of ignition and modest gain is the final step in establishing the scientific feasibility of ICF. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) proposes the Nova Upgrade Facility to achieve this demonstration by the end of the decade. This facility would be constructed within the existing Nova building at LLNL for a total cost of approximately $400 M over the proposed FY 1995-1999 construction period. This report discusses this facility.

Do right-ventricular trabeculae gain energetic advantage from having a greater velocity of shortening?

Science.gov (United States)

Pham, Toan; Han, June-Chiew; Taberner, Andrew; Loiselle, Denis

2017-10-15

We designed a study to test whether velocity of shortening in right-ventricular tissue preparations is greater than that of the left side under conditions mimicking those encountered by the heart in vivo. Our experiments allowed us to explore whether greater velocity of shortening results in any energetic advantage. We found that velocity of shortening was higher in the rat right-ventricular trabeculae. These results at the tissue level seem paradoxical to the velocity of ventricular ejection at the organ level, and are not always in accord with shortening of unloaded cells. Despite greater velocity of shortening in right-ventricular trabeculae, they neither gained nor lost advantage with respect to both mechanical efficiency and the heat generated during shortening. Our study aimed to ascertain whether the interventricular difference of shortening velocity, reported for isolated cardiac tissues in vitro, affects interventricular mechano-energetic performance when tested under physiological conditions using a shortening protocol designed to mimic those in vivo. We isolated trabeculae from both ventricles of the rat, mounted them in a calorimeter, and performed experiments at 37°C and 5 Hz stimulus frequency to emulate conditions of the rat heart in vivo. Each trabecula was subjected to two experimental protocols: (i) isotonic work-loop contractions at a variety of afterloads, and (ii) isometric contractions at a variety of preloads. Velocity of shortening was calculated from the former protocol during the isotonic shortening phase of the contraction. Simultaneous measurements of force-length work and heat output allowed calculation of mechanical efficiency. The shortening-dependent thermal component was quantified from the difference in heat output between the two protocols. Our results show that both extent of shortening and velocity of shortening were higher in trabeculae from the right ventricle. Despite these differences, trabeculae from both ventricles

Effects of collaboration and inquiry on reasoning and achievement in biology

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Jamie Lee

The primary purpose of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of two collaborative grouping strategies and two instructional methods in terms of gains in reasoning ability and achievement in college biology. In order to do so, a quasi-experimental study was performed in which students were placed in one of four treatment conditions: heterogeneous grouping within inquiry instruction, homogeneous grouping within inquiry instruction, heterogeneous grouping within non-inquiry instruction, and homogeneous grouping within non-inquiry instruction. Students were placed in groups based on initial reasoning level. Reasoning levels and achievement gains were assessed at the end of the study. Results showed that within non-inquiry instruction, heterogeneous mean group scores were higher in both reasoning and achievement than homogeneous groups. In contrast, within inquiry instruction, homogeneous mean group scores were higher in both reasoning and achievement. Inquiry instruction, as a whole, significantly outperformed non-inquiry instruction in the development of reasoning ability. Within inquiry instruction, low-ability students had significantly greater reasoning gains when grouped homogeneously. These results support Piaget's developmental theory and contradict Vygotsky's developmental theory. These results also suggest that the success of one grouping strategy over another is highly dependent upon the nature of instruction, which may be a cause for such conflicting views on grouping strategies within the educational literature. In addition, inquiry instruction led to students having greater confidence in their reasoning ability as well as a more positive attitude toward collaboration. Instructional implications are discussed.

Theoretical investigation of the more suitable rare earth to achieve high gain in waveguide based on silica containing silicon nanograins doped with either Nd³+ or Er³+ ions.

Science.gov (United States)

Fafin, Alexandre; Cardin, Julien; Dufour, Christian; Gourbilleau, Fabrice

2014-05-19

We present a comparative study of the gain achievement in a waveguide whose active layer is constituted by a silica matrix containing silicon nanograins acting as sensitizer of either neodymium ions (Nd3+) or erbium ions (Er3+). By means of an auxiliary differential equation and finite difference time domain (ADE-FDTD) approach that we developed, we investigate the steady states regime of both rare earths ions and silicon nanograins levels populations as well as the electromagnetic field for different pumping powers ranging from 1 to 104 mW/mm2. Moreover, the achievable gain has been estimated in this pumping range. The Nd3+ doped waveguide shows a higher gross gain per unit length at 1064 nm (up to 30 dB/cm) than the one with Er3+ doped active layer at 1532 nm (up to 2 dB/cm). Taking into account the experimental background losses we demonstrate that a significant positive net gain can only be achieved with the Nd3+ doped waveguide.

Optimising the introduction of multiple childhood vaccines in Japan: A model proposing the introduction sequence achieving the highest health gains.

Science.gov (United States)

Standaert, Baudouin; Schecroun, Nadia; Ethgen, Olivier; Topachevskyi, Oleksandr; Morioka, Yoriko; Van Vlaenderen, Ilse

2017-12-01

Many countries struggle with the prioritisation of introducing new vaccines because of budget limitations and lack of focus on public health goals. A model has been developed that defines how specific health goals can be optimised through immunisation within vaccination budget constraints. Japan, as a country example, could introduce 4 new pediatric vaccines targeting influenza, rotavirus, pneumococcal disease and mumps with known burden of disease, vaccine efficacies and maximum achievable coverages. Operating under budget constraints, the Portfolio-model for the Management of Vaccines (PMV) identifies the optimal vaccine ranking and combination for achieving the maximum QALY gain over a period of 10 calendar years in children optimal sequence of vaccine introduction (mumps [1st], followed by influenza [2nd], rotavirus [3rd], and pneumococcal [4th]). With exactly the same budget but without vaccine ranking, the total QALY gain can be 20% lower. The PMV model could be a helpful tool for decision makers in those environments with limited budget where vaccines have to be selected for trying to optimise specific health goals. Copyright © 2017 GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PI and PID controller tuning rule design for processes with delay, to achieve constant gain and phase margins for all values of delay

OpenAIRE

O'Dwyer, Aidan

2001-01-01

This paper will discuss the design of PI and PID controller tuning rules to compensate processes with delay, that are modelled in a number of ways. The rules allow the achievement of constant gain and phase margins as the delay varies.

Influences of finite gain bandwidth on pulse propagation in parabolic fiber amplifiers with distributed gain profiles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Jia-Sheng; Li Pan; Chen Xiao-Dong; Feng Su-Juan; Mao Qing-He

2012-01-01

The evolutions of the pulses propagating in decreasing and increasing gain distributed fiber amplifiers with finite gain bandwidths are investigated by simulations with the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The results show that the parabolic pulse propagations in both the decreasing and the increasing gain amplifiers are restricted by the finite gain bandwidth. For a given input pulse, by choosing a small initial gain coefficient and gain variation rate, the whole gain for the pulse amplification limited by the gain bandwidth may be higher, which is helpful for the enhancement of the output linearly chirped pulse energy. Compared to the decreasing gain distributed fiber amplifier, the increasing gain distributed amplifier may be more conducive to suppress the pulse spectral broadening and increase the critical amplifier length for achieving a larger output linearly chirped pulse energy

Factors affecting pregnancy weight gain and relationships with maternal/fetal outcomes in Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nilufer Akgun

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Objectives: To determine the effects of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI and gestational weight gain on maternal and fetal complications, and to examine whether Turkish women achieve the recommended gestational weight gain. We also investigated the relationship between pregnancy weight gain and mode of delivery, with an examination of maternal anthropometry. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on a population of 986 pregnant women between November 2011 and November 2015 at Atatürk Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. Maternal age, BMI, monthly weight gain during pregnancy, infant birth weight, gender, and maternal and fetal adverse outcomes were evaluated. Results: The frequency of maternal complications was positively associated with elevated pre-pregnancy BMI (p less than 0.05, and weight gain during pregnancy was associated with parity and increased infant birth weight (p less than 0.05. However, no correlations were observed between mean pregnancy weight gain and maternal complications (p greater than 0.05. The percentage of women who gained the Institute of Medicine (IOM-recommended amount of weight was the highest in the underweight BMI group (54.1% and the lowest in the obese BMI group (24.3%. Pregnancy weight gain exceeded IOM recommendations in the overweight (56.3% and obese (52.5% groups. Conclusions: While maternal weight gain during pregnancy affects neonatal body weight, higher pre-pregnancy BMI has an adverse effect on recommended weight gain during pregnancy, with increased maternal complications.

The Grasshopper and the Ant: Motivational Responses of Low-Achieving Students to High-Stakes Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Roderick, Melissa; Engel, Mimi

2001-01-01

Examined the responses of 102 low achieving sixth and eighth graders to Chicago's highly publicized efforts to end social promotion. Students generally described increased work efforts, and students with high levels of work effort generally had greater than average learning gains and positive outcomes in terms of promotion. About one-third of…

The effect of framing incentives as either losses or gains with contingency management for smoking cessation.

Science.gov (United States)

Romanowich, Paul; Lamb, R J

2013-04-01

Cumulative prospect theory predicts that losses motivate behavior more than equal gains. Contingency management procedures effectively reduce drug use by placing incentives in direct competition with the drug taking behavior. Therefore, framing incentives as losses, rather than gains should decrease drug use to a greater extent, given equivalent incentives. We examined whether contingent vouchers described as either losses or gains differentially affected smoking abstinence rates. Over 5 consecutive days, participants could either gain $75 per day for verified abstinence or lose $75 per day (initial endowment=$375) for continuing to smoke. As a result, loss-framed participants were more likely to achieve at least one day of abstinence. There was a trend towards loss-framed participants reducing the amount smoked more than gain-framed participants. However, participants in the gain-framed group were more likely to maintain abstinence, once initiated. The results partially support cumulative prospect theory and suggest additional ways to initiate behavior change using incentives, outside of using larger magnitude incentives in contingency management procedures. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Undergraduates Achieve Learning Gains in Plant Genetics through Peer Teaching of Secondary Students

Science.gov (United States)

Chrispeels, H. E.; Klosterman, M. L.; Martin, J. B.; Lundy, S. R.; Watkins, J. M.; Gibson, C. L.

2014-01-01

This study tests the hypothesis that undergraduates who peer teach genetics will have greater understanding of genetic and molecular biology concepts as a result of their teaching experiences. Undergraduates enrolled in a non–majors biology course participated in a service-learning program in which they led middle school (MS) or high school (HS) students through a case study curriculum to discover the cause of a green tomato variant. The curriculum explored plant reproduction and genetic principles, highlighting variation in heirloom tomato fruits to reinforce the concept of the genetic basis of phenotypic variation. HS students were taught additional activities related to mole­cular biology techniques not included in the MS curriculum. We measured undergraduates’ learning outcomes using pre/postteaching content assessments and the course final exam. Undergraduates showed significant gains in understanding of topics related to the curriculum they taught, compared with other course content, on both types of assessments. Undergraduates who taught HS students scored higher on questions specific to the HS curriculum compared with undergraduates who taught MS students, despite identical lecture content, on both types of assessments. These results indicate the positive effect of service-learning peer-teaching experiences on undergraduates’ content knowledge, even for non–science major students. PMID:25452487

Opportunities for biodiversity gains under the world's largest reforestation programme

Science.gov (United States)

Hua, Fangyuan; Wang, Xiaoyang; Zheng, Xinlei; Fisher, Brendan; Wang, Lin; Zhu, Jianguo; Tang, Ya; Yu, Douglas W.; Wilcove, David S.

2016-01-01

Reforestation is a critical means of addressing the environmental and social problems of deforestation. China's Grain-for-Green Program (GFGP) is the world's largest reforestation scheme. Here we provide the first nationwide assessment of the tree composition of GFGP forests and the first combined ecological and economic study aimed at understanding GFGP's biodiversity implications. Across China, GFGP forests are overwhelmingly monocultures or compositionally simple mixed forests. Focusing on birds and bees in Sichuan Province, we find that GFGP reforestation results in modest gains (via mixed forest) and losses (via monocultures) of bird diversity, along with major losses of bee diversity. Moreover, all current modes of GFGP reforestation fall short of restoring biodiversity to levels approximating native forests. However, even within existing modes of reforestation, GFGP can achieve greater biodiversity gains by promoting mixed forests over monocultures; doing so is unlikely to entail major opportunity costs or pose unforeseen economic risks to households. PMID:27598524

Ricardian Productivity Differences and the Gains from Trade

OpenAIRE

Andrei A. Levchenko; Jing Zhang

2013-01-01

This paper evaluates the role of sectoral heterogeneity in determining the gains from trade. We first show analytically that in the presence of sectoral Ricardian comparative advantage, a one- sector sufficient statistic formula that uses total trade volumes as a share of total absorption systematically understates the true gains from trade. Greater relative sectoral productivity differences lead to larger disparities between the gains implied by the one-sector formula and the true gains. Usi...

An alternative clinical approach to achieve greater anterior than posterior maxillary expansion in cleft lip and palate patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, Dauro Douglas; Bartolomeo, Flávia Uchôa Costa; Cardinal, Lucas; Figueiredo, Daniel Santos Fonseca; Palomo, Juan Martin; Andrade, Ildeu

2014-11-01

Cleft lip and palate patients commonly present maxillary constriction, particularly in the anterior region. The aim of this case report was to describe an alternative clinical approach that used a smaller Hyrax screw unconventionally positioned to achieve greater anterior than posterior expansion in patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate. The idea presented here is to take advantage of a reduced dimension screw to position it anteriorly. When only anterior expansion was needed (patient 1), the appliance was soldered to the first premolar bands and associated to a transpalatal arch cemented to the first molars. However, when overall expansion was required (patient 2), the screw was positioned anteriorly, but soldered to the first molar bands. Intercanine, premolar, and first molar widths were measured on dental casts with a digital caliper. Pre-expansion and postexpansion radiographs and tomographies were also evaluated. A significant anterior expansion and no intermolar width increase were registered in the first patient. Although patient 2 also presented a greater anterior than posterior expansion, a noteworthy expansion occurred at the molar region. The alternative approach to expand the maxilla in cleft patients reported here caused greater anterior than posterior expansion when the Mini-Hyrax was associated to a transpalatal arch, and its reduced dimension also minimized discomfort and facilitated hygiene.

Gains and losses in nonadditive expected utility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rakesh, S.; Wakker, P.P.; Machina, M.J.; Munier, B.R.

1995-01-01

This paper provides a simple approach for deriving cumulative prospect theory. The key axiom is a cumulative dominance axiom which requires that a prospect be judged more attractive if in it greater gains are more likely and greater losses are less likely. In the presence of this cumulative

Mechanism of lumen gain with a novel rotational aspiration atherectomy system for peripheral arterial disease: examination by intravascular ultrasound.

Science.gov (United States)

Hassan, Ali H M; Ako, Junya; Waseda, Katsuhisa; Honda, Yasuhiro; Zeller, Thomas; Leon, Martin B; Fitzgerald, Peter J

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the mechanism of luminal gain with a novel atheroablation system (Pathway PV) for the treatment of peripheral artery disease using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). The atherectomy system is a rotational atherectomy device, which employs expandable rotating blades with ports that allow flushing and aspiration of the plaque material or thrombus. In this first-in-man clinical study, IVUS analysis was available in 6 patients with lower limb ischemia treated with this device. The treatment results were assessed using IVUS at pre and post atherectomy. Lumen beyond burr size (LBB) was defined as lumen gain divided by the estimated burr area determined by the burr-size. IVUS analysis was available in six patients (superficial femoral artery n=3, popliteal artery n=2, posterior tibial artery n=1). Atheroablation achieved a significant increase in lumen area (LA) (preintervention 3.9+/-0.4, postatheroablation 8.0+/-1.7 mm(2), Patherectomy device achieved significant luminal gain by debulking in the absence of vessel stretching. The LA was greater than burr-sized lumen expectancy at cross-sections along the treated segments, suggesting a complimentary role of aspiration in luminal gain in atherosclerotic peripheral artery lesions.

An output amplitude configurable wideband automatic gain control with high gain step accuracy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He Xiaofeng; Ye Tianchun; Mo Taishan; Ma Chengyan

2012-01-01

An output amplitude configurable wideband automatic gain control (AGC) with high gain step accuracy for the GNSS receiver is presented. The amplitude of an AGC is configurable in order to cooperate with baseband chips to achieve interference suppression and be compatible with different full range ADCs. And what's more, the gain-boosting technology is introduced and the circuit is improved to increase the step accuracy. A zero, which is composed by the source feedback resistance and the source capacity, is introduced to compensate for the pole. The AGC is fabricated in a 0.18 μm CMOS process. The AGC shows a 62 dB gain control range by 1 dB each step with a gain error of less than 0.2 dB. The AGC provides 3 dB bandwidth larger than 80 MHz and the overall power consumption is less than 1.8 mA, and the die area is 800 × 300 μm 2 . (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Gestational weight gain among minority adolescents predicts term birth weight.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekambaram, Maheswari; Irigoyen, Matilde; DeFreitas, Johelin; Rajbhandari, Sharina; Geaney, Jessica Lynn; Braitman, Leonard Edward

2018-03-07

In adolescents, there is limited evidence on the independent and additive effect of prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain on infant birth weight. Data also show that this effect may vary by race. We sought to examine the impact of maternal prepregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain on birth weight and risk of large for gestational age (LGA) in term newborns of minority adolescent mothers. This was a retrospective cohort study of 411 singleton live term infants born to mothers ≤ 18 years. Data were abstracted from electronic medical records. Gestational weight gain was related to infant birth weight (ρ = 0.36, P gain, gestational age and Hispanic ethnicity were independent predictors of birth weight, controlling for maternal age, BMI, parity, tobacco/drug use and preeclampsia. The probability of having an LGA infant increased with weight gain [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-1.21] but not with BMI. Mothers who gained weight in excess of 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations had a greater risk of having an LGA infant compared to those who gained within recommendations (aOR 5.7, 95% CI 1.6-19.5). Minority adolescents with greater gestational weight gain had infants with higher birth weight and greater risk of LGA; BMI was not associated with either outcome. Further studies are needed to examine the applicability of the 2009 BMI-specific IOM gestational weight gain recommendations to adolescents in minority populations.

The Impact of Higher Expectations in Math on the Perception of Achievement of High School Students with Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Przybylinski, Vincent S., Jr.

2016-01-01

There exists a dearth of research on strategies that will help students with disabilities gain greater access to standards-based mathematics and close the mathematics achievement gap between general education students and students with disabilities (Browder et al., 2012; Jitendra, 2013; van Garderen, Scheuermann, Jackson, & Hampton, 2009).…

A Preliminary Model for Spacecraft Propulsion Performance Analysis Based on Nuclear Gain and Subsystem Mass-Power Balances

Science.gov (United States)

Chakrabarti, Suman; Schmidt, George R.; Thio, Y. C.; Hurst, Chantelle M.

1999-01-01

A preliminary model for spacecraft propulsion performance analysis based on nuclear gain and subsystem mass-power balances are presented in viewgraph form. For very fast missions with straight-line trajectories, it has been shown that mission trip time is proportional to the cube root of alpha. Analysis of spacecraft power systems via a power balance and examination of gain vs. mass-power ratio has shown: 1) A minimum gain is needed to have enough power for thruster and driver operation; and 2) Increases in gain result in decreases in overall mass-power ratio, which in turn leads to greater achievable accelerations. However, subsystem mass-power ratios and efficiencies are crucial: less efficient values for these can partially offset the effect of nuclear gain. Therefore, it is of interest to monitor the progress of gain-limited subsystem technologies and it is also possible that power-limited systems with sufficiently low alpha may be competitive for such ambitious missions. Topics include Space flight requirements; Spacecraft energy gain; Control theory for performance; Mission assumptions; Round trips: Time and distance; Trip times; Vehicle acceleration; and Minimizing trip times.

The Effects of Teacher Purpose on Achievement Gains.

Science.gov (United States)

Balajthy, Ernest

2000-01-01

Addresses the issue of teacher purpose in using technology for reading and literacy instruction. Notes that computers were used mostly for motivation and self-esteem and not for raising achievement. Argues that educators need to critically think through the multiple realities they face as they consider the use of technology with disabled readers.…

Study of gain-coupled distributed feedback laser based on high order surface gain-coupled gratings

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Feng; Qin, Li; Chen, Yongyi; Jia, Peng; Chen, Chao; Cheng, LiWen; Chen, Hong; Liang, Lei; Zeng, Yugang; Zhang, Xing; Wu, Hao; Ning, Yongqiang; Wang, Lijun

2018-03-01

Single-longitudinal-mode, gain-coupled distributed feedback (DFB) lasers based on high order surface gain-coupled gratings are achieved. Periodic surface metal p-contacts with insulated grooves realize gain-coupled mechanism. To enhance gain contrast in the quantum wells without the introduction of effective index-coupled effect, groove length and depth were well designed. Our devices provided a single longitudinal mode with the maximum CW output power up to 48.8 mW/facet at 971.31 nm at 250 mA without facet coating, 3dB linewidth (39 dB). Optical bistable characteristic was observed with a threshold current difference. Experimentally, devices with different cavity lengths were contrasted on power-current and spectrum characteristics. Due to easy fabrication technique and stable performance, it provides a method of fabricating practical gain-coupled distributed feedback lasers for commercial applications.

Numerical investigation into the injection-locking phenomena of gain switched lasers for optical frequency comb generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ó Dúill, Sean P.; Anandarajah, Prince M.; Zhou, Rui; Barry, Liam P.

2015-01-01

We present detailed numerical simulations of the laser dynamics that describe optical frequency comb formation by injection-locking a gain-switched laser. The typical rate equations for semiconductor lasers including stochastic carrier recombination and spontaneous emission suffice to show the injection-locking behavior of gain switched lasers, and we show how the optical frequency comb evolves starting from the free-running state, right through the final injection-locked state. Unlike the locking of continuous wave lasers, we show that the locking range for gain switched lasers is considerably greater because injection locking can be achieved by injecting at frequencies close to one of the comb lines. The quality of the comb lines is formally assessed by calculating the frequency modulation (FM)-noise spectral density and we show that under injection-locking conditions the FM-noise spectral density of the comb lines tend to that of the maser laser

Numerical investigation into the injection-locking phenomena of gain switched lasers for optical frequency comb generation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ó Dúill, Sean P., E-mail: sean.oduill@dcu.ie; Anandarajah, Prince M.; Zhou, Rui; Barry, Liam P. [The RINCE Institute, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 (Ireland)

2015-05-25

We present detailed numerical simulations of the laser dynamics that describe optical frequency comb formation by injection-locking a gain-switched laser. The typical rate equations for semiconductor lasers including stochastic carrier recombination and spontaneous emission suffice to show the injection-locking behavior of gain switched lasers, and we show how the optical frequency comb evolves starting from the free-running state, right through the final injection-locked state. Unlike the locking of continuous wave lasers, we show that the locking range for gain switched lasers is considerably greater because injection locking can be achieved by injecting at frequencies close to one of the comb lines. The quality of the comb lines is formally assessed by calculating the frequency modulation (FM)-noise spectral density and we show that under injection-locking conditions the FM-noise spectral density of the comb lines tend to that of the maser laser.

Comparison of student achievement among two science laboratory types: traditional and virtual

Science.gov (United States)

Reese, Mary Celeste

Technology has changed almost every aspect of our daily lives. It is not surprising then that technology has made its way into the classroom. More and more educators are utilizing technological resources in creative ways with the intent to enhance learning, including using virtual laboratories in the sciences in place of the "traditional" science laboratories. This has generated much discussion as to the influence on student achievement when online learning replaces the face-to-face contact between instructor and student. The purpose of this study was to discern differences in achievement of two laboratory instruction types: virtual laboratory and a traditional laboratory. Results of this study indicate statistical significant differences in student achievement defined by averages on quiz scores in virtual labs compared with traditional face-to-face laboratories and traditional laboratories result in greater student learning gains than virtual labs. Lecture exam averages were also greater for students enrolled in the traditional laboratories compared to students enrolled in the virtual laboratories. To account for possible differences in ability among students, a potential extraneous variable, GPA and ACT scores were used as covariates.

Come On! Using intervention mapping to help healthy pregnant women achieve healthy weight gain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Astrid Merkx; Marlein Ausems; Raymond de Vries; Marianne Nieuwenhuijze

2017-01-01

Objective: Gaining too much or too little weight in pregnancy (according to Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines) negatively affects both mother and child, but many women find it difficult to manage their gestational weight gain (GWG). Here we describe the use of the intervention mapping protocol

An apparent contradiction: increasing variability to achieve greater precision?

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenblatt, Noah J; Hurt, Christopher P; Latash, Mark L; Grabiner, Mark D

2014-02-01

To understand the relationship between variability of foot placement in the frontal plane and stability of gait patterns, we explored how constraining mediolateral foot placement during walking affects the structure of kinematic variance in the lower-limb configuration space during the swing phase of gait. Ten young subjects walked under three conditions: (1) unconstrained (normal walking), (2) constrained (walking overground with visual guides for foot placement to achieve the measured unconstrained step width) and, (3) beam (walking on elevated beams spaced to achieve the measured unconstrained step width). The uncontrolled manifold analysis of the joint configuration variance was used to quantify two variance components, one that did not affect the mediolateral trajectory of the foot in the frontal plane ("good variance") and one that affected this trajectory ("bad variance"). Based on recent studies, we hypothesized that across conditions (1) the index of the synergy stabilizing the mediolateral trajectory of the foot (the normalized difference between the "good variance" and "bad variance") would systematically increase and (2) the changes in the synergy index would be associated with a disproportionate increase in the "good variance." Both hypotheses were confirmed. We conclude that an increase in the "good variance" component of the joint configuration variance may be an effective method of ensuring high stability of gait patterns during conditions requiring increased control of foot placement, particularly if a postural threat is present. Ultimately, designing interventions that encourage a larger amount of "good variance" may be a promising method of improving stability of gait patterns in populations such as older adults and neurological patients.

A High-gain and Low-scattering Waveguide Slot Antenna of Artificial Magnetic Conductor Octagonal Ring Arrangement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Liu

2016-04-01

Full Text Available A novel design of high-gain and low-scattering waveguide slot antenna is proposed in this paper. Firstly the scattering pattern of artificial magnetic conductor (AMC composite surface is estimated by array factor analysis method. The comparison between octagonal ring arrangement and chessboard arrangement proves that the former arrangement has the characteristic of diffuseness-like and expands the bandwidth of radar cross section (RCS reduction. Secondly, the metal surface of waveguide slot antenna (WSA is replaced by the octagonal ring arrangement composite surface (ORACS. The gain is improved because of spurious radiation units which are around the slot. At the same time using the phase cancellation principle, a backscatter null achieves RCS reduction in the vertical direction. Experimental results show that the novel antenna after loading with the ORACS, the gain is improved by 5dB; the bandwidth of RCS reduction (reduction greater than 10dB is 5.24-5.92 GHz.

Modeling of genetic gain for single traits from marker-assisted seedling selection in clonally propagated crops

Science.gov (United States)

Ru, Sushan; Hardner, Craig; Carter, Patrick A; Evans, Kate; Main, Dorrie; Peace, Cameron

2016-01-01

Seedling selection identifies superior seedlings as candidate cultivars based on predicted genetic potential for traits of interest. Traditionally, genetic potential is determined by phenotypic evaluation. With the availability of DNA tests for some agronomically important traits, breeders have the opportunity to include DNA information in their seedling selection operations—known as marker-assisted seedling selection. A major challenge in deploying marker-assisted seedling selection in clonally propagated crops is a lack of knowledge in genetic gain achievable from alternative strategies. Existing models based on additive effects considering seed-propagated crops are not directly relevant for seedling selection of clonally propagated crops, as clonal propagation captures all genetic effects, not just additive. This study modeled genetic gain from traditional and various marker-based seedling selection strategies on a single trait basis through analytical derivation and stochastic simulation, based on a generalized seedling selection scheme of clonally propagated crops. Various trait-test scenarios with a range of broad-sense heritability and proportion of genotypic variance explained by DNA markers were simulated for two populations with different segregation patterns. Both derived and simulated results indicated that marker-based strategies tended to achieve higher genetic gain than phenotypic seedling selection for a trait where the proportion of genotypic variance explained by marker information was greater than the broad-sense heritability. Results from this study provides guidance in optimizing genetic gain from seedling selection for single traits where DNA tests providing marker information are available. PMID:27148453

Working Together to Achieve Greater Impact: The Donors' Education Collaborative of New York City. Principles for Effective Education Grantmaking. Case in Brief Number 3

Science.gov (United States)

Grantmakers for Education, 2012

2012-01-01

Since the mid-1990s, constituency building and advocacy for better public education have grown steadily in New York City. "Working Together to Achieve Greater Impact" explores how that growth was fueled by the Donors' Education Collaborative of New York, which pools its members' financial resources and expertise to advance shared…

Solar Energy Gain and Space-Heating Energy Supply Analyses for Solid-Wall Dwelling Retrofitted with the Experimentally Achievable U-value of Novel Triple Vacuum Glazing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saim Memon

2017-06-01

Full Text Available A considerable effort is devoted to devising retrofit solutions for reducing space-heating energy in the domestic sector. Existing UK solid-wall dwellings, which have both heritage values and historic fabric, are being improved but they tend to have meagre thermal performance, partly, due to the heat-loss through glazings. This paper takes comparative analyses approach to envisage space-heating supply required in order to maintain thermal comfort temperatures and attainable solar energy gains to households with the retrofit of an experimentally achievable thermal performance of the fabricated sample of triple vacuum glazing to a UK solid-wall dwelling. 3D dynamic thermal models (timely regimes of heating, occupancy, ventilation and internal heat gains of an externally-insulated solid-wall detached dwelling with a range of existing glazing types along with triple vacuum glazings are modelled. A dramatic decrease of space-heating load and moderate increase of solar gains are resulted with the dwelling of newly achievable triple vacuum glazings (having centre-of-pane U-value of 0.33 Wm-2K-1 compared to conventional glazing types. The space-heating annual cost of single glazed dwellings was minimised to 15.31% (≈USD 90.7 with the retrofit of triple-vacuum glazings. An influence of total heat-loss through the fabric of solid-wall dwelling was analysed with steady-state calculations which indicates a fall of 10.23 % with triple vacuum glazings compared to single glazings.

Concurrent neuromechanical and functional gains following upper-extremity power training post-stroke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patten Carolynn

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Repetitive task practice is argued to drive neural plasticity following stroke. However, current evidence reveals that hemiparetic weakness impairs the capacity to perform, and practice, movements appropriately. Here we investigated how power training (i.e., high-intensity, dynamic resistance training affects recovery of upper-extremity motor function post-stroke. We hypothesized that power training, as a component of upper-extremity rehabilitation, would promote greater functional gains than functional task practice without deleterious consequences. Method Nineteen chronic hemiparetic individuals were studied using a crossover design. All participants received both functional task practice (FTP and HYBRID (combined FTP and power training in random order. Blinded evaluations performed at baseline, following each intervention block and 6-months post-intervention included: Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT-FAS, Primary Outcome, upper-extremity Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment, Ashworth Scale, and Functional Independence Measure. Neuromechanical function was evaluated using isometric and dynamic joint torques and concurrent agonist EMG. Biceps stretch reflex responses were evaluated using passive elbow stretches ranging from 60 to 180º/s and determining: EMG onset position threshold, burst duration, burst intensity and passive torque at each speed. Results Primary outcome: Improvements in WMFT-FAS were significantly greater following HYBRID vs. FTP (p = .049, regardless of treatment order. These functional improvements were retained 6-months post-intervention (p = .03. Secondary outcomes: A greater proportion of participants achieved minimally important differences (MID following HYBRID vs. FTP (p = .03. MIDs were retained 6-months post-intervention. Ashworth scores were unchanged (p > .05. Increased maximal isometric joint torque, agonist EMG and peak power were significantly greater following HYBRID vs. FTP (p p�

National Board Certified Teachers andTheir Students' Achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leslie G. Vandevoort

2004-09-01

Full Text Available Contemporary research on teaching indicates that teachers are powerful contributors to students’ academic achievement, though the set and interrelationships of characteristics that make for high-quality and effective teaching have yet to be satisfactorily determined. Nevertheless, on the basis of the extant research and a vision of exemplary teaching, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards stipulated a definition of a superior teacher. The Board did this without empirical evidence to support their claim that teachers’ who meet the standards set by the Board were superior in promoting academic achievement to those who did not meet those standards. In the 17 years since the founding of the National Board, only a few empirical studies have addressed this important issue. In this study we compare the academic performance of students in the elementary classrooms of 35 National Board Certified teachers and their non-certified peers, in 14 Arizona school districts. Board Certified teachers and their principals provide additional information about these teachers and their schools. Four years of results from the Stanford Achievement Tests in reading, mathematics and language arts, in grades three through six, were analyzed. In the 48 comparisons (four grades, four years of data, three measures of academic performance, using gain scores adjusted for students’ entering ability, the students in the classes of National Board Certified Teachers surpassed students in the classrooms of non-Board certified teachers in almost threequarters of the comparisons. Almost one-third of these differences were statistically significant. In the cases where the students of non-Board certified teachers gained more in an academic year, none of the differences found were statistically significant. Effect size, translated into grade equivalents, informs us that the gains made by students of Board Certified teachers were over one month greater than the

Interventions to reduce weight gain in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Faulkner, G; Cohn, T; Remington, G

2007-01-24

Weight gain is common for people with schizophrenia and this has serious implications for health and well being. To determine the effects of both pharmacological (excluding medication switching) and non pharmacological strategies for reducing or preventing weight gain in people with schizophrenia. We searched key databases and the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's trials register (April 2006), reference sections within relevant papers, hand searched key journals, and contacted the first author of each relevant study and other experts to collect further information. We included all clinical randomised controlled trials comparing any pharmacological or non pharmacological intervention for weight gain (diet and exercise counselling) with standard care or other treatments for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses. We reliably selected, quality assessed and extracted data from studies. As weight is a continuous outcome measurement, weighted mean differences (WMD) of the change from baseline were calculated. The primary outcome measure was weight loss. Twenty-three randomised controlled trials met the inclusion criteria for this review. Five trials assessed a cognitive/behavioural intervention and eighteen assessed a pharmacological adjunct. In terms of prevention, two cognitive/behavioural trials showed significant treatment effect (mean weight change) at end of treatment (n=104, 2 RCTs, WMD -3.38 kg CI -4.2 to -2.0). Pharmacological adjunct treatments were significant with a modest prevention of weight gain (n=274, 6 RCTs, WMD - 1.16 kg CI -1.9 to -0.4). In terms of treatments for weight loss, we found significantly greater weight reduction in the cognitive behavioural intervention group (n=129, 3 RCTs, WMD -1.69 kg CI -2.8 to -0.6) compared with standard care. Modest weight loss can be achieved with selective pharmacological and non pharmacological interventions. However, interpretation is limited by the small number of studies, small sample size

Association between maternal weight gain and birth weight

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rode, Line; Hegaard, Hanne K; Kjaergaard, Hanne

2007-01-01

To investigate the association between maternal weight gain and birth weight less than 3,000 g and greater than or equal to 4,000 g in underweight (body mass index [BMI] less than 19.8 kg/m(2)), normal weight (BMI 19.8-26.0 kg/m(2)), overweight (BMI 26.1-29.0 kg/m(2)), and obese (BMI greater than...

High gain requirements and high field Tokamak experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cohn, D.R.

1994-01-01

Operation at sufficiently high gain (ratio of fusion power to external heating power) is a fundamental requirement for tokamak power reactors. For typical reactor concepts, the gain is greater than 25. Self-heating from alpha particles in deuterium-tritium plasmas can greatly reduce ητ/temperature requirements for high gain. A range of high gain operating conditions is possible with different values of alpha-particle efficiency (fraction of alpha-particle power that actually heats the plasma) and with different ratios of self heating to external heating. At one extreme, there is ignited operation, where all of the required plasma heating is provided by alpha particles and the alpha-particle efficiency is 100%. At the other extreme, there is the case of no heating contribution from alpha particles. ητ/temperature requirements for high gain are determined as a function of alpha-particle heating efficiency. Possibilities for high gain experiments in deuterium-tritium, deuterium, and hydrogen plasmas are discussed

Low-Gain Circularly Polarized Antenna with Torus-Shaped Pattern

Science.gov (United States)

Amaro, Luis R.; Kruid, Ronald C.; Vacchione, Joseph D.; Prata, Aluizio

2012-01-01

The Juno mission to Jupiter requires an antenna with a torus-shaped antenna pattern with approximately 6 dBic gain and circular polarization over the Deep Space Network (DSN) 7-GHz transmit frequency and the 8-GHz receive frequency. Given the large distances that accumulate en-route to Jupiter and the limited power afforded by the solar-powered vehicle, this toroidal low-gain antenna requires as much gain as possible while maintaining a beam width that could facilitate a +/-10deg edge of coverage. The natural antenna that produces a toroidal antenna pattern is the dipole, but the limited approx. = 2.2 dB peak gain would be insufficient. Here a shaped variation of the standard bicone antenna is proposed that could achieve the required gains and bandwidths while maintaining a size that was not excessive. The final geometry that was settled on consisted of a corrugated, shaped bicone, which is fed by a WR112 waveguide-to-coaxial- waveguide transition. This toroidal low-gain antenna (TLGA) geometry produced the requisite gain, moderate sidelobes, and the torus-shaped antenna pattern while maintaining a very good match over the entire required frequency range. Its "horn" geometry is also low-loss and capable of handling higher powers with large margins against multipactor breakdown. The final requirement for the antenna was to link with the DSN with circular polarization. A four-layer meander-line array polarizer was implemented; an approach that was fairly well suited to the TLGA geometry. The principal development of this work was to adapt the standard linear bicone such that its aperture could be increased in order to increase the available gain of the antenna. As one increases the aperture of a standard bicone, the phase variation across the aperture begins to increase, so the larger the aperture becomes, the greater the phase variation. In order to maximize the gain from any aperture antenna, the phase should be kept as uniform as possible. Thus, as the standard

Characteristics of Patients With Satisfactory Functional Gain Following Total Joint Arthroplasty in a Postacute Rehabilitation Setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Hershkovitz, Avital; Vesilkov, Marina; Beloosesky, Yichayaou; Brill, Shai

2017-01-10

Total joint arthroplasty (TJA) is an effective and successful treatment of osteoarthritis of the hip and knee as quantified by several measures, such as pain relief, improved walking, improved self-care, functions, and increased quality of life. Data are lacking as to the definition of a satisfactory functional gain in a postacute setting and identifying the characteristics of older patients with TJA who may achieve that gain. Our aim was to characterize patients who may achieve a satisfactory functional gain in a postacute rehabilitation setting following TJA. This was a retrospective study of 180 patients with TJA admitted during 2010-2013. The main outcome measures were the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), the Montebello Rehabilitation Factor Score (MRFS) on the motor FIM, and the Timed Get Up and Go Test. Satisfactory functional gain was defined as an mFIM MRFS score above median score. Comparisons of clinical and demographic characteristics between patients who achieved a satisfactory functional gain versus those who did not were performed by the Mann-Whitney U test and the χ test. The proportion of patients who achieved a satisfactory functional gain was similar in the total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty (THA) groups. The most significant characteristic of patients who achieved a satisfactory functional gain was their admission functional ability. Age negatively impacted the ability to achieve a satisfactory functional gain in patients with THA. Functional level on admission is the best predictive factor for a better rehabilitation outcome for patients with TJA. Age negatively affects functional gain in patients with THA.

Adjustment of Business Expatriates in Greater China: A Strategic Perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Selmer, Jan

2006-01-01

Research has found that due to similarities, firms which have gained business experience elsewhere in Greater China may exhibit relatively better performance in mainland China. Hence, the experience of business expatriates could be of strategic importance for the expansion path of their firms...

Weight suppression predicts total weight gain and rate of weight gain in outpatients with anorexia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Frances A; Boden, Joseph M; Jordan, Jennifer; McIntosh, Virginia V W; Bulik, Cynthia M; Joyce, Peter R

2015-11-01

The present study sought to replicate the finding of Wildes and Marcus, Behav Res Ther, 50, 266-274, 2012 that higher levels of weight suppression at pretreatment predict greater total weight gain, faster rate of weight gain, and bulimic symptoms amongst patients admitted with anorexia nervosa. Participants were 56 women with anorexia nervosa diagnosed by using strict or lenient weight criteria, who were participating in a randomized controlled psychotherapy trial (McIntosh et al., Am J Psychiatry, 162, 741-747, 2005). Thirty-five women completed outpatient treatment and post-treatment assessment. Weight suppression was the discrepancy between highest lifetime weight at adult height and weight at pretreatment assessment. Outcome variables were total weight gain, rate of weight gain, and bulimic symptoms in the month prior to post-treatment assessment [assessed using the Eating Disorders Examination (Fairburn et al., Binge-Eating: Nature, Assessment and Treatment. New York: Guilford, 1993)]. Weight suppression was positively associated with total weight gain and rate of weight gain over treatment. Regression models showed that this association could not be explained by covariates (age at onset of anorexia nervosa and treatment modality). Weight suppression was not significantly associated with bulimic symptoms in the month prior to post-treatment assessment, regardless of whether bulimic symptoms were examined as continuous or dichotomous variables. The present study reinforces the previous finding that weight suppression predicts total weight gain and rate of weight gain amongst patients being treated for anorexia nervosa. Methodological issues may explain the failure of the present study to find that weight suppression predicts bulimic symptoms. Weight suppression at pretreatment for anorexia nervosa should be assessed routinely and may inform treatment planning. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Selection on Optimal Haploid Value Increases Genetic Gain and Preserves More Genetic Diversity Relative to Genomic Selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Daetwyler, Hans D; Hayden, Matthew J; Spangenberg, German C; Hayes, Ben J

2015-08-01

Doubled haploids are routinely created and phenotypically selected in plant breeding programs to accelerate the breeding cycle. Genomic selection, which makes use of both phenotypes and genotypes, has been shown to further improve genetic gain through prediction of performance before or without phenotypic characterization of novel germplasm. Additional opportunities exist to combine genomic prediction methods with the creation of doubled haploids. Here we propose an extension to genomic selection, optimal haploid value (OHV) selection, which predicts the best doubled haploid that can be produced from a segregating plant. This method focuses selection on the haplotype and optimizes the breeding program toward its end goal of generating an elite fixed line. We rigorously tested OHV selection breeding programs, using computer simulation, and show that it results in up to 0.6 standard deviations more genetic gain than genomic selection. At the same time, OHV selection preserved a substantially greater amount of genetic diversity in the population than genomic selection, which is important to achieve long-term genetic gain in breeding populations. Copyright © 2015 by the Genetics Society of America.

Interventions to reduce weight gain in schizophrenia

Science.gov (United States)

Faulkner, Guy; Cohn, Tony; Remington, Gary

2014-01-01

Background Weight gain is common for people with schizophrenia and this has serious implications for health and well being. Objectives To determine the effects of both pharmacological (excluding medication switching) and non pharmacological strategies for reducing or preventing weight gain in people with schizophrenia. Search methods We searched key databases and the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group’s trials register (April 2006), reference sections within relevant papers, hand searched key journals, and contacted the first author of each relevant study and other experts to collect further information. Selection criteria We included all clinical randomised controlled trials comparing any pharmacological or non pharmacological intervention for weight gain (diet and exercise counselling) with standard care or other treatments for people with schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like illnesses. Data collection and analysis We reliably selected, quality assessed and extracted data from studies. As weight is a continuous outcome measurement, weighted mean differences (WMD) of the change from baseline were calculated. The primary outcome measure was weight loss. Main results Twenty-three randomised controlled trials met the inclusion criteria for this review. Five trials assessed a cognitive/behavioural intervention and eighteen assessed a pharmacological adjunct. In terms of prevention, two cognitive/behavioural trials showed significant treatment effect (mean weight change) at end of treatment (n=104, 2 RCTs, WMD −3.38 kg CI −4.2 to −2.0). Pharmacological adjunct treatments were significant with a modest prevention of weight gain (n=274, 6 RCTs, WMD − 1.16 kg CI −1.9 to −0.4). In terms of treatments for weight loss, we found significantly greater weight reduction in the cognitive behavioural intervention group (n=129, 3 RCTs, WMD −1.69 kg CI −2.8 to −0.6) compared with standard care. Authors’ conclusions Modest weight loss can be achieved with selective

Association of Gestational Weight Gain With Maternal and Infant Outcomes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Goldstein, Rebecca F; Abell, Sally K; Ranasinha, Sanjeeva

2017-01-01

-11 kg for overweight women [BMI 25-29.9]; and 5-9 kg for obese women [BMI ≥30]) and maternal and infant outcomes. Data Sources and Study Selection: Search of EMBASE, Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews, MEDLINE, and MEDLINE In-Process between January 1, 1999, and February 7, 2017, for observational studies...... gestational weight gain less than IOM recommendations. Gestational weight gain greater than or less than guideline recommendations, compared with weight gain within recommended levels, was associated with higher risk of adverse maternal and infant outcomes....

Stability in high gain plasmas in DIII-D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lazarus, E.A.; Houlberg, W.A.; Murakami, M.; Wade, M.R.

1996-10-01

Fusion power gain has been increased by a factor of 3 in DIII-D plasmas through the use of strong discharge shaping and tailoring of the pressure and current density profiles. H-mode plasmas with weak or negative central magnetic shear are found to have neoclassical ion confinement throughout most of the plasma volume. Improved MHD stability is achieved by controlling the plasma pressure profile width. The highest fusion power gain Q (ratio of fusion power to input power) in deuterium plasmas was 0.0015, which extrapolates to an equivalent Q of 0.32 in a deuterium-tritium plasma and is similar to values achieved in tokamaks of larger size and magnetic fields

Greater gains from smoke-free legislation for non-smoking bar staff in Belfast.

Science.gov (United States)

Bannon, Finian; Devlin, Anne; McElwee, Gerry; Gavin, Anna

2009-12-01

In April 2007, smoke-free legislation was enacted in workplaces throughout N. Ireland. The effects of this legislation on bar workers' health and their exposure to second-hand smoke at home, work and social environment, and their attitudes to the legislation before and after its implementation remain to be documented. A self-completed questionnaire of bar staff in 35 Belfast bars, before (March 2007, n = 110) and after the legislation (July 2007, n = 110). Smokers (excluding 'social smokers') made up 41.6% of respondents. After the introduction of the smoke-free legislation, the reductions in the proportion of bar workers reporting various respiratory symptoms ranged from 1.3% to 18.6% for smokers and from 21.9% to 33.2% for non-smokers. Likewise, the reductions for various sensory symptoms ranged from 7.3% to 17.7% for smokers and from 29.6% to 46.8% for non-smokers. Reduction in wheeze, cough and throat symptoms after the legislation were much greater for non-smokers than smokers. The proportion of bar staff who reported satisfaction with the legislation remained unchanged across the surveys. Decreases in perceived exposure to second-hand smoke occurred at work, home and in social settings. After the legislation's enactment, a majority of bar workers felt the workplace was healthier (98%). These first findings show reduced reported symptoms among bar workers, both smokers and non-smokers, after the introduction of smoke-free legislation in N. Ireland, though greater among non-smokers. There was also a reported fall in the hours of second-hand smoke exposure in the home for this group of workers which has a high prevalence of smokers.

The contribution of fat component to gestational weight gain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: to estimate the role of adipose tissue in gestational weight gain (GWG and preferential fat deposition among normal-weight women. Subjects and methods: prospective cohort study of 84 pregnancies: maternal body mass index 18,5–24,9 kg/m2, singleton term pregnancy, nondiabetic women, somatically well. GWG and skinfold thickness were evaluated in the 1st, 2nd, 3d trimesters, on the 3d day after delivery. Results: fat mass gain in low GWG was similar to recommended GWG and in the high-GWG group was greater one. Women with recommended and low GWG returned to their initial fat level on the 3d day after delivery, in excessive weight gain fat significantly increased (р=0,025. Compared to initial recommended GWG resulted in triceps skinfold thicknesses loss (р=0,001, in abdominal skinfold gained nothing and in thighs skinfold thicknesses increasing (р=0,021. Inadequate GWG leads to fat loss in arms (р=0,017, fat of abdominal area and thighs return to initial level. In excessive GWG fat in the upper trunk and arms not changed, in the lower area (thighs significantly increased compared to initial level (р=0,001 or other groups (р=0,001. Conclusion: excessive GWG was associated with greater adipose tissue cumulation and its deposition preferentially over the thighs. Inadequate GWG was clearly linked to low fat-free mass gain.

Gain control network conditions in early sensory coding.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eduardo Serrano

Full Text Available Gain control is essential for the proper function of any sensory system. However, the precise mechanisms for achieving effective gain control in the brain are unknown. Based on our understanding of the existence and strength of connections in the insect olfactory system, we analyze the conditions that lead to controlled gain in a randomly connected network of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. We consider two scenarios for the variation of input into the system. In the first case, the intensity of the sensory input controls the input currents to a fixed proportion of neurons of the excitatory and inhibitory populations. In the second case, increasing intensity of the sensory stimulus will both, recruit an increasing number of neurons that receive input and change the input current that they receive. Using a mean field approximation for the network activity we derive relationships between the parameters of the network that ensure that the overall level of activity of the excitatory population remains unchanged for increasing intensity of the external stimulation. We find that, first, the main parameters that regulate network gain are the probabilities of connections from the inhibitory population to the excitatory population and of the connections within the inhibitory population. Second, we show that strict gain control is not achievable in a random network in the second case, when the input recruits an increasing number of neurons. Finally, we confirm that the gain control conditions derived from the mean field approximation are valid in simulations of firing rate models and Hodgkin-Huxley conductance based models.

Special education and later academic achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehrhardt, Jennifer; Huntington, Noelle; Molino, Janine; Barbaresi, William

2013-02-01

To determine whether grade at entry to special education is associated with improved reading achievement in children with reading disorders (RD) and whether the effect of grade at entry to special education differs by socioeconomic status (SES). The authors conducted a secondary data analysis using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), a nationally representative cohort of children followed longitudinally from kindergarten through eighth grade (1998-2007). Using data from the fifth grade wave of ECLS-K, the authors identified children with RD (n = 290). The outcome of interest was change in score on the reading achievement test, which was developed by ECLS-K staff, between first and fifth grade. Using multiple linear regression, the authors modeled outcome as a function of a child's grade at entry to special education, controlling for several covariates. Early entry to special education (by first grade vs second or third grade) was associated with larger gains in reading achievement between first and fifth grade (p special education by first grade versus second grade gained 4.5 more points on the reading achievement test (p special education by first grade versus third grade gained 1.7 more points on the reading achievement test (p special education between children from families of low and higher SES. For children with RD, early entry to special education is associated with improved reading achievement during elementary school.

Genetic parameters and estimated genetic gains in young rubber tree progenies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cecília Khusala Verardi

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to assess the genetic parameters and to estimate genetic gains in young rubber tree progenies. The experiments were carried out during three years, in a randomized block design, with six replicates and ten plants per plot, in three representative Hevea crop regions of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Twenty-two progenies were evaluated, from three to five years old, for rubber yield and annual girth growth. Genetic gain was estimated with the multi-effect index (MEI. Selection by progenies means provided greater estimated genetic gain than selection based on individuals, since heritability values of progeny means were greater than the ones of individual heritability, for both evaluated variables, in all the assessment years. The selection of the three best progenies for rubber yield provided a selection gain of 1.28 g per plant. The genetic gains estimated with MEI using data from early assessments (from 3 to 5-year-old were generally high for annual girth growth and rubber yield. The high genetic gains for annual girth growth in the first year of assessment indicate that progenies can be selected at the beginning of the breeding program. Population effective size was consistent with the three progenies selected, showing that they were not related and that the population genetic variability is ensured. Early selection with the genetic gains estimated by MEI can be made on rubber tree progenies.

The Greater Sekhukhune-CAPABILITY outreach project.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregersen, Nerine; Lampret, Julie; Lane, Tony; Christianson, Arnold

2013-07-01

The Greater Sekhukhune-CAPABILITY Outreach Project was undertaken in a rural district in Limpopo, South Africa, as part of the European Union-funded CAPABILITY programme to investigate approaches for capacity building for the translation of genetic knowledge into care and prevention of congenital disorders. Based on previous experience of a clinical genetic outreach programme in Limpopo, it aimed to initiate a district clinical genetic service in Greater Sekhukhune to gain knowledge and experience to assist in the implementation and development of medical genetic services in South Africa. Implementing the service in Greater Sekhukhune was impeded by a developing staff shortage in the province and pressure on the health service from the existing HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics. This situation underscores the need for health needs assessment for developing services for the care and prevention of congenital disorders in middle- and low-income countries. However, these impediments stimulated the pioneering of innovate ways to offer medical genetic services in these circumstances, including tele-teaching of nurses and doctors, using cellular phones to enhance clinical care and adapting and assessing the clinical utility of a laboratory test, QF-PCR, for use in the local circumstances.

Coherence and interlimb force control: Effects of visual gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Nyeonju; Cauraugh, James H

2018-03-06

Neural coupling across hemispheres and homologous muscles often appears during bimanual motor control. Force coupling in a specific frequency domain may indicate specific bimanual force coordination patterns. This study investigated coherence on pairs of bimanual isometric index finger force while manipulating visual gain and task asymmetry conditions. We used two visual gain conditions (low and high gain = 8 and 512 pixels/N), and created task asymmetry by manipulating coefficient ratios imposed on the left and right index finger forces (0.4:1.6; 1:1; 1.6:0.4, respectively). Unequal coefficient ratios required different contributions from each hand to the bimanual force task resulting in force asymmetry. Fourteen healthy young adults performed bimanual isometric force control at 20% of their maximal level of the summed force of both fingers. We quantified peak coherence and relative phase angle between hands at 0-4, 4-8, and 8-12 Hz, and estimated a signal-to-noise ratio of bimanual forces. The findings revealed higher peak coherence and relative phase angle at 0-4 Hz than at 4-8 and 8-12 Hz for both visual gain conditions. Further, peak coherence and relative phase angle values at 0-4 Hz were larger at the high gain than at the low gain. At the high gain, higher peak coherence at 0-4 Hz collapsed across task asymmetry conditions significantly predicted greater signal-to-noise ratio. These findings indicate that a greater level of visual information facilitates bimanual force coupling at a specific frequency range related to sensorimotor processing. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM) position statement: SBM supports curbing summertime weight gain among America's youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Bohnert, Amy; Zarrett, Nicole; Beets, Michael W; Hall, Georgia; Buscemi, Joanna; Heard, Amy; Pate, Russell

2017-12-01

The Society of Behavioral Medicine recommends adoption of policies at the district, state, and federal levels that minimize weight gain among youth over the summertime, particularly among low-income, minority school-age youth who appear to be at greater risk. Policies that facilitate (1) partnerships between school districts and community organizations to provide affordable summertime programming, (2) strategic efforts by schools and communities to encourage families to enroll and attend summertime programming via the creation of community-wide summertime offerings offices, (3) adoption of joint-use/shared use agreements in communities to promote use of indoor and outdoor school facilities to provide affordable programming during the summer months, and (4) implementation of strategies that help summer programs achieve the Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (HEPA) standards which have been endorsed by the Healthy Out-of-School Time (HOST) coalition. Research is needed to elucidate key mechanisms by which involvement in structured programming may reduce weight gain over the summer months.

Hospitals with greater diversities of physiologically complex procedures do not achieve greater surgical growth in a market with stable numbers of such procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

Dexter, Franklin; Epstein, Richard H; Lubarsky, David A

2018-05-01

Although having a large diversity of types of procedures has a substantial operational impact on the surgical suites of hospitals, the strategic importance is unknown. In the current study, we used longitudinal data for all hospitals and patient ages in the State of Florida to evaluate whether hospitals with greater diversity of types of physiologically complex major therapeutic procedures (PCMTP) also had greater rates of surgical growth. Observational cohort study. 1479 combinations of hospitals in the State of Florida and fiscal years, 2008-2015. The types of International Classification of Diseases, Ninth revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) procedures studied were PCMT, defined as: a) major therapeutic procedure; b) >7 American Society of Anesthesiologists base units; and c) performed during a hospitalization with a Diagnosis Related Group with a mean length of stay ≥4.0days. The number of procedures of each type of PCMTP commonly performed at each hospital was calculated by taking 1/Herfindahl index (i.e., sum of the squares of the proportions of all procedures of each type of PCMTP). Over the 8 successive years studied, there was no change in the number of PCMTP being performed (Kendall's τ b =-0.014±0.017 [standard error], P=0.44; N=1479 hospital×years). Busier and larger hospitals commonly performed more types of PCMTP, respectively categorized based on performed PCMTP (τ=0.606±0.017, P<0.0001) or hospital beds (τ=0.524±0.017, P<0.0001). There was no association between greater diversity of types of PCMTP commonly performed and greater annual growth in numbers of PCMTP (τ=0.002±0.019, P=0.91; N=1295 hospital×years). Conclusions were the same with multiple sensitivity analyses. Post hoc, it was recognized that hospitals performing a greater diversity of PCMTP were more similar to the aggregate of other hospitals within the same health district (τ=0.550±0.017, P<0.0001). During a period with no overall growth in PCMTP, hospitals with

Association between maternal weight gain and birth weight

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rode, Line; Hegaard, Hanne K; Kjaergaard, Hanne

2007-01-01

To investigate the association between maternal weight gain and birth weight less than 3,000 g and greater than or equal to 4,000 g in underweight (body mass index [BMI] less than 19.8 kg/m(2)), normal weight (BMI 19.8-26.0 kg/m(2)), overweight (BMI 26.1-29.0 kg/m(2)), and obese (BMI greater than...... 29.0 kg/m(2)) women, with emphasis on the use of the American Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommendations in Denmark....

Entrepreneur achievement. Liaoning province.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, R

1994-03-01

This paper reports the successful entrepreneurial endeavors of members of a 20-person women's group in Liaoning Province, China. Jing Yuhong, a member of the Family Planning Association at Shileizi Village, Dalian City, provided the basis for their achievements by first building an entertainment/study room in her home to encourage married women to learn family planning. Once stocked with books, magazines, pamphlets, and other materials on family planning and agricultural technology, dozens of married women in the neighborhood flocked voluntarily to the room. Yuhong also set out to give these women a way to earn their own income as a means of helping then gain greater equality with their husbands and exert greater control over their personal reproductive and social lives. She gave a section of her farming land to the women's group, loaned approximately US$5200 to group members to help them generate income from small business initiatives, built a livestock shed in her garden for the group to raise marmots, and erected an awning behind her house under which mushrooms could be grown. The investment yielded $12,000 in the first year, allowing each woman to keep more than $520 in dividends. Members then soon began going to fairs in the capital and other places to learn about the outside world, and have successfully ventured out on their own to generate individual incomes. Ten out of twenty women engaged in these income-generating activities asked for and got the one-child certificate.

Design and analysis of high gain and low noise figure CMOS low noise amplifier for Q-band nano-sensor application

Science.gov (United States)

Suganthi, K.; Malarvizhi, S.

2018-03-01

A high gain, low power, low Noise figure (NF) and wide band of milli-meter Wave (mmW) circuits design at 50 GHz are used for Radio Frequency (RF) front end. The fundamental necessity of a receiver front-end includes perfect output and input impedance matching and port-to-port isolation with high gain and low noise over the entire band of interest. In this paper, a design of Cascade-Cascode CMOS LNA circuit at 50 GHz for Q-band application is proposed. The design of Low noise amplifier at 50 GHz using Agilent ADS tool with microstrip lines which provides simplicity in fabrication and less chip area. The low off-leakage current Ioff can be maintained with high K-dielectrics CMOS structure. Nano-scale electronics can be achieved with increased robustness. The design has overall gain of 11.091 dB and noise figure of 2.673 dB for the Q-band of 48.3 GHz to 51.3 GHz. Impedance matching is done by T matching network and the obtained input and output reflection coefficients are S11 = <-10 dB and S22 = <-10 dB. Compared to Silicon (Si) material, Wide Band Gap semiconductor materials used attains higher junction temperatures which is well matched to ceramics used in packaging technology, the protection and reliability also can be achieved with the electronic packaging. The reverse transmission coefficient S21 is less than -21 dB has shown that LNA has better isolation between input and output, Stability factor greater than 1 and Power is also optimized in this design. Layout is designed, power gain of 4.6 dB is achieved and area is optimized which is nearly equal to 502 740 μm2. The observed results show that the proposed Cascade-Cascode LNA design can find its suitability in future milli-meter Wave Radar application.

Gain optimization method of a DQW superluminescent diode with broad multi-state emission

KAUST Repository

Dimas, Clara E.

2010-01-01

Optimizing gain through systematic methods of varying current injection schemes analytically is significant to maximize experimentally device yield and evaluation. Various techniques are used to calculate the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) gain for light emitting devices consisting of single-section and multiple-sections of even length. Recently double quantum well (DQW) superluminescent diodes (SLD) have shown a broad multi-state emission due to mutlielectrodes of non-equal lengths and at high non-equal current densities. In this study, we adopt an improved method utilizing an ASE intensity ratio to calibrate a gain curve based on the sum of the measured ASE spectra to efficiently estimate the gain. Although the laser gain for GaAs/AlGaAs material is well studied, the ASE gain of SLD devices has not been systematically studied particular to further explain the multiple-state emission observed in fabricated devices. In addition a unique gain estimate was achieved where the excited state gain clamps prior to the ground state due to approaching saturation levels. In our results, high current densities in long sectioned active regions achieved sufficient un-truncated gain that show evidence of excited state emission has been observed.

GAIN Technology Workshops Summary Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Braase, Lori Ann [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2016-08-01

National and global demand for nuclear energy is increasing and United States (U.S.) global leadership is eroding. There is a sense of urgency with respect to the deployment of the innovative nuclear energy technologies. The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative is based on the simultaneous achievement of three strategic goals. The first is maintaining global technology leadership within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The second is enabling global industrial leadership for nuclear vendors and suppliers. The third is focused on utility optimization of nuclear energy within the clean energy portfolio. An effective public-private partnership is required to achieve these goals. DOEs recognizes the recent sense of urgency new developers and investors have in getting their concepts to market. They know that time to market for nuclear technology takes too long and the facilities needed to conduct the necessary research, development and demonstration (RD&D) activities are very expensive to develop and maintain. Early technologies, in the lower technology readiness levels (TRL) need materials testing, analysis, modeling, code development, etc., most of which currently exists in the DOE national laboratory system. However, mature technologies typically need large component testing and demonstration facilities, which are expensive and long-lead efforts. By understanding the needs of advanced nuclear technology developers, GAIN will connect DOE national laboratory capabilities (e.g., facilities, expertise, materials, and data) with industry RD&D needs. In addition, GAIN is working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to streamline processes and increase understanding of the licensing requirements for advanced reactors.

GAIN Technology Workshops Summary Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braase, Lori Ann

2016-01-01

National and global demand for nuclear energy is increasing and United States (U.S.) global leadership is eroding. There is a sense of urgency with respect to the deployment of the innovative nuclear energy technologies. The Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative is based on the simultaneous achievement of three strategic goals. The first is maintaining global technology leadership within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The second is enabling global industrial leadership for nuclear vendors and suppliers. The third is focused on utility optimization of nuclear energy within the clean energy portfolio. An effective public-private partnership is required to achieve these goals. DOEs recognizes the recent sense of urgency new developers and investors have in getting their concepts to market. They know that time to market for nuclear technology takes too long and the facilities needed to conduct the necessary research, development and demonstration (RD&D) activities are very expensive to develop and maintain. Early technologies, in the lower technology readiness levels (TRL) need materials testing, analysis, modeling, code development, etc., most of which currently exists in the DOE national laboratory system. However, mature technologies typically need large component testing and demonstration facilities, which are expensive and long-lead efforts. By understanding the needs of advanced nuclear technology developers, GAIN will connect DOE national laboratory capabilities (e.g., facilities, expertise, materials, and data) with industry RD&D needs. In addition, GAIN is working with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to streamline processes and increase understanding of the licensing requirements for advanced reactors.

The contracting round: achieving health gain or financial balance?

Science.gov (United States)

McCarthy, M

1998-12-01

In the 1991 National Health Service reforms, health authorities became responsible for the health of their resident population, and they contract for health services from NHS providers - trusts and primary care services. A case study in Camden and Islington, an inner London health district, during 1996-1997 shows that contracting was directed more towards achieving financial balance than health objectives. Reasons include the inflationary effect of competition within an internal market, the power of administrators in decision-making within the health authority, and lack of adequate financial accounting in the NHS to relate costs to health outcomes. The introduction of programme budgets for districts would provide more cost-effective use of the nation's resources.

Optomechanical transistor with mechanical gain

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, X. Z.; Tian, Lin; Li, Yong

2018-04-01

We study an optomechanical transistor, where an input field can be transferred and amplified unidirectionally in a cyclic three-mode optomechanical system. In this system, the mechanical resonator is coupled simultaneously to two cavity modes. We show that it only requires a finite mechanical gain to achieve the nonreciprocal amplification. Here the nonreciprocity is caused by the phase difference between the linearized optomechanical couplings that breaks the time-reversal symmetry of this system. The amplification arises from the mechanical gain, which provides an effective phonon bath that pumps the mechanical mode coherently. This effect is analogous to the stimulated emission of atoms, where the probe field can be amplified when its frequency is in resonance with that of the anti-Stokes transition. We show that by choosing optimal parameters, this optomechanical transistor can reach perfect unidirectionality accompanied with strong amplification. In addition, the presence of the mechanical gain can result in ultralong delay in the phase of the probe field, which provides an alternative to controlling light transport in optomechanical systems.

The neural basis of academic achievement motivation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mizuno, Kei; Tanaka, Masaaki; Ishii, Akira; Tanabe, Hiroki C; Onoe, Hirotaka; Sadato, Norihiro; Watanabe, Yasuyoshi

2008-08-01

We have used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the neural correlates of motivation, concentrating on the motivation to learn and gain monetary rewards. We compared the activation in the brain obtained during reported high states of motivation for learning, with the ones observed when the motivation was based on monetary reward. Our results show that motivation to learn correlates with bilateral activity in the putamen, and that the higher the reported motivation, as derived from a questionnaire that each subject filled prior to scanning, the greater the change in the BOLD signals within the putamen. Monetary motivation also activated the putamen bilaterally, though the intensity of activity was not related to the monetary reward. We conclude that the putamen is critical for motivation in different domains and the extent of activity of the putamen may be pivotal to the motivation that drives academic achievement and thus academic successes.

Come On! Using intervention mapping to help healthy pregnant women achieve healthy weight gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Merkx, Astrid; Ausems, Marlein; de Vries, Raymond; Nieuwenhuijze, Marianne J

2017-06-01

Gaining too much or too little weight in pregnancy (according to Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines) negatively affects both mother and child, but many women find it difficult to manage their gestational weight gain (GWG). Here we describe the use of the intervention mapping protocol to design 'Come On!', an intervention to promote adequate GWG among healthy pregnant women. We used the six steps of intervention mapping: (i) needs assessment; (ii) formulation of change objectives; (iii) selection of theory-based methods and practical strategies; (iv) development of the intervention programme; (v) development of an adoption and implementation plan; and (vi) development of an evaluation plan. A consortium of users and related professionals guided the process of development. As a result of the needs assessment, two goals for the intervention were formulated: (i) helping healthy pregnant women to stay within the IOM guidelines for GWG; and (ii) getting midwives to adequately support the efforts of healthy pregnant women to gain weight within the IOM guidelines. To reach these goals, change objectives and determinants influencing the change objectives were formulated. Theories used were the Transtheoretical Model, Social Cognitive Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Practical strategies to use the theories were the foundation for the development of 'Come On!', a comprehensive programme that included a tailored Internet programme for pregnant women, training for midwives, an information card for midwives, and a scheduled discussion between the midwife and the pregnant woman during pregnancy. The programme was pre-tested and evaluated in an effect study.

Receiver gain function: the actual NMR receiver gain

OpenAIRE

Mo, Huaping; Harwood, John S.; Raftery, Daniel

2010-01-01

The observed NMR signal size depends on the receiver gain parameter. We propose a receiver gain function to characterize how much the raw FID is amplified by the receiver as a function of the receiver gain setting. Although the receiver is linear for a fixed gain setting, the actual gain of the receiver may differ from what the gain setting suggests. Nevertheless, for a given receiver, we demonstrate that the receiver gain function can be calibrated. Such a calibration enables accurate compar...

A randomized, placebo-controlled study of zonisamide to prevent olanzapine-associated weight gain.

Science.gov (United States)

McElroy, Susan L; Winstanley, Erin; Mori, Nicole; Martens, Brian; McCoy, Jessica; Moeller, Dianna; Guerdjikova, Anna I; Keck, Paul E

2012-04-01

Weight gain is commonly observed with olanzapine treatment. Zonisamide is an antiepileptic drug associated with weight loss. This study examined the effectiveness of zonisamide in preventing weight gain in 42 patients beginning olanzapine for bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Each patient had a body mass index of 22 mg/kg or greater and was randomized to taking olanzapine with either zonisamide (n = 20) or placebo (n = 22) for 16 weeks. The primary outcome measure was change in body weight in kilograms from baseline. In the primary analysis using longitudinal regression, patients who received zonisamide had a significantly slower rate of weight gain and increase in body mass index than those who received placebo. The patients treated with zonisamide gained a mean (SD) of 0.9 (3.3) kg, whereas those treated with placebo gained a mean (SD) of 5.0 (5.5) kg; P = 0.01. None of the patients in the zonisamide group, compared with 7 patients (33%) in the placebo group, gained 7% of body weight or greater from baseline (Fisher exact test, P = 0.009). The zonisamide group, however, reported significantly more cognitive impairment as an adverse event than the placebo group (25% vs 0, respectively; P = 0.02). Zonisamide was effective for mitigating weight gain in patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia initiating treatment with olanzapine but was associated with cognitive impairment as an adverse event.

Gain with and without population inversion via vacuum-induced coherence in a V-type atom without external coherent driving

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Weihua; Wu Jinhui; Gao Jinyue

2006-01-01

In a three-level V-type atomic system without any external coherent driving, owing to the coherence that results from the vacuum of the radiation field, both the probe gain with and without population inversion can be achieved with very weak incoherent pumping. The gain is achieved in the absence of any external coherent driving field, so it is different from the gain without inversion in ordinary laser-driven schemes where a coherent driving field is necessary to create the coherence. The gain is also different from the conventional lasing gain because the population inversion is achieved via vacuum-induced coherence, which is dependent on the atomic coherence

The CREATE Method Does Not Result in Greater Gains in Critical Thinking than a More Traditional Method of Analyzing the Primary Literature †

Science.gov (United States)

Segura-Totten, Miriam; Dalman, Nancy E.

2013-01-01

Analysis of the primary literature in the undergraduate curriculum is associated with gains in student learning. In particular, the CREATE (Consider, Read, Elucidate hypotheses, Analyze and interpret the data, and Think of the next Experiment) method is associated with an increase in student critical thinking skills. We adapted the CREATE method within a required cell biology class and compared the learning gains of students using CREATE to those of students involved in less structured literature discussions. We found that while both sets of students had gains in critical thinking, students who used the CREATE method did not show significant improvement over students engaged in a more traditional method for dissecting the literature. Students also reported similar learning gains for both literature discussion methods. Our study suggests that, at least in our educational context, the CREATE method does not lead to higher learning gains than a less structured way of reading primary literature. PMID:24358379

Prior exercise training blunts short-term high-fat diet-induced weight gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Snook, Laelie A; MacPherson, Rebecca E K; Monaco, Cynthia M F; Frendo-Cumbo, Scott; Castellani, Laura; Peppler, Willem T; Anderson, Zachary G; Buzelle, Samyra L; LeBlanc, Paul J; Holloway, Graham P; Wright, David C

2016-08-01

High-fat diets rapidly cause weight gain and glucose intolerance. We sought to determine whether these changes could be mitigated with prior exercise training. Male C57BL/6J mice were exercise-trained by treadmill running (1 h/day, 5 days/wk) for 4 wk. Twenty-four hours after the final bout of exercise, mice were provided with a high-fat diet (HFD; 60% kcal from lard) for 4 days, with no further exercise. In mice fed the HFD prior to exercise training, the results were blunted weight gain, reduced fat mass, and a slight attenuation in glucose intolerance that was mirrored by greater insulin-induced Akt phosphorylation in skeletal muscle compared with sedentary mice fed the HFD. When ad libitum-fed sedentary mice were compared with sedentary high-fat fed mice that were calorie restricted (-30%) to match the weight gain of the previously trained high-fat fed mice, the same attenuated impairments in glucose tolerance were found. Blunted weight gain was associated with a greater capacity to increase energy expenditure in trained compared with sedentary mice when challenged with a HFD. Although mitochondrial enzymes in white adipose tissue and UCP-1 protein content in brown adipose tissue were increased in previously exercised compared with sedentary mice fed a HFD, ex vivo mitochondrial respiration was not increased in either tissue. Our data suggest that prior exercise training attenuates high-fat diet-induced weight gain and glucose intolerance and is associated with a greater ability to increase energy expenditure in response to a high-fat diet. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

The Groove of Growth: How Early Gains in Math Ability Influence Adolescent Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Tyler W.; Duncan, Greg J.; Siegler, Robert S.; Davis-Kean, Pamela E.

2014-01-01

A number of studies, both small scale and of nationally-representative student samples, have reported substantial associations between school entry math ability and later elementary school achievement. However, questions remain regarding the persistence of the association between early growth in math ability and later math achievement due to the…

How might global health master deadly sins and strive for greater virtues?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catherine Panter-Brick

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In the spirit of critical reflection, we examine how the field of global health might surmount current challenges and prioritize its ethical mandate, namely to achieve, for all people, equity in health. We use the parlance of mastering deadly sins and striving for greater virtues in an effort to review what is needed to transform global health action. Global health falls prey to four main temptations: coveting silo gains, lusting for technological solutions, leaving broad promises largely unfulfilled, and boasting of narrow successes. This necessitates a change of heart: to keep faith with the promise it made, global health requires a realignment of core values and a sharper focus on the primacy of relationships with the communities it serves. Based on the literature to date, we highlight six steps to re-orienting global health action. Articulating a coherent global health agenda will come from principled action, enacted through courage and prudence in decision-making to foster people-centered systems of care over the entire lifespan.

Parent-Reported Bullying and Child Weight Gain between Ages 6 and 15.

Science.gov (United States)

Sutin, Angelina R; Robinson, Eric; Daly, Michael; Terracciano, Antonio

2016-12-01

Childhood bullying has long-term negative mental and physical health correlates, including weight gain and symptoms of depression. The purpose of this research is to examine whether bullying in the first year of school is associated with greater weight gain by early adolescence and whether adolescent depressive symptoms mediate this association. Data were drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Children (N = 3929) were measured every 2 years; BMI and waist circumference were available from ages 4 to 15. Parents reported on bullying at age 6. Children reported on their depressive symptoms at ages 12-13. Participants who weighed in the obese category at age 4 had an over 50% increased risk of being bullied in school at age 6. Being bullied at age 6 was associated with excess weight gain between ages 6 and 15, defined as either BMI or waist circumference. Depressive symptoms at age 12 partially explained the association between bullying and increases in adiposity. None of the associations varied by gender. Similar to other forms of peer victimization, bullying early in school is associated with greater weight gain through early adolescence; depressive symptom is one mechanism that contributes to this association.

Learning to walk with an adaptive gain proportional myoelectric controller for a robotic ankle exoskeleton.

Science.gov (United States)

Koller, Jeffrey R; Jacobs, Daniel A; Ferris, Daniel P; Remy, C David

2015-11-04

Robotic ankle exoskeletons can provide assistance to users and reduce metabolic power during walking. Our research group has investigated the use of proportional myoelectric control for controlling robotic ankle exoskeletons. Previously, these controllers have relied on a constant gain to map user's muscle activity to actuation control signals. A constant gain may act as a constraint on the user, so we designed a controller that dynamically adapts the gain to the user's myoelectric amplitude. We hypothesized that an adaptive gain proportional myoelectric controller would reduce metabolic energy expenditure compared to walking with the ankle exoskeleton unpowered because users could choose their preferred control gain. We tested eight healthy subjects walking with the adaptive gain proportional myoelectric controller with bilateral ankle exoskeletons. The adaptive gain was updated each stride such that on average the user's peak muscle activity was mapped to maximal power output of the exoskeleton. All subjects participated in three identical training sessions where they walked on a treadmill for 50 minutes (30 minutes of which the exoskeleton was powered) at 1.2 ms(-1). We calculated and analyzed metabolic energy consumption, muscle recruitment, inverse kinematics, inverse dynamics, and exoskeleton mechanics. Using our controller, subjects achieved a metabolic reduction similar to that seen in previous work in about a third of the training time. The resulting controller gain was lower than that seen in previous work (β=1.50±0.14 versus a constant β=2). The adapted gain allowed users more total ankle joint power than that of unassisted walking, increasing ankle power in exchange for a decrease in hip power. Our findings indicate that humans prefer to walk with greater ankle mechanical power output than their unassisted gait when provided with an ankle exoskeleton using an adaptive controller. This suggests that robotic assistance from an exoskeleton can allow

Achieving excellence in training

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mangin, A.M.; Solymossy, J.M.

1983-01-01

Operating a nuclear power plant is a uniquely challenging activity, requiring a high degree of competence from all who are involved. Achieving and maintaining this competence requires excellence in training. But what does excellence mean, and how do we achieve it. Based on the experience gained by INPO in plant training evaluations and accreditation activities, this paper describes some of the actions that can be taken to achieve the quality appropriate for nuclear power plant training. These actions are discussed in relation to the four phases of a performance-based training system: (1) needs analysis, (2) program design and development, (3) implementation, and (4) evaluation and improvement

Is weight gain really a catalyst for broader recovery?: The impact of weight gain on psychological symptoms in the treatment of adolescent anorexia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Accurso, Erin C; Ciao, Anna C; Fitzsimmons-Craft, Ellen E; Lock, James D; Le Grange, Daniel

2014-05-01

The main aims of this study were to describe change in psychological outcomes for adolescents with anorexia nervosa across two treatments, and to explore predictors of change, including baseline demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as weight gain over time. Participants were 121 adolescents with anorexia nervosa from a two-site (Chicago and Stanford) randomized controlled trial who received either family-based treatment or individual adolescent supportive psychotherapy. Psychological symptoms (i.e., eating disorder psychopathology, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem) were assessed at baseline, end of treatment, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up. Conditional multilevel growth models were used to test for predictors of slope for each outcome. Most psychological symptoms improved significantly from baseline to 12 month follow-up, regardless of treatment type. Depressive symptoms and dietary restraint were most improved, weight and shape concerns were least improved, and self-esteem was not at all improved. Weight gain emerged as a significant predictor of improved eating disorder pathology, with earlier weight gain having a greater impact on symptom improvement than later weight gain. Adolescents who presented with more severe, complex, and enduring clinical presentations (i.e., longer duration of illness, greater eating disorder pathology, binge-eating/purging subtype) also appeared to benefit more psychologically from treatment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Receiver Gain Modulation Circuit

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Hollis; Racette, Paul; Walker, David; Gu, Dazhen

2011-01-01

A receiver gain modulation circuit (RGMC) was developed that modulates the power gain of the output of a radiometer receiver with a test signal. As the radiometer receiver switches between calibration noise references, the test signal is mixed with the calibrated noise and thus produces an ensemble set of measurements from which ensemble statistical analysis can be used to extract statistical information about the test signal. The RGMC is an enabling technology of the ensemble detector. As a key component for achieving ensemble detection and analysis, the RGMC has broad aeronautical and space applications. The RGMC can be used to test and develop new calibration algorithms, for example, to detect gain anomalies, and/or correct for slow drifts that affect climate-quality measurements over an accelerated time scale. A generalized approach to analyzing radiometer system designs yields a mathematical treatment of noise reference measurements in calibration algorithms. By treating the measurements from the different noise references as ensemble samples of the receiver state, i.e. receiver gain, a quantitative description of the non-stationary properties of the underlying receiver fluctuations can be derived. Excellent agreement has been obtained between model calculations and radiometric measurements. The mathematical formulation is equivalent to modulating the gain of a stable receiver with an externally generated signal and is the basis for ensemble detection and analysis (EDA). The concept of generating ensemble data sets using an ensemble detector is similar to the ensemble data sets generated as part of ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) with exception of a key distinguishing factor. EEMD adds noise to the signal under study whereas EDA mixes the signal with calibrated noise. It is mixing with calibrated noise that permits the measurement of temporal-functional variability of uncertainty in the underlying process. The RGMC permits the evaluation of EDA by

Capacity gains of buffer-aided moving relays

KAUST Repository

Zafar, Ammar

2017-03-14

This work investigates the gain due to reduction in path loss by deploying buffer-aided moving relaying. In particular, the increase in gain due to moving relays is studied for dual-hop broadcast channels and the bidirectional relay channel. It is shown that the exploited gains in these channels due to buffer-aided relaying can be enhanced by utilizing the fact that a moving relay can communicate with the terminal closest to it and store the data in the buffer and then forward the data to the intended destination when it comes in close proximity with the destination. Numerical results show that for both the considered channels the achievable rates are increased as compared to the case of stationary relays. Numerical results also show that more significant increase in performance is seen when the relay moves to-and-fro between the source and the relay.

Capacity gains of buffer-aided moving relays

KAUST Repository

Zafar, Ammar; Shaqfeh, Mohammad; Alnuweiri, Hussein; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2017-01-01

This work investigates the gain due to reduction in path loss by deploying buffer-aided moving relaying. In particular, the increase in gain due to moving relays is studied for dual-hop broadcast channels and the bidirectional relay channel. It is shown that the exploited gains in these channels due to buffer-aided relaying can be enhanced by utilizing the fact that a moving relay can communicate with the terminal closest to it and store the data in the buffer and then forward the data to the intended destination when it comes in close proximity with the destination. Numerical results show that for both the considered channels the achievable rates are increased as compared to the case of stationary relays. Numerical results also show that more significant increase in performance is seen when the relay moves to-and-fro between the source and the relay.

Double-differential recording and AGC using microcontrolled variable gain ASIC.

Science.gov (United States)

Rieger, Robert; Deng, Shin-Liang

2013-01-01

Low-power wearable recording of biopotentials requires acquisition front-ends with high common-mode rejection for interference suppression and adjustable gain to provide an optimum signal range to a cascading analogue-to-digital stage. A microcontroller operated double-differential (DD) recording setup and automatic gain control circuit (AGC) are discussed which reject common-mode interference and provide tunable gain, thus compensating for imbalance and variation in electrode interface impedance. Custom-designed variable gain amplifiers (ASIC) are used as part of the recording setup. The circuit gain and balance is set by the timing of microcontroller generated clock signals. Measured results are presented which confirm that improved common-mode rejection is achieved compared to a single differential amplifier in the presence of input network imbalance. Practical measured examples further validate gain control suitable for biopotential recording and power-line rejection for wearable ECG and EMG recording. The prototype front-end consumes 318 μW including amplifiers and microcontroller.

Chocolate-candy consumption and three-year weight gain among postmenopausal U.S. women

Science.gov (United States)

Greenberg, James A.; Manson, JoAnn E.; Buijsse, Brian; Wang, Lu; Allison, Matthew A.; Neuhouser, Marian L.; Tinker, Lesley; Waring, Molly E.; Isasi, Carmen R.; Martin, Lisa W.; Thomson, Cynthia A.

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that greater chocolate-candy intake is associated with more weight gain in postmenopausal women. DESIGN AND METHODS Prospective cohort study involving 107,243 post-menopausal American women aged 50–79 years (mean=60.7) at enrolment in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), with three-year follow up. Chocolate-candy consumption was assessed by food frequency questionnaire and body weight was measured. Linear mixed models, adjusted for demographic, socio-economic, anthropomorphic and behavioral variables, were used to test our main hypotheses. RESULTS Compared to women who ate a 1 oz (~28 g) serving of chocolate candy chocolate-candy intake level increased as BMI increased above the normal range (18.5–25 kg/m2), and as age decreased. CONCLUSIONS Greater chocolate-candy intake was associated with greater prospective weight gain in this cohort of post-menopausal women. PMID:25644711

Weight gain in newborns submitted to skin-to-skin contact

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Karine da Costa Monteiro Souza

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Purpose: to compare the weight gain among newborns submitted to the kangaroo method and those not submitted to it, and to analyze the factors that may influence this gain: length of hospital stay, gestational age, corrected gestational age, birth weight, weight on the first day of follow-up, duration of gastric tube feeding, duration of oral feeding, and type of diet. Methods: a cross-sectional, quantitative study, with 86 newborns divided into two groups: group 1, with 48 neonates undergoing skin-to-skin contact and Group 2, 38 newborns who did not have this contact. Weights were recorded until hospital discharge. Results: a greater weight gain in Group 1, a longer time of hospitalization in Group 2, and a significant difference in weight gain related to the type of diet in Group 2. Conclusion: skin-to-skin contact has a positive influence on weight gain and length of hospital stay of newborns. The use of an infant formula does not influence weight gain for dyads who experienced skin-to-skin contact. Gestational age, corrected gestational age, birth weight, weight on the first day of follow-up, duration of gastric tube feeding, duration of oral feeding are not correlated with weight gain.

Measuring learning gain: Comparing anatomy drawing screencasts and paper-based resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Pickering, James D

2017-07-01

The use of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) resources is now a common tool across a variety of healthcare programs. Despite this popular approach to curriculum delivery there remains a paucity in empirical evidence that quantifies the change in learning gain. The aim of the study was to measure the changes in learning gain observed with anatomy drawing screencasts in comparison to a traditional paper-based resource. Learning gain is a widely used term to describe the tangible changes in learning outcomes that have been achieved after a specific intervention. In regard to this study, a cohort of Year 2 medical students voluntarily participated and were randomly assigned to either a screencast or textbook group to compare changes in learning gain across resource type. Using a pre-test/post-test protocol, and a range of statistical analyses, the learning gain was calculated at three test points: immediate post-test, 1-week post-test and 4-week post-test. Results at all test points revealed a significant increase in learning gain and large effect sizes for the screencast group compared to the textbook group. Possible reasons behind the difference in learning gain are explored by comparing the instructional design of both resources. Strengths and weaknesses of the study design are also considered. This work adds to the growing area of research that supports the effective design of TEL resources which are complimentary to the cognitive theory of multimedia learning to achieve both an effective and efficient learning resource for anatomical education. Anat Sci Educ 10: 307-316. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists. © 2016 American Association of Anatomists.

Neonatal Body Composition According to the Revised Institute of Medicine Recommendations for Maternal Weight Gain

Science.gov (United States)

Huston-Presley, Larraine; Catalano, Patrick M.

2012-01-01

Background: In 2009, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released revised pregnancy weight gain guidelines. There are limited data regarding the effect of maternal weight gain on newborn adiposity. Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate neonatal fat mass, lean body mass, and percentage body fat according to current Institute of Medicine (IOM) pregnancy weight gain guidelines. Design: This is a secondary analysis of a prospective observational cohort study of neonates delivered at least 36 wk gestation and evaluated for fat mass, lean body mass, and percentage body fat. Women with abnormal glucose tolerance testing and other known medical disorders or pregnancies with known fetal anomalies were excluded. Pregravid body mass index (BMI) was categorized as normal weight (30 kg/m2). Maternal weight gain was quantified as less than, equal to, or greater than current IOM guidelines. Newborn body composition measurements were compared according to weight gain and BMI categories. Results: A total of 439 maternal-newborn pairs were evaluated; 19.8% (n = 87) of women gained less than IOM guidelines; 31.9% (n = 140), equal to IOM guidelines; and 48.3% (n = 212), greater than IOM guidelines. Significant differences for each component of body composition were found when evaluated by IOM weight gain categories (all ANOVA, P weight gain for women who were of normal weight before pregnancy remained significant. Conclusion: Maternal weight gain during pregnancy is a significant contributor to newborn body composition, particularly for women who are of normal weight before pregnancy. PMID:22821895

STRATEGIES FOR ACHIEVING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

OpenAIRE

Jusuf ZEKIRI; Alexandru NEDELEA

2011-01-01

This paper is organized in three parts. A brief overview of the importance of strategies within companies, as well as literature review is presented along with traditional approaches on strategies for achieving competitive advantage, and new approaches for gaining a competitive advantage. The main objective of the paper is to outline and discuss the relevant issues and challenges from a theoretical viewpoint related with the possible strategy formulation of companies in order to achieve a com...

Gain Scheduling Control based on Closed-Loop System Identification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bendtsen, Jan Dimon; Trangbæk, Klaus

the first and a second operating point is identified in closed-loop using system identification methods with open-loop properties. Next, a linear controller is designed for this linearised model, and gain scheduling control can subsequently be achieved by interpolating between each controller...

On the performance of the noise power spectrum from the gain-corrected radiography images.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dong Sik; Lee, Eunae

2018-01-01

Fixed pattern noise due to nonuniform amplifier gains and scintillator sensitivity should be alleviated in radiography imaging to acquire low-noise x-ray images from detectors. Here, the noise property of the detector is usually evaluated observing the noise power spectrum (NPS). A gain-correction scheme, in which uniformly illuminated images are averaged to design a gain map, can be applied to alleviate the fixed pattern noise problem. The normalized NPS (NNPS) of the gain-corrected image decreases as the number of images for the average increases and converges to an infimum, which can be achieved if the fixed pattern noise is completely removed. If we know the NNPS infimum of the detector, then we can determine the performance of the gain-corrected images compared with the achievable lower bound. We first construct an image-formation model considering the nonuniform gain and then consider two measurement methods based on subtraction and division to estimate the NNPS infimum of the detector. In order to obtain a high-precision NNPS infimum estimate, we consider a time-averaging method. For several flat-panel radiography detectors, we constructed the NNPS infimum measurements and compared them with NNPS values of the gain-corrected images. We observed that the NNPS values of the gain-corrected images approached the NNPS infimum as the number of images for the average increased.

Effect of Experimental Coccidiosis Infections on Body Weight Gain ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Infections with E. tenella in broiler breeder males showed that body weight gains of the uninfected males were significantly greater (p< 0.05) at 5, 7 and 14 days post inoculation (dpi) than those of the infected groups. Sperm productions at 0, 5 and 7 dpi (0=day of inoculation with infected oocysts) for the uninfected controls ...

An exploratory examination of patient and parental self-efficacy as predictors of weight gain in adolescents with anorexia nervosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Byrne, Catherine E; Accurso, Erin C; Arnow, Katherine D; Lock, James; Le Grange, Daniel

2015-11-01

To determine whether increases in adolescent or parental self-efficacy predicted subsequent weight gain in two different therapies for adolescent anorexia nervosa (AN). Participants were 121 adolescents with AN (M = 14.4 years, SD = 1.6), from a two-site randomized clinical trial for family-based treatment (FBT) and individual adolescent focused therapy (AFT). Both adolescent and parental self-efficacy were assessed at baseline and sessions 2, 4, 6, and 8. Adolescent self-efficacy was assessed using a generic measure of self-efficacy, while parental self-efficacy was assessed using a measure specific to the recovery of an eating disorder. Weight was assessed at baseline, sessions 1 through 8, and end of treatment. Mixed-effects models were used to evaluate the relation between patient and parent self-efficacy and subsequent weight gain, controlling for weight at the previous time point. For families who received FBT, greater within-treatment increases in parental self-efficacy predicted greater subsequent adolescent weight gain compared to those who received FBT with lesser change in parental self-efficacy and those who received AFT. Interestingly, adolescent self-efficacy did not significantly predict subsequent weight gain. Greater increases in parental self-efficacy predicted significantly greater subsequent weight gain for adolescents who received FBT, but the same was not true for adolescents who received AFT. Neither overall level nor change in adolescent self-efficacy significantly predicted subsequent weight gain in either treatment group. These findings emphasize the importance of increasing parental self-efficacy in FBT in order to impact adolescent weight outcomes. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Correlations of circulating peptide YY and ghrelin with body weight, rate of weight gain, and time required to achieve the recommended daily intake in preterm infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, XiaFang; Du, XueLiang; Zhu, JianXing; Xie, LiJuan; Zhang, YongJun; He, ZhenJuan

2012-07-01

The objective was to elucidate the relationships between serum concentrations of the gut hormone peptide YY (PYY) and ghrelin and growth development in infants for potential application to the clinical observation index. Serum concentrations of PYY and ghrelin were measured using radioimmunoassay from samples collected at the clinic. For each patient, gestational age, birth weight, time required to return to birth weight, rate of weight gain, time required to achieve recommended daily intake (RDI) standards, time required for full-gastric feeding, duration of hospitalization, and time of administration of total parenteral nutrition were recorded. Serum PYY and ghrelin concentrations were significantly higher in the preterm group (N = 20) than in the full-term group (N = 20; P weight, and the degree of correlation varied with age. Serum ghrelin concentration correlated negatively with birth weight and positively with the time required to achieve RDI (P newborns and to determine the usefulness of measuring these hormones in clinical practice.

Enhancing student engagement to positively impact mathematics anxiety, confidence and achievement for interdisciplinary science subjects

Science.gov (United States)

Everingham, Yvette L.; Gyuris, Emma; Connolly, Sean R.

2017-11-01

Contemporary science educators must equip their students with the knowledge and practical know-how to connect multiple disciplines like mathematics, computing and the natural sciences to gain a richer and deeper understanding of a scientific problem. However, many biology and earth science students are prejudiced against mathematics due to negative emotions like high mathematical anxiety and low mathematical confidence. Here, we present a theoretical framework that investigates linkages between student engagement, mathematical anxiety, mathematical confidence, student achievement and subject mastery. We implement this framework in a large, first-year interdisciplinary science subject and monitor its impact over several years from 2010 to 2015. The implementation of the framework coincided with an easing of anxiety and enhanced confidence, as well as higher student satisfaction, retention and achievement. The framework offers interdisciplinary science educators greater flexibility and confidence in their approach to designing and delivering subjects that rely on mathematical concepts and practices.

Employment, work hours and weight gain among middle-aged women.

Science.gov (United States)

Au, N; Hauck, K; Hollingsworth, B

2013-05-01

To investigate the influence of employment and work hours on weight gain and weight loss among middle-aged women. Quantile regression techniques were used to estimate the influence of employment and hours worked on percentage weight change over 2 years across the entire distribution of weight change in a cohort of middle-aged women. A range of controls was included in the models to isolate the effect of work status. A total of 9276 women aged 45-50 years at baseline who were present in both the 1996 and 1998 surveys of the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health. The women were a representative sample of the Australian population. Being out of the labour force or unemployed was associated with lower weight gain and higher weight loss than being employed. The association was stronger at low to moderate levels of weight gain. Among employed women, working regular (35-40), long (41-48) or very long (49+) hours was associated with increasingly higher levels of weight gain compared with working part-time hours. The association was stronger for women with greater weight gain overall. The association between unemployment and weight change became insignificant when health status was controlled for. Employment was associated with more weight gain and less weight loss. Among the employed, working longer hours was associated with more weight gain, especially at the higher levels of weight gain where the health consequences are more serious. These findings suggest that as women work longer hours they are more likely to make lifestyle choices that are associated with weight gain.

Influence of mealtime habits on the risk of weight gain and obesity in Mexican adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Dosamantes-Carrasco, Libia Darina; Méndez-Hernández, Pablo; Flores, Yvonne N; Siani, Carole; Denova-Gutiérrez, Edgar; Gallegos-Carrillo, Katia; Ramírez, Paula; Rivera-Paredez, Berenice; Salazar-Martínez, Eduardo; Salmerón, Jorge

2017-02-01

To prospectively examine the extent to which mealtime habits influences the risk of weight gain and obesity in Mexican adults. We performed a prospective cohort study. The Mealtime Habits Quality (MHQ) scale was used for assessing participants' MHQ; the outcomes of interest were gain ≥5 % of body weight, developing overweight/obesity and abdominal obesity, after 7 years of follow-up. In order to estimate the independent effect of MHQ on anthropometric indicators, generalized linear models were computed to obtain adjusted relative risks (95 % CI). The state of Morelos, Mexico. Mexican adults (n 837) aged 18-70 years participating in a cohort study. Compared with participants classified in the higher MHQ category, individuals in the middle and lower MHQ groups had a 4·1 (2·5, 6·7) and 6·2 (3·9, 9·7) fold greater risk of gain ≥5 % of body weight, respectively; 6·6 (2·8, 15·5) and 8·6 (3·7, 19·8) fold greater risk of becoming overweight/obese, respectively; and 3·8 (2·0, 7·3) and 5·3 (2·8, 9·8) fold greater risk of developing abdominal obesity, respectively. This study provides evidence about the influence of a set of mealtime habits on obesity indicators, showing that greater adherence to unadvisable mealtime habits increases the risk of developing unhealthy anthropometric indicators. Since the meal is one of the most important sources of food intake, and consequently weight status, the MHQ scale can be a useful population tool to predict weight gain and obesity.

Effect of massage stimulation on weight gain in full term infants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nyoman Nursari Dewi

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Background Massage is a tactile/kinesthetic stimulation with biochemical and physiological effects on the body. Newborn infant massage stimulation given by mothers may promote maternal-infant bonding and attachment, enhance infant weight gain and stimulate the production of breast milk. There have been few studies on the effect of massage stimulation on weight gain in full term infants, and this topic remains controversial. Objective To examine the effect of massage stimulation on weight gain in full term infants. Methods This quasi-experimental study was held in Sanglah Hospital and Bunda Setia Maternity Clinic. Massage stimulation was performed by mothers once daily for a four week period. Massage stimulation was given to 30 full term infants and their weight gain was compared to 31 control infants who did not receive massages. Results There were no differences in subject characteristics between the massage and control groups. Median weight gain in the massage group was 1230 grams, while that in the control group was 830 grams (P=0.028. Conclusion Weight gain in full term infants in the massage group was significantly greater than that in the control group after 4 weeks.

Optical gain in an optically driven three-level ? system in atomic Rb vapor

Science.gov (United States)

Ballmann, C. W.; Yakovlev, V. V.

2018-06-01

In this work, we report experimentally achieved optical gain of a weak probe beam in a three-level ? system in a low density Rubidium vapor cell driven by a single pump beam. The maximum measured gain of the probe beam was about 0.12%. This work could lead to new approaches for enhancing molecular spectroscopy applications.

Gain-assisted plasmon induced transparency in T-shaped metamaterials for slow light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Jinna; Wang, Junqiao; Fan, Chunzhen; Liang, Erjun; Ding, Pei

2015-01-01

We theoretically investigate the gain-assisted plasmonic analog of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a novel planar metamaterial, whose unit cell consists of two perpendicularly connected metallic bars, forming a ‘T’ configuration. An EIT-like resonance can be achieved by introducing symmetry breaking into its shape. The results show that the group index is greatly enhanced at the optimum value of the gain due to a dramatic amplification of the EIT-like resonance. Furthermore, a trade-off between the group index and the transmittance at the EIT-like resonance, which always exists in passive systems with no gains, can be removed at an approximate gain level. E-field enhancements are used to understand the underlying physics. (paper)

Dairy Attenuates Weight Gain to a Similar Extent as Exercise in Rats Fed a High-Fat, High-Sugar Diet.

Science.gov (United States)

Trottier, Sarah K; MacPherson, Rebecca E K; Knuth, Carly M; Townsend, Logan K; Peppler, Willem T; Mikhaeil, John S; Leveille, Cam F; LeBlanc, Paul J; Shearer, Jane; Reimer, Raylene A; Wright, David C

2017-10-01

To compare the individual and combined effects of dairy and endurance exercise training in reducing weight gain and adiposity in a rodent model of diet-induced obesity. An 8-week feeding intervention of a high-fat, high-sugar diet was used to induce obesity in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Rats were then assigned to one of four groups for 6 weeks: (1) casein sedentary (casein-S), (2) casein exercise (casein-E), (3) dairy sedentary (dairy-S), and (4) dairy exercise (dairy-E). Rats were exercise trained by treadmill running 5 d/wk. Dairy-E prevented weight gain to a greater extent than either dairy or exercise alone. Adipose tissue and liver mass were reduced to a similar extent in dairy-S, casein-E, and dairy-E groups. Differences in weight gain were not explained by food intake or total energy expenditure. The total amount of lipid excreted was greater in the dairy-S compared to casein-S and dairy-E groups. This study provides evidence that dairy limits weight gain to a similar extent as exercise training and the combined effects are greater than either intervention alone. While exercise training reduces weight gain through increases in energy expenditure, dairy appears to increase lipid excretion in the feces. © 2017 The Obesity Society.

Stacked Transformer for Driver Gain and Receive Signal Splitting

Science.gov (United States)

Driscoll, Kevin R.

2013-01-01

In a high-speed signal transmission system that uses transformer coupling, there is a need to provide increased transmitted signal strength without adding active components. This invention uses additional transformers to achieve the needed gain. The prior art uses stronger drivers (which require an IC redesign and a higher power supply voltage), or the addition of another active component (which can decrease reliability, increase power consumption, reduce the beneficial effect of serializer/deserializer preemphasis or deemphasis, and/or interfere with fault containment mechanisms), or uses a different transformer winding ratio (which requires redesign of the transformer and may not be feasible with high-speed signals that require a 1:1 winding ratio). This invention achieves the required gain by connecting the secondaries of multiple transformers in series. The primaries of these transformers are currently either connected in parallel or are connected to multiple drivers. There is also a need to split a receive signal to multiple destinations with minimal signal loss. Additional transformers can achieve the split. The prior art uses impedance-matching series resistors that cause a loss of signal. Instead of causing a loss, most instantiations of this invention would actually provide gain. Multiple transformers are used instead of multiple windings on a single transformer because multiple windings on the same transformer would require a redesign of the transformer, and may not be feasible with high-speed transformers that usually require a bifilar winding with a 1:1 ratio. This invention creates the split by connecting the primaries of multiple transformers in series. The secondary of each transformer is connected to one of the intended destinations without the use of impedance-matching series resistors.

Perceptions of low-income African-American mothers about excessive gestational weight gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Herring, Sharon J; Henry, Tasmia Q; Klotz, Alicia A; Foster, Gary D; Whitaker, Robert C

2012-12-01

A rising number of low-income African-American mothers gain more weight in pregnancy than is recommended, placing them at risk for poor maternal and fetal health outcomes. Little is known about the perceptions of mothers in this population that may influence excessive gestational weight gain. In 2010-2011, we conducted 4 focus groups with 31 low-income, pregnant African-Americans in Philadelphia. Two readers independently coded the focus group transcripts to identify recurrent themes. We identified 9 themes around perceptions that encouraged or discouraged high gestational weight gain. Mothers attributed high weight gain to eating more in pregnancy, which was the result of being hungrier and the belief that consuming more calories while pregnant was essential for babies' health. Family members, especially participants own mothers, strongly reinforced the need to "eat for two" to make a healthy baby. Mothers and their families recognized the link between poor fetal outcomes and low weight gains but not higher gains, and thus, most had a greater pre-occupation with too little food intake and weight gain rather than too much. Having physical symptoms from overeating and weight retention after previous pregnancies were factors that discouraged higher gains. Overall, low-income African-American mothers had more perceptions encouraging high gestational weight gain than discouraging it. Interventions to prevent excessive weight gain need to be sensitive to these perceptions. Messages that link guideline recommended weight gain to optimal infant outcomes and mothers' physical symptoms may be most effective for weight control.

Home Media and Children’s Achievement and Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Hofferth, Sandra L.

2010-01-01

This study provides a national picture of the time American 6–12 year olds spent playing video games, using the computer, and watching television at home in 1997 and 2003 and the association of early use with their achievement and behavior as adolescents. Girls benefited from computers more than boys and Black children’s achievement benefited more from greater computer use than did that of White children. Greater computer use in middle childhood was associated with increased achievement for White and Black girls and Black boys, but not White boys. Greater computer play was also associated with a lower risk of becoming socially isolated among girls. Computer use does not crowd out positive learning-related activities, whereas video game playing does. Consequently, increased video game play had both positive and negative associations with the achievement of girls but not boys. For boys, increased video game play was linked to increased aggressive behavior problems. PMID:20840243

Tropical Forest Gain and Interactions amongst Agents of Forest Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sean Sloan

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The tropical deforestation literature advocates multi-agent enquiry in recognition that key dynamics arise from inter-agent interactions. Studies of tropical forest-cover gain have lagged in this respect. This article explores the roles and key aspects of interactions shaping natural forest regeneration and active reforestation in Eastern Panama since 1990. It employs household surveys of agricultural landholders, interviews with community forest-restoration organisations, archival analysis of plantation reforestation interests, satellite image analysis of forest-cover change, and the consideration of State reforestation policies. Forest-cover gain reflected a convergence of interests and land-use trends amongst agents. Low social and economic costs of sustained interaction and organisation enabled extensive forest-cover gain, but low transaction costs did not. Corporate plantation reforestation rose to the fore of regional forest-cover gain via opportunistic land sales by ranchers and economic subsidies indicative of a State preference for autonomous, self-organising forest-cover gain. This reforestation follows a recent history of neoliberal frontier development in which State-backed loggers and ranchers similarly displaced agriculturalists. Community institutions, long neglected by the State, struggled to coordinate landholders and so effected far less forest-cover gain. National and international commitments to tropical forest restoration risk being similarly characterised as ineffective by a predominance of industrial plantation reforestation without greater State support for community forest management.

A Bidirectional Resonant DC-DC Converter Suitable for Wide Voltage Gain Range

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shen, Yanfeng; Wang, Huai; Al-Durra, Ahmed

2018-01-01

This paper proposes a new bidirectional resonant dc-dc converter suitable for wide voltage gain range applications (e.g., energy storage systems). The proposed converter overcomes the narrow voltage gain range of conventional resonant dc-dc converters, and meanwhile achieves high efficiency...... losses. The operation principles and characteristics of the proposed converter are firstly analyzed in this paper. Then the analytical solutions for the voltage gain, soft-switching, and rms currents are derived, which facilitates the parameters design and optimization. Finally, the proposed topology...... and analysis are verified with experimental results obtained from a 1-kW converter prototype....

Gain enhancement of low profile on-chip dipole antenna via Artificial Magnetic Conductor at 94 GHz

KAUST Repository

Nafe, Mahmoud

2015-04-13

The bottleneck for realizing high efficiency System-on-Chip is integrating the antenna on the lossy silicon substrate. To shield the antenna from the silicon, a ground plane can be used. However, the ultra-thin oxide does not provide enough separation between the antenna and the ground plane. In this work, we demonstrate one of the highest reported gains to date for low profile 94 GHz on-chip dipole antenna while the ground plane is in the lowest metal in the oxide (M1). This is achieved by optimizing an Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) structure midway the antenna and M1. The dipole antenna without the AMC has a gain of − 11 dBi while with the AMC structure a gain of + 4.8 dBi and hence achieving a gain enhancement of + 15.8 dB.

Preoperative weight gain might increase risk of gastric bypass surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Istfan, Nawfal W; Anderson, Wendy A; Apovian, Caroline M; Hess, Donald T; Forse, R Armour

2011-01-01

Weight loss improves the cardiovascular and metabolic risk associated with obesity. However, insufficient data are available about the health effects of weight gain, separate from the obesity itself. We sought to determine whether the changes in body weight before open gastric bypass surgery (OGB) would have a significant effect on the immediate perioperative hospital course. A retrospective chart review of 100 consecutive patients was performed to examine the effects of co-morbidities and body weight changes in the immediate preoperative period on the hospital length of stay and the rate of admission to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU). Of our class III obese patients undergoing OGB, 95% had ≥1 co-morbid condition and an overall SICU admission rate of 18%. Compared with the patients with no perioperative SICU admission, the patients admitted to the SICU had a greater degree of insulin resistance (homeostatic model analysis-insulin resistance 10.8 ± 1.3 versus 5.9 ± 0.5, P = .001), greater serum triglyceride levels (225 ± 47 versus 143 ± 8 mg/dL, P = .003), and had gained more weight preoperatively (.52 ± .13 versus .06 ± .06 lb/wk, P = .003). The multivariate analyses showed that preoperative weight gain was a risk factor for a longer length of stay and more SICU admissions lasting ≥3 days, as were a diagnosis of sleep apnea and an elevated serum triglyceride concentration. The results of the present retrospective study suggest that weight gain increases the risk of perioperative SICU admission associated with OGB, independent of the body mass index. Sleep apnea and elevated serum triglyceride levels were also important determinants of perioperative morbidity. In view of the increasing epidemic of obesity and the popularity of bariatric surgical procedures, we propose that additional clinical and metabolic research focusing on the understanding of the complex relationship among obesity, positive energy balance, weight gain, and perioperative

The Socioeconomic Benefit to Individuals of Achieving the 2020 Targets for Five Preventive Chemotherapy Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

William K Redekop

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Lymphatic filariasis (LF, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths (STH and trachoma represent the five most prevalent neglected tropical diseases (NTDs. They can be controlled or eliminated by means of safe and cost-effective interventions delivered through programs of Mass Drug Administration (MDA-also named Preventive Chemotherapy (PCT. The WHO defined targets for NTD control/elimination by 2020, reinforced by the 2012 London Declaration, which, if achieved, would result in dramatic health gains. We estimated the potential economic benefit of achieving these targets, focusing specifically on productivity and out-of-pocket payments.Productivity loss was calculated by combining disease frequency with productivity loss from the disease, from the perspective of affected individuals. Productivity gain was calculated by deducting the total loss expected in the target achievement scenario from the loss in a counterfactual scenario where it was assumed the pre-intervention situation in 1990 regarding NTDs would continue unabated until 2030. Economic benefits from out-of-pocket payments (OPPs were calculated similarly. Benefits are reported in 2005 US$ (purchasing power parity-adjusted and discounted at 3% per annum from 2010. Sensitivity analyses were used to assess the influence of changes in input parameters.The economic benefit from productivity gain was estimated to be I$251 billion in 2011-2020 and I$313 billion in 2021-2030, considerably greater than the total OPPs averted of I$0.72 billion and I$0.96 billion in the same periods. The net benefit is expected to be US$ 27.4 and US$ 42.8 for every dollar invested during the same periods. Impact varies between NTDs and regions, since it is determined by disease prevalence and extent of disease-related productivity loss.Achieving the PCT-NTD targets for 2020 will yield significant economic benefits to affected individuals. Despite large uncertainty, these benefits far exceed the

The Socioeconomic Benefit to Individuals of Achieving the 2020 Targets for Five Preventive Chemotherapy Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Redekop, William K; Lenk, Edeltraud J; Luyendijk, Marianne; Fitzpatrick, Christopher; Niessen, Louis; Stolk, Wilma A; Tediosi, Fabrizio; Rijnsburger, Adriana J; Bakker, Roel; Hontelez, Jan A C; Richardus, Jan H; Jacobson, Julie; de Vlas, Sake J; Severens, Johan L

2017-01-01

Lymphatic filariasis (LF), onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths (STH) and trachoma represent the five most prevalent neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). They can be controlled or eliminated by means of safe and cost-effective interventions delivered through programs of Mass Drug Administration (MDA)-also named Preventive Chemotherapy (PCT). The WHO defined targets for NTD control/elimination by 2020, reinforced by the 2012 London Declaration, which, if achieved, would result in dramatic health gains. We estimated the potential economic benefit of achieving these targets, focusing specifically on productivity and out-of-pocket payments. Productivity loss was calculated by combining disease frequency with productivity loss from the disease, from the perspective of affected individuals. Productivity gain was calculated by deducting the total loss expected in the target achievement scenario from the loss in a counterfactual scenario where it was assumed the pre-intervention situation in 1990 regarding NTDs would continue unabated until 2030. Economic benefits from out-of-pocket payments (OPPs) were calculated similarly. Benefits are reported in 2005 US$ (purchasing power parity-adjusted and discounted at 3% per annum from 2010). Sensitivity analyses were used to assess the influence of changes in input parameters. The economic benefit from productivity gain was estimated to be I$251 billion in 2011-2020 and I$313 billion in 2021-2030, considerably greater than the total OPPs averted of I$0.72 billion and I$0.96 billion in the same periods. The net benefit is expected to be US$ 27.4 and US$ 42.8 for every dollar invested during the same periods. Impact varies between NTDs and regions, since it is determined by disease prevalence and extent of disease-related productivity loss. Achieving the PCT-NTD targets for 2020 will yield significant economic benefits to affected individuals. Despite large uncertainty, these benefits far exceed the investment

Promoting Learning Achievement, Problem Solving, and Learning Curiosity of High School Students: Empirical Thai Study of Self-directed Learning in Physics Course

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wittaya Worapun

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Three phases of this research were employed to study learning achievement, problem solving, and learning curiosity among 43 students in the 11th grade through self-directed learning in a Physics course. Research instruments included: a learning achievement test, a test of curiosity, observations using anecdotal evidence of curiosity, and a test of problem solving ability. The findings show that six components of self-directed learning were evident, i.e. principles and basic concepts, syntax, social system, principle of reaction, and support system. It was found that five main procedures of self-directed learning were applicable in a management model: diagnosis, strategies, growth in habit, taking action, and summarizing and assessing. Students gained in their learning achievement ; furthermore, their posttest scores in problem solving were greater than their pretest scores at .05 level of statistical significance.

Low-power, enhanced-gain adaptive-biasing-based Operational Transconductance Amplifiers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moradi, Farshad

A symmetrical PMOS OTA (Operational Transconductance Amplifier) is used to build an advanced rail-to-rail amplifier with improved DC-gain and reduced power consumption. By using the adaptive biasing circuit for two differential inputs, a low stand-by current can be achieved, reducing power...

Long-term weight gain and economic impact in pigs castrated under local anaesthesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F.G. Telles

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Castration is a controversial practice in swine production because in some countries is still performed without anaesthesia, and therefore causes intense suffering and stress to animals. This study investigated the effect of pre-surgical administration of local anaesthesia (LA on the growth performance of piglets until the end of the growth phase (102 days. Piglets aged 3 to 5 days were selected in pairs of similar weights and same age. They were originated from 22 litters. The groups were randomly assigned to one of two treatments. Castration was performed with (LA; n = 45 or without (NLA; n = 45 intra-testicular administration of 0.5 mL of 2% lidocaine plus adrenaline per testicle, administered by an automatic repeating vaccinator. Castration was performed 10 min later. Average daily weight gain and economic impact were evaluated between the intervals before castration until 21 (weaning phase, before castration until 60 (end of the initial nursery phase and before castration until 102 (growth phase days of age. Average daily weight gain data were analyzed by comparing the average daily weight gain between the weaning phase, 60 and 102 days of age versus the initial weight (pre-castration. At the end of the growing phase, animals treated with LA showed greater weight gain than animals castrated without anaesthesia. LA also showed improved cost:benefit ratio and theore might provide greater economic benefit under the conditions used in this study. Our findings have proved that castration with LA improves long-term weight gain of piglets.

Almost all antipsychotics result in weight gain: a meta-analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maarten Bak

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Antipsychotics (AP induce weight gain. However, reviews and meta-analyses generally are restricted to second generation antipsychotics (SGA and do not stratify for duration of AP use. It is hypothesised that patients gain more weight if duration of AP use is longer. METHOD: A meta-analysis was conducted of clinical trials of AP that reported weight change. Outcome measures were body weight change, change in BMI and clinically relevant weight change (7% weight gain or loss. Duration of AP-use was stratified as follows: ≤6 weeks, 6-16 weeks, 16-38 weeks and >38 weeks. Forest plots stratified by AP as well as by duration of use were generated and results were summarised in figures. RESULTS: 307 articles met inclusion criteria. The majority were AP switch studies. Almost all AP showed a degree of weight gain after prolonged use, except for amisulpride, aripiprazole and ziprasidone, for which prolonged exposure resulted in negligible weight change. The level of weight gain per AP varied from discrete to severe. Contrary to expectations, switch of AP did not result in weight loss for amisulpride, aripiprazole or ziprasidone. In AP-naive patients, weight gain was much more pronounced for all AP. CONCLUSION: Given prolonged exposure, virtually all AP are associated with weight gain. The rational of switching AP to achieve weight reduction may be overrated. In AP-naive patients, weight gain is more pronounced.

Directional amplifier in an optomechanical system with optical gain

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Cheng; Song, L. N.; Li, Yong

2018-05-01

Directional amplifiers are crucial nonreciprocal devices in both classical and quantum information processing. Here we propose a scheme for realizing a directional amplifier between optical and microwave fields based on an optomechanical system with optical gain, where an active optical cavity and two passive microwave cavities are coupled to a common mechanical resonator via radiation pressure. The two passive cavities are coupled via hopping interaction to facilitate the directional amplification between the active and passive cavities. We obtain the condition of achieving optical directional amplification and find that the direction of amplification can be controlled by the phase differences between the effective optomechanical couplings. The effects of the gain rate of the active cavity and the effective coupling strengths on the maximum gain of the amplifier are discussed. We show that the noise added to this amplifier can be greatly suppressed in the large cooperativity limit.

Stable Same-Sex Friendships with Higher Achieving Partners Promote Mathematical Reasoning in Lower Achieving Primary School Children

Science.gov (United States)

DeLay, Dawn; Laursen, Brett; Kiuru, Noona; Poikkeus, Anna-Maija; Aunola, Kaisa; Nurmi, Jari-Erik

2015-01-01

This study is designed to investigate friend influence over mathematical reasoning in a sample of 374 children in 187 same-sex friend dyads (184 girls in 92 friendships; 190 boys in 95 friendships). Participants completed surveys that measured mathematical reasoning in the 3rd grade (approximately 9 years old) and one year later in the 4th grade (approximately 10 years old). Analyses designed for dyadic data (i.e., longitudinal Actor-Partner Interdependence Models) indicated that higher achieving friends influenced the mathematical reasoning of lower achieving friends, but not the reverse. Specifically, greater initial levels of mathematical reasoning among higher achieving partners in the 3rd grade predicted greater increases in mathematical reasoning from 3rd grade to 4th grade among lower achieving partners. These effects held after controlling for peer acceptance and rejection, task avoidance, interest in mathematics, maternal support for homework, parental education, length of the friendship, and friendship group norms on mathematical reasoning. PMID:26402901

Age differences in gain- and loss-motivated attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Ryan S; Biel, Anna Lena; Dyson, Benjamin J; Spaniol, Julia

2017-02-01

Adaptive gain theory (Aston-Jones & Cohen, 2005) suggests that the phasic release of norepinephrine (NE) to cortical areas reflects changes in the utility of ongoing tasks. In the context of aging, this theory raises interesting questions, given that the motivations of older adults differ from those of younger adults. According to socioemotional selectivity theory (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999), aging is associated with greater emphasis on emotion-regulation goals, leading older adults to prioritize positive over negative information. This suggests that the phasic release of NE in response to threatening stimuli may be diminished in older adults. In the present study, younger adults (aged 18-34years) and older adults (60-82years) completed the Attention Network Test (ANT), modified to include an incentive manipulation. A behavioral index of attentional alerting served as a marker of phasic arousal. For younger adults, this marker correlated with the effect of both gain and loss incentives on performance. For older adults, in contrast, the correlation between phasic arousal and incentive sensitivity held for gain incentives only. These findings suggest that the enlistment of phasic NE activity may be specific to approach-oriented motivation in older adults. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Variations in resting energy expenditure: impact on gestational weight gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Berggren, E K; O'Tierney-Ginn, P; Lewis, S; Presley, L; De-Mouzon, S Hauguel; Catalano, P M

2017-10-01

There are significant variations in gestational weight gain, with many women gaining in excess of the Institute of Medicine guidelines. Unfortunately, efforts to improve appropriate gestational weight gain have had only limited success. To date, interventions have focused primarily on decreasing energy intake and/or increasing physical activity. Maternal resting energy expenditure, which comprises ∼60% of total energy expenditure compared with the ∼20% that comes from physical activity, may be an important consideration in understanding variations in gestational weight gain. Our objective was to quantify the changes in resting energy expenditure during pregnancy and their relationship to gestational weight gain and body composition changes among healthy women. We hypothesized that greater gestational weight gain, and fat mass accrual in particular, are inversely related to variations in resting energy expenditure. We conducted a secondary analysis of a prospective cohort studied before conception and late pregnancy (34-36 weeks). Body composition (estimated using hydrodensitometry) and resting energy expenditure (estimated using indirect calorimetry) were measured. The relationship between the changes in resting energy expenditure and gestational weight gain and the change in fat mass and fat-free mass were quantified. Resting energy expenditure was expressed as kilocalories per kilogram of fat-free mass per day (kilocalories per kilogram of fat-free mass -1 /day -1 ) and kilocalories per day. Correlations are reported as r. Among 51 women, preconception body mass index was 23.0 (4.7) kg/m 2 ; gestational weight gain was 12.8 (4.7) kg. Preconception and late pregnancy resting energy expenditure (kilocalories per day) correlated positively with the change in fat-free mass (r = 0.37, P = .008; r = 0.51, P = .001). Late-pregnancy resting energy expenditure (kilocalories per kilogram of fat-free mass -1 /day -1 ) was inversely associated with the change in fat

Neutron gain for converging guide tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mildner, D.F.R.

1982-01-01

The method of acceptance diagrams is used to obtain analytical expressions for the neutron gain of a one-dimensional converging guide tube. It is found that the results are more easily expressed by analyzing the acceptance diagram at the exit of the funnel. The results are compared with those for the straight guide. When both guides have the same dimensions at the guide exit, the converging guide has higher transmitted intensity but with greater divergence of the beam. This analytical method is useful to assess the performance of a converging guide, though numerical computations may be required for detailed analysis of a guide system. (orig.)

Plasmonic modulator based on gain-assisted metal-semiconductor-metal waveguide

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Babicheva, Viktoriia E.; Kulkova, Irina V.; Malureanu, Radu

2012-01-01

. The modulation is achieved by changing the gain of the core that results in different transmittance through the waveguides. A MSM waveguide enables high field localization and therefore high modulation speed. Bulk semiconductor, quantum wells and quantum dots, arranged in either horizontal or vertical layout......, are considered as the core of the MSM waveguide. Dependences on the waveguide core size and gain values of various active materials are studied. The designs consider also practical aspects like n- and p-doped layers and barriers in order to obtain results as close to reality. The effective propagation constants...

A 60-dB linear VGA with novel exponential gain approximation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Jiaye; Tan Xi; Wang Junyu; Tang Zhangwen; Min Hao

2009-01-01

A CMOS variable gain amplifier (VGA) that adopts a novel exponential gain approximation is presented. No additional exponential gain control circuit is required in the proposed VGA used in a direct conversion receiver. A wide gain control voltage from 0.4 to 1.8 V and a high linearity performance are achieved. The three-stage VGA with automatic gain control (AGC) and DC offset cancellation (DCOC) is fabricated in a 0.18-μm CMOS technology and shows a linear gain range of more than 58-dB with a linearity error less than ±1 dB. The 3-dB bandwidth is over 8 MHz at all gain settings. The measured input-referred third intercept point (IIP3) of the proposed VGA varies from -18.1 to 13.5 dBm, and the measured noise figure varies from 27 to 65 dB at a frequency of 1 MHz. The dynamic range of the closed-loop AGC exceeds 56 dB, where the output signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio (SNDR) reaches 20 dB. The whole circuit, occupying 0.3 mm 2 of chip area, dissipates less than 3.7 mA from a 1.8-V supply.

Prepregnancy body mass index, gestational weight gain, and birth weight in the BRISA cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, Raina Jansen Cutrim Propp; Batista, Rosângela Fernandes Lucena; Ribeiro, Marizélia Rodrigues Costa; Ribeiro, Cecília Cláudia Costa; Simões, Vanda Maria Ferreira; Lima Neto, Pedro Martins; Silva, Antônio Augusto Moura da; Bettiol, Heloisa

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVE To analyze the effects of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index and weight gain during pregnancy on the baby's birth weight. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study with 5,024 mothers and their newborns using a Brazilian birth cohort study. In the proposed model, estimated by structural equation modeling, we tested socioeconomic status, age, marital status, pre-pregnancy body mass index, smoking habit and alcohol consumption during pregnancy, hypertension and gestational diabetes, gestational weight gain, and type of delivery as determinants of the baby's birth weight. RESULTS For a gain of 4 kg/m2 (1 Standard Deviation [SD]) in pre-pregnancy body mass index, there was a 0.126 SD increase in birth weight, corresponding to 68 grams (p gestational weight gain represented a 0.280 SD increase in newborn weight, correponding to 151.2 grams (p weight was direct (standardized coefficient [SC] = 0.202; p weight gain during pregnancy (SC = -0.070, p weight gain during pregnany on birth weight was predominantly direct (SC = 0.269, p gained less weight during pregnancy (p gestational weight gain on the increase in birth weight was greater than that of pre-pregnancy body mass index.

Gestational Weight Gain and Overweight in Children Aged 3–6 Years

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Lianhong; Liu, Jufen; Ye, Rongwei; Liu, Jianmeng; Zhuang, Zhixiong; Ren, Aiguo

2015-01-01

Objective To determine whether gestational weight gain (GWG) was associated with increased odds of childhood overweight after accounting for pre-pregnancy BMI. Methods In a prospective cohort study based on a premarital and perinatal health care system in China, data of 100 612 mother-child pairs were obtained. The main exposure was GWG as both a continuous and categorical variable. The outcome measure was overweight, defined by age- and sex-specific cutoff values for body mass index (BMI) in children aged 3–6 years. Results A 1-kg increase in maternal GWG was associated with an increase of 0.009 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.007–0.010, P children’s mean BMI; in the subgroup of pre-pregnancy overweight/obese mothers, the increase in children’s BMI was 0.028 (95% CI, 0.017–0.039, P overweight when adequate GWG was used as the reference, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.21 (95% CI, 1.12–1.29). The risk was highest (OR 2.22; 95% CI, 1.79–2.76) in the children of mothers who were overweight/obese before pregnancy and gained excessive weight during pregnancy. Conclusions Greater maternal GWG was associated with greater offspring BMI, and the risk of overweight was doubled in children whose mothers were overweight/obese before pregnancy and gained excessive weight during pregnancy. As a result, maintenance of appropriate weight gain during pregnancy and prophylaxis of maternal overweight/obesity before pregnancy should be a strategy for preventing childhood overweight/obesity. PMID:26119288

Robust Optimal Adaptive Control Method with Large Adaptive Gain

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Nhan T.

2009-01-01

In the presence of large uncertainties, a control system needs to be able to adapt rapidly to regain performance. Fast adaptation is referred to the implementation of adaptive control with a large adaptive gain to reduce the tracking error rapidly. However, a large adaptive gain can lead to high-frequency oscillations which can adversely affect robustness of an adaptive control law. A new adaptive control modification is presented that can achieve robust adaptation with a large adaptive gain without incurring high-frequency oscillations as with the standard model-reference adaptive control. The modification is based on the minimization of the Y2 norm of the tracking error, which is formulated as an optimal control problem. The optimality condition is used to derive the modification using the gradient method. The optimal control modification results in a stable adaptation and allows a large adaptive gain to be used for better tracking while providing sufficient stability robustness. Simulations were conducted for a damaged generic transport aircraft with both standard adaptive control and the adaptive optimal control modification technique. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed modification in tracking a reference model while maintaining a sufficient time delay margin.

A high voltage gain quasi Z-source isolated DC/DC converter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siwakoti, Yam P.; Blaabjerg, Frede; Loh, Poh Chiang

2014-01-01

A compact quasi-Z-source DC/DC converter is presented with high voltage gain, isolated output, and improved efficiency. The improvements in size and performance were achieved by using a square wave inverter with only two output switches driving an isolating transformer in push-pull mode, followed...... by a voltage doubling output rectifier. The converter is well-suited to applications requiring a high voltage gain, especially renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic and fuel-cell power supplies. To demonstrate the converter's performance a prototype designed to output 400 V at 500 W was constructed...

High-Gain Shock Ignition on the National Ignition Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, L. J.; Lafortune, K.; Bailey, D.; Lambert, M.; MacKinnon, A.; Blackfield, D.; Comley, A.; Schurtz, G.; Ribeyre, X.; Lebel, E.; Casner, A.; Craxton, R. S.; Betti, R.; McKenty, P.; Anderson, K.; Theobald, W.; Schmitt, A.; Atzeni, S.; Schiavi, A.

2010-11-01

Shock ignition offers the possibility for a near-term test of high-gain ICF on the NIF at less than 1MJ drive energy and with day-1 laser hardware. We will summarize the status of target performance simulations, delineate the critical issues and describe the R&D program to be performed in order to test the potential of a shock-ignited target on NIF. In shock ignition, compressed fuel is separately ignited by a late-time laser-driven shock and, because capsule implosion velocities are significantly lower than those required for conventional hotpot ignition, simulations indicate that fusion energy gains of 60 may be achievable at laser energies around 0.5MJ. Like fast ignition, shock ignition offers high gain but requires only a single laser with less demanding timing and focusing requirements. Conventional symmetry and stability constraints apply, thus a key immediate step towards attempting shock ignition on NIF is to demonstrate adequacy of low-mode uniformity and shock symmetry under polar drive

Effect of Gestational Weight Gain and Prepregnancy Body Mass Index in Adolescent Mothers on Weight and Body Mass Index of Adolescent Offspring.

Science.gov (United States)

Groth, Susan W; Holland, Margaret L; Smith, Joyce A; Meng, Ying; Kitzman, Harriet

2017-11-01

The purpose of the study was to examine the association of the gestational weight gain and prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) of low-income adolescent mothers with the risk of their children being overweight and/or obese in late adolescence. Study subjects were low-income, primiparous adolescents (n = 360) who self-identified as black and participated in the New Mothers Study in Memphis, Tennessee, and their children. Gestational weight gain was examined as a continuous variable and also categorized into overgain, recommended gain, and undergain following the 2009 Institute of Medicine guidelines. The effects of maternal prepregnancy BMI percentiles and calculated BMI were also considered. Multivariable logistic and linear regression models were used. The main outcome measures were offspring overweight, obesity, and BMI. Thirty-nine percent of offspring were overweight or obese. Higher maternal gestational weight gain increased the risk for offspring overweight and obesity. There was an interaction between gestational weight gain and prepregnancy BMI: offspring of mothers with a BMI percentile ≤76 were at greater risk of obesity with higher maternal weight gain. If mothers with a BMI percentile between the 29th and 83rd percentiles overgained, offspring were at greater risk for overweight. Using calculated BMIs, if a mother's BMI was ≤26 kg/m 2 , offspring risk for obesity was greater with higher gestational weight gain. High gestational weight gain had a larger effect on offspring overweight and obesity if maternal prepregnancy BMI percentile was ≤76. The gestational weight gain of primiparous adolescents who self-identified as black had an effect on offspring weight. Copyright © 2017 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gestational weight gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Kominiarek, Michelle A; Peaceman, Alan M

2017-12-01

Prenatal care providers are advised to evaluate maternal weight at each regularly scheduled prenatal visit, monitor progress toward meeting weight gain goals, and provide individualized counseling if significant deviations from a woman's goals occur. Today, nearly 50% of women exceed their weight gain goals with overweight and obese women having the highest prevalence of excessive weight gain. Risks of inadequate weight gain include low birthweight and failure to initiate breast-feeding whereas the risks of excessive weight gain include cesarean deliveries and postpartum weight retention for the mother and large-for-gestational-age infants, macrosomia, and childhood overweight or obesity for the offspring. Prenatal care providers have many resources and tools to incorporate weight and other health behavior counseling into routine prenatal practices. Because many women are motivated to improve health behaviors, pregnancy is often considered the optimal time to intervene for issues related to eating habits and physical activity to prevent excessive weight gain. Gestational weight gain is a potentially modifiable risk factor for a number of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials report that diet or exercise interventions during pregnancy can help reduce excessive weight gain. However, health behavior interventions for gestational weight gain have not significantly improved other maternal and neonatal outcomes and have limited effectiveness in overweight and obese women. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integrated Three-Voltage-Booster DC-DC Converter to Achieve High Voltage Gain with Leakage-Energy Recycling for PV or Fuel-Cell Power Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Lung Shen

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an integrated three-voltage-booster DC-DC (direct current to direct current converter is proposed to achieve high voltage gain for renewable-energy generation systems. The proposed converter integrates three voltage-boosters into one power stage, which is composed of an active switch, a coupled-inductor, five diodes, and five capacitors. As compared with conventional high step-up converters, it has a lower component count. In addition, the features of leakage-energy recycling and switching loss reduction can be accomplished for conversion efficiency improvement. While the active switch is turned off, the converter can inherently clamp the voltage across power switch and suppress voltage spikes. Moreover, the reverse-recovery currents of all diodes can be alleviated by leakage inductance. A 200 W prototype operating at 100 kHz switching frequency with 36 V input and 400 V output is implemented to verify the theoretical analysis and to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed high step-up DC-DC converter.

Compensation of propagation loss of surface plasmon polaritons with a finite-thickness dielectric gain layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Xin; Liu, Haitao; Zhong, Ying

2012-01-01

We theoretically study the compensation of propagation loss of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) with the use of a finite-thickness dielectric layer with optical gain. The impacts of the gain coefficient, the gain-layer thickness and the wavelength on the loss compensation and the field distribution of the SPP mode are systematically explored with a fully vectorial method. Abnormal behaviors for the loss compensation as the gain-layer thickness increases are found and explained. Critical values of the gain coefficient and of the corresponding gain-layer thickness for just compensating the propagation loss are provided. Our results show that as the SPP propagation loss is fully compensated with a gain coefficient at a reasonably low level, the gain layer is still thin enough to ensure a large exterior SPP field at the gain-layer/air interface, which is important for achieving a strong light–matter interaction for applications such as bio-chemical sensing. (paper)

Radiation cooling and gain calculation for C VI 182 A line in C/Se plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nam, C.H.; Valeo, E.; Suckewer, S.; Feldman, U.

1986-04-01

A model is developed which is capable of describing the evolution of gain resulting from both rapid radiative and expansion cooling of a recombining, freely expanding plasma. It is demonstrated for the particular case of a carbon/selenium plasma that the cooling rate which leads to optimal gain can be achieved by adjusting the admixture of an efficiently radiating material (selenium) in the gain medium (carbon). Comparison is made to a recent observation of gain in a recent NRL/Rochester experiment with carbon/selenium plasma for the n = 3 → 2 transition in C VI occurring at 182 A. The predicted maximum gain is approx.10 cm -1 , as compared to observation of 2 to 3 cm -1

Operational gain : measuring the capture of genetic gain ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The concept of operational gain is more than the weighted average of the genetic quality of planted hectares, and encompasses tree breeding efficiencies, propagation efficiencies, matching of species and genotype to site, plant use efficiency and early measures of stand density and growth. To test the operational gain ...

Achievement goal profiles and developments in effort and achievement in upper elementary school.

Science.gov (United States)

Hornstra, Lisette; Majoor, Marieke; Peetsma, Thea

2017-12-01

The multiple goal perspective posits that certain combinations of achievement goals are more favourable than others in terms of educational outcomes. This study aimed to examine longitudinally whether students' achievement goal profiles and transitions between profiles are associated with developments in self-reported and teacher-rated effort and academic achievement in upper elementary school. Participants were 722 fifth-grade students and their teachers in fifth and sixth grade (N = 68). Students reported on their achievement goals and effort in language and mathematics three times in grade 5 to grade 6. Teachers rated students' general school effort. Achievement scores were obtained from school records. Goal profiles were derived with latent profile and transition analyses. Longitudinal multilevel analyses were conducted. Theoretically favourable goal profiles (high mastery and performance-approach goals, low on performance-avoidance goals), as well as transitions from less to more theoretically favourable goal profiles, were associated with higher levels and more growth in effort for language and mathematics and with stronger language achievement gains. Overall, these results provide support for the multiple goal perspective and show the sustained benefits of favourable goal profiles beyond effects of cognitive ability and background characteristics. © 2017 The Authors. British Journal of Education Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.

Greater Strength Gains after Training with Accentuated Eccentric than Traditional Isoinertial Loads in Already Strength-Trained Men

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Simon; Blazevich, Anthony J.; Haff, G. Gregory; Tufano, James J.; Newton, Robert U.; Häkkinen, Keijo

2016-01-01

As training experience increases it becomes more challenging to induce further neuromuscular adaptation. Consequently, strength trainers seek alternative training methods in order to further increase strength and muscle mass. One method is to utilize accentuated eccentric loading, which applies a greater external load during the eccentric phase of the lift as compared to the concentric phase. Based upon this practice, the purpose of this study was to determine the effects of 10 weeks of accentuated eccentric loading vs. traditional isoinertial resistance training in strength-trained men. Young (22 ± 3 years, 177 ± 6 cm, 76 ± 10 kg, n = 28) strength-trained men (2.6 ± 2.2 years experience) were allocated to concentric-eccentric resistance training in the form of accentuated eccentric load (eccentric load = concentric load + 40%) or traditional resistance training, while the control group continued their normal unsupervised training program. Both intervention groups performed three sets of 6-RM (session 1) and three sets of 10-RM (session 2) bilateral leg press and unilateral knee extension exercises per week. Maximum force production was measured by unilateral isometric (110° knee angle) and isokinetic (concentric and eccentric 30°.s−1) knee extension tests, and work capacity was measured by a knee extension repetition-to-failure test. Muscle mass was assessed using panoramic ultrasonography and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Surface electromyogram amplitude normalized to maximum M-wave and the twitch interpolation technique were used to examine maximal muscle activation. After training, maximum isometric torque increased significantly more in the accentuated eccentric load group than control (18 ± 10 vs. 1 ± 5%, p < 0.01), which was accompanied by an increase in voluntary activation (3.5 ± 5%, p < 0.05). Isokinetic eccentric torque increased significantly after accentuated eccentric load training only (10 ± 9%, p < 0.05), whereas concentric torque

A Fixed-Frequency Bidirectional Resonant DC-DC Converter Suitable for Wide Voltage Gain Range

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shen, Yanfeng; Wang, Huai; Blaabjerg, Frede

2017-01-01

This paper proposes a new bidirectional resonant dc-dc converter suitable for wide voltage gain range applications (e.g., energy storage systems). The proposed converter overcomes the narrow voltage gain range of conventional resonant DC-DC converters, and meanwhile achieves high efficiency...... and characteristics of the proposed converter are analyzed. Finally, a 1-kW converter prototype is built and the experimental results verify the theoretical analyses....

Prediction of direct and indirect genetic gains and genotypic correlations in rubber tree progenies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cecília Khusala Verardi

2011-09-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to estimate the genetic parameters, genotypic and phenotypic correlations, and direct and indirect genetic gains among and within rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis progenies. The experiment was set up at the Municipality of Jaú, SP, Brazil. A randomized complete block design was used, with 22 treatments (progenies, 6 replicates, and 10 plants per plot at a spacing of 3x3 m. Three‑year‑old progenies were assessed for girth, rubber yield, and bark thickness by direct and indirect gains and genotypic correlations. The number of latex vessel rings showed the best correlations, correlating positively and significantly with girth and bark thickness. Selection gains among progenies were greater than within progeny for all the variables analyzed. Total gains obtained were high, especially for girth increase and rubber yield, which were 93.38 and 105.95%, respectively. Young progeny selection can maximize the expected genetic gains, reducing the rubber tree selection cycle.

Utilizing wideband AMC structures for high-gain inkjet-printed antennas on lossy paper substrate

KAUST Repository

Cook, Benjamin Stassen

2013-01-01

Significant gain and bandwidth improvement of inkjet-printed antennas with integrated artificial magnetic conductor (AMC) is achieved by utilizing wideband ground-backed frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) to overcome the high losses of organic substrates such as paper. A microstrip-fed monopole mounted on an artificial magnetic conductor is demonstrated to improve the gain by 5 dB over previous works and exhibit much wider impedance bandwidth while maintaining a thin antenna profile and a 20% electrical size reduction. The effect of AMC bandwidth on substrate losses and the gain reduction caused by finite AMC array effects are investigated in an effort to produce high-gain, miniaturized, low-cost wearable and structure mount antennas. © 2013 IEEE.

Effect of Resistance Training Frequency on Gains in Muscular Strength: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Grgic, Jozo; Schoenfeld, Brad J; Davies, Timothy B; Lazinica, Bruno; Krieger, James W; Pedisic, Zeljko

2018-05-01

 = 0.421) of RT frequency on muscular strength gains. The subgroup analysis for exercise selection for the 1RM test suggested a significant effect of RT frequency on multi-joint (p effect of frequency (p = 0.004) for upper body, but not lower body, strength gains (p = 0.070). In the subgroup analysis for studies in which the training was and was not carried out to muscular failure, no significant effect of RT frequency was found. The subgroup analysis for the age groups suggested a significant effect of training frequency among young adults (p = 0.024), but not among middle-aged and older adults (p = 0.093). Finally, the subgroup analysis for sex indicated a significant effect of RT frequency on strength gains in women (p = 0.030), but not men (p = 0.190). The results of the present systematic review and meta-analysis suggest a significant effect of RT frequency as higher training frequencies are translated into greater muscular strength gains. However, these effects seem to be primarily driven by training volume because when the volume is equated, there was no significant effect of RT frequency on muscular strength gains. Thus, from a practical standpoint, greater training frequencies can be used for additional RT volume, which is then likely to result in greater muscular strength gains. However, it remains unclear whether RT frequency on its own has significant effects on strength gain. It seems that higher RT frequencies result in greater gains in muscular strength on multi-joint exercises in the upper body and in women, and, finally, in contrast to older adults, young individuals seem to respond more positively to greater RT frequencies. More evidence among resistance-trained individuals is needed as most of the current studies were performed in untrained participants.

Emotional eating as a mediator between depression and weight gain.

Science.gov (United States)

van Strien, Tatjana; Konttinen, Hanna; Homberg, Judith R; Engels, Rutger C M E; Winkens, Laura H H

2016-05-01

Depression is often associated with weight gain but underlying mechanisms are unclear. This study assessed whether three psychological eating styles (emotional eating, external eating and restrained eating) act as mediators between depression and weight gain. We used structural equation modelling to test the hypothesized mediation models in a sample of 298 fathers and 294 mothers by assessing self-reported eating styles (Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire), depressive feelings (Depressive Mood List) and body mass index (BMI) at baseline and BMI after five years. In the model with emotional eating we also assessed the moderation effect of 5-HTTLPR genotype in a sub-sample of 520 Caucasians. All analyses were performed separately for the two sexes. Although the overall effect of depression on weight gain was statistically non-significant in both sexes, there was a causal chain between depression, emotional eating and weight gain in the mothers. Depressive symptoms were related to higher emotional eating and emotional eating predicted greater increases in BMI independently of depression. Moreover, the indirect effect (via emotional eating) of depression on BMI change was significant (Beta = 0.18, P = 0.026). This mediation effect was found to be independent of 5-HTTLPR genotype. No such mediation effect was found for the fathers. Further, external eating and restrained eating did not act as mediators between depression and weight gain in either sex. The finding that emotional eating acted as mediator between depression and weight gain in the mothers suggests that obesity interventions should take emotional eating into account. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Impact of Kangaroo Care on Premature Infant Weight Gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Evereklian, Melvina; Posmontier, Bobbie

Preterm births occur among 11.4% of all live infant births. Without steady weight gain, premature infants may experience lengthy hospitalizations, neurodevelopmental deficits and hospital readmissions, which can increase the financial burden on the health care system and their families. The total U.S. health-related costs linked to preterm infant deliveries are estimated at $4.33 billion. Kangaroo care is a feasible practice that can improve preterm infant weight gain. However, this intervention is utilized less often throughout the U.S. due to numerous barriers including a lack of consistent protocols, inadequate knowledge, and decreased level of confidence in demonstrating the proper kangarooing technique. An integrative review was conducted to evaluate the impact of kangaroo care on premature infant weight gain in order to educate nurses about its efficacy among preterm infants. A literature search was conducted using CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane Reviews, ClinicalKey and Google Scholar. Large volume searches were restricted using appropriate filters and limiters. Most of the evaluated studies determined that weight gain was greater among the kangarooing premature infants. Kangaroo care is a low-tech low-cost modality that can facilitate improved preterm infant weight gain even in low-resource settings. Despite its current efficacy, kangaroo care is not widely utilized due to several barriers including an absence of standardized protocols and a lack of knowledge about its benefits. Kangaroo care can become a widespread formalized practice after nurses and parents learn about the technique and its numerous benefits for premature infants, including its association with improved weight gain. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparative Associations Between Achieved Bicultural Identity, Achieved Ego Identity, and Achieved Religious Identity and Adaptation Among Australian Adolescent Muslims.

Science.gov (United States)

Abu-Rayya, Hisham M; Abu-Rayya, Maram H; White, Fiona A; Walker, Richard

2018-04-01

This study examined the comparative roles of biculturalism, ego identity, and religious identity in the adaptation of Australian adolescent Muslims. A total of 504 high school Muslim students studying at high schools in metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, took part in this study which required them to complete a self-report questionnaire. Analyses indicated that adolescent Muslims' achieved religious identity seems to play a more important role in shaping their psychological and socio-cultural adaptation compared to adolescents' achieved bicultural identity. Adolescents' achieved ego identity tended also to play a greater role in their psychological and socio-cultural adaptation than achieved bicultural identity. The relationships between the three identities and negative indicators of psychological adaptation were consistently indifferent. Based on these findings, we propose that the three identity-based forces-bicultural identity development, religious identity attainment, and ego identity formation-be amalgamated into one framework in order for researchers to more accurately examine the adaptation of Australian adolescent Muslims.

Possible THz gain in superlattices at a stable operation point

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wacker, Andreas; Allen, S. J.; Scott, J. S.

1997-01-01

We demonstrate that semiconductor superlattices may provide gain at THz frequencies at an operation point which is stable against fluctuations at lower frequency. While an explicit experimental demonstration for the sample considered could not be achieved, the underlying principle of quantum resp...... response is quite general and may prove successful for differently designed superlattices....

Mechanisms of Gain Control by Voltage-Gated Channels in Intrinsically-Firing Neurons

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Ameera X.; Burdakov, Denis

2015-01-01

Gain modulation is a key feature of neural information processing, but underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In single neurons, gain can be measured as the slope of the current-frequency (input-output) relationship over any given range of inputs. While much work has focused on the control of basal firing rates and spike rate adaptation, gain control has been relatively unstudied. Of the limited studies on gain control, some have examined the roles of synaptic noise and passive somatic currents, but the roles of voltage-gated channels present ubiquitously in neurons have been less explored. Here, we systematically examined the relationship between gain and voltage-gated ion channels in a conductance-based, tonically-active, model neuron. Changes in expression (conductance density) of voltage-gated channels increased (Ca2+ channel), reduced (K+ channels), or produced little effect (h-type channel) on gain. We found that the gain-controlling ability of channels increased exponentially with the steepness of their activation within the dynamic voltage window (voltage range associated with firing). For depolarization-activated channels, this produced a greater channel current per action potential at higher firing rates. This allowed these channels to modulate gain by contributing to firing preferentially at states of higher excitation. A finer analysis of the current-voltage relationship during tonic firing identified narrow voltage windows at which the gain-modulating channels exerted their effects. As a proof of concept, we show that h-type channels can be tuned to modulate gain by changing the steepness of their activation within the dynamic voltage window. These results show how the impact of an ion channel on gain can be predicted from the relationship between channel kinetics and the membrane potential during firing. This is potentially relevant to understanding input-output scaling in a wide class of neurons found throughout the brain and other nervous systems

Does basal metabolic rate predict weight gain?12

Science.gov (United States)

Anthanont, Pimjai; Jensen, Michael D

2016-01-01

Background: Some previous studies have indicated that a low basal metabolic rate (BMR) is an independent predictor of future weight gain, but low rates of follow-up and highly select populations may limit the ability to generalize the results. Objective: We assessed whether adults with a low BMR gain more weight than do adults with a high BMR who are living in a typical Western environment. Design: We extracted BMR, body-composition, demographic, and laboratory data from electronic databases of 757 volunteers who were participating in our research protocols at the Mayo Clinic between 1995 and 2012. Research study volunteers were always weight stable, had no acute illnesses and no confounding medication use, and were nonsmokers. The top and bottom 15th percentiles of BMR, adjusted for fat-free mass (FFM), fat mass, age, and sex, were identified. Follow-up electronic medical record system data were available for 163 subjects, which allowed us to determine their subsequent weight changes for ≥3 y (mean: ∼9.7 y). Results: By definition, the BMR was different in the high-BMR group (2001 ± 317 kcal/d; n = 86) than in the low-BMR group (1510 ± 222 kcal/d; n = 77), but they were comparable with respect to age, body mass index, FFM, and fat mass. Rates of weight gain were not greater in the bottom BMR group (0.3 ± 1.0 kg/y) than in the top BMR group (0.5 ± 1.5 kg/y) (P = 0.17). Conclusion: Adults with low BMRs did not gain more weight than did adults with high BMRs, implying that habitual differences in food intake or activity counterbalance variations in BMR as a risk factor for weight gain in a typical Western population. PMID:27581474

Gestational Weight Gain and Overweight in Children Aged 3–6 Years

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lianhong Guo

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Objective: To determine whether gestational weight gain (GWG was associated with increased odds of childhood overweight after accounting for pre-pregnancy BMI. Methods: In a prospective cohort study based on a premarital and perinatal health care system in China, data of 100 612 mother-child pairs were obtained. The main exposure was GWG as both a continuous and categorical variable. The outcome measure was overweight, defined by age- and sex-specific cutoff values for body mass index (BMI in children aged 3–6 years. Results: A 1-kg increase in maternal GWG was associated with an increase of 0.009 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.007–0.010, P < 0.001 in children’s mean BMI; in the subgroup of pre-pregnancy overweight/obese mothers, the increase in children’s BMI was 0.028 (95% CI, 0.017–0.039, P < 0.001. Excessive GWG played an important role in childhood overweight when adequate GWG was used as the reference, with an odds ratio (OR of 1.21 (95% CI, 1.12–1.29. The risk was highest (OR 2.22; 95% CI, 1.79–2.76 in the children of mothers who were overweight/obese before pregnancy and gained excessive weight during pregnancy. Conclusions: Greater maternal GWG was associated with greater offspring BMI, and the risk of overweight was doubled in children whose mothers were overweight/obese before pregnancy and gained excessive weight during pregnancy. As a result, maintenance of appropriate weight gain during pregnancy and prophylaxis of maternal overweight/obesity before pregnancy should be a strategy for preventing childhood overweight/obesity.

Maximizing Lumen Gain With Directional Atherectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanley, Gregory A; Winscott, John G

2016-08-01

To describe the use of a low-pressure balloon inflation (LPBI) technique to delineate intraluminal plaque and guide directional atherectomy in order to maximize lumen gain and achieve procedure success. The technique is illustrated in a 77-year-old man with claudication who underwent superficial femoral artery revascularization using a HawkOne directional atherectomy catheter. A standard angioplasty balloon was inflated to 1 to 2 atm during live fluoroscopy to create a 3-dimensional "lumenogram" of the target lesion. Directional atherectomy was performed only where plaque impinged on the balloon at a specific fluoroscopic orientation. The results of the LPBI technique were corroborated with multimodality diagnostic imaging, including digital subtraction angiography, intravascular ultrasound, and intra-arterial pressure measurements. With the LPBI technique, directional atherectomy can routinely achieve <10% residual stenosis, as illustrated in this case, thereby broadly supporting a no-stent approach to lower extremity endovascular revascularization. © The Author(s) 2016.

Are training and transfer effects of working memory updating training modulated by achievement motivation?

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Xin; Xu, Yiwenjie; Fu, Junjun; Maes, Joseph H R

2018-04-01

Previous studies examining effects of working memory (WM) updating training revealed mixed results. One factor that might modulate training gains, and possibly also transfer of those gains to non-trained cognitive tasks, is achievement motivation. In the present Studies 1 and 2, students with either a high (HAM) or low (LAM) achievement motivation completed a 14-day visuospatial WM updating training program. In Study 2, the students also performed a set of tasks measuring other executive functions and fluid intelligence prior to and after training. In both studies, the HAM students displayed a larger training gain than the LAM students. Study 2 revealed that after training, both groups showed better performance on the near-transfer but not far-transfer tasks. Importantly, the differential training gain was not associated with better post-training performance for the HAM compared to the LAM students on any of the transfer tasks. These results are taken to support a modulatory role of achievement motivation on WM training benefits, but not on transfer of those benefits to other tasks. Possible reasons for the general improvement on the near-transfer tasks and the absence of a modulatory role of achievement motivation on transfer-task performance are discussed.

Biodiversity offsets and the challenge of achieving no net loss.

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, Toby A; VON Hase, Amrei; Brownlie, Susie; Ekstrom, Jonathan M M; Pilgrim, John D; Savy, Conrad E; Stephens, R T Theo; Treweek, Jo; Ussher, Graham T; Ward, Gerri; Ten Kate, Kerry

2013-12-01

Businesses, governments, and financial institutions are increasingly adopting a policy of no net loss of biodiversity for development activities. The goal of no net loss is intended to help relieve tension between conservation and development by enabling economic gains to be achieved without concomitant biodiversity losses. biodiversity offsets represent a necessary component of a much broader mitigation strategy for achieving no net loss following prior application of avoidance, minimization, and remediation measures. However, doubts have been raised about the appropriate use of biodiversity offsets. We examined what no net loss means as a desirable conservation outcome and reviewed the conditions that determine whether, and under what circumstances, biodiversity offsets can help achieve such a goal. We propose a conceptual framework to substitute the often ad hoc approaches evident in many biodiversity offset initiatives. The relevance of biodiversity offsets to no net loss rests on 2 fundamental premises. First, offsets are rarely adequate for achieving no net loss of biodiversity alone. Second, some development effects may be too difficult or risky, or even impossible, to offset. To help to deliver no net loss through biodiversity offsets, biodiversity gains must be comparable to losses, be in addition to conservation gains that may have occurred in absence of the offset, and be lasting and protected from risk of failure. Adherence to these conditions requires consideration of the wider landscape context of development and offset activities, timing of offset delivery, measurement of biodiversity, accounting procedures and rule sets used to calculate biodiversity losses and gains and guide offset design, and approaches to managing risk. Adoption of this framework will strengthen the potential for offsets to provide an ecologically defensible mechanism that can help reconcile conservation and development. Balances de Biodiversidad y el Reto de No Obtener P�

Achievable capacity of a spectrum sharing system over hyper fading channels

KAUST Repository

Ekin, Sabit

2009-11-01

Cognitive radio with spectrum sharing feature is a promising technique to address the spectrum under-utilization problem in dynamically changing environments. In this paper, achievable capacity gain of spectrum sharing systems over dynamic fading environments is studied. For the analysis, a theoretical fading model called hyper fading model that is suitable to the dynamic nature of cognitive radio channel is proposed. Closed-form expression of probability density function (PDF) and cumulative density function (CDF) of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for secondary users in spectrum sharing systems are derived. In addition, the capacity gains achievable with spectrum sharing systems in high and low power regions are obtained. Numerical simulations are performed to study the effects of different fading figures, average powers, interference temperature, and number of secondary users on the achievable capacity.

High-gain bipolar detector on float-zone silicon

Science.gov (United States)

Han, D. J.; Batignani, G.; Del Guerra, A.; Dalla Betta, G.-F.; Boscardin, M.; Bosisio, L.; Giorgi, M.; Forti, F.

2003-10-01

Since the float-zone (FZ) silicon has lower contaminations and longer minority-carrier lifetime than those in Czochralski silicon and other semiconductor materials, it has potential advantages to fabricate bipolar detectors on the high-purity FZ silicon substrate to achieve a high gain at ultra-low-signal levels. The authors present preliminary experimental results on a bipolar detector fabricated on an unusual high-purity FZ silicon substrate. A backside gettering layer of phosphorus-doped polysilicon was employed to preserve the long carrier lifetime of the high-purity FZ silicon. The device has been investigated in the detection of a continuous flux of X-ray and infrared light. The bipolar detector with a circular emitter of 2 mm diameter has demonstrated high gains up to 3820 for 22 keV X-ray from a 1 mCi Cd radioactive source (the X-ray photon flux, received by the detector is estimated to be ˜7.77×10 4/s). High gain up to 4400 for 0.17 nW light with a wavelength of 0.83 μm has been observed for the same device.

High-gain bipolar detector on float-zone silicon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han, D.J.; Batignani, G.; Guerra, A.D.A. Del; Dalla Betta, G.-F.; Boscardin, M.; Bosisio, L.; Giorgi, M.; Forti, F.

2003-01-01

Since the float-zone (FZ) silicon has lower contaminations and longer minority-carrier lifetime than those in Czochralski silicon and other semiconductor materials, it has potential advantages to fabricate bipolar detectors on the high-purity FZ silicon substrate to achieve a high gain at ultra-low-signal levels. The authors present preliminary experimental results on a bipolar detector fabricated on an unusual high-purity FZ silicon substrate. A backside gettering layer of phosphorus-doped polysilicon was employed to preserve the long carrier lifetime of the high-purity FZ silicon. The device has been investigated in the detection of a continuous flux of X-ray and infrared light. The bipolar detector with a circular emitter of 2 mm diameter has demonstrated high gains up to 3820 for 22 keV X-ray from a 1 mCi Cd radioactive source (the X-ray photon flux, received by the detector is estimated to be ∼7.77x10 4 /s). High gain up to 4400 for 0.17 nW light with a wavelength of 0.83 μm has been observed for the same device

Subgroup Achievement and Gap Trends: Hawaii

Science.gov (United States)

Center on Education Policy, 2010

2010-01-01

Hawaii showed improvement in reading and math in grade 8 at the basic, proficient, and advanced levels for Asian and white students, low income students, and boys and girls. Gains in math tended to be larger than in reading. Trends in closing achievement gaps were mixed. Comparable data were available from 2007 through 2009. (Contains 9 tables.)…

Placement and Achievement of Urban Hispanic Middle Schoolers with Specific Learning Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Barrocas, Lisa; Cramer, Elizabeth D.

2014-01-01

This study examined achievement gains in reading and math for Hispanic middle school students with specific learning disabilities in inclusive versus segregated settings in a large urban school district. The authors report learning gains for students with and without disabilities in inclusive versus segregated settings. Results indicate no…

Eruption of first permanent incisors and live weight gain in grazing yearling Angora goats.

Science.gov (United States)

McGregor, B A; Butler, K L

2013-05-01

To investigate the effects of the timing and duration of eruption of the first permanent incisors, live weight, sex and other factors on contemporaneous live weight gain in Angora goats. Goats were previously part of a pen study on the effects of energy intake of Angora does during pregnancy and lactation on kid development. The design was 3 levels of nutrition in mid-pregnancy by 2 levels of postnatal nutrition in 17 randomised blocks. Artificial insemination, ultrasound examination and feeding does in pens enabled accurate conduct of the study. After weaning, goats were grazed in sex groups. Live weight change between 14 and 20 months of age was related to deciduous first incisor loss and permanent first incisor development and other attributes assessed before the study. Live weight change was related to the elapsed time for first permanent incisors to commence eruption and to the length of time for first permanent incisors to erupt. This response was affected by sex. Over summer and autumn, entire males with short eruption intervals gained 2-3 kg more than entire males with long eruption intervals. Females that reached first permanent incisor eruption by mid-summer had a live weight gain of 3 kg more than those that reached the same development 3 months later. Live weight change in yearling Angora goats was associated with the process of first permanent incisor eruption. In females, live weight gain was greater when first permanent incisor eruption was earlier. In males, live weight gain was greater when first permanent incisor eruption was faster. © 2013 The Authors. Australian Veterinary Journal © 2013 Australian Veterinary Association.

TV Commercials as Achievement Scripts for Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Geis, F. L.; And Others

1984-01-01

Women who viewed four current, sex-stereotyped commercials emphasized homemaking over other achievement concerns in imagining their lives 10 years hence. Women who saw same commercials with sex roles reversed put significantly greater emphasis on their own achievement aspirations. Their more equal weighting of home and career matched men's. (CMG)

MOS current gain cells with electronically variable gain and constant bandwidth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klumperink, Eric A.M.; Seevinck, Evert

1989-01-01

Two MOS current gain cells are proposed that provide linear amplification of currents supplied by several linear MOS V-I converters. The gain is electronically variable by a voltage or a current and can be made insensitive to temperature and IC processing. The gain cells have a constant

Gain Enhancement of Low-Profile, Electrically Small Capacitive Feed Antennas Using Stacked Meander Lines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazuki Ide

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The present paper describes the gain enhancement of a small and low-profile linear antenna with capacitive feed (C-feed using three metallic layers. The antenna has very small leakage current on the outer conductor of the coaxial cable and can easily control the imaginary part of the input impedance. The gain of the stacked three-layer meander line antenna, with the meander line in the middle layer being opposite to that of the other two layers, has increased by around 7 dB compared to the single layered C-feed antenna. The antenna gain is discussed based on simulated and measured results, which demonstrates that the antenna has successfully achieved the acceptable impedance and sufficient gain for mobile terminals and RFID tags.

Effective admissions practices to achieve greater student diversity in dental schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Price, Shelia S; Grant-Mills, Donna

2010-10-01

In this chapter we describe the institutional and policy-level strategies that dental schools in the Pipeline, Profession, and Practice: Community-Based Dental Education program used to modify their admissions practices to increase the diversity of their student bodies. Schools developed and used clear statements recognizing the value of diversity. They incorporated recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings regarding educational diversity into their revised admissions practices; these rulings cited diversity as both a "compelling interest" and its use in only "narrowly tailored" circumstances. We make a case for admissions decisions based on a comprehensive evaluation that balances the quantitative and qualitative qualities of a candidate. It refutes the practice of overreliance on standardized tests by detailing the whole-file review process to measure merit and professional promise. Also described is a range of noncognitive variables (e.g., leadership, ability to sustain academic achievement with competing priorities, volunteerism, communication, social background, and disadvantaged status) that schools can take into consideration in admissions decisions. Admissions committees can tie this comprehensive review of candidates into the case for promoting cross-cultural understanding and enhanced competence to provide care to patients from diverse backgrounds. In addition, the chapter reviews the challenges schools face in developing admissions policies and procedures that reflect the university's mission for diversity. It addresses the importance of a diverse composition of the admissions committee. It also describes how tailored workshops and technical assistance for admissions committees can help schools improve their student diversity and how admissions committees can engage in a process of periodic review of their diversity objectives in relationship to the school's mission.

Polarization-insensitive optical gain characteristics of highly stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dots

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kita, Takashi; Suwa, Masaya; Kaizu, Toshiyuki; Harada, Yukihiro

2014-01-01

The polarized optical gain characteristics of highly stacked InAs/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) with a thin spacer layer fabricated on an n + -GaAs (001) substrate were studied in the sub-threshold gain region. Using a 4.0-nm-thick spacer layer, we realized an electronically coupled QD superlattice structure along the stacking direction, which enabled the enhancement of the optical gain of the [001] transverse-magnetic (TM) polarization component. We systematically studied the polarized electroluminescence properties of laser devices containing 30 and 40 stacked InAs/GaAs QDs. The net modal gain was analyzed using the Hakki-Paoli method. Owing to the in-plane shape anisotropy of QDs, the polarization sensitivity of the gain depends on the waveguide direction. The gain showing polarization isotropy between the TM and transverse-electric polarization components is high for the [110] waveguide structure, which occurs for higher amounts of stacked QDs. Conversely, the isotropy of the [−110] waveguide is easily achieved even if the stacking is relatively low, although the gain is small.

Factors affecting pregnancy weight gain and relationships with maternal/fetal outcomes in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Akgun, Nilufer; Keskin, Huseyin L.; Ustuner, Isık; Pekcan, Gulden; Avsar, Ayse F.

2017-01-01

Objectives: To determine the effects of pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain on maternal and fetal complications, and to examine whether Turkish women achieve the recommended gestational weight gain. We also investigated the relationship between pregnancy weight gain and mode of delivery, with an examination of maternal anthropometry. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on a population of 986 pregnant women between November 2011 and November 2015 at Atatürk Education and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. Maternal age, BMI, monthly weight gain during pregnancy, infant birth weight, gender, and maternal and fetal adverse outcomes were evaluated. Results: The frequency of maternal complications was positively associated with elevated pre-pregnancy BMI (p0.05). The percentage of women who gained the Institute of Medicine (IOM)-recommended amount of weight was the highest in the underweight BMI group (54.1%) and the lowest in the obese BMI group (24.3%). Pregnancy weight gain exceeded IOM recommendations in the overweight (56.3%) and obese (52.5%) groups. Conclusions: While maternal weight gain during pregnancy affects neonatal body weight, higher pre-pregnancy BMI has an adverse effect on recommended weight gain during pregnancy, with increased maternal complications. PMID:28439600

Gain Enhancement of a Microstrip Patch Antenna Using a Reflecting Layer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anwer Sabah Mekki

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A low profile, unidirectional, dual layer, and narrow bandwidth microstrip patch antenna is designed to resonate at 2.45 GHz. The proposed antenna is suitable for specific applications, such as security and military systems, which require a narrow bandwidth and a small antenna size. This work is mainly focused on increasing the gain as well as reducing the size of the unidirectional patch antenna. The proposed antenna is simulated and measured. According to the simulated and measured results, it is shown that the unidirectional antenna has a higher gain and a higher front to back ratio (F/B than the bidirectional one. This is achieved by using a second flame retardant layer (FR-4, coated with an annealed copper of 0.035 mm at both sides, with an air gap of 0.04λ0 as a reflector. A gain of 5.2 dB with directivity of 7.6 dBi, F/B of 9.5 dB, and −18 dB return losses (S11 are achieved through the use of a dual substrate layer of FR-4 with a relative permittivity of 4.3 and a thickness of 1.6 mm. The proposed dual layer microstrip patch antenna has an impedance bandwidth of 2% and the designed antenna shows very low complexity during fabrication.

Overview of Milestone E activities, greater confinement than shallow land burial

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mezga, L.J.

1981-01-01

In summary, the objective of Milestone E is to provide the technology and documentation needed to open a site providing greater confinement than shallow land burial. To that end, ORNL has prepared a technical position paper defining greater confinement disposal, options for achieving it, and the need for this disposal technology. In order to meet the objective of the milestones, the LLWMP evaluated the full range of options to shallow land burial and decided to focus on a combination of greater depth solidification containment and engineered barriers. The program identified a series of research needs and then focused program efforts on resolving those needs. These tasks are proceeding on schedule at this time but budget reductions may have an impact on our ability to maintain the schedule

Quantitative Guidance for Stove Usage and Performance to Achieve Health and Environmental Targets.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Michael A; Chiang, Ranyee A

2015-08-01

Displacing the use of polluting and inefficient cookstoves in developing countries is necessary to achieve the potential health and environmental benefits sought through clean cooking solutions. Yet little quantitative context has been provided on how much displacement of traditional technologies is needed to achieve targets for household air pollutant concentrations or fuel savings. This paper provides instructive guidance on the usage of cooking technologies required to achieve health and environmental improvements. We evaluated different scenarios of displacement of traditional stoves with use of higher performing technologies. The air quality and fuel consumption impacts were estimated for these scenarios using a single-zone box model of indoor air quality and ratios of thermal efficiency. Stove performance and usage should be considered together, as lower performing stoves can result in similar or greater benefits than a higher performing stove if the lower performing stove has considerably higher displacement of the baseline stove. Based on the indoor air quality model, there are multiple performance-usage scenarios for achieving modest indoor air quality improvements. To meet World Health Organization guidance levels, however, three-stone fire and basic charcoal stove usage must be nearly eliminated to achieve the particulate matter target (< 1-3 hr/week), and substantially limited to meet the carbon monoxide guideline (< 7-9 hr/week). Moderate health gains may be achieved with various performance-usage scenarios. The greatest benefits are estimated to be achieved by near-complete displacement of traditional stoves with clean technologies, emphasizing the need to shift in the long term to near exclusive use of clean fuels and stoves. The performance-usage scenarios are also provided as a tool to guide technology selection and prioritize behavior change opportunities to maximize impact.

The effects of modeling instruction on high school physics academic achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Tiffanie L.

The purpose of this study was to explore whether Modeling Instruction, compared to traditional lecturing, is an effective instructional method to promote academic achievement in selected high school physics classes at a rural middle Tennessee high school. This study used an ex post facto , quasi-experimental research methodology. The independent variables in this study were the instructional methods of teaching. The treatment variable was Modeling Instruction and the control variable was traditional lecture instruction. The Treatment Group consisted of participants in Physical World Concepts who received Modeling Instruction. The Control Group consisted of participants in Physical Science who received traditional lecture instruction. The dependent variable was gains scores on the Force Concepts Inventory (FCI). The participants for this study were 133 students each in both the Treatment and Control Groups (n = 266), who attended a public, high school in rural middle Tennessee. The participants were administered the Force Concepts Inventory (FCI) prior to being taught the mechanics of physics. The FCI data were entered into the computer-based Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS). Two independent samples t-tests were conducted to answer the research questions. There was a statistically significant difference between the treatment and control groups concerning the instructional method. Modeling Instructional methods were found to be effective in increasing the academic achievement of students in high school physics. There was no statistically significant difference between FCI gains scores for gender. Gender was found to have no effect on the academic achievement of students in high school physics classes. However, even though there was not a statistically significant difference, female students' gains scores were higher than male students' gains scores when Modeling Instructional methods of teaching were used. Based on these findings, it is recommended

Optical gain and gain suppression of quantum-well lasers with valence band mixing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahn, D.; Chuang, S.L.

1990-01-01

The effects of valence band mixing on the nonlinear gains of quantum-well lasers are studied theoretically. The authors' analysis is based on the multiband effective-mass theory and the density matrix formalism with intraband relaxation taken into account. The gain and the gain-suppression coefficient of a quantum-well laser are calculated from the complex optical susceptibility obtained by the density matrix formulation with the theoretical dipole moments obtained from the multiband effective-mass theory. The calculated gain spectrum shows that there are remarkable differences (both in peak amplitude and spectral shape) between our model with valence band mixing and the conventional parabolic band model. The shape of the gain spectrum calculated by the authors' model becomes more symmetric due to intraband relaxation together with nonparabolic energy dispersions and is closer to the experimental observations when compared with the conventional method using the parabolic band model and the multiband effective-mass calculation without intraband relaxation. Both give quite asymmetric gain spectra. Optical intensity in the GaAs active region is estimated by solving rate equations for the stationary states with nonlinear gain suppression. The authors calculate the mode gain for the resonant mode including the gain suppression, which results in spectral hole burning of the gain spectrum

Pregnancy Weight Gain by Gestational Age in Women with Uncomplicated Dichorionic Twin Pregnancies.

Science.gov (United States)

Hutcheon, Jennifer A; Platt, Robert W; Abrams, Barbara; Braxter, Betty J; Eckhardt, Cara L; Himes, Katherine P; Bodnar, Lisa M

2018-03-01

Twin pregnancies are at increased risk for adverse outcomes and are associated with greater gestational weight gain compared to singleton pregnancies. Studies that disentangle the relationship between gestational duration, weight gain and adverse outcomes are needed to inform weight gain guidelines. We created charts of the mean, standard deviation and select percentiles of maternal weight gain-for-gestational age in twin pregnancies and compared them to singleton curves. We abstracted serial prenatal weight measurements of women delivering uncomplicated twin pregnancies at Magee-Womens Hospital (Pittsburgh, PA, 1998-2013) and merged them with the hospital's perinatal database. Hierarchical linear regression was used to express pregnancy weight gain as a smoothed function of gestational age according to pre-pregnancy BMI category. Charts of week- and day-specific values for the mean, standard deviation, and percentiles of maternal weight gain were created. Prenatal weight measurements (median: 11 [interquartile range: 9, 13] per woman) were available for 1109 women (573 normal weight, 287 overweight, and 249 obese). The slope of weight gain was most pronounced in normal weight women and flattened with increasing pre-pregnancy BMI (e.g. 50th percentiles of 6.8, 5.7, and 3.6 kg at 20 weeks and 19.8, 18.1, and 14.4 at 37 weeks in normal weight, overweight, and obese women, respectively). Weight gain patterns in twins diverged from singletons after 17-19 weeks. Our charts provide a tool for the classification of maternal weight gain in twin pregnancies. Future work is needed to identify the range of weight gain associated with optimal pregnancy health outcomes. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Achieving universal access to broadband

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Falch, Morten; Henten, Anders

2009-01-01

The paper discusses appropriate policy measures for achieving universal access to broadband services in Europe. Access can be delivered by means of many different technology solutions described in the paper. This means a greater degree of competition and affects the kind of policy measures...

Pulse Combustor Driven Pressure Gain Combustion for High Efficiency Gas Turbine Engines

KAUST Repository

Lisanti, Joel

2017-02-01

The gas turbine engine is an essential component of the global energy infrastructure which accounts for a significant portion of the total fossil fuel consumption in transportation and electric power generation sectors. For this reason there is significant interest in further increasing the efficiency and reducing the pollutant emissions of these devices. Conventional approaches to this goal, which include increasing the compression ratio, turbine inlet temperature, and turbine/compressor efficiency, have brought modern gas turbine engines near the limits of what may be achieved with the conventionally applied Brayton cycle. If a significant future step increase in gas turbine efficiency is to be realized some deviation from this convention is necessary. The pressure gain gas turbine concept is a well established new combustion technology that promises to provide a dramatic increase in gas turbine efficiency by replacing the isobaric heat addition process found in conventional technology with an isochoric process. The thermodynamic benefit of even a small increase in stagnation pressure across a gas turbine combustor translates to a significant increase in cycle efficiency. To date there have been a variety of methods proposed for achieving stagnation pressure gains across a gas turbine combustor and these concepts have seen a broad spectrum of levels of success. The following chapter provides an introduction to one of the proposed pressure gain methods that may be most easily realized in a practical application. This approach, known as pulse combustor driven pressure gain combustion, utilizes an acoustically resonant pulse combustor to approximate isochoric heat release and thus produce a rise in stagnation pressure.

Artificial emotion triggered stochastic behavior transitions with motivational gain effects for multi-objective robot tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Dağlarli, Evren; Temeltaş, Hakan

2007-04-01

This paper presents artificial emotional system based autonomous robot control architecture. Hidden Markov model developed as mathematical background for stochastic emotional and behavior transitions. Motivation module of architecture considered as behavioral gain effect generator for achieving multi-objective robot tasks. According to emotional and behavioral state transition probabilities, artificial emotions determine sequences of behaviors. Also motivational gain effects of proposed architecture can be observed on the executing behaviors during simulation.

The Influence of Green Infrastructure on Urban Resilience in Greater London

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, Yukyung

2017-04-01

High population densities and diverse economic activities in urban areas create social issues as well as a range of environmental impacts including air pollution, soil contamination, loss of biodiversity and health problems (Alberti et al., 2003; Dobbs, Escobedo, & Zipperer, 2011; Grimm et al., 2008). The concept of urban resilience has been used for increasing the capacity of the entities and players to adapt to rapid changes, and urban green spaces play a crucial role in increasing urban resilience. Greater London has a good case for increasing urban green spaces and resilience under the London Plan. The relevance of urban open spaces and several socioeconomic indicators would provide researchers and policy makers with the information for managing green coverage. The correlation analysis of two quantitative data such as open space and socioeconomic data of Greater London was conducted with SPSS. The data for open spaces in Greater London was gained through Greenspace Information for Greater London. The data was converted from vector to raster in Geographic Information System (GIS), so as to calculate landscape metrics for open spaces in Greater London through a spatial pattern analysis program, FRAGSTATS 4.2. The socioeconomic data was obtained from "London Borough Profile", London Datastore. In addition, data on total carbon emissions from Industry and Commercial, Domestic, Transport, LULUCF Net Emissions, and per capita emissions were gained from UK local authority and regional carbon dioxide emissions national statistics: 2005-2014 released from Department of Energy and Climate Change. The indicators from open spaces are total area of open space and patch density or contagion of open spaces. The latter indicator allows to figure out the level of fragmentation of open spaces. The socioeconomic indicators cover number of jobs by workplace, jobs density, crime rates per thousand population, and several wellbeing indicators such as life satisfaction

Assessment of weight gain during pregnancy in general prenatal care services in Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nucci Luciana Bertoldi

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Obesity is an emerging major health risk for women around the world. In this regard, little attention has been given to pregnancy, a moment of risk not only for major weight gain in these women, but also for macrosomia in their offspring. The objective of this study is to evaluate weight gain during pregnancy. Data pertains to a cohort of pregnant women attending general prenatal care clinics in six state capitals in Brazil, from 1991 to 1995. We studied women aged 20 years and over with singleton pregnancies and no diagnosis of diabetes outside pregnancy, enrolled at approximately 20 - 28 weeks of gestation. According to the Institute of Medicine criteria, 38% (95%CI: 36-40% of the women studied gained less and 29% (95%CI: 28-31% had more than the recommended total weight gain. These proportions vary according to pre-pregnancy nutritional status. Given the increasing epidemic of obesity, the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Brazilian women prior to pregnancy, and the lack of achievement of recommended weight gain during pregnancy, more effective means of managing weight gain during pregnancy are necessary.

45-110 GHz Quad-Ridge Horn With Stable Gain and Symmetric Beam

Science.gov (United States)

Manafi, Sara; Al-Tarifi, Muhannad; Filipovic, Dejan S.

2017-09-01

A quad-ridge horn antenna with stabilized gain and minimum difference between Eand H-plane half-power beamwidths (HPBWs) is demonstrated for operation over 45-110 GHz bandwidth. Multistep flaring and corrugations on a finite ground plane are applied to obtain stable radiation patterns with 16-dBi minimum gain over the entire range. The computational studies are validated through measurements of a 3-D printed prototype using the direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) process. Accurate fabrication with achieved surface roughness of DMLS is a viable fabrication process for wideband horn antennas at millimeter-wave frequencies.

Application of gain scheduling to the control of batch bioreactors

Science.gov (United States)

Cardello, Ralph; San, Ka-Yiu

1987-01-01

The implementation of control algorithms to batch bioreactors is often complicated by the inherent variations in process dynamics during the course of fermentation. Such a wide operating range may render the performance of fixed gain PID controllers unsatisfactory. In this work, a detailed study on the control of batch fermentation is performed. Furthermore, a simple batch controller design is proposed which incorporates the concept of gain-scheduling, a subclass of adaptive control, with oxygen uptake rate as an auxiliary variable. The control of oxygen tension in the biorector is used as a vehicle to convey the proposed idea, analysis and results. Simulation experiments indicate significant improvement in controller performance can be achieved by the proposed approach even in the presence of measurement noise.

Size at birth, weight gain in infancy and childhood, and adult blood pressure in 5 low- and middle-income-country cohorts: when does weight gain matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Adair, Linda S; Martorell, Reynaldo; Stein, Aryeh D; Hallal, Pedro C; Sachdev, Harshpal S; Prabhakaran, Dorairaj; Wills, Andrew K; Norris, Shane A; Dahly, Darren L; Lee, Nanette R; Victora, Cesar G

2009-05-01

Promoting catch-up growth in malnourished children has health benefits, but recent evidence suggests that accelerated child weight gain increases adult chronic disease risk. We aimed to determine how birth weight (BW) and weight gain to midchildhood relate to blood pressure (BP) in young adults. We pooled data from birth cohorts in Brazil, Guatemala, India, the Philippines, and South Africa. We used conditional weight (CW), a residual of current weight regressed on prior weights, to represent deviations from expected weight gain from 0 to 12, 12 to 24, 24 to 48 mo, and 48 mo to adulthood. Adult BP and risk of prehypertension or hypertension (P/HTN) were modeled before and after adjustment for adult body mass index (BMI) and height. Interactions of CWs with small size-for-gestational age (SGA) at birth were tested. Higher CWs were associated with increased BP and odds of P/HTN, with coefficients proportional to the contribution of each CW to adult BMI. Adjusted for adult height and BMI, no child CW was associated with adult BP, but 1 SD of BW was related to a 0.5-mm Hg lower systolic BP and a 9% lower odds of P/HTN. BW and CW associations with systolic BP and P/HTN were not different between adults born SGA and those with normal BW, but higher CW at 48 mo was associated with higher diastolic BP in those born SGA. Greater weight gain at any age relates to elevated adult BP, but faster weight gains in infancy and young childhood do not pose a higher risk than do gains at other ages.

Cell-to-module optical loss/gain analysis for various photovoltaic module materials through systematic characterization

Science.gov (United States)

Hsian Saw, Min; Khoo, Yong Sheng; Singh, Jai Prakash; Wang, Yan

2017-08-01

Reducing levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is important for solar photovoltaics to compete against other energy sources. Thus, the focus should not only be on improving the solar cell efficiency, but also on continuously reducing the losses (or achieving gain) in the cell-to-module process. This can be achieved by choosing the appropriate module material and design. This paper presents a detailed and systematic characterization of various photovoltaic (PV) module materials (encapsulants, tabbing ribbons, and backsheets) and an evaluation of their impact on the output power of silicon wafer-based PV modules. Various characterization tools/techniques, such as UV-vis (reflectance) measurement, external quantum efficiency (EQE) measurement and EQE line-scan are used. Based on the characterization results, we use module materials with the best-evaluated optical performance to build “optimized modules”. Compared to the standard mini-module, an optical gain of more than 5% is achievable for the “optimized module” with selected module materials.

Achievement of public health recommendations for physical activity and prevention of gains in adiposity in adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grøntved, A.

2013-01-01

Physical activity (PA) is considered a cornerstone in weight control and public health guidelines recommend regular participation to prevent gains in adiposity. It may therefore come as a surprise that the cumulative evidence from observational studies to support this is not strong. A weakness...... of many published observational studies on this topic has been a reliance on a single baseline assessment of PA. Using only the baseline information on PA in a prospective study cause misclassification because of participants often change activity level during follow-up. In turn this causes regression...

Are training and transfer effects of working memory updating training modulated by achievement motivation?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhao, X.; Xu, Y.; Fu, J.; Maes, J.H.R.

2018-01-01

Previous studies examining effects of working memory (WM) updating training revealed mixed results. One factor that might modulate training gains, and possibly also transfer of those gains to non-trained cognitive tasks, is achievement motivation. In the present Studies 1 and 2, students with either

Should I Gain Weight?

Science.gov (United States)

... Videos for Educators Search English Español Should I Gain Weight? KidsHealth / For Teens / Should I Gain Weight? ... something about it. Why Do People Want to Gain Weight? Some of the reasons people give for ...

Longitudinal weight gain in women identified with polycystic ovary syndrome: results of an observational study in young women.

Science.gov (United States)

Teede, Helena J; Joham, Anju E; Paul, Eldho; Moran, Lisa J; Loxton, Deborah; Jolley, Damien; Lombard, Catherine

2013-08-01

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects 6-18% of women. The natural history of weight gain in women with PCOS has not been well described. Here we aimed to examine longitudinal weight gain in women with and without PCOS and to assess the association between obesity and PCOS prevalence. The observational study was set in the general community. Participants were women randomly selected from the national health insurance scheme (Medicare) database. Mailed survey data were collected by the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Data from respondents to survey 4, aged 28-33 years (2006, n = 9,145) were analyzed. The main outcome measures were PCOS prevalence and body mass index (BMI). Self-reported PCOS prevalence was 5.8% (95% CI: 5.3%-6.4%). Women reporting PCOS had higher weight, mean BMI [2.5 kg/m(2) (95% CI: 1.9-3.1)], and greater 10-year weight gain [2.6 kg (95% CI: 1.2-4.0)]. BMI was the strongest correlate of PCOS status with every BMI increment increasing the risk of reporting PCOS by 9.2% (95% CI: 6%-12%). This community based observational study with longitudinal reporting of weight shows that weight, BMI, and 10-year weight gain were higher in PCOS. We report the novel finding that obesity and greater weight gain are significantly associated with PCOS status. Considering the prevalence, major health and economic burden of PCOS, the increasing weight gain in young women, and established benefits of weight loss, these results have major public health implications. Copyright © 2012 The Obesity Society.

Detective quantum efficiency gains compared with speed gains for hypersensitized astronomical plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaye, A.L.

1977-01-01

It is reasonable to assume that gains in detective quantum efficiency (DQE) are far better criteria for assessing the performance of hypersensitizing techniques than gains in speed. It is shown here that gains in speed can be misleading, for some methods of hypersensitization give plates of increased speed but reduced detective quantum efficiency. (author)

The Role of Morphology and Electronic Chain Aggregation on the Optical Gain Properties of Semiconducting Conjugated Polymers

Science.gov (United States)

Lampert, Zachary Evan

Conjugated polymers (CPs) are a novel class of materials that exhibit the optical and electrical properties of semiconductors while still retaining the durability and processability of plastics. CPs are also intrinsically 4-level systems with high luminescence quantum efficiencies making them particularly attractive as organic gain media for solid-state laser applications. However, before CPs can emerge as a commercially available laser technology, a more comprehensive understanding of the morphological dependence of the photophysics is required. In this thesis, the morphology and chain conformation dependence of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and optical gain in thin films of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV) was investigated. By changing the chemical nature of the solvent from which films were cast, as well as the temperature at which films were annealed, CP films with different morphologies, and hence different degrees of interchain interactions were achieved. Contrary to the common perception that polymer morphology plays a decisive role in determining the ASE behavior of thin CP films, we found that chromophore aggregation and degree of conformational order have minimal impact on optical gain. In fact, experimental results indicated that an extremely large fraction of interchain aggregate species and/or exciton dissociating defects are required to significantly alter the optical properties and suppress stimulated emission. These results are pertinent to the fabrication and optimization of an electrically pumped laser device, as improvements in charge carrier mobility through controlled increases in chain aggregation may provide a viable means of optimizing injection efficiency without significantly degrading optical gain. To offset charge-induced absorption losses under electrical pumping, and to enable the use of more compact and economical sources under optical pumping, conjugated polymers exhibiting low lasing

Teamwork in health care: opportunities for gains in quality, productivity, and competitive advantage. What works, what doesn't, and why.

Science.gov (United States)

Montebello, A R

1994-01-01

Wholesale political, economic, and social change is pressuring health-care organizations to reinvent themselves as they enter a new arena of managed competition. Survival is at stake. Will belt-tightening efforts, combined with structural changes and strategic alliances, achieve the necessary improvements in efficiency and help to secure an adequate patient base? It seems reasonable to expect that health-care institutions can realize the major gains in quality, productivity, efficiency, and competitive edge that organizations in the manufacturing and service industries have enjoyed for the past several years. It seems like a logical next step for health-care organizations to deploy proven methods--such as work redesign, team-based structures, and empowered workforces--that have helped to restore competitiveness to many industrial and service firms. This article describes how to organize teams at all levels and accelerate their development to achieve important organizational objectives--such as improving quality, productivity, and efficiency--while increasing employee satisfaction. Pioneering workplace innovations are reviewed to demonstrate how high-involvement teams integrating strategic planning, research, and health-care delivery processes are not only possible but highly desirable. Enhanced quality, improved productivity, greater efficiency, and employee satisfaction all translate to an undeniable competitive advantage.

Preventing Weight Gain

Science.gov (United States)

... Local Programs Related Topics Diabetes Nutrition Preventing Weight Gain Language: English (US) Español (Spanish) Recommend on Facebook ... cancer. Choosing an Eating Plan to Prevent Weight Gain So, how do you choose a healthful eating ...

Independent Reading: The Relationship of Challenge, Non-Fiction and Gender to Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Topping, K. J.; Samuels, J.; Paul, T.

2008-01-01

To explore whether different balances of fiction/non-fiction reading and challenge might help explain differences in reading achievement between genders, data on 45,670 pupils who independently read over 3 million books were analysed. Moderate (rather than high or low) levels of challenge were positively associated with achievement gain, but…

Gestational Weight Gain and Interpregnancy Weight Change in Adolescent Mothers.

Science.gov (United States)

Whelan, Emily; Armson, B Anthony; Ashley-Martin, Jillian; MacSween, Kayla; Woolcott, Christy

2017-06-01

To examine the association between gestational weight gain (GWG) and interpregnancy weight change (IPWC) in adolescent mothers (younger than 20 years), and to determine if this association differs from adult women (aged 20-35 years). Retrospective cohort study. We included 3055 adolescents and 17,090 adult women with singleton pregnancies recorded in the Nova Scotia Atlee Perinatal Database with a subsequent pregnancy occurring between 2003 and 2014. GWG in the first pregnancy was categorized as below, within, or above the current Institute of Medicine recommendations. IPWC was defined as the difference between the prepregnancy weights of the 2 pregnancies. Analyses were adjusted for parity, body mass index in the first pregnancy, and time between pregnancies. Relative to adolescents with GWG within the recommendations, those who gained below had a 2.7 kg (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.4-3.9) lower mean IPWC whereas those who gained above had a 4.2 kg (95% CI, 3.3-5.1) higher mean IPWC. Smaller differences in IPWC between GWG categories were observed in adult women; relative to those with GWG within the recommendations, adults who gained below had a 1.3 kg (95% CI, 0.9-1.7) lower mean IPWC and those who gained above had a 2.9 kg (95% CI, 2.6-3.2) higher mean IPWC. Mean IPWC differed across GWG categories and the differences were greater in adolescents than in adult women. This difference should be considered when assessing whether specific GWG recommendations are needed for adolescents. Copyright © 2017 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Design of switched-capacitor filter circuits using low gain amplifiers

CERN Document Server

Serra, Hugo Alexandre de Andrade

2015-01-01

This book describes the design of switched-capacitor filter circuits using low gain amplifiers and demonstrates some techniques that can minimize the effects of parasitic capacitances during the design phase. Focus is given in the design of low-pass and band-pass SC filters, and how higher order filters can be achieved using cascaded biquadratic filter sections. The authors also describe a low voltage implementation of a low-pass SC filter.

Formulating the Net Gain of MISO-SFN in the Presence of Self-Interferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Jeon

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In this study, an analytical formula for multiple-input single-output single frequency network gain (MISO-SFNG is investigated. To formulate the net MISO-SFNG, we derived the average signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR where the gain achieved by the distributed MISO diversity as a function of power imbalance is curve-fitted. Further, we analyzed the losses owing to self-interferences resulting from the delay spread and imperfect channel estimation. We verified the accuracy and effectiveness of the derived formula by comparing the measurement results with the analytical results. The derived formula helps to understand how various system factors affect the gain under a given condition. The formula can be used to evaluate the MISO-SFNG and to predict the MISO-SFN coverage in various system configurations.

Microarray analysis of subcutaneous adipose tissue from mature cows with divergent body weight gain after feed restriction and realimentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.C. Cunningham

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Body weight response to periods of feed restriction and realimentation is critical and relevant to the agricultural industry. The purpose of this study was to evaluate differentially expressed genes identified in subcutaneous adipose tissue collected from cows divergent in body weight (BW gain after feed restriction and realimentation. We compared adipose samples from cows with greater gain based on average daily gain (ADG during realimentation with samples from cows with lesser gain. Specifically, there were four comparisons including two comparing the high and low gain animals across each feeding period (feed restriction and realimentation and two that compared differences in feed restriction and realimentation across high or low gain classifications. Using microarray analysis, we provide a set of differentially expressed genes identified between the high and low gain at both periods of nutrient restriction and realimentation. These data identify multiple differentially expressed genes between these two phenotypes across both nutritional environments. Keywords: Beef cows, Subcutaneous fat, Transcriptome

Anxiety and inattention as predictors of achievement in early elementary school children.

Science.gov (United States)

Grills-Taquechel, Amie E; Fletcher, Jack M; Vaughn, Sharon R; Denton, Carolyn A; Taylor, Pat

2013-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine the relations among anxiety, inattention, and math/reading achievement, as well as the mediating/moderating role of inattention in the anxiety-achievement association both concurrently and longitudinally. Participants included 161 ethnically diverse children (aged 6-8) and their teachers. At the middle and end of first grade (approximately 5 months apart), students completed measures of anxiety and achievement while their teachers completed a measure of inattention. For the concurrent analyses, greater harm avoidance anxiety was associated with better attention, which was in turn related to better achievement. For the longitudinal analyses, mid-year inattention interacted with harm avoidance and separation anxiety to predict end of year reading fluency. For those rated as more attentive, greater separation anxiety symptoms were associated with decreased fluency performance while greater harm avoidance symptoms were associated with increased performance. Findings were discussed in terms of the importance of considering socioemotional variables in the study of children's academic achievement and the potential utility of early anxiety prevention/intervention programs, especially for children experiencing academic difficulties who also show internalizing behaviors.

Maternal prepregnant body mass index, duration of breastfeeding, and timing of complementary food introduction are associated with infant weight gain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baker, Jennifer Lyn; Michaelsen, Kim F; Rasmussen, Kathleen M

2004-01-01

). In this sample, prepregnant obesity (BMI > or = 30.0), short durations of breastfeeding, and earlier introduction of complementary food were associated with 0.7 kg of additional weight gain during infancy. CONCLUSIONS: Infant weight gain is associated with maternal prepregnant BMI and with an interaction between...... these associations among 3768 mother-infant dyads from the Danish National Birth Cohort. RESULTS: In multiple regression analyses, increasing maternal prepregnant BMI, decreasing durations of breastfeeding, and earlier complementary food introduction were associated with increased infant weight gain. An interaction...... was identified for short durations of breastfeeding (food introduction (associated with greater infant weight gain; however, the timing of complementary food introduction did not increase infant weight gain at longer durations of breastfeeding (> or =20 wk...

Achieving maternal and child health gains in Afghanistan: a Countdown to 2015 country case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Akseer, Nadia; Salehi, Ahmad S; Hossain, S M Moazzem; Mashal, M Taufiq; Rasooly, M Hafiz; Bhatti, Zaid; Rizvi, Arjumand; Bhutta, Zulfiqar A

2016-06-01

After the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan experienced a tumultuous period of democracy overshadowed by conflict, widespread insurgency, and an inflow of development assistance. Although there have been several cross-sectional assessments of health gains over the last decade, there has been no systematic analysis of progress and factors influencing maternal and child health in Afghanistan. We undertook a comprehensive, systematic assessment of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health in Afghanistan over the last decade. Given the paucity of high-quality data before 2001, we relied mainly on 11 nationally representative surveys conducted between 2003 and 2013. We estimated national and subnational time trends for key reproductive, maternal, and child health indicators, and used linear regression methods to determine predictors of change in health-care service use. All analyses were weighted for sampling and design effects. Additional information was collated and analysed about health system performance from third party surveys and about human resources from the Afghan Ministry of Public Health. Between 2003 and 2015, Afghanistan experienced a 29% decline in mortality of children younger than 5 years. Although definite reductions in maternal mortality remain uncertain, concurrent improvements in essential maternal health interventions suggest parallel survival gains in mothers. In a little over a decade (2003-13 inclusive), coverage of several maternal care interventions increased-eg, for antenatal care (16% to 53%), skilled birth attendance (14% to 46%), and births in a health facility (13% to 39%). Childhood vaccination coverage rates for the basic vaccines from the Expanded Programme of Immunisation (eg, BCG, measles, diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis, and three doses of polio) doubled over this period (about 40% to about 80%). Between 2005 and 2013, the number of deployed facility and community-based health-care professionals also increased, including

Design of three-well indirect pumping terahertz quantum cascade lasers for high optical gain based on nonequilibrium Green's function analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tao; Kubis, Tillmann; Jie Wang, Qi; Klimeck, Gerhard

2012-03-01

The nonequilibrium Green's function approach is applied to the design of three-well indirect pumping terahertz (THz) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) based on a resonant phonon depopulation scheme. The effects of the anticrossing of the injector states and the dipole matrix element of the laser levels on the optical gain of THz QCLs are studied. The results show that a design that results in a more pronounced anticrossing of the injector states will achieve a higher optical gain in the indirect pumping scheme compared to the traditional resonant-tunneling injection scheme. This offers in general a more efficient coherent resonant-tunneling transport of electrons in the indirect pumping scheme. It is also shown that, for operating temperatures below 200 K and low lasing frequencies, larger dipole matrix elements, i.e., vertical optical transitions, offer a higher optical gain. In contrast, in the case of high lasing frequencies, smaller dipole matrix elements, i.e., diagonal optical transitions are better for achieving a higher optical gain.

Life cycle thinking in impact assessment—Current practice and LCA gains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bidstrup, Morten, E-mail: Bidstrup@plan.aau.dk

2015-09-15

It has been advocated that life cycle thinking (LCT) should be applied in impact assessment (IA) to a greater extent, since some development proposals pose a risk of significant impacts throughout the interconnected activities of product systems. Multiple authors have proposed the usage of life cycle assessment (LCA) for such analytical advancement, but little to no research on this tool application has been founded in IA practice so far. The aim of this article is to elaborate further on the gains assigned to application of LCA. The research builds on a review of 85 Danish IA reports, which were analysed for analytical appropriateness and application of LCT. Through a focus on the non-technical summary, the conclusion and the use of specific search words, passages containing LCT were searched for in each IA report. These passages were then analysed with a generic framework. The results reveal that LCT is appropriate for most of the IAs, but that LCA is rarely applied to provide such a perspective. Without LCA, the IAs show mixed performance in regard to LCT. Most IAs do consider the product provision of development proposals, but they rarely relate impacts to this function explicitly. Many IAs do consider downstream impacts, but assessments of upstream, distant impacts are generally absent. It is concluded that multiple analytical gains can be attributed to greater application of LCA in IA practice, though some level of LCT already exists. - Highlights: • Life cycle thinking is appropriate across the types and topics of impact assessment. • Yet, life cycle assessment is rarely used for adding such perspective. • Impact assessment practice does apply some degree of life cycle thinking. • However, application of life cycle assessment could bring analytical gains.

Life cycle thinking in impact assessment—Current practice and LCA gains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bidstrup, Morten

2015-01-01

It has been advocated that life cycle thinking (LCT) should be applied in impact assessment (IA) to a greater extent, since some development proposals pose a risk of significant impacts throughout the interconnected activities of product systems. Multiple authors have proposed the usage of life cycle assessment (LCA) for such analytical advancement, but little to no research on this tool application has been founded in IA practice so far. The aim of this article is to elaborate further on the gains assigned to application of LCA. The research builds on a review of 85 Danish IA reports, which were analysed for analytical appropriateness and application of LCT. Through a focus on the non-technical summary, the conclusion and the use of specific search words, passages containing LCT were searched for in each IA report. These passages were then analysed with a generic framework. The results reveal that LCT is appropriate for most of the IAs, but that LCA is rarely applied to provide such a perspective. Without LCA, the IAs show mixed performance in regard to LCT. Most IAs do consider the product provision of development proposals, but they rarely relate impacts to this function explicitly. Many IAs do consider downstream impacts, but assessments of upstream, distant impacts are generally absent. It is concluded that multiple analytical gains can be attributed to greater application of LCA in IA practice, though some level of LCT already exists. - Highlights: • Life cycle thinking is appropriate across the types and topics of impact assessment. • Yet, life cycle assessment is rarely used for adding such perspective. • Impact assessment practice does apply some degree of life cycle thinking. • However, application of life cycle assessment could bring analytical gains

Subtractive, divisive and non-monotonic gain control in feedforward nets linearized by noise and delays.

Science.gov (United States)

Mejias, Jorge F; Payeur, Alexandre; Selin, Erik; Maler, Leonard; Longtin, André

2014-01-01

The control of input-to-output mappings, or gain control, is one of the main strategies used by neural networks for the processing and gating of information. Using a spiking neural network model, we studied the gain control induced by a form of inhibitory feedforward circuitry-also known as "open-loop feedback"-, which has been experimentally observed in a cerebellum-like structure in weakly electric fish. We found, both analytically and numerically, that this network displays three different regimes of gain control: subtractive, divisive, and non-monotonic. Subtractive gain control was obtained when noise is very low in the network. Also, it was possible to change from divisive to non-monotonic gain control by simply modulating the strength of the feedforward inhibition, which may be achieved via long-term synaptic plasticity. The particular case of divisive gain control has been previously observed in vivo in weakly electric fish. These gain control regimes were robust to the presence of temporal delays in the inhibitory feedforward pathway, which were found to linearize the input-to-output mappings (or f-I curves) via a novel variability-increasing mechanism. Our findings highlight the feedforward-induced gain control analyzed here as a highly versatile mechanism of information gating in the brain.

Subtractive, divisive and non-monotonic gain control in feedforward nets linearized by noise and delays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jorge F Mejias

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The control of input-to-output mappings, or gain control, is one of the main strategies used by neural networks for the processing and gating of information. Using a spiking neural network model, we studied the gain control induced by a form of inhibitory feedforward circuitry — also known as ’open-loop feedback’ —, which has been experimentally observed in a cerebellum-like structure in weakly electric fish. We found, both analytically and numerically, that this network displays three different regimes of gain control: subtractive, divisive, and non-monotonic. Subtractive gain control was obtained when noise is very low in the network. Also, it was possible to change from divisive to non-monotonic gain control by simply modulating the strength of the feedforward inhibition, which may be achieved via long-term synaptic plasticity. The particular case of divisive gain control has been previously observed in vivo in weakly electric fish. These gain control regimes were robust to the presence of temporal delays in the inhibitory feedforward pathway, which were found to linearize the input-to-output mappings (or f-I curves via a novel variability-increasing mechanism. Our findings highlight the feedforward-induced gain control analyzed here as a highly versatile mechanism of information gating in the brain.

Decomposition of potential efficiency gains from hospital mergers in Greece.

Science.gov (United States)

Flokou, Angeliki; Aletras, Vassilis; Niakas, Dimitris

2017-12-01

This paper evaluates the technical efficiency of 71 Greek public hospitals and examines potential efficiency gains from 13 candidate mergers among them. Efficiency assessments are performed using bootstrapped Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) whilst merger analysis is conducted by applying the Bogetoft and Wang methodology which allows the overall potential merger gains to be decomposed into three main components of inefficiency, namely technical (or learning), scope (or harmony) and scale (or size) effects. Thus, the analysis provides important insights not only on the magnitude of the potential total efficiency gains but also on their sources. The overall analysis is conducted in the context of a complete methodological framework where methods for outlier detection, returns to scale identification, and bias corrections for DEA estimations are also applied. Mergers are analyzed under the assumptions of constant, variable and non-decreasing returns to scale in an input oriented DEA model with three inputs and three outputs. The main finding of the study indicates that almost all mergers show substantial potential room for efficiency improvement, which is mainly attributed to the pre-merger technical inefficiencies of the individual hospitals and therefore it might be possible to be achieved without the need of implementing full-scale mergers. The same -though, at a lower extent- applies to the harmony effect whilst the size effect shows marginal or even negative gains.

Multi-level multi-thermal-electron FDTD simulation of plasmonic interaction with semiconducting gain media: applications to plasmonic amplifiers and nano-lasers.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, X; Bhola, B; Huang, Y; Ho, S T

2010-08-02

Interactions between a semiconducting gain medium and confined plasmon-polaritons are studied using a multilevel multi-thermal-electron finite-difference time-domain (MLMTE-FDTD) simulator. We investigated the amplification of wave propagating in a plasmonic metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) waveguide filled with semiconductor gain medium and obtained the conditions required to achieve net optical gain. The MSM gain waveguide is used to form a plasmonic semiconductor nano-ring laser(PSNRL) with an effective mode volume of 0.0071 microm3, which is about an order of magnitude smaller than the smallest demonstrated integrated photonic crystal based laser cavities. The simulation shows a lasing threshold current density of 1kA/cm2 for a 300 nm outer diameter ring cavity with 80 nm-wide ring. This current density can be realistically achieved in typical III-V semiconductor, which shows the experimental feasibility of the proposed PSNRL structure.

Weight Gain After Breast Cancer Diagnosis and All-Cause Mortality: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Bracken, Michael B.; Sanft, Tara B.; Ligibel, Jennifer A.; Harrigan, Maura; Irwin, Melinda L.

2015-01-01

Background: Overweight and obesity are associated with breast cancer mortality. However, the relationship between postdiagnosis weight gain and mortality is unclear. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of weight gain after breast cancer diagnosis and breast cancer–specific, all-cause mortality and recurrence outcomes. Methods: Electronic databases identified articles up through December 2014, including: PubMed (1966-present), EMBASE (1974-present), CINAHL (1982-present), and Web of Science. Language and publication status were unrestricted. Cohort studies and clinical trials measuring weight change after diagnosis and all-cause/breast cancer–specific mortality or recurrence were considered. Participants were women age 18 years or older with stage I-IIIC breast cancer. Fixed effects analysis summarized the association between weight gain (≥5.0% body weight) and all-cause mortality; all tests were two-sided. Results: Twelve studies (n = 23 832) were included. Weight gain (≥5.0%) compared with maintenance (breast cancer–specific mortality (HR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.00 to 1.38, P = .05). Conclusions: Weight gain after diagnosis of breast cancer is associated with higher all-cause mortality rates compared with maintaining body weight. Adverse effects are greater for weight gains of 10.0% or higher. PMID:26424778

Differential participation in formative assessment and achievement in introductory calculus

OpenAIRE

Dibbs, Rebecca-Anne

2015-01-01

International audience; Prior formative assessment research has shown positive achievement gains when classes using formative assessment are compared to classes that do not. However, little is known about what, if any, benefits of formative assessment occur within a class. The purpose of this study was to investigate the achievement of the students in introductory calculus using formative assessment at the two different participation levels observed in class. Although there was no significant...

Enhancing genetic gain in the era of molecular breeding.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yunbi; Li, Ping; Zou, Cheng; Lu, Yanli; Xie, Chuanxiao; Zhang, Xuecai; Prasanna, Boddupalli M; Olsen, Michael S

2017-05-17

As one of the important concepts in conventional quantitative genetics and breeding, genetic gain can be defined as the amount of increase in performance that is achieved annually through artificial selection. To develop pro ducts that meet the increasing demand of mankind, especially for food and feed, in addition to various industrial uses, breeders are challenged to enhance the potential of genetic gain continuously, at ever higher rates, while they close the gaps that remain between the yield potential in breeders' demonstration trials and the actual yield in farmers' fields. Factors affecting genetic gain include genetic variation available in breeding materials, heritability for traits of interest, selection intensity, and the time required to complete a breeding cycle. Genetic gain can be improved through enhancing the potential and closing the gaps, which has been evolving and complemented with modern breeding techniques and platforms, mainly driven by molecular and genomic tools, combined with improved agronomic practice. Several key strategies are reviewed in this article. Favorable genetic variation can be unlocked and created through molecular and genomic approaches including mutation, gene mapping and discovery, and transgene and genome editing. Estimation of heritability can be improved by refining field experiments through well-controlled and precisely assayed environmental factors or envirotyping, particularly for understanding and controlling spatial heterogeneity at the field level. Selection intensity can be significantly heightened through improvements in the scale and precision of genotyping and phenotyping. The breeding cycle time can be shortened by accelerating breeding procedures through integrated breeding approaches such as marker-assisted selection and doubled haploid development. All the strategies can be integrated with other widely used conventional approaches in breeding programs to enhance genetic gain. More transdisciplinary

Achievable capacity of a spectrum sharing system over hyper fading channels

KAUST Repository

Ekin, Sabit; Yilmaz, Ferkan; Ç elebi, Hasari Burak; Qaraqe, Khalid A.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Serpedin, Erchin

2009-01-01

Cognitive radio with spectrum sharing feature is a promising technique to address the spectrum under-utilization problem in dynamically changing environments. In this paper, achievable capacity gain of spectrum sharing systems over dynamic fading

Are mastery-avoidance achievement goals always detrimental? An adult development perspective

OpenAIRE

Senko, Corwin; Freund, Alexandra M

2015-01-01

Achievement goal research consistently reveals that mastery-avoidance goals (i.e., striving to avoid losses) are maladaptive, especially in comparison to mastery-approach goals (i.e., striving for gains). Nearly all of it has been done with children or young adults, however. Lifespan theories of motivation posit that people in late adulthood are more likely than young adults to strive toward maintenance and loss-prevention rather than gains, and also that they sometimes profit from pursuing t...

Multidimensional Indices of Achievements and Poverty: What Do We Gain and What Do We

OpenAIRE

Nora Lustig

2011-01-01

Poverty and wellbeing are multi-dimensional. Nobody questions that deprivations and achievements go beyond income. There is, however, sharp disagreement on whether the various dimensions of poverty and wellbeing can be aggregated into a single, multi-dimensional index in a meaningful way. Is aggregating dimensions of poverty and wellbeing useful? Is it sensible? Here I summarize and contrast three key papers that respond these questions in strikingly different ways. The papers are: The HDI 20...

Heavy inertial particles in turbulent flows gain energy slowly but lose it rapidly.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhatnagar, Akshay; Gupta, Anupam; Mitra, Dhrubaditya; Pandit, Rahul

2018-03-01

We present an extensive numerical study of the time irreversibility of the dynamics of heavy inertial particles in three-dimensional, statistically homogeneous, and isotropic turbulent flows. We show that the probability density function (PDF) of the increment, W(τ), of a particle's energy over a time scale τ is non-Gaussian, and skewed toward negative values. This implies that, on average, particles gain energy over a period of time that is longer than the duration over which they lose energy. We call this slow gain and fast loss. We find that the third moment of W(τ) scales as τ^{3} for small values of τ. We show that the PDF of power-input p is negatively skewed too; we use this skewness Ir as a measure of the time irreversibility and we demonstrate that it increases sharply with the Stokes number St for small St; this increase slows down at St≃1. Furthermore, we obtain the PDFs of t^{+} and t^{-}, the times over which p has, respectively, positive or negative signs, i.e., the particle gains or loses energy. We obtain from these PDFs a direct and natural quantification of the slow gain and fast loss of the energy of the particles, because these PDFs possess exponential tails from which we infer the characteristic loss and gain times t_{loss} and t_{gain}, respectively, and we obtain t_{loss}gain} for all the cases we have considered. Finally, we show that the fast loss of energy occurs with greater probability in the strain-dominated region than in the vortical one; in contrast, the slow gain in the energy of the particles is equally likely in vortical or strain-dominated regions of the flow.

High-Current Gain Two-Dimensional MoS 2 -Base Hot-Electron Transistors

KAUST Repository

Torres, Carlos M.

2015-12-09

The vertical transport of nonequilibrium charge carriers through semiconductor heterostructures has led to milestones in electronics with the development of the hot-electron transistor. Recently, significant advances have been made with atomically sharp heterostructures implementing various two-dimensional materials. Although graphene-base hot-electron transistors show great promise for electronic switching at high frequencies, they are limited by their low current gain. Here we show that, by choosing MoS2 and HfO2 for the filter barrier interface and using a noncrystalline semiconductor such as ITO for the collector, we can achieve an unprecedentedly high-current gain (α ∼ 0.95) in our hot-electron transistors operating at room temperature. Furthermore, the current gain can be tuned over 2 orders of magnitude with the collector-base voltage albeit this feature currently presents a drawback in the transistor performance metrics such as poor output resistance and poor intrinsic voltage gain. We anticipate our transistors will pave the way toward the realization of novel flexible 2D material-based high-density, low-energy, and high-frequency hot-carrier electronic applications. © 2015 American Chemical Society.

High-Current Gain Two-Dimensional MoS 2 -Base Hot-Electron Transistors

KAUST Repository

Torres, Carlos M.; Lan, Yann Wen; Zeng, Caifu; Chen, Jyun Hong; Kou, Xufeng; Navabi, Aryan; Tang, Jianshi; Montazeri, Mohammad; Adleman, James R.; Lerner, Mitchell B.; Zhong, Yuan Liang; Li, Lain-Jong; Chen, Chii Dong; Wang, Kang L.

2015-01-01

The vertical transport of nonequilibrium charge carriers through semiconductor heterostructures has led to milestones in electronics with the development of the hot-electron transistor. Recently, significant advances have been made with atomically sharp heterostructures implementing various two-dimensional materials. Although graphene-base hot-electron transistors show great promise for electronic switching at high frequencies, they are limited by their low current gain. Here we show that, by choosing MoS2 and HfO2 for the filter barrier interface and using a noncrystalline semiconductor such as ITO for the collector, we can achieve an unprecedentedly high-current gain (α ∼ 0.95) in our hot-electron transistors operating at room temperature. Furthermore, the current gain can be tuned over 2 orders of magnitude with the collector-base voltage albeit this feature currently presents a drawback in the transistor performance metrics such as poor output resistance and poor intrinsic voltage gain. We anticipate our transistors will pave the way toward the realization of novel flexible 2D material-based high-density, low-energy, and high-frequency hot-carrier electronic applications. © 2015 American Chemical Society.

Anxiety and Inattention as Predictors of Achievement in Early Elementary School Children

Science.gov (United States)

Fletcher, Jack M.; Vaughn, Sharon R.; Denton, Carolyn A.; Taylor, Pat

2012-01-01

The objective of this study was to examine the relations among anxiety, inattention, and math/reading achievement, as well as the mediating/moderating role of inattention in the anxiety-achievement association both concurrently and longitudinally. Participants included 161 ethnically diverse children (aged 6–8) and their teachers. At the middle and end of first-grade (approximately 5 months apart), students completed measures of anxiety and achievement while their teachers completed a measure of inattention. For the concurrent analyses, greater harm avoidance anxiety was associated with better attention, which was in turn related to better achievement. For the longitudinal analyses, mid-year inattention interacted with harm avoidance and separation anxiety to predict end of year reading fluency. For those rated as more attentive, greater separation anxiety symptoms were associated with decreased fluency performance while greater harm avoidance symptoms were associated with increased performance. Findings were discussed in terms of the importance of considering socioemotional variables in the study of children’s academic achievement and the potential utility of early anxiety prevention/intervention programs, especially for children experiencing academic difficulties who also show internalizing behaviors. PMID:22764776

Active mode-locking of mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers with short gain recovery time.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yongrui; Belyanin, Alexey

2015-02-23

We investigate the dynamics of actively modulated mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) using space- and time-domain simulations of coupled density matrix and Maxwell equations with resonant tunneling current taken into account. We show that it is possible to achieve active mode locking and stable generation of picosecond pulses in high performance QCLs with a vertical laser transition and a short gain recovery time by bias modulation of a short section of a monolithic Fabry-Perot cavity. In fact, active mode locking in QCLs with a short gain recovery time turns out to be more robust to the variation of parameters as compared to previously studied lasers with a long gain recovery time. We investigate the effects of spatial hole burning and phase locking on the laser output.

Infant weight gain and adolescent body mass index: comparison across two British cohorts born in 1946 and 2001.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, William; Bann, David; Hardy, Rebecca

2018-04-19

To investigate how the relationship of infant weight gain with adolescent body mass index (BMI) differs for individuals born during and before the obesity epidemic era. Data from two British birth cohorts, the 1946 National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD, n=4199) and the 2001 Millennium Cohort Study (MCS, n=9417), were used to estimate and compare associations of infant weight gain between ages 0 and 3 years with adolescent outcomes. BMI Z-scores and overweight/obesity at ages 11 and 14 years. Infant weight gain, in Z-scores, was positively associated with adolescent BMI Z-scores in both cohorts. Non-linearity in the MCS meant that associations were only stronger than in the NSHD when infant weight gain was above -1 Z-score. Using decomposition analysis, between-cohort differences in association accounted for 20%-30% of the differences (secular increases) in BMI Z-scores, although the underlying estimates were not precise with 95% CIs crossing 0. Conversely, between-cohort differences in the distribution of infant weight gain accounted for approximately 9% of the differences (secular increases) in BMI Z-scores, and the underlying estimates were precise with 95% CI not crossing 0. Relative to normal weight gain (change of -0.67 to +0.67 Z-scores between ages 0 and 3 years), very rapid infant weight gain (>1.34), but not rapid weight gain (+0.67 to +1.34), was associated with higher BMI Z-scores more strongly in the MCS (β=0.790; 95% CI 0.717 to 0.862 at age 11 years) than in the NSHD (0.573; 0.466 to 0.681) (pgain (gain was not, however, more strongly associated with increased risk of adolescent overweight/obesity or thinness, respectively, in the more recently born cohort. Greater infant weight gain, at the middle/upper end of the distribution, was more strongly associated with higher adolescent BMI among individuals born during (compared with before) the obesity epidemic. Combined with a secular change towards greater infant weight gain, these

Wideband and high-gain frequency stabilization of a 100-W injection-locked Nd:YAG laser for second-generation gravitational wave detectors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohmae, Noriaki; Moriwaki, Shigenori; Mio, Norikatsu

2010-07-01

Second-generation gravitational wave detectors require a highly stable laser with an output power greater than 100 W to attain their target sensitivity. We have developed a frequency stabilization system for a 100-W injection-locked Nd:YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) laser. By placing an external wideband electro-optic modulator used as a fast-frequency actuator in the optical path of the slave output, we can circumvent a phase delay in the frequency control loop originating from the pole of an injection-locked slave cavity. Thus, we have developed an electro-optic modulator made of a MgO-doped stoichiometric LiNbO(3) crystal. Using this modulator, we achieve a frequency control bandwidth of 800 kHz and a control gain of 180 dB at 1 kHz. These values satisfy the requirement for a laser frequency control loop in second-generation gravitational wave detectors.

Achieving single channel, full duplex wireless communication

KAUST Repository

Choi, Jung Il; Jain, Mayank; Srinivasan, Kannan; Levis, Phil; Katti, Sachin

2010-01-01

This paper discusses the design of a single channel full-duplex wireless transceiver. The design uses a combination of RF and baseband techniques to achieve full-duplexing with minimal effect on link reliability. Experiments on real nodes show the full-duplex prototype achieves median performance that is within 8% of an ideal full-duplexing system. This paper presents Antenna Cancellation, a novel technique for self-interference cancellation. In conjunction with existing RF interference cancellation and digital baseband interference cancellation, antenna cancellation achieves the amount of self-interference cancellation required for full-duplex operation. The paper also discusses potential MAC and network gains with full-duplexing. It suggests ways in which a full-duplex system can solve some important problems with existing wireless systems including hidden terminals, loss of throughput due to congestion, and large end-to-end delays. Copyright 2010 ACM.

Active rc filter permits easy trade-off of amplifier gain and sensitivity to gain

Science.gov (United States)

Kerwin, W. J.; Shaffer, C. V.

1968-01-01

Passive RC network was designed with zeros of transmission in the right half of the complex frequency plane in the feedback loop of a simple negative-gain amplifier. The proper positioning provides any desired trade-off between amplifier gain and sensitivity to amplifier gain.

Characterization of NPP Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Reflective Solar Bands Dual Gain Anomaly

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Shihyan; McIntire, Jeff; Oudari, Hassan

2012-01-01

The Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) contains six dual gain bands in the reflective solar spectrum. The dual gain bands are designed to switch gain mode at pre-defined thresholds to achieve high resolution at low radiances while maintaining the required dynamic range for science. During pre-launch testing, an anomaly in the electronic response before transitioning from high to low gain was discovered and characterized. On-orbit, the anomaly was confirmed using MODIS data collected during Simultaneous Nadir Overpasses (SNOs). The analysis of the Earth scene data shows that dual gain anomaly can be determined at the orbital basis. To characterize the dual gain anomaly, the anomaly region and electronic offsets were tracked per week during the first 8 month of VIIRS operation. The temporal analysis shows the anomaly region can drift 20 DN and is impacted by detectors DC Restore. The estimated anomaly flagging regions cover 2.5 % of the high gain dynamic range and are consistent with prelaunch and on-orbit LUT. The prelaunch results had a smaller anomaly range (30-50 DN) and are likely the results of more stable electronics from the shorter data collection time. Finally, this study suggests future calibration efforts to focus on the anomaly's impact on science products and possible correction method to reduce uncertainties.

The effects of collaborative concept mapping on the achievement, science self-efficacy and attitude toward science of female eighth-grade students

Science.gov (United States)

Ledger, Antoinette Frances

This study sought to examine whether collaborative concept mapping would affect the achievement, science self-efficacy and attitude toward science of female eighth grade science students. The research questions are: (1) Will the use of collaborative concept mapping affect the achievement of female students in science? (2) Will the use of collaborative concept mapping affect the science self-efficacy of female students? (3) Will the use of collaborative concept mapping affect the attitudes of females toward science? The study was quasi-experimental and utilized a pretest-posttest design for both experimental and control groups. Eighth grade female and male students from three schools in a large northeastern school district participated in this study. The achievement test consisted of 10 multiple choice and two open-response questions and used questions from state-wide and national assessments as well as teacher-constructed items. A 29 item Likert type instrument (McMillan, 1992) was administered to measure science self-efficacy and attitude toward science. The study was of 12 weeks duration. During the study, experimental group students were asked to perform collaborative concept map construction in single sex dyads using specific terms designated by the classroom teacher and the researcher. During classroom visitations, student perceptions of collaborative concept mapping were collected and were used to provide insight into the results of the quantitative data analysis. Data from the pre and posttest instruments were analyzed for both experimental and control groups using t-tests. Additionally, the three teachers were interviewed and their perceptions of the study were also used to gain insight into the results of the study. The analysis of data showed that experimental group females showed significantly higher gains in achievement than control group females. An additional analysis of data showed experimental group males showed significantly greater gains in

Investigation of effective base transit time and current gain modulation of light-emitting transistors under different ambient temperatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Hao-Hsiang; Tu, Wen-Chung; Wang, Hsiao-Lun [Graduate Institute of Photonics and Optoelectronics, National Taiwan University, 1, Roosevelt Road, Sec. 4, Taipei 106, Taiwan (China); Wu, Chao-Hsin, E-mail: chaohsinwu@ntu.edu.tw [Graduate Institute of Photonics and Optoelectronics, National Taiwan University, 1, Roosevelt Road, Sec. 4, Taipei 106, Taiwan (China); Graduate Institute of Electronics Engineering, National Taiwan University, 1, Roosevelt Road, Sec. 4, Taipei106, Taiwan (China)

2014-11-03

In this report, the modulation of current gain of InGaP/GaAs light-emitting transistors under different ambient temperatures are measured and analyzed using thermionic emission model of quantum well embedded in the transistor base region. Minority carriers captured by quantum wells gain more energy at high temperatures and escape from quantum wells resulting in an increase of current gain and lower optical output, resulting in different I-V characteristics from conventional heterojunction bipolar transistors. The effect of the smaller thermionic lifetime thus reduces the effective base transit time of transistors at high temperatures. The unique current gain enhancement of 27.61% is achieved when operation temperature increase from 28 to 85 °C.

Gain-Scheduled Model Predictive Control of Wind Turbines using Laguerre Functions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Adegas, Fabiano Daher; Wisniewski, Rafal; Larsen, Lars Finn Sloth

2014-01-01

This paper presents a systematic approach to design gain-scheduled predictive controllers for wind turbines. The predictive control law is based on Laguerre functions to parameterize control signals and a parameter-dependent cost function that is analytically determined from turbine data....... These properties facilitate the design of speed controllers by placement of the closed-loop poles (when constraints are not active) and systematic adaptation towards changes in the operating point. Vibration control of undamped modes is achieved by imposing a certain degree of stability to the closed-loop system....... The approach can be utilized to the design of new controllers and to represent existing gain-scheduled controllers as predictive controllers. The numerical example and simulations illustrate the design of a speed controller augmented with active damping of the tower fore-aft displacement....

ℋ∞ constant gain state feedback stabilization of stochastic hybrid systems with Wiener process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. K. Boukas

2004-01-01

Full Text Available This paper considers the stabilization problem of the class of continuous-time linear stochastic hybrid systems with Wiener process. The ℋ∞ state feedback stabilization problem is treated. A state feedback controller with constant gain that does not require access to the system mode is designed. LMI-based conditions are developed to design the state feedback controller with constant gain that stochastically stabilizes the studied class of systems and, at the same time, achieve the disturbance rejection of a desired level. The minimum disturbance rejection is also determined. Numerical examples are given to show the usefulness of the proposed results.

Minimizing differential modal gain in cladding-pumped EDFAs supporting four and six mode groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Qiongyue; Lim, Ee-Leong; Jung, Francesco Poletti Yongmin; Baskiotis, Catherine; Alam, Shaif-Ul; Richardson, David J

2014-09-08

We employ a Genetic Algorithm for the purpose of minimization of the maximum differential modal gain (DMG) over all the supported signal modes (at the same wavelength) of cladding-pumped four-mode and six-mode-group EDFAs. The optimal EDFA designs found through the algorithm provide less than 1 dB DMG across the C-band (1530-1565 nm) whilst achieving more than 20 dB gain per mode. We then analyze the sensitivity of the DMG to small variations from the optimal value of the erbium doping concentration and the structural parameters, and estimate the fabrication tolerance for reliable amplifier performance.

Cooperative learning and academic achievement: why does groupwork work?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert E. Slavin

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Cooperative learning refers to instructional methods in which students work in small groups to help each other learn. Four major theoretical perspectives on achievement effects of cooperative learning are reviewed: Motivational, social cohesion, developmental, and cognitive elaboration. Evidence from practical classroom research primarily supports the motivational perspective, which emphasizes the use of group goals and individual accountability for group success. However, there are conditions under which methods derived from all four theoretical perspectives contribute to achievement gain. This chapter reconciles these perspectives in a unified theory of cooperative learning effects.

Gain uniformity, linearity, saturation and depletion in gated microchannel-plate x-ray framing cameras

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Landen, O.L.; Bell, P.M.; Satariano, J.J.; Oertel, J.A.; Bradley, D.K.

1994-01-01

The pulsed characteristics of gated, stripline configuration microchannel-plate (MCP) detectors used in X-ray framing cameras deployed on laser plasma experiments worldwide are examined in greater detail. The detectors are calibrated using short (20 ps) and long (500 ps) pulse X-ray irradiation and 3--60 ps, deep UV (202 and 213 nm), spatially-smoothed laser irradiation. Two-dimensional unsaturated gain profiles show 5 in irradiation and fitted using a discrete dynode model. Finally, a pump-probe experiment quantifying for the first time long-suspected gain depletion by strong localized irradiation was performed. The mechanism for the extra voltage and hence gain degradation is shown to be associated with intense MCP irradiation in the presence of the voltage pulse, at a fluence at least an order of magnitude above that necessary for saturation. Results obtained for both constant pump area and constant pump fluence are presented. The data are well modeled by calculating the instantaneous electrical energy loss due to the intense charge extraction at the pump site and then recalculating the gain downstream at the probe site given the pump-dependent degradation in voltage amplitude

Achievement in Physics

Science.gov (United States)

1999-03-01

Naomi Moran, a student at the Arnewood School, New Milton, Hampshire was the first recipient of the `Achievement in Physics' prize awarded by the South Central Branch of The Institute of Physics. Naomi received an award certificate and cheque for £100 from Dr Ruth Fenn, Chairman of the Branch, at the annual Christmas lecture held at the University of Surrey in December. She is pictured with Dr Fenn and Steve Beith, physics teacher at the Arnewood School.  Photo Figure 1. Naomi Moran receiving her award (photograph courtesy of Peter Milford). The award is intended to celebrate personal achievement in physics at any level at age 16-17 and is not restricted to those who gain the highest academic results. Schools across the county were invited to nominate suitable candidates; Naomi's nomination by the school's deputy head of science impressed the judges because of her ability to grasp the most difficult parts of the subject quickly, in addition to the fact that she took her AS-level science in year 11 when she was only 16. She is currently studying A-level physics, chemistry and mathematics and hopes to continue her studies at university later this year.

Ultra-Wideband RCS Reduction and Gain Enhancement of Aperture-Coupled Antenna Based on Hybrid-FSS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. L. Cong

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A novel design of aperture-coupled microstrip antenna with ultra-wideband low radar cross section (RCS is proposed. Hybrid frequency selective surface (FSS structures consisting of two kinds of polarization-dependent folded split ring resonators (PDFSRRs and square patches are utilized to replace the conventional metallic ground. By orthogonally arranging the PDFSRRs in a chessboard-like configuration, the band-stop characteristic contributes to the gain enhancement, while the zero degree points of reflection phase and wave-transmission characteristic are utilized to achieve RCS reduction both in-band and out-of-band. Furthermore, with square patches periodically etched on the bottom of FSS structure, a new zero degree reflection phase is introduced to enhance the effect of RCS reduction. Full wave simulations and measurements demonstrate that the proposed antenna achieves RCS reduction from 1 GHz to 18 GHz and gain enhancement compared with traditional microstrip antenna.

Achievement Effects of Homework in Sixth Grade Classrooms.

Science.gov (United States)

Easton, John Q.; Bennett, Albert

This study examines the relationship between the amount of time sixth graders reported spending on homework and their achievement gains on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) between the spring of 1988 and the spring of 1989. Selected for participation were one or two classes in each of 30 public elementary schools in Chicago. Of the 30 schools,…

Dependence of therapeutic gain factor on stage of oral cancer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Velmurugan, J.; Solomon, J.G.R.; Koteshwer Rao, K.; Supe, S.S.; Prasad, G.N.S.

1998-01-01

To achieve therapeutic gain, unconventional dose per fraction has been employed in radiotherapy, in addition to the conventional dose per fraction of 2 Gy. Dose fractionation factor (DFF) and therapeutic gain factor (TGF) have been utilised to test the efficiency of such unconventional fractionation schedules. In this study, isoeffective dose for 100% tumour regression and mucosal and skin reactions were estimated. CRE, TDF and ERD values for tumour and normal tissue reactions were evaluated. DEF and TGF values have been determined on the basis of dose, CRE, TDF and ERD, in order to understand the influence of these bioeffect models and stage of cancer on TGF associated with differing fractionation schedules. There was a noticeable difference in TGF values determined on the basis of four criteria, which is in agreement with radiobiological phenomenon, that tissues with different α/β values differ in their responsiveness. (author)

High Achievement in Mathematics Education in India: A Report from Mumbai

Science.gov (United States)

Raman, Manya

2010-01-01

This paper reports a study aimed at characterizing the conditions that lead to high achievement in mathematics in India. The study involved eight schools in the greater Mumbai region. The main result of the study is that the notion of high achievement itself is problematic, as reflected in the reports about mathematics achievement within and…

Wideband and flat-gain amplifier based on high concentration erbium-doped fibres in parallel double-pass configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamida, B A; Cheng, X S; Harun, S W; Naji, A W; Arof, H; Al-Khateeb, W; Khan, S; Ahmad, H

2012-01-01

A wideband and flat gain erbium-doped fibre amplifier (EDFA) is demonstrated using a hybrid gain medium of a zirconiabased erbium-doped fibre (Zr-EDF) and a high concentration erbium-doped fibre (EDF). The amplifier has two stages comprising a 2-m-long ZEDF and 9-m-long EDF optimised for C- and L-band operations, respectively, in a double-pass parallel configuration. A chirp fibre Bragg grating (CFBG) is used in both stages to ensure double propagation of the signal and thus to increase the attainable gain in both C- and L-band regions. At an input signal power of 0 dBm, a flat gain of 15 dB is achieved with a gain variation of less than 0.5 dB within a wide wavelength range from 1530 to 1605 nm. The corresponding noise figure varies from 6.2 to 10.8 dB within this wavelength region.

Greater happiness for a greater number: Is that possible in Austria?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Veenhoven (Ruut)

2011-01-01

textabstractWhat is the final goal of public policy? Jeremy Bentham (1789) would say: greater happiness for a greater number. He thought of happiness as subjective enjoyment of life; in his words as “the sum of pleasures and pains”. In his time the happiness of the great number could not be measured

Greater happiness for a greater number: Is that possible in Germany?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Veenhoven (Ruut)

2009-01-01

textabstractWhat is the final goal of public policy? Jeremy Bentham (1789) would say: greater happiness for a greater number. He thought of happiness as subjective enjoyment of life; in his words as “the sum of pleasures and pains”. In his time the Happiness of the great number could not be measured

Gain attenuation of gated framing camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao Shali; Liu Shenye; Cao Zhurong; Li Hang; Zhang Haiying; Yuan Zheng; Wang Liwei

2009-01-01

The theoretic model of framing camera's gain attenuation is analyzed. The exponential attenuation curve of the gain along the pulse propagation time is simulated. An experiment to measure the coefficient of gain attenuation based on the gain attenuation theory is designed. Experiment result shows that the gain follows an exponential attenuation rule with a quotient of 0.0249 nm -1 , the attenuation coefficient of the pulse is 0.00356 mm -1 . The loss of the pulse propagation along the MCP stripline is the leading reason of gain attenuation. But in the figure of a single stripline, the gain dose not follow the rule of exponential attenuation completely, instead, there is a gain increase at the stripline bottom. That is caused by the reflection of the pulse. The reflectance is about 24.2%. Combining the experiment and theory, which design of the stripline MCP can improved the gain attenuation. (authors)

The influence of loss and gain of body mass on ovarian activity in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Ovarian activity was studied in 36 dry, Bos taurus cows fed to achieve different rates of body mass loss and gain in a 2 x 2 factorial experiment. Cows were fed hay to supply either 70% (Treatments 1, 2) or 40% (Treatments. 3,4) of their ME requirements for maintenance until they became anoestrus. Following a 90-day ...

Weight Gain during Pregnancy

Science.gov (United States)

... Global Map Premature Birth Report Cards Careers Archives Pregnancy Before or between pregnancies Nutrition, weight & fitness Prenatal ... fitness > Weight gain during pregnancy Weight gain during pregnancy E-mail to a friend Please fill in ...

Influence of Maturation Stage on Agility Performance Gains After Plyometric Training: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Asadi, Abbas; Arazi, Hamid; Ramirez-Campillo, Rodrigo; Moran, Jason; Izquierdo, Mikel

2017-09-01

Asadi, A, Arazi, H, Ramirez-Campillo, R, Moran, J, and Izquierdo, M. Influence of maturation stage on agility performance gains after plyometric training: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res 31(9): 2609-2617, 2017-Although plyometric training (PT) improves change of direction (COD) ability, the influence of age on COD gains after PT is unclear. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to identify the age-related pattern of improvement in COD ability after PT in youths. A computerized search within 6 databases was performed, selecting studies based on specific inclusion criteria: experimental trials published in English-language journals, PT focused on the lower-body, COD ability measurements reported before and after training, and male participants aged 10 to 18 years. Sixteen articles with a total of 30 effect sizes (ESs) in the experimental groups and 13 ESs in the control groups were included. For the analyses, subjects were categorized into 3 age groups: 10-12.9 years of age (PRE), 13-15.9 years of age (MID), and 16-18 years of age (POST). Independent of age, PT improved COD ability in youths (ES = 0.86, time gains [TG = -0.61]). However, a tendency toward greater COD ability gains was observed in older subjects (MID, ES = 0.95; POST, ES = 0.99) compared with younger subjects (PRE, ES = 0.68). Pearson product-moment correlation (r) indicated that 2-weekly sessions of PT-induced meaningful COD ability gains (for ES, r = 0.436; for TG, r = -0.624). A positive relationship was found between training intensity and ES (r = 0.493). In conclusion, PT improves COD ability in youths, with meaningfully greater effects in older youths. Two PT sessions per week, with 1,400 moderate-intensity jumps for 7 weeks, seems to be an adequate dose.

Prepregnancy body mass index, gestational weight gain, and birth weight in the BRISA cohort

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raina Jansen Cutrim Propp Lima

2018-05-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To analyze the effects of maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index and weight gain during pregnancy on the baby's birth weight. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional study with 5,024 mothers and their newborns using a Brazilian birth cohort study. In the proposed model, estimated by structural equation modeling, we tested socioeconomic status, age, marital status, pre-pregnancy body mass index, smoking habit and alcohol consumption during pregnancy, hypertension and gestational diabetes, gestational weight gain, and type of delivery as determinants of the baby's birth weight. RESULTS For a gain of 4 kg/m2 (1 Standard Deviation [SD] in pre-pregnancy body mass index, there was a 0.126 SD increase in birth weight, corresponding to 68 grams (p < 0.001. A 6 kg increase (1 SD in gestational weight gain represented a 0.280 SD increase in newborn weight, correponding to 151.2 grams (p < 0.001. The positive effect of pre-pregnancy body mass index on birth weight was direct (standardized coefficient [SC] = 0.202; p < 0.001, but the negative indirect effect was small (SC = -0.076, p < 0.001 and partially mediated by the lower weight gain during pregnancy (SC = -0.070, p < 0.001. The positive effect of weight gain during pregnany on birth weight was predominantly direct (SC = 0.269, p < 0.001, with a small indirect effect of cesarean delivery (SC = 0.011; p < 0.001. Women with a higher pre-pregnancy body mass index gained less weight during pregnancy (p < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS The effect of gestational weight gain on the increase in birth weight was greater than that of pre-pregnancy body mass index.

COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES OF STUDY STRATEGIES AMONG HIGH AND LOW ACHIEVERS DISTANCE LEARNING STUDENTS

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Muhammad Imran YOUSUF

2009-07-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this research is to better understand and draw perceptions of low and high achiever distance learners about their study patterns. The study indicates the areas where significant difference is found among low and high achievers of Allama Iqbal Open University, Pakistan through a self developed questionnaire covering their preferred study location, study times, number of hours spent on study, the difficulties affecting their study patterns and the organization of study strategies in comparative perspective. Greater difficulties were being faced by low achievers in their study. Increased difficulties were encountered by low achievers with study material, volume of study, self-motivation and other factors. There was no significant difference between low and high achievers for their study strategies of studying materials without taking notes and reading aloud. Greater low achievers attempted easy portions of their study material first and took notes simultaneously as compared to high achievers.

The Role of the PGC1α Gly482Ser Polymorphism in Weight Gain due to Intensive Diabetes Therapy

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Samir S. Deeb

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT involved intensive diabetes therapy of subjects with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM for an average period of 6.5 years. A subset of these subjects gained excessive weight. We tested for association of polymorphisms in 8 candidate genes with the above trait. We found the Gly482Ser polymorphism in the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC1α to be significantly associated with weight gain in males (P=.0045 but not in females. The Ser allele was associated with greater weight gain than the Gly allele (P=.005. Subjects with a family history of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM were more common among those who gained excessive weight. We conclude that T2DM and the Gly482Ser polymorphism in PGC1α contribute to the effect of intensive diabetes therapy on weight gain in males with T1DM.

Active Enhancement of Slow Light Based on Plasmon-Induced Transparency with Gain Materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Zhaojian; Yang, Junbo; He, Xin; Han, Yunxin; Zhang, Jingjing; Huang, Jie; Chen, Dingbo; Xu, Siyu

2018-06-03

As a plasmonic analogue of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) has drawn more attention due to its potential of realizing on-chip sensing, slow light and nonlinear effect enhancement. However, the performance of a plasmonic system is always limited by the metal ohmic loss. Here, we numerically report a PIT system with gain materials based on plasmonic metal-insulator-metal waveguide. The corresponding phenomenon can be theoretically analyzed by coupled mode theory (CMT). After filling gain material into a disk cavity, the system intrinsic loss can be compensated by external pump beam, and the PIT can be greatly fueled to achieve a dramatic enhancement of slow light performance. Finally, a double-channel enhanced slow light is introduced by adding a second gain disk cavity. This work paves way for a potential new high-performance slow light device, which can have significant applications for high-compact plasmonic circuits and optical communication.

Potential Gains in Reproductive-Aged Life Expectancy by Eliminating Maternal Mortality

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Canudas-Romo, Vladimir; Liu, L; Zimmerman, L

2014-01-01

Objective: We assessed the change over time in the contribution of maternal mortality to a life expectancy calculated between ages 15 and 49, or Reproductive-Aged Life Expectancy (RALE). Our goal was to estimate the increase in RALE in developed countries over the twentieth century and the hypoth......Objective: We assessed the change over time in the contribution of maternal mortality to a life expectancy calculated between ages 15 and 49, or Reproductive-Aged Life Expectancy (RALE). Our goal was to estimate the increase in RALE in developed countries over the twentieth century....... Findings: In developed countries, five years in RALE were gained over the twentieth century, of which approximately 10%, or half a year, was attributable to reductions in maternal mortality. In sub-Saharan African countries, the possible achievable gains fluctuate between 0.24 and 1.47 years, or 6% and 44...

Applied optics. Gain modulation by graphene plasmons in aperiodic lattice lasers.

Science.gov (United States)

Chakraborty, S; Marshall, O P; Folland, T G; Kim, Y-J; Grigorenko, A N; Novoselov, K S

2016-01-15

Two-dimensional graphene plasmon-based technologies will enable the development of fast, compact, and inexpensive active photonic elements because, unlike plasmons in other materials, graphene plasmons can be tuned via the doping level. Such tuning is harnessed within terahertz quantum cascade lasers to reversibly alter their emission. This is achieved in two key steps: first, by exciting graphene plasmons within an aperiodic lattice laser and, second, by engineering photon lifetimes, linking graphene's Fermi energy with the round-trip gain. Modal gain and hence laser spectra are highly sensitive to the doping of an integrated, electrically controllable, graphene layer. Demonstration of the integrated graphene plasmon laser principle lays the foundation for a new generation of active, programmable plasmonic metamaterials with major implications across photonics, material sciences, and nanotechnology. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Aging increases the susceptibility to motor memory interference and reduces off-line gains in motor skill learning

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roig, Marc; Ritterband-Rosenbaum, Anina; Jensen, Jesper Lundbye

2014-01-01

Declines in the ability to learn motor skills in older adults are commonly attributed to deficits in the encoding of sensorimotor information during motor practice. We investigated whether aging also impairs motor memory consolidation by assessing the susceptibility to memory interference and off...... greater susceptibility to memory interference and no off-line gains in motor skill learning. Performing B produced memory interference and reduced off-line gains only in the older group. However, older adults also showed deficits in memory consolidation independent of the interfering effects of B. Age......-related declines in motor skill learning are not produced exclusively by deficits in the encoding of sensorimotor information during practice. Aging also increases the susceptibility to memory interference and reduces off-line gains in motor skill learning after practice....

Comparison of gradient methods for gain tuning of a PD controller applied on a quadrotor system

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jinho; Wilkerson, Stephen A.; Gadsden, S. Andrew

2016-05-01

Many mechanical and electrical systems have utilized the proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control strategy. The concept of PID control is a classical approach but it is easy to implement and yields a very good tracking performance. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are currently experiencing a significant growth in popularity. Due to the advantages of PID controllers, UAVs are implementing PID controllers for improved stability and performance. An important consideration for the system is the selection of PID gain values in order to achieve a safe flight and successful mission. There are a number of different algorithms that can be used for real-time tuning of gains. This paper presents two algorithms for gain tuning, and are based on the method of steepest descent and Newton's minimization of an objective function. This paper compares the results of applying these two gain tuning algorithms in conjunction with a PD controller on a quadrotor system.

Optimum concentric circular array antenna with high gain and side lobe reduction at 5.8 GHz

Science.gov (United States)

Zaid, Mohammed; Rafiqul Islam, Md; Habaebi, Mohamed H.; Zahirul Alam, AHM; Abdullah, Khaizuran

2017-11-01

The significance of high gain directional antennas stems from the need to cope up with the everyday progressing wireless communication systems. Due to low gain of the widely used microstrip antenna, combining multiple antennas in proper geometry increases the gain with good directive property. Over other array forms, this paper uses concentric circular array configuration for its compact structure and inherent symmetry in azimuth. This proposed array is composed of 9 elements on FR-4 substrate, which is designed for WLAN applications at 5.8GHz. Antenna Magus software is used for synthesis, while CST software is used for optimization. The proposed array is designed with optimum inter-element spacing and number of elements achieving a high directional gain of 15.7 dB compared to 14.2 dB of available literature, with a high reduction in side lobe level of -17.6 dB.

Cycle training induces muscle hypertrophy and strength gain: strategies and mechanisms.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozaki, Hayao; Loenneke, J P; Thiebaud, R S; Abe, T

2015-03-01

Cycle training is widely performed as a major part of any exercise program seeking to improve aerobic capacity and cardiovascular health. However, the effect of cycle training on muscle size and strength gain still requires further insight, even though it is known that professional cyclists display larger muscle size compared to controls. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to discuss the effects of cycle training on muscle size and strength of the lower extremity and the possible mechanisms for increasing muscle size with cycle training. It is plausible that cycle training requires a longer period to significantly increase muscle size compared to typical resistance training due to a much slower hypertrophy rate. Cycle training induces muscle hypertrophy similarly between young and older age groups, while strength gain seems to favor older adults, which suggests that the probability for improving in muscle quality appears to be higher in older adults compared to young adults. For young adults, higher-intensity intermittent cycling may be required to achieve strength gains. It also appears that muscle hypertrophy induced by cycle training results from the positive changes in muscle protein net balance.

Leading Gainful Employment Metric Reporting

Science.gov (United States)

Powers, Kristina; MacPherson, Derek

2016-01-01

This chapter will address the importance of intercampus involvement in reporting of gainful employment student-level data that will be used in the calculation of gainful employment metrics by the U.S. Department of Education. The authors will discuss why building relationships within the institution is critical for effective gainful employment…

Can Beta Blockers Cause Weight Gain?

Science.gov (United States)

... cause weight gain? Can beta blockers cause weight gain? Answers from Sheldon G. Sheps, M.D. Yes. Weight gain can occur as a side effect of some ... and metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol-XL). The average weight gain is about 2.6 pounds (about 1.2 ...

Estimating the potential gains from mergers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bogetoft, Peter; Wang, Dexiang

2005-01-01

We introduce simple production economic models to estimate the potential gains from mergers. We decompose the gains into technical ef¿ciency, size (scale) and harmony (mix) gains, and we discuss alternative ways to capture these gains. We propose to approximate the production processes using...... the non-parametric. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach, and we use the resulting operational approach to estimate the potential gains from merging agricultural extension of¿ces in Denmark....

Social-Emotional Learning and Academic Achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meghan P. McCormick

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Social-emotional learning (SEL programs have demonstrated positive effects on children’s social-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes, as well as classroom climate. Some programs also theorize that program impacts on children’s outcomes will be partially explained by improvements in classroom social processes, namely classroom emotional support and organization. Yet there is little empirical evidence for this hypothesis. Using data from the evaluation of the SEL program INSIGHTS, this article tests whether assignment to INSIGHTS improved low-income kindergarten and first grade students’ math and reading achievement by first enhancing classroom emotional support and organization. Multilevel regression analyses, instrumental variables estimation, and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW were used to conduct quantitative analyses. Across methods, the impact of INSIGHTS on math and reading achievement in first grade was partially explained by gains in both classroom emotional support and organization. The IPTW method revealed that the program impact on reading achievement in first grade was partially explained through an improvement in classroom organization. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Family socioeconomic status, family health, and changes in students' math achievement across high school: A mediational model.

Science.gov (United States)

Barr, Ashley Brooke

2015-09-01

In response to recent calls to integrate understandings of socioeconomic disparities in health with understandings of socioeconomic disparities in academic achievement, this study tested a mediational model whereby family socioeconomic status predicted gains in academic achievement across high school through its impact on both student and parent health. Data on over 8000 high school students in the U.S. were obtained from wave 1 (2009-2010) and wave 2 (2012) of the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), and structural equation modeling with latent difference scores was used to determine the role of family health problems in mediating the well-established link between family SES and gains in academic achievement. Using both static and dynamic indicators of family SES, support was found for this mediational model. Higher family SES in 9th grade reduced the probability of students and their parents experiencing a serious health problem in high school, thereby promoting growth in academic achievement. In addition, parent and student health problems mediated the effect of changes in family SES across high school on math achievement gains. Results emphasize the importance of considering the dynamic nature of SES and that both student and parent health should be considered in understanding SES-related disparities in academic achievement. This relational process provides new mechanisms for understanding the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic status and the status attainment process more broadly. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fast Ignition Thermonuclear Fusion: Enhancement of the Pellet Gain by the Colossal-Magnetic-Field Shells

Science.gov (United States)

Stefan, V. Alexander

2013-10-01

The fast ignition fusion pellet gain can be enhanced by a laser generated B-field shell. The B-field shell, (similar to Earth's B-field, but with the alternating B-poles), follows the pellet compression in a frozen-in B-field regime. A properly designed laser-pellet coupling can lead to the generation of a B-field shell, (up to 100 MG), which inhibits electron thermal transport and confines the alpha-particles. In principle, a pellet gain of few-100s can be achieved in this manner. Supported in part by Nikola Tesla Labs, Stefan University, 1010 Pearl, La Jolla, CA 92038-1007.

Scaling of gain with energy spread and energy in the PEP FEL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, A.S.

1992-01-01

The Sag Harbor paper on the PEP FEL discusses the scaling of various FEL parameters with energy spread σ var-epsilon . I will repeat some of this material here and then examine the benefit of increasing the energy spread. How much energy spread can be achieved with damping wigglers is the next topic. Finally, I consider the dependence of gain and saturation length on beam energy and undulator field

Does cognitive flexibility predict treatment gains in Internet-delivered psychological treatment of social anxiety disorder, depression, or tinnitus?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philip Lindner

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Little is known about the individual factors that predict outcomes in Internet-administered psychological treatments. We hypothesized that greater cognitive flexibility (i.e. the ability to simultaneously consider several concepts and tasks and switch effortlessly between them in response to changes in environmental contingencies would provide a better foundation for learning and employing the cognitive restructuring techniques taught and exercised in therapy, leading to greater treatment gains. Participants in three trials featuring Internet-administered psychological treatments for depression (n = 36, social anxiety disorder (n = 115 and tinnitus (n = 53 completed the 64-card Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST prior to treatment. We found no significant associations between perseverative errors on the WCST and treatment gains in any group. We also found low accuracy in the classification of treatment responders. We conclude that lower cognitive flexibility, as captured by perseverative errors on the WCST, should not impede successful outcomes in Internet-delivered psychological treatments.

Optimization of E r-density profile for efficient pumping and high signal gain in Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arzi, E.; Hassani, A.; Esmaili Seraji, F.

2000-01-01

Recently, the Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier has been shown to have a great potentiality in Fiber-Optics Communication. A model is suggested for calculating the E r-density profile, using the propagation and rate equations of a homogeneous two-level laser medium in Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier, such that efficient pumping and high signal gain is achieved for different fiber waveguide structure. The result of this numerical calculation shows that the gain, compared with the gain of the existing Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier, is higher by a factor of 3.5. This model is applicable in all active waveguides and any other dopant as well

A new approach to assess student perceptions of gains from an REU program

Science.gov (United States)

Houser, C.; Cahill, A. T.; Lemmons, K.

2013-12-01

Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) programs are designed to recruit students to science and engineering research careers by allowing the students to conduct research with faculty mentors. The success of REU programs is commonly assessed based on student perceptions of gains using a simple Likert scale. Because students tend to be positive about all aspects of their research experience, the results of the Likert scale tend to be meaningless. An alternative assessment technique, similar to Q-analysis, is used to assess the perceived outcomes of an international REU program hosted by Texas A&M University. Students were required to sort commonly identified REU outcomes into a normal distribution, from most agree to least agree, based on what they perceive as their personal gains from the program. Factor analysis reveals 3 groups of students who believe that they gained field and analytical skills (Group 1), greater competence in research and self-confidence (Group 2), and an improved understanding of the scientific method (Group 3). Student perceptions appear to depend on whether the student had previous research experience through classes and/or as a research assistant at their home institution. A comparison to a similar sort of REU outcomes by the faculty mentors suggests that there is a slight disconnect in the perceived gains by the students between the student participants and the faculty mentors.

Multidimensional indices of achievements and poverty: What do we gain and what do we lose?

OpenAIRE

Nora Lustig

2011-01-01

Poverty and wellbeing are multi-dimensional. Nobody questions that deprivations and achievements go beyond income. There is, however, sharp disagreement on whether the various dimensions of poverty and wellbeing can be aggregated into a single, multi-dimensional index in a meaningful way. Is aggregating dimensions of poverty and wellbeing useful? Is it sensible? Here I summarize and contrast three key papers that respond these questions in strikingly different ways. The papers are: The HDI 20...

Talented athletes and academic achievements : a comparison over 14 years

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jonker, Laura; Elferink-Gemser, Marije T.; Visscher, Chris

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the academic achievements of 200 talented athletes in 1992/1993 and 200 in 2006/2007, aged 14-16 years. When compared with the national average, the athletes in 2006/2007 attended pre-university classes more often (2 = 57.001, p.05). Of the

A gain-coefficient switched Alexandrite laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Chris J; Van der Slot, Peter J M; Boller, Klaus-J

2013-01-01

We report on a gain-coefficient switched Alexandrite laser. An electro-optic modulator is used to switch between high and low gain states by making use of the polarization dependent gain of Alexandrite. In gain-coefficient switched mode, the laser produces 85 ns pulses with a pulse energy of 240 mJ at a repetition rate of 5 Hz.

Decision-making for risky gains and losses among college students with Internet gaming disorder.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuan-Wei Yao

Full Text Available Individuals with Internet gaming disorder (IGD tend to exhibit disadvantageous risky decision-making not only in their real life but also in laboratory tasks. Decision-making is a complex multifaceted function and different cognitive processes are involved in decision-making for gains and losses. However, the relationship between impaired decision-making and gain versus loss processing in the context of IGD is poorly understood. The main aim of the present study was to separately evaluate decision-making for risky gains and losses among college students with IGD using the Cups task. Additionally, we further examined the effects of outcome magnitude and probability level on decision-making related to risky gains and losses respectively. Sixty college students with IGD and 42 matched healthy controls (HCs participated. Results indicated that IGD subjects exhibited generally greater risk taking tendencies than HCs. In comparison to HCs, IGD subjects made more disadvantageous risky choices in the loss domain (but not in the gain domain. Follow-up analyses indicated that the impairment was associated to insensitivity to changes in outcome magnitude and probability level for risky losses among IGD subjects. In addition, higher Internet addiction severity scores were associated with percentage of disadvantageous risky options in the loss domain. These findings emphasize the effect of insensitivity to losses on disadvantageous decisions under risk in the context of IGD, which has implications for future intervention studies.

Erbium-doped phosphate glass waveguide on silicon with 4.1 dB/cm gain at 1.535 µm

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Y. C.; Faber, A. J.; de Waal, H.; Kik, P. G.; Polman, A.

1997-11-01

Erbium-doped multicomponent phosphate glass waveguides were deposited by rf sputtering techniques. The Er concentration was 5.3×1020cm-3. By pumping the waveguide at 980 nm with a power of ˜21 mW, a net optical gain of 4.1 dB at 1.535 μm was achieved. This high gain per unit length at low pump power could be achieved because the Er-Er cooperative upconversion interactions in this heavily Er-doped phosphate glass are very weak [the upconversion coefficient is (2.0±0.5)×10-18 cm3/s], presumably due to the homogeneous distribution of Er in the glass and due to the high optical mode confinement in the waveguide which leads to high pump power density at low pump power.

Comprehension of atypical literary text and scholastic achievement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Božin Aurel A.

2009-01-01

Full Text Available With the aim of gaining insight into literary text comprehension and the linkage between that comprehension and scholastic achievement during the first years of schooling, a research was conducted on the sample of 152 third and fourth grade pupils from one urban and one rural school. After having read silently a selected atypical excerpt from one literary text, interviewed pupils filled out the questionnaire constructed for the purposes of this research starting from the 11 categories of text comprehension singled out based on the theory of comprehension and interpretation of literary text and the current curriculum. In the first part of the research we applied the Children's orientation scale by Malka Margalit, and school marks were used as a measurement of scholastic achievement. Research results point out that, among other things, inferring on the basis of what has been read poses the greatest difficulty for third and fourth graders, that is, that almost three quarters of them are not capable of determining the meaning of some representative sentences from that text. In the positive sense, it was established that almost three quarters of them perceive beautiful poetic expressions and about 80% of them can at least to a certain extent recognize character descriptions, emotional situations and moods, that is, discover significant facts. Answers to the questions regarding the majority of categories of text comprehension are significantly correlated with scholastic achievement. As expected, the highest correlations between the measures on text comprehension categories are with the marks in native (Serbian language. Partial correlations between the measures on certain categories of text comprehension and measurements of scholastic achievement (excluding the influence of feeling of coherence are not significantly different from bivariate. Based on the obtained data, authors conclude that the utilized system of categories can be a useful tool for

Predictors of Language Gains Among School-Age Children With Language Impairment in the Public Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Justice, Laura M; Jiang, Hui; Logan, Jessica A; Schmitt, Mary Beth

2017-06-10

This study aimed to identify child-level characteristics that predict gains in language skills for children with language impairment who were receiving therapy within the public schools. The therapy provided represented business-as-usual speech/language treatment provided by speech-language pathologists in the public schools. The sample included 272 kindergartners and first-graders with language impairment who participated in a larger study titled "Speech-Therapy Experiences in the Public Schools." Multilevel regression analyses were applied to examine the extent to which select child-level characteristics, including age, nonverbal cognition, memory, phonological awareness, vocabulary, behavior problems, and self-regulation, predicted children's language gains over an academic year. Pratt indices were computed to establish the relative importance of the predictors of interest. Phonological awareness and vocabulary skill related to greater gains in language skills, and together they accounted for nearly 70% of the explained variance, or 10% of total variance at child level. Externalizing behavior, nonverbal cognition, and age were also potentially important predictors of language gains. This study significantly advances our understanding of the characteristics of children that may contribute to their language gains while receiving therapy in the public schools. Researchers can explore how these characteristics may serve to moderate treatment outcomes, whereas clinicians can assess how these characteristics may factor into understanding treatment responses.

The Effects of Playing Educational Video Games on Kindergarten Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Din, Feng S.; Calao, Josephine

2001-01-01

Investigated whether kindergarten students who played Sony PlayStation educational video games for 40 minutes daily for 11 weeks learned better than peers who did not play such games. Found that the experimental group gained significantly more than the control group in spelling and decoding on the Wide Range Achievement Test-R3. Found no…

Weight gain and cardiovascular risk factors during smoking cessation with bupropion or nicotine.

Science.gov (United States)

Botella-Carretero, J I; Escobar-Morreale, H F; Martín, I; Valero, A M; Alvarez, F; García, G; Varela, C; Cantarero, M

2004-03-01

Weight gain is frequent after smoking cessation, and may limit patient's will to quit and long-term success. Nicotine and bupropion are effective drugs for smoking withdrawal. However, their influence on weight gain, insulin resistance and other cardiovascular risk factors, as well as possible differences in obese and lean subjects, have not been fully evaluated. We randomised 25 lean and 25 obese smokers to receive either bupropion or nicotine patches. Clinical evaluation and lipid profile were performed at baseline and after treatment. Insulin resistance was also assessed at the end. Weight, BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, and diastolic blood pressure increased (p < 0.005), whereas lipid profile improved (p < 0.001) after smoking cessation independently of obesity at baseline or drug used. Obese patients had higher insulin resistance at the end (p < 0.05) regardless of drug used. Weight gain was inversely related to age (beta= - 0.125, R = 0.38, p = 0.046), and insulin resistance was related to obesity at baseline (beta = 0.85, R = 0.46, p = 0.02). In conclusion, weight gain after smoking cessation is not dependent on obesity or drug taken. A beneficial lipid profile is achieved after quitting smoking with either bupropion or nicotine patch in both obese and lean subjects.

Functional Gain After Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation: Correlates and Impact on Long-Term Survival.

Science.gov (United States)

Scrutinio, Domenico; Monitillo, Vincenzo; Guida, Pietro; Nardulli, Roberto; Multari, Vincenzo; Monitillo, Francesco; Calabrese, Gianluigi; Fiore, Pietro

2015-10-01

Prediction of functional outcome after stroke rehabilitation (SR) is a growing field of interest. The association between SR and survival still remains elusive. We sought to investigate the factors associated with functional outcome after SR and whether the magnitude of functional improvement achieved with rehabilitation is associated with long-term mortality risk. The study population consisted of 722 patients admitted for SR within 90 days of stroke onset, with an admission functional independence measure (FIM) score of stroke onset to rehabilitation admission (PStroke Scale score at rehabilitation admission (P<0.001), and aphasia (P=0.021) were independently associated with FIM gain. The R2 of the model was 0.275. During a median follow-up of 6.17 years, 36.9% of the patients died. At multivariable Cox analysis, age (P<0.0001), coronary heart disease (P=0.018), atrial fibrillation (P=0.042), total cholesterol (P=0.015), and total FIM gain (P<0.0001) were independently associated with mortality. The adjusted hazard ratio for death significantly decreased across tertiles of increasing FIM gain. Several factors are independently associated with functional gain after SR. Our findings strongly suggest that the magnitude of functional improvement is a powerful predictor of long-term mortality in patients admitted for SR. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

Weight gain following treatment of hyperthyroidism.

Science.gov (United States)

Dale, J; Daykin, J; Holder, R; Sheppard, M C; Franklyn, J A

2001-08-01

Patients frequently express concern that treating hyperthyroidism will lead to excessive weight gain. This study aimed to determine the extent of, and risk factors for, weight gain in an unselected group of hyperthyroid patients. We investigated 162 consecutive hyperthyroid patients followed for at least 6 months. Height, weight, clinical features, biochemistry and management were recorded at each clinic visit. Documented weight gain was 5.42 +/- 0.46 kg (mean +/- SE) and increase in BMI was 8.49 +/- 0.71%, over a mean 24.2 +/- 1.6 months. Pre-existing obesity, Graves' disease causing hyperthyroidism, weight loss before presentation and length of follow-up each independently predicted weight gain. Patients treated with thionamides or radioiodine gained a similar amount of weight (thionamides, n = 87, 5.16 +/- 0.63 kg vs. radioiodine, n = 62, 4.75 +/- 0.57 kg, P = 0.645), but patients who underwent thyroidectomy (n = 13) gained more weight (10.27 +/- 2.56 kg vs. others, P = 0.007). Development of hypothyroidism (even transiently) was associated with weight gain (never hypothyroid, n = 102, 4.57 +/- 0.52 kg, transiently hypothyroid, n = 29, 5.37 +/- 0.85 kg, on T4, n = 31, 8.06 +/- 1.42 kg, P = 0.014). This difference remained after correcting for length of follow-up. In the whole cohort, weight increased by 3.95 +/- 0.40 kg at 1 year (n = 144) to 9.91 +/- 1.62 kg after 4 years (n = 27) (P = 0.008), representing a mean weight gain of 3.66 +/- 0.44 kg/year. We have demonstrated marked weight gain after treatment of hyperthyroidism. Pre-existing obesity, a diagnosis of Graves' disease and prior weight loss independently predicted weight gain and weight continued to rise with time. Patients who became hypothyroid, despite T4 replacement, gained most weight.

Exposure to Sexual Stimuli Induces Greater Discounting Leading to Increased Involvement in Cyber Delinquency Among Men.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Wen; Chiou, Wen-Bin

2018-02-01

People frequently encounter sexual stimuli during Internet use. Research has shown that stimuli inducing sexual motivation can lead to greater impulsivity in men, as manifested in greater temporal discounting (i.e., a tendency to prefer smaller, immediate gains to larger, future ones). Extant findings in crime research suggest that delinquents tend to focus on short-term gains while failing to adequately think through the longer-term consequences of delinquent behavior. We experimentally tested the possibility that exposure to sexual stimuli is associated with the tendency to engage in cyber delinquency among men, as a result of their overly discounting remote consequences. In Experiment 1, participants exposed to pictures of "sexy" women were more likely to discount the future and were more inclined to make cyber-delinquent choices (e.g., cyberbullying, cyber fraud, cyber theft, and illegal downloading), compared with male participants who rated the sex appeal of less sexy opposite-sex pictures. However, these relationships were not observed in female participants exposed to either highly or less sexy pictures of men. In Experiment 2, male participants exposed to sexual primes showed a greater willingness to purchase a wide range of counterfeit rather than authentic products online and experienced a higher likelihood of logging into the other person's Facebook webpage (i.e., invading online privacy). The discounting tendency mediated the link between exposure to sexual primes and the inclination to engage in cyber-delinquent behavior. These findings provide insight into a strategy for reducing men's involvement in cyber delinquency; that is, through less exposure to sexual stimuli and promotion of delayed gratification. The current results suggest that the high availability of sexual stimuli in cyberspace may be more closely associated with men's cyber-delinquent behavior than previously thought.

Outrunning major weight gain: a prospective study of 8,340consistent runners during 7 years of follow-up

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Williams, Paul T.

2006-01-06

Background: Body weight increases with aging. Short-term,longitudinal exercise training studies suggest that increasing exerciseproduces acute weight loss, but it is not clear if the maintenance oflong-term, vigorous exercise attenuates age-related weight gain inproportion to the exercise dose. Methods: Prospective study of 6,119 maleand 2,221 female runners whose running distance changed less than 5 km/wkbetween their baseline and follow-up survey 7 years later. Results: Onaverage, men who ran modest (0-24 km/wk), intermediate (24-48 km/wk) orprolonged distances (>_48 km/wk) all gained weight throughage 64,however, those who ran ?48 km/wk had one-half the average annual weightgain of those who ran<24 km/wk. Age-related weight gain, and itsreduction by running, were both greater in younger than older men. Incontrast, men s gain in waist circumference with age, and its reductionby running, were the same in older and younger men. Women increased theirbody weight and waist and hip circumferences over time, regardless ofage, which was also reduced in proportion to running distance. In bothsexes, running did not attenuate weight gain uniformly, but ratherdisproportionately prevented more extreme increases. Conclusion: Men andwomen who remain vigorously active gain less weight as they age and thereduction is in proportion to the exercise dose.

Video Cases in Teacher Education: A review study on intended and achieved learning objectives by video cases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Geerts, Walter; Van der Werff, Anne; Hummel, Hans; Van Geert, Paul

2014-01-01

This literature review focuses on the use of video cases in the education of preservice teachers as a means of achieving higher order learning objectives that are necessary for gaining situated knowledge. An overview of both intended and achieved learning objectives in relevant studies involving

Gain control mechanisms in spinal motoneurons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael David Johnson

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Motoneurons provide the only conduit for motor commands to reach muscles. For many years, motoneurons were in fact considered to be little more than passive wires. Systematic studies in the past 25 years however have clearly demonstrated that the intrinsic electrical properties of motoneurons are under strong neuromodulatory control via multiple sources. The discovery of potent neuromodulation from the brainstem and its ability to change the gain of motoneurons shows that the passive view of the motor output stage is no longer tenable. A mechanism for gain control at the motor output stage makes good functional sense considering our capability of generating an enormous range of forces, from very delicate (e.g. putting in a contact lens to highly forceful (emergency reactions. Just as sensory systems need gain control to deal with a wide dynamic range of inputs, so to might motor output need gain control to deal with the wide dynamic range of the normal movement repertoire. Two problems emerge from the potential use of the brainstem monoaminergic projection to motoneurons for gain control. First, the projection is highly diffuse anatomically, so that independent control of the gains of different motor pools is not feasible. In fact, the system is so diffuse that gain for all the motor pools in a limb likely increases in concert. Second, if there is a system that increases gain, probably a system to reduce gain is also needed. In this review, we summarize recent studies that show local inhibitory circuits within the spinal cord, especially reciprocal and recurrent inhibition, have the potential to solve both of these problems as well as constitute another source of gain modulation.

Miniature CRLH-based ultra wideband antenna with gain enhancement for wireless communication applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Alibakhshi-Kenari

2016-06-01

Full Text Available A novel miniaturized ultra wideband (UWB antenna based on composite right/left-handed (CRLH metamaterial unit cells for modern wireless communication applications is presented. The physical size of the small and compact antenna is 15×7.87×1.6 mm3 or 0.15λo×0.07λo×0.01λo in terms of the free-space wavelength at 3 GHz. The proposed antenna covers an impedance bandwidth of 3–10.6 GHz, which is equivalent to a fractional bandwidth of 111%. The gain and efficiency of the antenna are greater than 2.89 dBi and 38.54%, respectively, with a peak gain of 9.41 dBi and a peak efficiency of 99.93%. The characteristics of the antenna were validated with measured results obtained from a fabricated prototype to establish the proof of concept.

Securing Communal Land Rights to Achieve Sustainable Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Critical Analysis and Policy Implications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ross Andrew Clarke

2009-09-01

Full Text Available While the concept of sustainable development gains increasing traction under international law, effective and scalable policies to translate these principles into practice remain largely beyond reach. This article analyses one possible strategy in Sub-Saharan Africa - increasing security of communal tenure to improve resource management and achieve rural sustainable development. Although this approach has attracted some attention, particularly with management responsibility of communal property increasingly devolved to the community-level, the expected results in terms of more sustainable resource exploitation and sounder environmental management have yet to be realised. Through critical analysis, with particular emphasis on the Gestion Terroir approach in Burkina Faso , the article explores the reasons behind the limited success. The article suggests that greater emphasis must be placed on bridging statutory command-and-control regimes with community-based models. Focusing on the links between communal land tenure and environmental management, and effectively embedding community land management institutions within existing environmental governance structures offers a practical model to promote sustainable development.

External locus of control contributes to racial disparities in memory and reasoning training gains in ACTIVE

Science.gov (United States)

Zahodne, Laura B.; Meyer, Oanh L.; Choi, Eunhee; Thomas, Michael L.; Willis, Sherry L.; Marsiske, Michael; Gross, Alden L.; Rebok, George W.; Parisi, Jeanine M.

2015-01-01

Racial disparities in cognitive outcomes may be partly explained by differences in locus of control. African Americans report more external locus of control than non-Hispanic Whites, and external locus of control is associated with poorer health and cognition. The aims of this study were to compare cognitive training gains between African American and non-Hispanic White participants in the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study and determine whether racial differences in training gains are mediated by locus of control. The sample comprised 2,062 (26% African American) adults aged 65 and older who participated in memory, reasoning, or speed training. Latent growth curve models evaluated predictors of 10-year cognitive trajectories separately by training group. Multiple group modeling examined associations between training gains and locus of control across racial groups. Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans evidenced less improvement in memory and reasoning performance after training. These effects were partially mediated by locus of control, controlling for age, sex, education, health, depression, testing site, and initial cognitive ability. African Americans reported more external locus of control, which was associated with smaller training gains. External locus of control also had a stronger negative association with reasoning training gain for African Americans than for Whites. No racial difference in training gain was identified for speed training. Future intervention research with African Americans should test whether explicitly targeting external locus of control leads to greater cognitive improvement following cognitive training. PMID:26237116

For the greater good? Patient and public attitudes to use of medical free text data in research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth Ford

2017-04-01

This review demonstrates that transparency about data usage, and working “for the greater good” rather than financial gain, appear to be the most important public concerns to be addressed when using patients’ medical data. Governance frameworks for using EHRs must now be enhanced to provide for the use of medical text. This will involve informing both regulators and the public about the current capabilities of automated de-identification, and developing other assurances to safeguard patients’ privacy.

Health coaching to prevent excessive gestational weight gain: A randomized-controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Skouteris, Helen; McPhie, Skye; Hill, Briony; McCabe, Marita; Milgrom, Jeannette; Kent, Bridie; Bruce, Lauren; Herring, Sharon; Gale, Janette; Mihalopoulos, Cathrine; Shih, Sophy; Teale, Glyn; Lachal, Jennifer

2016-02-01

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of a health coaching (HC) intervention designed to prevent excessive gestational weight gain (GWG), and promote positive psychosocial and motivational outcomes in comparison with an Education Alone (EA) group. Randomized-controlled trial. Two hundred and sixty-one women who were <18 weeks pregnant consented to take part. Those allocated to the HC group received a tailored HC intervention delivered by a Health Coach, whilst those in the EA group attended two education sessions. Women completed measures, including motivation, psychosocial variables, sleep quality, and knowledge, beliefs and expectations concerning GWG, at 15 weeks of gestation (Time 1) and 33 weeks of gestation (Time 2). Post-birth data were also collected at 2 months post-partum (Time 3). There was no intervention effect in relation to weight gained during pregnancy, rate of excessive GWG or birth outcomes. The only differences between HC and EA women were higher readiness (b = 0.29, 95% CIs = 0.03-0.55, p < .05) and the importance to achieve a healthy GWG (b = 0.27, 95% CIs = 0.02-0.52, p < .05), improved sleep quality (b = -0.22, 95% CIs = -0.44 to -0.03, p < .05), and increased knowledge for an appropriate amount of GWG that would be best for their baby's health (b = -1.75, 95% CI = -3.26 to -0.24, p < .05) reported by the HC at Time 2. Whilst the HC intervention was not successful in preventing excessive GWG, several implications for the design of future GWG interventions were identified, including the burden of the intervention commitment and the use of weight monitoring. What is already known on the subject? Designing interventions to address gestational weight gain (GWG) continues to be a challenge. To date, health behaviour change factors have not been the focus of GWG interventions. What does this study add? Our health coaching (HC) intervention did not reduce GWG more so than education alone (EA). There was an intervention effect

Weight gain in healthy pregnant women in relation to pre-pregnancy BMI, diet and physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Merkx, Astrid; Ausems, Marlein; Budé, Luc; de Vries, Raymond; Nieuwenhuijze, Marianne J

2015-07-01

to explore gestational weight gain in healthy women in relation to pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index, diet and physical activity. a cross-sectional survey was conducted among 455 healthy pregnant women of all gestational ages receiving antenatal care from an independent midwife in the Netherlands. Weight gain was assessed using the Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines and classified as below, within, or above the guidelines. A multinomial regression analysis was performed with weight gain classifications as the dependent variable (within IOM-guidelines as reference). Independent variables were pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index, diet (broken down into consumption of vegetables, fruit and fish) and physical activity (motivation to engage in physical activity, pre-pregnancy physical activity and decline in physical activity during pregnancy). Covariates were age, gestational age, parity, ethnicity, family income, education, perceived sleep deprivation, satisfaction with pre-pregnancy weight, estimated prepregnancy body mass index, smoking, having a weight gain goal and having received weight gain advice from the midwife. forty-two per cent of the women surveyed gained weight within the guidelines. Fourteen per cent of the women gained weight below the guidelines and 44 per cent gained weight above the guidelines. Weight gain within the guidelines, compared to both above and below the guidelines, was not associated with pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index nor with diet. A decline in physical activity was associated with weight gain above the guidelines (OR 0.54, 95 per cent CI 0.33-0.89). Weight gain below the guidelines was seen more often in women who perceived a greater sleep deprivation (OR 1.20, 95 per cent CI 1.02-1.41). Weight gain above the guidelines was seen less often in Caucasian women in comparison to non-Caucasian women (OR 0.22, 95 per cent CI 0.08-0.56) and with women who did not stop smoking during pregnancy (OR 0.49, 95 per cent CI 0.25-0.95). a decline in

Economic gains from introducing international ITQs - the case of the mackerel and herring fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thøgersen, Thomas Talund; Eigaard, Ole Ritzau; Fitzpatrick, M.

2015-01-01

Achieving a balance between fishing capacity and fishing opportunities is one of the major challenges in European fisheries. One way to achieve this is to introduce individual tradable quotas or similar management measures. In several mackerel and herring fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic...... that the gross cash flow can be improved by 21% by allowing the mackerel and herring quotas to be traded internationally in the Northeast Atlantic. This rent gain arises mainly from increased productivity by allowing tradability between areas and fleets. The analysis also shows that the Danish pelagic fleet...... will gain from increasing its share of mackerel and herring quotas, whereas the Irish fleets are incentivised to sell quota, if individual quotas are allowed to be traded among countries. This result is in line with the qualitative analyses that show that Irish fishermen targeting herring in the Celtic Sea...

Monitoring changes in Greater Yellowstone Lake water quality following the 1988 wildfires

Science.gov (United States)

Lathrop, Richard G., Jr.; Vande Castle, John D.; Brass, James A.

1994-01-01

The fires that burned the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA) during the summer of 1988 were the largest ever recorded for the region. Wildfire can have profound indirect effects on associated aquatic ecosystems by increased nutrient loading, sediment, erosion, and runoff. Satellite remote sensing and water quality sampling were used to compare pre- versus post-fire conditions in the GYA's large oliotrophic (high transparency, low productivity) lakes. Inputs of suspended sediment to Jackson Lake appear to have increased. Yellowstone Lake has not shown any discernable shift in water quality. The insights gained separately from the Landsat Thematic and NOAA Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) remote sensing systems, along with conventional in-situ sampling, can be combined into a useful water quality monitoring tool.

Energy Gaining Windows for Residental Buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kragh, Jesper; Laustsen, Jacob Birck; Svendsen, Svend

2008-01-01

This paper presents some of the research done during the last 8 years at the Technical University of Denmark developing improved low-energy window solutions. The focus has been on maximizing the net energy gain of windows for residential buildings. The net energy gain of windows is the solar gain...... minus the heat loss integrated over the heating season. It is assumed that in northern cold climates all of the solar gain during the heating season can be utilized for space heating. Problems with overheating in the summer period must be solved with overhang or moveable solar shading devices. Two...... and longer durability of the window. The glazing in these fiber reinforced polyester windows is both unsealed and sealed triple glazing units. To increase the net energy gain slim frame profiles have been developed to increase the glazing area and thereby the solar gain. The challenge when developing slim...

The correlation between academic achievements, self-esteem and motivation of female seventh grade students: A mixed methods approach

Science.gov (United States)

Henman, Karen

During the early grades, female students generally display enthusiasm for learning science. As these same students go though school, however, their level of motivation changes. Once female students reach high school, many lack the confidence to take chemistry and physics. Then, in college they lack the background necessary to major in chemistry, physics, and engineering. This study used quantitative data to investigate the correlation between female students' motivation, self-esteem, and standards-based state science achievement tests combined with a qualitative survey of student's perceptions of parents' attitudes toward science. The Children's Science Motivation Inventory (CAIMI) determined students' levels of motivation toward science. The Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory (CSEI) ascertained female students' overall self-esteem. The ISTEP+ exam given in the 6th grade measured the students' academic achievement in science. Trained examiners who interviewed students comprised the qualitative component of the study. Each examiner elaborated on selected questions from the CSEI and CAIMI to determine the students' perceptions of parental attitudes toward science. A multiple regression was used to determine the correlation between self-esteem, motivation, and achievement in science. The correlation was strongest between motivation. Interviews revealed parents and teachers had the most influence on students' perception of science. In understanding the correlation between female students' motivation, achievement, and self-esteem, schools will gain further knowledge into how students relate to the academic field of science and can thus promote females' participation in more science courses in high school. This then will provide females the necessary background knowledge to pursue a greater number of science majors in college.

What’s Past is Prologue: Relations Between Early Mathematics Knowledge and High School Achievement

OpenAIRE

Watts, Tyler W.; Duncan, Greg J.; Siegler, Robert S.; Davis-Kean, Pamela E.

2014-01-01

© 2014 AERA. Although previous research has established the association between early-grade mathematics knowledge and later mathematics achievement, few studies have measured mathematical skills prior to school entry, and few have investigated the predictive power of early gains in mathematics ability. The current paper relates mathematical skills measured at 54 months to adolescent mathematics achievement using multisite longitudinal data. We find that preschool mathematics ability predicts ...

Optimal weight gain in triplet pregnancies.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Robert C; Erfani, Hadi; Shamshirsaz, Amir A; Spiel, Melissa; Ravangard, Sam F; Shaman, Majid; Allaf, M Baraa; Shamshirsaz, Alireza A; Haeri, Sina

2017-08-01

To identify appropriate weight gain in triplet gestations, which may aid in reducing the risk of perinatal morbidity within this high-risk cohort. This retrospective cohort study evaluated all non-anomalous triplet pregnancies between 23 and 40 weeks' gestation resulting in live births at five tertiary-care medical centers between 1991 and 2011. Subjects were divided by pre-pregnancy BMI into underweight, normal-weight, overweight, and obese groups, and then stratified by low (gain (≥1.5 lbs/week). Primary outcomes included spontaneous preterm birth and preeclampsia. We included 116 mothers and 348 corresponding neonates for final analysis. The incidence of preeclampsia and preterm delivery less than 32 weeks' gestation was 37% and 41%, respectively. The incidence of preeclampsia increased with weight gain per week, but was not statistically different from subjects who gained less weight. We found no statistical correlation between weight gain per week and preterm delivery. We found no association between preeclampsia or preterm delivery and increasing weight gain in triplet pregnancies. The association with increased risk for preeclampsia was predominantly due to BMI effect. Based on the current study, recommendations for optimal weight gain in mothers with triplet gestations could not be defined.

High Voltage Gain Dual Active Bridge Converter with an Extended Operation Range for Renewable Energy Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Zhe; Tomas Manez, Kevin; Yudi, Xiao

2018-01-01

Bridge (P2DAB) converter, i.e. low-voltage (LV) side parallel and high-voltage (HV) side series, is proposed to achieve high voltage gain and low current stress over switching devices and transformer windings. Given the unmodified P2DAB power stage, by regulating the phase-shift angle between......Developing bidirectional dc-dc converters has become a critical research topic and gains more and more attention in recent years due to the extensive applications of smart grids with energy storages, hybrid and electrical vehicles and dc microgrids. In this paper, a Partial Parallel Dual Active...... the paralleled active bridges, the power equations and voltage gain are then modified, and therefore the operation range can be extended effectively. The operating principles of the proposed converter and its power characteristics under various operation modes are studied, and the design constraints...

Sliding mode controller gain adaptation and chattering reduction techniques for DSP-based PM DC motor drives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dal, Mehmet; Teodorescu, Remus

2011-01-01

In order to achieve and maintain the prospective benefits of sliding mode control (SMC) methodology, the phenomenon known as “chattering”, the main obstacle encountered in real-time applications, has to be suppressed. In this study, two promising switching control gain adaptation and chattering...... reduction techniques are investigated, and the effectiveness of chattering suppression for current regulation of PM DC drives is tested. The sampling rate was also examined to determine how it affects the amplitude of chattering. This paper concentrates on various combinations of observer-based methods...... in order to find the best solution for chattering reduction. To find a practical solution a tunable low-pass filter (LPF) was used to average the discontinuous control term. The validity of the existing conditions for the gain adaptation methods are examined and observer gain value was determined through...

Perceived weight discrimination, childhood maltreatment, and weight gain in U.S. adults with overweight/obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Udo, Tomoko; Grilo, Carlos M

2016-06-01

Perceived weight discrimination and childhood maltreatment have been independently associated with physical and mental health issues, as well as weight gain. It is not known, however, whether childhood maltreatment modifies the relationship between perceived weight discrimination and weight changes. This study examined the relationship between perceived weight discrimination, childhood maltreatment, and changes in body mass index (BMI) over 3 years in 21,357 men and women with overweight and obesity from Wave 1 and Wave 2 surveys of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). Reporting childhood maltreatment, regardless of the specific form of maltreatment, was associated with a significantly greater likelihood of perceived weight discrimination in women. Perceived weight discrimination was associated with a significantly greater increase in BMI in both genders. Among all women with perceived weight discrimination, those who also reported having experienced childhood maltreatment had significantly less BMI increase compared to those reporting not having experienced childhood maltreatment. Perceived weight discrimination may foster weight gain rather than encouraging weight loss in individuals with overweight/obesity and should be addressed in prevention efforts and clinical settings. Childhood maltreatment may perhaps sensitize individuals to subsequent stressors and increase vulnerability to perceived weight discrimination, particularly in women. © 2016 The Obesity Society.

Self-regulated learning strategies used in surgical clerkship and the relationship with clinical achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Turan, Sevgi; Konan, Ali

2012-01-01

Self-regulated learning indicates students' skills in controlling their own learning. Self-regulated learning, which a context-specific process, emphasizes autonomy and control. Students gain more autonomy with respect to learning in the clinical years. Examining the self-regulated learning skills of students in this period will provide important clues about the level at which students are ready to use these skills in real-life conditions. The self-regulated learning strategies used by medical students in surgical clerkship were investigated in this study and their relation with clinical achievement was analyzed. The study was conducted during the surgery clerkship of medical students. The participation rate was 94% (309 students). Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), a case-based examination, Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), and tutor evaluations for assessing achievement were used. The relationship between the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire scores of the students and clinical achievement was analyzed with multilinear regression analysis. The findings showed that students use self-regulated learning skills at medium levels during their surgery clerkship. A relationship between these skills and OSCE scores and tutor evaluations was determined. OSCE scores of the students were observed to increase in conjunction with increased self-efficacy levels. However, as students' beliefs regarding control over learning increased, OSCE scores decreased. No significant relationship was defined between self-regulated learning skills and case-based examination scores. We observed that a greater self-efficacy for learning resulted in higher OSCE scores. Conversely, students who believe that learning is a result of their own effort had lower OSCE scores. Copyright © 2012 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of Raman scattering on pulse dynamics in a fiber laser with narrow gain bandwidth

Science.gov (United States)

Uthayakumar, T.; Alsaleh, M.; Igbonacho, J.; Tchomgo Felenou, E.; Tchofo Dinda, P.; Grelu, Ph; Porsezian, K.

2018-06-01

We examine theoretically the multi-pulse dynamics in a dispersion-managed fiber laser, in which the pulse’s spectral width is controlled by a pass-band filter. We show that in the domain of stable states with very narrow spectral width, i.e. which is one order of magnitude smaller than the bandwidth of the Raman gain of the intra-cavity fiber system, the Raman scattering (RS) significantly alters the multi-pulse dynamics. RS is found to have a greater impact in the immediate vicinity of some critical values of the pump power of the intra-cavity gain medium, where processes of pulse fragmentation occur. As a result, all the borders between the zones of stability of the multi-pulse states are altered, i.e. either shifted or suppressed.

Home media and children's achievement and behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Hofferth, Sandra L

2010-01-01

This study provides a national picture of the time American 6- to 12-year-olds spent playing video games, using the computer, and watching TV at home in 1997 and 2003, and the association of early use with their achievement and behavior as adolescents. Girls benefited from computer use more than boys, and Black children benefited more than White children. Greater computer use in middle childhood was associated with increased achievement for White and Black girls, and for Black but not White boys. Increased video game play was associated with an improved ability to solve applied problems for Black girls but lower verbal achievement for all girls. For boys, increased video game play was linked to increased aggressive behavior problems. © 2010 The Author. Child Development © 2010 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Can weight gain be prevented in women receiving treatment for breast cancer? A systematic review of intervention studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomson, Z O; Reeves, M M

2017-11-01

Obesity and weight gain have been associated with poor disease-specific and health-related outcomes in women with breast cancer. This review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of weight gain prevention interventions among women with breast cancer. Completed and ongoing trials evaluating a behaviourally based dietary intervention with or without physical activity and with a focus on weight gain prevention during treatment for breast cancer were reviewed. Weight change and body composition data were extracted. Within-group weight change of ±1 kg and between-group (intervention versus control) weight difference of ≥2 kg were defined as successful weight gain prevention. Five completed trials (seven intervention arms) and five ongoing trials were identified. Completed trials exclusively recruited premenopausal or premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Within-group weight gain was prevented in two intervention arms, two arms achieved weight loss and three arms reported weight gain. Of the five comparisons with control groups, two reported significant differences in weight change between groups. Ongoing trials will provide further evidence on longer-term outcomes, cost-effectiveness and blood markers. This small but growing number of studies provides preliminary and promising evidence that weight gain can be prevented in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. © 2017 World Obesity Federation.

Nurses' perception of the strategies to gaining professional power: A qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sepasi, Rana Rezai; Borhani, Fariba; Abbaszadeh, Abbas

2017-07-01

Power in nursing is a broad concept that has a determining effect on the achievement of professional goals. Gaining power is essential for promoting the roles of nurses, improving their professional image and the consistent improvement of healthcare systems. This study was conducted to identify and clarify strategies for gaining power in the nursing profession through the experiences of Iranian nurses. The present qualitative grounded theory study was conducted on fifteen participants selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through individual, in-depth, semi-structured interviews. The data obtained were analyzed using the guidelines provided by Corbin and Strauss, (2008 edition). This study was carried out in Qazvin city of Iran and lasted fourteen months (2015-2016). The analysis of the data were classified under the main theme of gaining human-professional power based on individual and organizational capacities, divided into four main categories, including respecting human values and ethical principles (with two subcategories, keeping the human symbols of power and commitment to moral obligations of power), promoting professional interactions (with two subcategories, paying attention to intraprofessional communication and paying attention to interprofessional communication), attempting professional endurance (with two subcategories, raising self-confidence and having professional commitment), and valuing potential capacities (with two subcategories, regard for individual capacities and regard for organizational capacities). The findings obtained suggest that success in gaining power in nursing, requires a cumulative focus on human, ethical, professional, individual and organizational capacities.

QALYs: is the value of treatment proportional to the size of the health gain?

Science.gov (United States)

Nord, Erik; Enge, Anja Undrum; Gundersen, Veronica

2010-05-01

In societal priority setting between health programs for different patient groups, many people are reluctant to discriminate too strongly between those who can benefit much from treatment and those who can benefit moderately. We suggest that this view of distributive fairness has a counterpart in personal valuations of gains in health. Such valuations may be influenced by psychological reference points and diminishing marginal utility such that the individual utility of care in patient groups with different potentials may be more similar than what conventional QALY estimates suggest. In interviews in three convenience samples, there is some support for the hypothesis. Most respondents do not think that desire for treatment is significantly less in those who stand to gain only moderately compared with those who stand to gain much - even when the treatment is associated with a mortality risk. When stating insurance preferences, a majority of subjects express a greater concern for avoiding the worst states in question than for maximising expected value for money in terms of treatment effects. The tendency applies to outcomes in terms of both quality and quantity of life. Choices between prefixed response options fit well with oral explanations of these choices.

Greater happiness for a greater number: Is that possible? If so how? (Arabic)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Veenhoven (Ruut); E. Samuel (Emad)

2012-01-01

textabstractWhat is the final goal of public policy? Jeremy Bentham (1789) would say: greater happiness for a greater number. He thought of happiness as subjective enjoyment of life; in his words as “the sum of pleasures and pains”. In his time, the happiness of the great number could not be

What's Past is Prologue: Relations Between Early Mathematics Knowledge and High School Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Tyler W; Duncan, Greg J; Siegler, Robert S; Davis-Kean, Pamela E

2014-10-01

Although previous research has established the association between early-grade mathematics knowledge and later mathematics achievement, few studies have measured mathematical skills prior to school entry, nor have they investigated the predictive power of early gains in mathematics ability. The current paper relates mathematical skills measured at 54 months to adolescent mathematics achievement using multi-site longitudinal data. We find that preschool mathematics ability predicts mathematics achievement through age 15, even after accounting for early reading, cognitive skills, and family and child characteristics. Moreover, we find that growth in mathematical ability between age 54 months and first grade is an even stronger predictor of adolescent mathematics achievement. These results demonstrate the importance of pre-kindergarten mathematics knowledge and early math learning for later achievement.

The Effects of Integrated Transformational Leadership on Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Boberg, John Eric; Bourgeois, Steven J.

2016-01-01

Purpose: Greater understanding about how variables mediate the relationship between leadership and achievement is essential to the success of reform efforts that hold leaders accountable for student learning. The purpose of this paper is to test a model of integrated transformational leadership including three important school mediators.…

26 CFR 1.355-7 - Recognition of gain on certain distributions of stock or securities in connection with an...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... for D to acquire X, but the X shareholders do not want to acquire an indirect interest in C. To... Shareholders and Security Holders § 1.355-7 Recognition of gain on certain distributions of stock or securities...-percent or greater interest in the distributing corporation (Distributing) or any controlled corporation...

Exploring the School Climate--Student Achievement Connection: Making Sense of Why the First Precedes the Second

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Albert; Shindler, John

2016-01-01

Many educators view school climate and student achievement as separate considerations. For some, the idea of promoting a high quality climate can seem like a luxury in the face of the current high stakes assessment climate in which student achievement gains are the paramount consideration. However, the results of this study suggest that climate…

The Primary Results of the Treating Adult Smokers at Risk for Weight Gain with Interactive Technology (TARGIT) Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Karen C; Thomas, Fridtjof; Richey, Phyllis; Tran, Quynh T; Tylavsky, Fran; Miro, Danielle; Coday, Mace

2017-10-01

To evaluate whether a behavioral weight management program combined with a smoking cessation program delivered via interactive technology could prevent postcessation weight gain. Three hundred and thirty young adult smokers, age 18 to 35 years, were randomized to a smoking cessation program alone (comparison group), which included behavioral counseling and nicotine replacement, or to a behavioral weight management program adapted from the Look AHEAD trial plus the same smoking cessation program (intervention group). The Treating Adult Smokers at Risk for Weight Gain with Interactive Technology study randomized 164 participants to the comparison group and 166 participants to the intervention group. On average, the participants gained 0.91 kg after 24 months in the trial (comparison group + 1.45 kg and intervention group + 0.32; P = 0.157). The only variable systematically affecting weight change over time was smoking abstinence, in which those who were abstinent, on average, gained 0.14 kg more per month compared with those who continued to smoke (P technology was not associated with greater long-term weight gain prevention. © 2017 The Obesity Society.

Sweet taste of saccharin induces weight gain without increasing caloric intake, not related to insulin-resistance in Wistar rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Foletto, Kelly Carraro; Melo Batista, Bruna Aparecida; Neves, Alice Magagnin; de Matos Feijó, Fernanda; Ballard, Cíntia Reis; Marques Ribeiro, Maria Flávia; Bertoluci, Marcello Casaccia

2016-01-01

In a previous study, we showed that saccharin can induce weight gain when compared with sucrose in Wistar rats despite similar total caloric intake. We now question whether it could be due to the sweet taste of saccharin per se. We also aimed to address if this weight gain is associated with insulin-resistance and to increases in gut peptides such as leptin and PYY in the fasting state. In a 14 week experiment, 16 male Wistar rats received either saccharin-sweetened yogurt or non-sweetened yogurt daily in addition to chow and water ad lib. We measured daily food intake and weight gain weekly. At the end of the experiment, we evaluated fasting leptin, glucose, insulin, PYY and determined insulin resistance through HOMA-IR. Cumulative weight gain and food intake were evaluated through linear mixed models. Results showed that saccharin induced greater weight gain when compared with non-sweetened control (p = 0.027) despite a similar total caloric intake. There were no differences in HOMA-IR, fasting leptin or PYY levels between groups. We conclude that saccharin sweet taste can induce mild weight gain in Wistar rats without increasing total caloric intake. This weight gain was not related with insulin-resistance nor changes in fasting leptin or PYY in Wistar rats. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Giant enhancement of reflectance due to the interplay between surface confined wave modes and nonlinear gain in dielectric media.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sangbum; Kim, Kihong

2017-12-11

We study theoretically the interplay between the surface confined wave modes and the linear and nonlinear gain of the dielectric layer in the Otto configuration. The surface confined wave modes, such as surface plasmons or waveguide modes, are excited in the dielectric-metal bilayer by obliquely incident p waves. In the purely linear case, we find that the interplay between linear gain and surface confined wave modes can generate a large reflectance peak with its value much greater than 1. As the linear gain parameter increases, the peak appears at smaller incident angles, and the associated modes also change from surface plasmons to waveguide modes. When the nonlinear gain is turned on, the reflectance shows very strong multistability near the incident angles associated with surface confined wave modes. As the nonlinear gain parameter is varied, the reflectance curve undergoes complicated topological changes and sometimes displays separated closed curves. When the nonlinear gain parameter takes an optimally small value, a giant amplification of the reflectance by three orders of magnitude occurs near the incident angle associated with a waveguide mode. We also find that there exists a range of the incident angle where the wave is dissipated rather than amplified even in the presence of gain. We suggest that this can provide the basis for a possible new technology for thermal control in the subwavelength scale.

Temporal dynamics of contrast gain in single cells of the cat striate cortex.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonds, A B

1991-03-01

The response amplitude of cat striate cortical cells is usually reduced after exposure to high-contrast stimuli. The temporal characteristics and contrast sensitivity of this phenomenon were explored by stimulating cortical cells with drifting gratings in which contrast sequentially incremented and decremented in stepwise fashion over time. All responses showed a clear hysteresis, in which contrast gain dropped on average 0.36 log unit and then returned to baseline values within 60 s. Noticeable gain adjustments were seen in as little as 3 s and with peak contrasts as low as 3%. Contrast adaptation was absent in responses from LGN cells. Adaptation was found to depend on temporal frequency of stimulation, with greater and more rapid adaptation at higher temporal frequencies. Two different tests showed that the mechanism controlling response reduction was influenced primarily by stimulus contrast rather than response amplitude. These results support the existence of a rapid and sensitive cortically based system that normalizes the output of cortical cells as a function of local mean contrast. Control of the adaptation appears to arise at least in part across a population of cells, which is consistent with the idea that the gain control serves to limit the information converging from many cells onto subsequent processing areas.

Measurement of Antenna Bore-Sight Gain

Science.gov (United States)

Fortinberry, Jarrod; Shumpert, Thomas H.

2016-01-01

The absolute or free-field gain of a simple antenna can be approximated using standard antenna theory formulae or for a more accurate prediction, numerical methods may be employed to solve for antenna parameters including gain. Both of these methods will result in relatively reasonable estimates but in practice antenna gain is usually verified and documented via measurements and calibration. In this paper, a relatively simple and low-cost, yet effective means of determining the bore-sight free-field gain of a VHF/UHF antenna is proposed by using the Brewster angle relationship.

Tunable Broadband Acoustic Gain in Piezoelectric Semiconductors at ε-Near-Zero Response

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Johan; Willatzen, Morten

2015-01-01

Piezoelectric semiconductors have emerged as materials capable to amplify sound waves when electrons are set to drift at supersonic speeds. Several experiments have demonstrated this behaviour at moderate amplification levels for some intrinsic semiconductors and carrier concentrations......-compensation in metamaterials and applicable for sensing such as nonlinear devices. The paper contains a detailed derivation and discussion of transmission and reflection coefficients for pressure pulses impinging on a semiconductor slab and the acoustic gain enhancement that can be achieved by dynamic switching...

Gain scheduling using the Youla parameterization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niemann, Hans Henrik; Stoustrup, Jakob

1999-01-01

Gain scheduling controllers are considered in this paper. The gain scheduling problem where the scheduling parameter vector cannot be measured directly, but needs to be estimated is considered. An estimation of the scheduling vector has been derived by using the Youla parameterization. The use...... in connection with H_inf gain scheduling controllers....

Wideband or Dual-Band Low-Profile Circular Patch Antenna with High Gain and Sidelobe Suppression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Squadrito, Paolo; Zhang, Shuai; Pedersen, Gert F.

2018-01-01

This paper presents a wideband or dual-band circular disk antenna with high gain and sidelobe suppression (SLS). The antenna has a single layer and single-fed configuration. The antenna can operate with the radiation field superposition of TM12 and TM14 modes at one frequency, which provides high...... gain and SLS. A circle of 10 shorting vias with non-identical diameters are loaded inside the antenna cavity in order to excite the field superposition of TM11 and TM13 modes at another frequency. By modifying the radius of the vias, the resonant frequency with the TM11 and TM13 superposition can...... be tuned closer to or further away from the one with the TM12 and TM14 superposition. In this way, a wideband or dual-band behavior can be obtained with high gain and SLS. The proposed antenna achieves the impedance bandwidth of 6.46% for the wideband case, which is over 6 times wider than the previous...

What Are Achievement Gains Worth--to Teachers?

Science.gov (United States)

Marsh, Julie A.; McCaffrey, Daniel F.

2011-01-01

In 2007, New York City schools commenced a school-level pay-for-performance program for teachers and staff in about 200 schools. The authors found that the program didn't improve schools or student outcomes. Why? Because the program failed to create conditions that theory suggests are necessary for performance-based incentive programs to change…

Achievable Rates of Secure Transmission in Gaussian MISO Channel with Imperfect Main Channel Estimation

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Xinyu; Rezki, Zouheir; Alomair, Basel; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2016-01-01

A Gaussian multiple-input single-output (MISO) fading channel is considered. We assume that the transmitter, in addition to the statistics of all channel gains, is aware instantaneously of a noisy version of the channel to the legitimate receiver. On the other hand, the legitimate receiver is aware instantaneously of its channel to the transmitter, whereas the eavesdropper instantaneously knows all channel gains. We evaluate an achievable rate using a Gaussian input without indexing an auxiliary random variable. A sufficient condition for beamforming to be optimal is provided. When the number of transmit antennas is large, beamforming also turns out to be optimal. In this case, the maximum achievable rate can be expressed in a simple closed form and scales with the logarithm of the number of transmit antennas. Furthermore, in the case when a noisy estimate of the eavesdropper’s channel is also available at the transmitter, we introduce the SNR difference and the SNR ratio criterions and derive the related optimal transmission strategies and the corresponding achievable rates.

Achievable Rates of Secure Transmission in Gaussian MISO Channel with Imperfect Main Channel Estimation

KAUST Repository

Zhou, Xinyu

2016-03-15

A Gaussian multiple-input single-output (MISO) fading channel is considered. We assume that the transmitter, in addition to the statistics of all channel gains, is aware instantaneously of a noisy version of the channel to the legitimate receiver. On the other hand, the legitimate receiver is aware instantaneously of its channel to the transmitter, whereas the eavesdropper instantaneously knows all channel gains. We evaluate an achievable rate using a Gaussian input without indexing an auxiliary random variable. A sufficient condition for beamforming to be optimal is provided. When the number of transmit antennas is large, beamforming also turns out to be optimal. In this case, the maximum achievable rate can be expressed in a simple closed form and scales with the logarithm of the number of transmit antennas. Furthermore, in the case when a noisy estimate of the eavesdropper’s channel is also available at the transmitter, we introduce the SNR difference and the SNR ratio criterions and derive the related optimal transmission strategies and the corresponding achievable rates.

High Gain Advanced GPS Receiver

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Brown, Alison; Zhang, Gengsheng

2006-01-01

NAVSYS High Gain Advanced GPS Receiver (HAGR) uses a digital beam-steering antenna array to enable up to eight GPS satellites to be tracked, each with up to 10 dBi of additional antenna gain over a conventional receiver solution...

Determination of the STIS CCD Gain

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Allyssa; Monroe, TalaWanda; Lockwood, Sean

2016-09-01

This report summarizes the analysis and absolute gain results of the STIS Cycle 23 special calibration program 14424 that was designed to measure the gain of amplifiers A, C and D at nominal gain settings of 1 and 4 e-/DN. We used the mean-variance technique and the results indicate a mean-variance technique.

Design and analysis of high gain array antenna for wireless communication applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sri Jaya LAKSHMI

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The array of antennas generally used for directing the radiated power towards a desired angular sector. Arrays can be used to synthesize a required pattern that cannot be achieved with a single element. The geometrical arrangement, number of elements, phases of the array elements and relative amplitudes depends on the angular pattern. This paper is focused on the issues related to the design and implementation of 4×1 array microstrip antenna with aperture coupled corporate feed for wireless local area network applications. Parametric analysis with change in element spacing is attempted in this work to understand the directional characteristics of the radiation pattern. Gain of more than 14 db and the efficiency more than 93% is achieved from the current design at desired frequency band.

External locus of control contributes to racial disparities in memory and reasoning training gains in ACTIVE.

Science.gov (United States)

Zahodne, Laura B; Meyer, Oanh L; Choi, Eunhee; Thomas, Michael L; Willis, Sherry L; Marsiske, Michael; Gross, Alden L; Rebok, George W; Parisi, Jeanine M

2015-09-01

Racial disparities in cognitive outcomes may be partly explained by differences in locus of control. African Americans report more external locus of control than non-Hispanic Whites, and external locus of control is associated with poorer health and cognition. The aims of this study were to compare cognitive training gains between African American and non-Hispanic White participants in the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study and determine whether racial differences in training gains are mediated by locus of control. The sample comprised 2,062 (26% African American) adults aged 65 and older who participated in memory, reasoning, or speed training. Latent growth curve models evaluated predictors of 10-year cognitive trajectories separately by training group. Multiple group modeling examined associations between training gains and locus of control across racial groups. Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans evidenced less improvement in memory and reasoning performance after training. These effects were partially mediated by locus of control, controlling for age, sex, education, health, depression, testing site, and initial cognitive ability. African Americans reported more external locus of control, which was associated with smaller training gains. External locus of control also had a stronger negative association with reasoning training gain for African Americans than for Whites. No racial difference in training gain was identified for speed training. Future intervention research with African Americans should test whether explicitly targeting external locus of control leads to greater cognitive improvement following cognitive training. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Achieving Equity in Higher Education: The Unfinished Agenda

Science.gov (United States)

Astin, Alexander W.; Astin, Helen S.

2015-01-01

In this retrospective account of their scholarly work over the past 45 years, Alexander and Helen Astin show how the struggle to achieve greater equity in American higher education is intimately connected to issues of character development, leadership, civic responsibility, and spirituality. While shedding some light on a variety of questions…

Linear Growth and Fat and Lean Tissue Gain during Childhood: Associations with Cardiometabolic and Cognitive Outcomes in Adolescent Indian Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Krishnaveni, Ghattu V; Veena, Sargoor R; Srinivasan, Krishnamachari; Osmond, Clive; Fall, Caroline H D

2015-01-01

We aimed to determine how linear growth and fat and lean tissue gain during discrete age periods from birth to adolescence are related to adolescent cardiometabolic risk factors and cognitive ability. Adolescents born to mothers with normal glucose tolerance during pregnancy from an Indian birth cohort (N = 486, age 13.5 years) had detailed anthropometry and measurements of body fat (fat%), fasting plasma glucose, insulin and lipid concentrations, blood pressure and cognitive function. Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was calculated. These outcomes were examined in relation to birth measurements and statistically independent measures (conditional SD scores) representing linear growth, and fat and lean tissue gain during birth-1, 1-2, 2-5, 5-9.5 and 9.5-13.5 years in 414 of the children with measurements at all these ages. Birth length and linear growth at all ages were positively associated with current height. Fat gain, particularly during 5-9.5 years was positively associated with fat% at 13.5 years (0.44 SD per SD [99.9% confidence interval: 0.29,0.58]). Greater fat gain during mid-late childhood was associated with higher systolic blood pressure (5-9.5 years: 0.23 SD per SD [0.07,0.40]) and HOMA-IR (5-9.5 years: 0.24 [0.08,0.40], 9.5-13.5 years: 0.22 [0.06,0.38]). Greater infant growth (up to age 2 years) in linear, fat or lean components was unrelated to cardiometabolic risk factors or cognitive function. This study suggests that factors that increase linear, fat and lean growth in infancy have no adverse cardiometabolic effects in this population. Factors that increase fat gain in mid-late childhood may increase cardiometabolic risk, without any benefit to cognitive abilities.

Linear Growth and Fat and Lean Tissue Gain during Childhood: Associations with Cardiometabolic and Cognitive Outcomes in Adolescent Indian Children.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ghattu V Krishnaveni

Full Text Available We aimed to determine how linear growth and fat and lean tissue gain during discrete age periods from birth to adolescence are related to adolescent cardiometabolic risk factors and cognitive ability.Adolescents born to mothers with normal glucose tolerance during pregnancy from an Indian birth cohort (N = 486, age 13.5 years had detailed anthropometry and measurements of body fat (fat%, fasting plasma glucose, insulin and lipid concentrations, blood pressure and cognitive function. Insulin resistance (HOMA-IR was calculated. These outcomes were examined in relation to birth measurements and statistically independent measures (conditional SD scores representing linear growth, and fat and lean tissue gain during birth-1, 1-2, 2-5, 5-9.5 and 9.5-13.5 years in 414 of the children with measurements at all these ages.Birth length and linear growth at all ages were positively associated with current height. Fat gain, particularly during 5-9.5 years was positively associated with fat% at 13.5 years (0.44 SD per SD [99.9% confidence interval: 0.29,0.58]. Greater fat gain during mid-late childhood was associated with higher systolic blood pressure (5-9.5 years: 0.23 SD per SD [0.07,0.40] and HOMA-IR (5-9.5 years: 0.24 [0.08,0.40], 9.5-13.5 years: 0.22 [0.06,0.38]. Greater infant growth (up to age 2 years in linear, fat or lean components was unrelated to cardiometabolic risk factors or cognitive function.This study suggests that factors that increase linear, fat and lean growth in infancy have no adverse cardiometabolic effects in this population. Factors that increase fat gain in mid-late childhood may increase cardiometabolic risk, without any benefit to cognitive abilities.

Family Inequality, School Inequalities, and Mathematics Achievement in 65 Countries: Microeconomic Mechanisms of Rent Seeking and Diminishing Marginal Returns

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Ming Ming

2015-01-01

Background/Context: While many studies show that greater economic inequality widens the achievement gap between rich and poor students, recent studies indicate that countries with greater economic inequality have lower overall student achievement. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This study explores whether family inequalities…

Nonunity gain minimal-disturbance measurement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sabuncu, Metin; Mišta, L.; Fiurášek, J.

2007-01-01

We propose and experimentally demonstrate an optimal nonunity gain Gaussian scheme for partial measurement of an unknown coherent state that causes minimal disturbance of the state. The information gain and the state disturbance are quantified by the noise added to the measurement outcomes...

Achievable Rates of UAV-Relayed Cooperative Cognitive Radio MIMO Systems

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman; Ghazzai, Hakim; Rezki, Zouheir; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2017-01-01

We study the achievable rate of an uplink MIMO cognitive radio system where the primary user (PU) and the secondary user (SU) aim to communicate to the closest primary base station (BS) via a multi-access channel through the same unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) relay. The SU message is then forwarded from the primary BS to the secondary network with a certain incentive reward as a part of the cooperation protocol between both networks. A special linear precoding scheme is proposed to enable the SU to exploit the PU free eigenmodes. We analyze two scenarios in which the UAV relay gain matrix is either fixed or optimized. We derive the optimal power allocation that maximizes the achievable rate of the SU respecting power budget, interference, and relay power constraints. Numerical results highlight the cognitive rate gain of our proposed scheme with respect to various problem parameters. We also highlight the effect of UAV altitude on the SU and PU rates. Finally, when the relay matrix is optimized, we show that the PU rate is remarkably enhanced and that the SU rate is only improved at high power regime.

Achievable Rates of UAV-Relayed Cooperative Cognitive Radio MIMO Systems

KAUST Repository

Sboui, Lokman

2017-04-19

We study the achievable rate of an uplink MIMO cognitive radio system where the primary user (PU) and the secondary user (SU) aim to communicate to the closest primary base station (BS) via a multi-access channel through the same unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) relay. The SU message is then forwarded from the primary BS to the secondary network with a certain incentive reward as a part of the cooperation protocol between both networks. A special linear precoding scheme is proposed to enable the SU to exploit the PU free eigenmodes. We analyze two scenarios in which the UAV relay gain matrix is either fixed or optimized. We derive the optimal power allocation that maximizes the achievable rate of the SU respecting power budget, interference, and relay power constraints. Numerical results highlight the cognitive rate gain of our proposed scheme with respect to various problem parameters. We also highlight the effect of UAV altitude on the SU and PU rates. Finally, when the relay matrix is optimized, we show that the PU rate is remarkably enhanced and that the SU rate is only improved at high power regime.

Energy gains from lattice-enabled nuclear reactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagel, David J.

2015-01-01

The energy gain of a system is defined as the ratio of its output energy divided by the energy provided to operate the system. Most familiar systems have energy gains less than one due to various inefficiencies. By contrast, lattice-enabled nuclear reactions (LENR) offer high energy gains. Theoretical values in excess of 1000 are possible. Energy gains over 100 have already been reported. But, they have not yet been sustained for commercially significant durations. This article summarizes the current status of LENR energy gains. (author)

Charge Gain, Voltage Gain, and Node Capacitance of the SAPHIRA Detector Pixel by Pixel

Science.gov (United States)

Pastrana, Izabella M.; Hall, Donald N. B.; Baker, Ian M.; Jacobson, Shane M.; Goebel, Sean B.

2018-01-01

The University of Hawai`i Institute for Astronomy has partnered with Leonardo (formerly Selex) in the development of HgCdTe linear mode avalanche photodiode (L-APD) SAPHIRA detectors. The SAPHIRA (Selex Avalanche Photodiode High-speed Infra-Red Array) is ideally suited for photon-starved astronomical observations, particularly near infrared (NIR) adaptive optics (AO) wave-front sensing. I have measured the stability, and linearity with current, of a 1.7-um (10% spectral bandpass) infrared light emitting diode (IR LED) used to illuminate the SAPHIRA and have then utilized this source to determine the charge gain (in e-/ADU), voltage gain (in uV/ADU), and node capacitance (in fF) for each pixel of the 320x256@24um SAPHIRA. These have previously only been averages over some sub-array. Determined from the ratio of the temporal averaged signal level to variance under constant 1.7-um LED illumination, I present the charge gain pixel-by-pixel in a 64x64 sub-array at the center of the active area of the SAPHIRA (analyzed separately as four 32x32 sub-arrays) to be about 1.6 e-/ADU (σ=0.5 e-/ADU). Additionally, the standard technique of varying the pixel reset voltage (PRV) in 10 mV increments and recording output frames for the same 64x64 subarray found the voltage gain per pixel to be about 11.7 uV/ADU (σ=0.2 uV/ADU). Finally, node capacitance was found to be approximately 23 fF (σ=6 fF) utilizing the aforementioned charge and voltage gain measurements. I further discuss the linearity measurements of the 1.7-um LED used in the charge gain characterization procedure.

Longitudinal study of urbanisation processes in peri-urban areas of Greater Copenhagen

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Busck, Anne Gravsholt; Fertner, Christian; Kristensen, Lone Søderkvist

Urbanisation processes increasingly influence the use of land and properties in rural areas. In peri-urban areas population composition changes as the areas offer attractive possibilities of other gainful activities than agriculture (OGA), and residential and recreational alternatives to both urban...... have become redundant because of structural changes in agriculture. As a consequence, the structural components of the areas (land cover and landscape elements) thus appear more resistant to changes than transition of the socio-economic system (declining number of full-time farmers and increasing...... property prices because of the attractiveness of land. This raises questions of the desired future of the peri-urban area of Greater Copenhagen, and about the effectiveness of the existing planning systems and its ability to protect agriculture land, which has been a main objective since the beginning...

Black Women in the Academy: The Secrets to Success and Achievement.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, Sheila T.

This book presents selected historical data focusing on three aspects in the lives of Black women: resilience of Black women and their families; strengths of the Black church and community; and formidable gains made by Black women in the workforce. The status and achievements of Black women professors and scholars in the academy are reviewed, with…

Are gains in decision-making autonomy during early adolescence beneficial for emotional functioning? The case of the United States and china.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Lili; Pomerantz, Eva M; Wang, Qian

2009-01-01

This research examined the role of children's decision-making autonomy in their emotional functioning during early adolescence in the United States and China. Four times over the 7th and 8th grades, 825 American and Chinese children (M = 12.73 years) reported on the extent to which they versus their parents make decisions about issues children often deem as under their authority. Children also reported on their emotional functioning. American children made greater gains over time in decision-making autonomy than did Chinese children. Initial decision-making autonomy predicted enhanced emotional functioning similarly among American and Chinese children. However, gains over time in decision-making autonomy predicted enhanced emotional functioning more in the United States (vs. China) where such gains were normative.

Working-memory training in younger and older adults: Training gains, transfer, and maintenance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yvonne eBrehmer

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Working memory (WM, a key determinant of many higher-order cognitive functions, declines in old age. Current research attempts to develop process-specific WM training procedures, which may lead to general cognitive improvement. Adaptivity of the training as well as the comparison of training gains to performance changes of an active control group are key factors in evaluating the effectiveness of a specific training program. In the present study, 55 younger adults (20-30 years of age and 45 older adults (60-70 years of age received five weeks of computerized training on various spatial and verbal WM tasks. Half of the sample received adaptive training (i.e., individually adjusted task difficulty, whereas the other half worked on the same task material but on a low task difficulty level (active controls. Performance was assessed using criterion, near-transfer, and far-transfer tasks before training, after 5 weeks of intervention, as well as after a 3-month follow-up interval. Results indicate that (a adaptive training generally led to larger training gains than low-level practice, (b training and transfer gains were somewhat greater for younger than for older adults in some tasks, but comparable across age groups in other tasks, (c far transfer was observed to a test on sustained attention and for a self-rating scale on cognitive functioning in daily life for both young and old, and (d training gains and transfer effects were maintained across the 3-month follow-up interval across age.

How Does Self-Regulation Affect Computer-Programming Achievement in a Blended Context?

Science.gov (United States)

Cigdem, Harun

2015-01-01

This study focuses on learners' self-regulation which is one of the essential skills for student achievement in blended courses. Research on learners' self-regulation skills in blended learning environments has gained popularity in recent years however only a few studies investigating the correlation between self-regulation skills and student…

Comparison of Video Head Impulse Test (vHIT) Gains Between Two Commercially Available Devices and by Different Gain Analytical Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Sang Hun; Yoo, Myung Hoon; Park, Jun Woo; Kang, Byung Chul; Yang, Chan Joo; Kang, Woo Suk; Ahn, Joong Ho; Chung, Jong Woo; Park, Hong Ju

2018-06-01

To evaluate whether video head impulse test (vHIT) gains are dependent on the measuring device and method of analysis. Prospective study. vHIT was performed in 25 healthy subjects using two devices simultaneously. vHIT gains were compared between these instruments and using five different methods of comparing position and velocity gains during head movement intervals. The two devices produced different vHIT gain results with the same method of analysis. There were also significant differences in the vHIT gains measured using different analytical methods. The gain analytic method that compares the areas under the velocity curve (AUC) of the head and eye movements during head movements showed lower vHIT gains than a method that compared the peak velocities of the head and eye movements. The former method produced the vHIT gain with the smallest standard deviation among the five procedures tested in this study. vHIT gains differ in normal subjects depending on the device and method of analysis used, suggesting that it is advisable for each device to have its own normal values. Gain calculations that compare the AUC of the head and eye movements during the head movements show the smallest variance.

A Comparison of Gestalt and Relationship Enhancement Treatments with Married Couples.

Science.gov (United States)

Jessee, Randall E.; Guerney, Bernard G., Jr.

1981-01-01

Compared the effectiveness of Relationship Enhancement and Gestalt Relationship Facilitation. Results indicated couples (N=36) in both groups made significant gains, but Relationship Enhancement participants achieved greater gains in communication, relationship satisfaction, and ability to handle problems. (Author/JAC)

Can LENR Energy Gains Exceed 1000?

Science.gov (United States)

Nagel, David J.

2011-03-01

Energy gain is defined as the energy realized from reactions divided by the energy required to produce those reactions. Low Energy Nuclear Reactions (LENR) have already been measured to significantly exceed the energy gain of 10 projected from ITER,possibly 15 years from now. Electrochemical experiments using the Pd-D system have shown energy gains exceeding 10. Gas phase experiments with the Ni-H system were reported to yield energy gains of over 100. Neither of these reports has been adequately verified or reproduced. However, the question in the title still deserves consideration. If, as thought by many, it is possible to trigger nuclear reactions that yield MeV energies with chemical energies of the order of eV, then the most optimistic expectation is that LENR gains could approach one million. Hence, the very tentative answer to the question above is yes. However, if LENR could be initiated with some energy cost, and then continue to ``burn,'' very high energy gains might be realized. Consider a match and a pile of dry logs. The phenomenon termed ``heat after death'' will be examined to see if it might be the initial evidence for nuclear ``burning.''

The potential of shifting recombination hotspots to increase genetic gain in livestock breeding.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonen, Serap; Battagin, Mara; Johnston, Susan E; Gorjanc, Gregor; Hickey, John M

2017-07-04

This study uses simulation to explore and quantify the potential effect of shifting recombination hotspots on genetic gain in livestock breeding programs. We simulated three scenarios that differed in the locations of quantitative trait nucleotides (QTN) and recombination hotspots in the genome. In scenario 1, QTN were randomly distributed along the chromosomes and recombination was restricted to occur within specific genomic regions (i.e. recombination hotspots). In the other two scenarios, both QTN and recombination hotspots were located in specific regions, but differed in whether the QTN occurred outside of (scenario 2) or inside (scenario 3) recombination hotspots. We split each chromosome into 250, 500 or 1000 regions per chromosome of which 10% were recombination hotspots and/or contained QTN. The breeding program was run for 21 generations of selection, after which recombination hotspot regions were kept the same or were shifted to adjacent regions for a further 80 generations of selection. We evaluated the effect of shifting recombination hotspots on genetic gain, genetic variance and genic variance. Our results show that shifting recombination hotspots reduced the decline of genetic and genic variance by releasing standing allelic variation in the form of new allele combinations. This in turn resulted in larger increases in genetic gain. However, the benefit of shifting recombination hotspots for increased genetic gain was only observed when QTN were initially outside recombination hotspots. If QTN were initially inside recombination hotspots then shifting them decreased genetic gain. Shifting recombination hotspots to regions of the genome where recombination had not occurred for 21 generations of selection (i.e. recombination deserts) released more of the standing allelic variation available in each generation and thus increased genetic gain. However, whether and how much increase in genetic gain was achieved by shifting recombination hotspots depended

Characterization of transient gain x-ray lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunn, J.; Osterheld, A.; Shlyaptsev, V.

1999-01-01

We have performed numerical simulations of the transient collisional excitation Ni-like Pd 4d → 4p J = 0 → 1 147 angstrom laser transition recently observed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The high gain ∼35 cm results from the experiment are compared with detailed modeling simulations from the 1-D RADEX code in order to better understand the main physics issues affecting the measured gain and x-ray laser propagation along the plasma column. Simulations indicate that the transient gain lifetime associated with the short pulse pumping and refraction of the x-ray laser beam out of the gain region are the main detrimental effects. Gain lifetimes of ∼7 ps(1/e decay) are inferred from the smoothly changing gain experimental observations and are in good agreement with the simulations. Furthermore, the modeling results indicate the presence of a longer-lived but lower gain later in time associated with the transition from transient to quasi-steady state excitation

Controlling gain one photon at a time

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Gregory W; Rieke, Fred

2013-01-01

Adaptation is a salient property of sensory processing. All adaptational or gain control mechanisms face the challenge of obtaining a reliable estimate of the property of the input to be adapted to and obtaining this estimate sufficiently rapidly to be useful. Here, we explore how the primate retina balances the need to change gain rapidly and reliably when photons arrive rarely at individual rod photoreceptors. We find that the weakest backgrounds that decrease the gain of the retinal output signals are similar to those that increase human behavioral threshold, and identify a novel site of gain control in the retinal circuitry. Thus, surprisingly, the gain of retinal signals begins to decrease essentially as soon as background lights are detectable; under these conditions, gain control does not rely on a highly averaged estimate of the photon count, but instead signals from individual photon absorptions trigger changes in gain. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00467.001 PMID:23682314

Examining the Efficacy of a Tier 2 Kindergarten Mathematics Intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Clarke, Ben; Doabler, Christian T; Smolkowski, Keith; Baker, Scott K; Fien, Hank; Strand Cary, Mari

2016-01-01

This study examined the efficacy of a Tier 2 kindergarten mathematics intervention program, ROOTS, focused on developing whole number understanding for students at risk in mathematics. A total of 29 classrooms were randomly assigned to treatment (ROOTS) or control (standard district practices) conditions. Measures of mathematics achievement were collected at pretest and posttest. Treatment and control students did not differ on mathematics assessments at pretest. Gain scores of at-risk intervention students were significantly greater than those of control peers, and the gains of at-risk treatment students were greater than the gains of peers not at risk, effectively reducing the achievement gap. Implications for Tier 2 mathematics instruction in a response to intervention (RtI) model are discussed. © Hammill Institute on Disabilities 2014.

Using optimal combination of teaching-learning methods (open book assignment and group tutorials) as revision exercises to improve learning outcome in low achievers in biochemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajappa, Medha; Bobby, Zachariah; Nandeesha, H; Suryapriya, R; Ragul, Anithasri; Yuvaraj, B; Revathy, G; Priyadarssini, M

2016-07-08

Graduate medical students of India are taught Biochemistry by didactic lectures and they hardly get any opportunity to clarify their doubts and reinforce the concepts which they learn in these lectures. We used a combination of teaching-learning (T-L) methods (open book assignment followed by group tutorials) to study their efficacy in improving the learning outcome. About 143 graduate medical students were classified into low (75%: group 3, n = 46) achievers, based on their internal assessment marks. After the regular teaching module on the topics "Vitamins and Enzymology", all the students attempted an open book assignment without peer consultation. Then all the students participated in group tutorials. The effects on the groups were evaluated by pre and posttests at the end of each phase, with the same set of MCQs. Gain from group tutorials and overall gain was significantly higher in the low achievers, compared to other groups. High and medium achievers obtained more gain from open book assignment, than group tutorials. The overall gain was significantly higher than the gain obtained from open book assignment or group tutorials, in all three groups. All the three groups retained the gain even after 1 week of the exercise. Hence, optimal use of novel T-L methods (open book assignment followed by group tutorials) as revision exercises help in strengthening concepts in Biochemistry in this oft neglected group of low achievers in graduate medical education. © 2016 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 44(4):321-325, 2016. © 2016 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Does Adoption of Management Standards Deliver Efficiency Gain in Firms’ Pursuit of Sustainability Performance? An Empirical Investigation of Chinese Manufacturing Firms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoling Wang

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Building on longitudinal data from 73 Chinese manufacturing firms during 2009–2012, we assess whether and how firms gain higher efficiency in achieving their sustainability goals by adopting management practice standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and/or OHSAS 18001. We propose four pathways for firms to gain sustainability efficiency in their certification journey: participation, qualitative integration, quantitative expansion, and temporal accumulation. Our results confirm that firms certifying management standards gain higher efficiency in pursuing their sustainability goals than firms without these standards. We also find some support for increased efficiency effect in firms with diverse management systems over firms with only a single certificate in 2011. Finally, our results highlight the experiential and temporal accumulation effect of such efficiency gains, that is, firms with prior certification experience or having a longer certification history demonstrate higher efficiency gains in pursuing their sustainability goals.

Brain Network Modularity Predicts Exercise-Related Executive Function Gains in Older Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Baniqued, Pauline L; Gallen, Courtney L; Voss, Michelle W; Burzynska, Agnieszka Z; Wong, Chelsea N; Cooke, Gillian E; Duffy, Kristin; Fanning, Jason; Ehlers, Diane K; Salerno, Elizabeth A; Aguiñaga, Susan; McAuley, Edward; Kramer, Arthur F; D'Esposito, Mark

2017-01-01

Recent work suggests that the brain can be conceptualized as a network comprised of groups of sub-networks or modules. The extent of segregation between modules can be quantified with a modularity metric, where networks with high modularity have dense connections within modules and sparser connections between modules. Previous work has shown that higher modularity predicts greater improvements after cognitive training in patients with traumatic brain injury and in healthy older and young adults. It is not known, however, whether modularity can also predict cognitive gains after a physical exercise intervention. Here, we quantified modularity in older adults ( N = 128, mean age = 64.74) who underwent one of the following interventions for 6 months (NCT01472744 on ClinicalTrials.gov): (1) aerobic exercise in the form of brisk walking (Walk), (2) aerobic exercise in the form of brisk walking plus nutritional supplement (Walk+), (3) stretching, strengthening and stability (SSS), or (4) dance instruction. After the intervention, the Walk, Walk+ and SSS groups showed gains in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), with larger effects in both walking groups compared to the SSS and Dance groups. The Walk, Walk+ and SSS groups also improved in executive function (EF) as measured by reasoning, working memory, and task-switching tests. In the Walk, Walk+, and SSS groups that improved in EF, higher baseline modularity was positively related to EF gains, even after controlling for age, in-scanner motion and baseline EF. No relationship between modularity and EF gains was observed in the Dance group, which did not show training-related gains in CRF or EF control. These results are consistent with previous studies demonstrating that individuals with a more modular brain network organization are more responsive to cognitive training. These findings suggest that the predictive power of modularity may be generalizable across interventions aimed to enhance aspects of cognition and that

Brain Network Modularity Predicts Exercise-Related Executive Function Gains in Older Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pauline L. Baniqued

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Recent work suggests that the brain can be conceptualized as a network comprised of groups of sub-networks or modules. The extent of segregation between modules can be quantified with a modularity metric, where networks with high modularity have dense connections within modules and sparser connections between modules. Previous work has shown that higher modularity predicts greater improvements after cognitive training in patients with traumatic brain injury and in healthy older and young adults. It is not known, however, whether modularity can also predict cognitive gains after a physical exercise intervention. Here, we quantified modularity in older adults (N = 128, mean age = 64.74 who underwent one of the following interventions for 6 months (NCT01472744 on ClinicalTrials.gov: (1 aerobic exercise in the form of brisk walking (Walk, (2 aerobic exercise in the form of brisk walking plus nutritional supplement (Walk+, (3 stretching, strengthening and stability (SSS, or (4 dance instruction. After the intervention, the Walk, Walk+ and SSS groups showed gains in cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF, with larger effects in both walking groups compared to the SSS and Dance groups. The Walk, Walk+ and SSS groups also improved in executive function (EF as measured by reasoning, working memory, and task-switching tests. In the Walk, Walk+, and SSS groups that improved in EF, higher baseline modularity was positively related to EF gains, even after controlling for age, in-scanner motion and baseline EF. No relationship between modularity and EF gains was observed in the Dance group, which did not show training-related gains in CRF or EF control. These results are consistent with previous studies demonstrating that individuals with a more modular brain network organization are more responsive to cognitive training. These findings suggest that the predictive power of modularity may be generalizable across interventions aimed to enhance aspects of cognition and

The conscious city II: traffic congestion and the tipping point in greater Vancouver

OpenAIRE

Holt, Rebecca

2007-01-01

The Conscious City II explores how broad, long-term change toward sustainability in cities can be fostered, nurtured and facilitated. Using a qualitative, mixed-method approach, this research adapts a model from Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point framework to explore how social consciousness can be mobilized to achieve change toward sustainability through an analysis of traffic congestion in Greater Vancouver. The results demonstrate the important influence of leadership, context and message on...

Design of foam-buffered high gain target with Fokker-Planck implosion simulation for thermal insulation and imprint mitigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, T.; Mima, K.; Norimatsu, T.; Nagatomo, H.; Nishiguchi, A.

2003-01-01

It is proposed that a thick foam layer on a plastic capsule of fusion pellet is effective not only for reducing the initial imprint, but also for solving the melting problem of cryogenic deuterium-tritium layer, in a reactor chamber. Investigated are the dependences of gain, thermal insulation for preventing the melting, and imprint mitigation of a foam-buffered target on the foam layer thickness. The imprint mitigation, the Rayleigh-Taylor growth factor and the fusion gain of a foam-buffered target are evaluated by the hydrodynamic implosion code HIMICO [A. Nishiguchi et al., Phys. Fluids B 4, 417 (1992)], which includes a Fokker-Planck transport code. As the result, it is found that high gain can be achieved by the foam-buffered target together with thermal insulation and imprint mitigation

Does upward mobility result in greater well-being? Evidence from a pre-registered study on a large population-based survey

OpenAIRE

Cheung, Felix; Jackson, Joshua; Hill, Patrick

2017-01-01

Income inequality gained increasing attention in public discourse. Promoting upward mobility is a potential solution to income inequality. The current study tested whether upward mobility predicts greater well-being, whether upward mobility attenuates the negative effects of income inequality, and whether gender differences in upward mobility differentially predict well-being for men and women. Upward mobility was operationalized as changes in income rank across generations for families in th...

What's Past Is Prologue: Relations between Early Mathematics Knowledge and High School Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Tyler W.; Duncan, Greg J.; Siegler, Robert S.; Davis-Kean, Pamela E.

2014-01-01

Although previous research has established the association between early-grade mathematics knowledge and later mathematics achievement, few studies have measured mathematical skills prior to school entry, and few have investigated the predictive power of early gains in mathematics ability. The current paper relates mathematical skills measured at…

Born to learn or born to win? Birth order effects on achievement goals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Carette, Bernd; Anseel, Frederik; Van Yperen, Nico W.

2011-01-01

Given the widespread use and well-known consequences of achievement goals in different competence-relevant situations, it is important to gain a thorough understanding of how these differences in goal pursuit are formed. Using different analytic approaches, we show that birth order lies at the heart

What’s Past is Prologue: Relations Between Early Mathematics Knowledge and High School Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Tyler W.; Duncan, Greg J.; Siegler, Robert S.; Davis-Kean, Pamela E.

2015-01-01

Although previous research has established the association between early-grade mathematics knowledge and later mathematics achievement, few studies have measured mathematical skills prior to school entry, nor have they investigated the predictive power of early gains in mathematics ability. The current paper relates mathematical skills measured at 54 months to adolescent mathematics achievement using multi-site longitudinal data. We find that preschool mathematics ability predicts mathematics achievement through age 15, even after accounting for early reading, cognitive skills, and family and child characteristics. Moreover, we find that growth in mathematical ability between age 54 months and first grade is an even stronger predictor of adolescent mathematics achievement. These results demonstrate the importance of pre-kindergarten mathematics knowledge and early math learning for later achievement. PMID:26806961

Motivation and academic achievement in medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Yousefy, Alireza; Ghassemi, Gholamreza; Firouznia, Samaneh

2012-01-01

Despite their ascribed intellectual ability and achieved academic pursuits, medical students' academic achievement is influenced by motivation. This study is an endeavor to examine the role of motivation in the academic achievement of medical students. In this cross-sectional correlational study, out of the total 422 medical students, from 4th to final year during the academic year 2007-2008, at School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, 344 participated in completion of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM), comprising 43 items and measuring eight aspects of motivation. The gold standard for academic achievement was their average academic marks at pre-clinical and clinical levels. Data were computer analyzed by running a couple of descriptive and analytical tests including Pearson Correlation and Student's t-student. Higher motivation scores in areas of competition, effort, social concern, and task were accompanied by higher average marks at pre-clinical as well as clinical levels. However, the latter ones showed greater motivation for social power as compared to the former group. Task and competition motivation for boys was higher than for girls. In view of our observations, students' academic achievement requires coordination and interaction between different aspects of motivation.

The Association between Weight Gain/Restoration and Bone Mineral Density in Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

El Ghoch, Marwan; Gatti, Davide; Calugi, Simona; Viapiana, Ombretta; Bazzani, Paola Vittoria; Dalle Grave, Riccardo

2016-11-29

Reduced bone mineral density (BMD) is one of the most frequent medical complications of anorexia nervosa (AN). The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review of the association between weight gain/restoration and BMD in adolescents with AN. Literature searches, study selection, method, and quality appraisal were performed independently by two authors, and data were collated using a narrative approach. Of the 1156 articles retrieved, 19 studies met the inclusion criteria, and their analysis revealed four main findings. First, six studies reported that weight gain and restoration are associated with BMD stabilization after one year of follow-up from baseline. Second, seven studies with longer follow-up periods (≈16 months) reported significant improvements in BMD measures. Third, one study showed that normalization of BMD can be achieved after ≈30-month follow-up of normal-weight maintenance. Fourth, another study showed that male adolescents with AN who achieve weight gain but remain underweight may experience further BMD loss, unlike their weight-restored counterparts (BMI ≥ 19 kg/m²), who show a significant increase in BMD and bone mineral accrual rates that double those of healthy male adolescents. The first two findings can be considered robust, as they are supported by strong evidence. The third and fourth findings, however, derive from single studies and therefore require further confirmation. The literature supports weight gain as an effective strategy for promoting BMD increase in adolescents with AN. However, this process is slow, and improvements do not become detectable until ≈16-month follow-up.

The Association between Weight Gain/Restoration and Bone Mineral Density in Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa: A Systematic Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marwan El Ghoch

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Reduced bone mineral density (BMD is one of the most frequent medical complications of anorexia nervosa (AN. The purpose of this paper was to conduct a systematic review of the association between weight gain/restoration and BMD in adolescents with AN. Methods: Literature searches, study selection, method, and quality appraisal were performed independently by two authors, and data were collated using a narrative approach. Results: Of the 1156 articles retrieved, 19 studies met the inclusion criteria, and their analysis revealed four main findings. First, six studies reported that weight gain and restoration are associated with BMD stabilization after one year of follow-up from baseline. Second, seven studies with longer follow-up periods (≈16 months reported significant improvements in BMD measures. Third, one study showed that normalization of BMD can be achieved after ≈30-month follow-up of normal-weight maintenance. Fourth, another study showed that male adolescents with AN who achieve weight gain but remain underweight may experience further BMD loss, unlike their weight-restored counterparts (BMI ≥ 19 kg/m2, who show a significant increase in BMD and bone mineral accrual rates that double those of healthy male adolescents. The first two findings can be considered robust, as they are supported by strong evidence. The third and fourth findings, however, derive from single studies and therefore require further confirmation. Conclusion: The literature supports weight gain as an effective strategy for promoting BMD increase in adolescents with AN. However, this process is slow, and improvements do not become detectable until ≈16-month follow-up.

Expected Fitness Gains of Randomized Search Heuristics for the Traveling Salesperson Problem.

Science.gov (United States)

Nallaperuma, Samadhi; Neumann, Frank; Sudholt, Dirk

2017-01-01

Randomized search heuristics are frequently applied to NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems. The runtime analysis of randomized search heuristics has contributed tremendously to our theoretical understanding. Recently, randomized search heuristics have been examined regarding their achievable progress within a fixed-time budget. We follow this approach and present a fixed-budget analysis for an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem. We consider the well-known Traveling Salesperson Problem (TSP) and analyze the fitness increase that randomized search heuristics are able to achieve within a given fixed-time budget. In particular, we analyze Manhattan and Euclidean TSP instances and Randomized Local Search (RLS), (1+1) EA and (1+[Formula: see text]) EA algorithms for the TSP in a smoothed complexity setting, and derive the lower bounds of the expected fitness gain for a specified number of generations.

Forage intake and weight gain of ewes is affected by roughage mixes during winter in northeastern China.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhiming; Wang, Yunbo; Yuan, Xia; Wang, Ling; Wang, Deli

2017-08-01

We studied the effect of dietary roughage species and their combinations on forage intake and growth rate of ewes during winter in a pastoral-farming area of northeast China. Twenty-five Northeast crossbred ewes (fine-wool sheep × Small-tailed Han sheep) were randomly selected and divided into five groups (G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5). During a 30 day feeding trial, each group of ewes were offered the same basal diet (composed of 0.36 kg chopped maize stalk (10 mm), 0.14 kg corn meal, 0.05 kg soybean meal and 1.2 g NaCl) and one of the five supplementary roughage mixes, namely 100% Leymus chinensis hay (G1), 100% Vigna radiata stalk (G2), L. chinensis hay plus Suaeda glauca (G3), V. radiata stalk plus S. glauca (G4) and L. chinensis hay plus V. radiata stalk and S. glauca (G5). The results showed that roughage mixes had significant influences on daily roughage intake and daily weight gain of ewes. Ewes had greater daily roughage intake when supplemented with three species of roughage compared to the roughage with one species; however, there was no significant difference between G1 and G2, G3 and G4, or between G4 and G5. The average daily gain of ewes was also greater when they were supplemented with the roughage combination of L. chinensis, V. radiata stalk and S. glauca. No difference in average daily weight gain was observed between the G4 and G5 treatments (P > 0.05). The lowest average daily weight gain was observed when the ewes were supplemented with V. radiata stalk alone (G2) (P ewes with various roughages simultaneously in winter could improve their forage intake and average daily weight gain compared to offering the ewes only one type of dietary roughage. Further, feeding roughage supplements containing a diverse mix of roughage species represents one method for increasing roughage utilization in livestock production during winter in the pastoral-farming areas of northeastern China. © 2016 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Modulating the neural bases of persuasion: why/how, gain/loss, and users/non-users

Science.gov (United States)

Katzman, Perri L.; Ames, Daniel L.; Falk, Emily B.; Lieberman, Matthew D.

2017-01-01

Abstract Designing persuasive content is challenging, in part because people can be poor predictors of their actions. Medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) activation during message exposure reliably predicts downstream behavior, but past work has been largely atheoretical. We replicated past results on this relationship and tested two additional framing effects known to alter message receptivity. First, we examined gain- vs. loss-framed reasons for a health behavior (sunscreen use). Consistent with predictions from prospect theory, we observed greater MPFC activity to gain- vs. loss-framed messages, and this activity was associated with behavior. This relationship was stronger for those who were not previously sunscreen users. Second, building on theories of action planning, we compared neural activity during messages regarding how vs. why to enact the behavior. We observed rostral inferior parietal lobule and posterior inferior frontal gyrus activity during action planning (“how” messages), and this activity was associated with behavior; this is in contrast to the relationship between MPFC activity during the “why” (i.e., gain and loss) messages and behavior. These results reinforce that persuasion occurs in part via self-value integration—seeing value and incorporating persuasive messages into one's self-concept—and extend this work to demonstrate how message framing and action planning may influence this process. PMID:27521303

Robust random number generation using steady-state emission of gain-switched laser diodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan, Z. L.; Lucamarini, M.; Dynes, J. F.; Fröhlich, B.; Plews, A.; Shields, A. J.

2014-01-01

We demonstrate robust, high-speed random number generation using interference of the steady-state emission of guaranteed random phases, obtained through gain-switching a semiconductor laser diode. Steady-state emission tolerates large temporal pulse misalignments and therefore significantly improves the interference quality. Using an 8-bit digitizer followed by a finite-impulse-response unbiasing algorithm, we achieve random number generation rates of 8 and 20 Gb/s, for laser repetition rates of 1 and 2.5 GHz, respectively, with a ±20% tolerance in the interferometer differential delay. We also report a generation rate of 80 Gb/s using partially phase-correlated short pulses. In relation to the field of quantum key distribution, our results confirm the gain-switched laser diode as a suitable light source, capable of providing phase-randomized coherent pulses at a clock rate of up to 2.5 GHz.

Flow-mediated dilation: can new approaches provide greater mechanistic insight into vascular dysfunction in preeclampsia and other diseases?

Science.gov (United States)

Weissgerber, Tracey L

2014-11-01

Endothelial dysfunction is a key feature of preeclampsia and may contribute to increased cardiovascular disease risk years after pregnancy. Flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is a non-invasive endothelial function test that predicts cardiovascular event risk. New protocols allow researchers to measure three components of the FMD response: FMD, low flow-mediated constriction, and shear stimulus. This review encourages researchers to think beyond "low FMD" by examining how these three components may provide additional insights into the mechanisms and location of vascular dysfunction. The review then examines what FMD studies reveal about vascular dysfunction in preeclampsia while highlighting opportunities to gain greater mechanistic insight from new protocols. Studies using traditional protocols show that FMD is low in mid-pregnancy prior to preeclampsia, at diagnosis, and for 3 years post-partum. However, FMD returns to normal by 10 years post-partum. Studies using new protocols are needed to gain more mechanistic insight.

Are large dinners associated with excess weight, and does eating a smaller dinner achieve greater weight loss? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Fong, Mackenzie; Caterson, Ian D; Madigan, Claire D

2017-10-01

There are suggestions that large evening meals are associated with greater BMI. This study reviewed systematically the association between evening energy intake and weight in adults and aimed to determine whether reducing evening intake achieves weight loss. Databases searched were MEDLINE, PubMed, Cinahl, Web of Science, Cochrane Library of Clinical Trials, EMBASE and SCOPUS. Eligible observational studies investigated the relationship between BMI and evening energy intake. Eligible intervention trials compared weight change between groups where the proportion of evening intake was manipulated. Evening intake was defined as energy consumed during a certain time - for example 18.00-21.00 hours - or self-defined meal slots - that is 'dinner'. The search yielded 121 full texts that were reviewed for eligibility by two independent reviewers. In all, ten observational studies and eight clinical trials were included in the systematic review with four and five included in the meta-analyses, respectively. Four observational studies showed a positive association between large evening intake and BMI, five showed no association and one showed an inverse relationship. The meta-analysis of observational studies showed a non-significant trend between BMI and evening intake (P=0·06). The meta-analysis of intervention trials showed no difference in weight change between small and large dinner groups (-0·89 kg; 95 % CI -2·52, 0·75, P=0·29). This analysis was limited by significant heterogeneity, and many trials had an unknown or high risk of bias. Recommendations to reduce evening intake for weight loss cannot be substantiated by clinical evidence, and more well-controlled intervention trials are needed.

The Relative Concentrations of Nutrients and Toxins Dictate Feeding by a Vertebrate Browser, the Greater Glider Petauroides volans.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lora M Jensen

Full Text Available Although ecologists believe that vertebrate herbivores must select a diet that allows them to meet their nutritional requirements, while avoiding intoxication by plant secondary metabolites, this is remarkably difficult to show. A long series of field and laboratory experiments means that we have a good understanding of the factors that affect feeding by leaf-eating marsupials. This knowledge and the natural intraspecific variation in Eucalyptus chemistry allowed us to test the hypothesis that the feeding decisions of greater gliders (Petauroides volans depend on the concentrations of available nitrogen (incorporating total nitrogen, dry matter digestibility and tannins and of formylated phloroglucinol compounds (FPCs, potent antifeedants unique to Eucalyptus. We offered captive greater gliders foliage from two species of Eucalyptus, E. viminalis and E. melliodora, which vary naturally in their concentrations of available nitrogen and FPCs. We then measured the amount of foliage eaten by each glider and compared this with our laboratory analyses of foliar total nitrogen, available nitrogen and FPCs for each tree offered. The concentration of FPCs was the main factor that determined how much gliders ate of E. viminalis and E. melliodora, but in gliders fed E. viminalis the concentration of available nitrogen was also a significant influence. In other words, greater gliders ate E. viminalis leaves with a particular combination of FPCs and available nitrogen that maximised the nutritional gain but minimised their ingestion of toxins. In contrast, the concentration of total nitrogen was not correlated with feeding. This study is among the first to empirically show that browsing herbivores select a diet that balances the potential gain (available nutrients and the potential costs (plant secondary chemicals of eating leaves. The major implication of the study is that it is essential to identify the limiting nutrients and relevant toxins in a system in

Predictive Variable Gain Iterative Learning Control for PMSM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huimin Xu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A predictive variable gain strategy in iterative learning control (ILC is introduced. Predictive variable gain iterative learning control is constructed to improve the performance of trajectory tracking. A scheme based on predictive variable gain iterative learning control for eliminating undesirable vibrations of PMSM system is proposed. The basic idea is that undesirable vibrations of PMSM system are eliminated from two aspects of iterative domain and time domain. The predictive method is utilized to determine the learning gain in the ILC algorithm. Compression mapping principle is used to prove the convergence of the algorithm. Simulation results demonstrate that the predictive variable gain is superior to constant gain and other variable gains.

Weight gain - unintentional

Science.gov (United States)

... diabetes Hormone changes or medical problems can also cause unintentional weight gain. This may be due to: Cushing syndrome Underactive thyroid, or low thyroid (hypothyroidism) Polycystic ovary syndrome Menopause Pregnancy Bloating, or swelling ...

Opportunistic Fixed Gain Bidirectional Relaying with Outdated CSI

KAUST Repository

Khan, Fahd Ahmed; Tourki, Kamel; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Qaraqe, Khalid A.

2015-01-01

In a network with multiple relays, relay selection has been shown as an effective scheme to achieve diversity as well as to improve the overall throughput. This paper studies the impact of using outdated channel state information for relay selection on the performance of a network where two sources communicate with each other via fixed-gain amplify-and-forward relays. For a Rayleigh faded channel, closed-form expressions for the outage probability, moment generating function and symbol error rate are derived. Simulations results are also presented to corroborate the derived analytical results. It is shown that adding relays does not improve the performance if the channel is substantially outdated. Furthermore, relay location is also taken into consideration and it is shown that the performance can be improved by placing the relay closer to the source whose channel is more outdated. © 2015 IEEE.

Opportunistic Fixed Gain Bidirectional Relaying with Outdated CSI

KAUST Repository

Khan, Fahd Ahmed

2015-05-01

In a network with multiple relays, relay selection has been shown as an effective scheme to achieve diversity as well as to improve the overall throughput. This paper studies the impact of using outdated channel state information for relay selection on the performance of a network where two sources communicate with each other via fixed-gain amplify-and-forward relays. For a Rayleigh faded channel, closed-form expressions for the outage probability, moment generating function and symbol error rate are derived. Simulations results are also presented to corroborate the derived analytical results. It is shown that adding relays does not improve the performance if the channel is substantially outdated. Furthermore, relay location is also taken into consideration and it is shown that the performance can be improved by placing the relay closer to the source whose channel is more outdated. © 2015 IEEE.

CONDITIONS FOR CSR MICROBUNCHING GAIN SUPPRESSION

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsai, Cheng Ying [Virginia Polytechnic Inst. and State Univ. (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA (United States); Douglas, David R. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Li, Rui [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Tennant, Christopher D. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); di Mitri, Simone [Elettra–Sincrotrone Trieste, 34149 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy

2016-05-01

The coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) of a high brightness electron beam traversing a series of dipoles, such as transport arcs, may result in phase space degradation. On one hand, the CSR can perturb electron transverse motion in dispersive regions along the beamline, causing emittance growth. On the other hand, the CSR effect on the longitudinal beam dynamics could result in microbunching gain enhancement. For transport arcs, several schemes have been proposed* to suppress the CSR-induced emittance growth. Similarly, several scenarios have been introduced** to suppress CSR-induced microbunching gain, which however mostly aim for linac-based machines. In this paper we try to provide sufficient conditions for suppression of CSR-induced microbunching gain along a transport arc, analogous to*. Several example lattices are presented, with the relevant microbunching analyses carried out by our semi-analytical Vlasov solver***. The simulation results show that lattices satisfying the proposed conditions indeed have microbunching gain suppressed. We expect this analysis can shed light on lattice design approach that could suppress the CSR-induced microbunching gain.

FEL gain optimisation and spontaneous radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bali, L.M.; Srivastava, A.; Pandya, T.P. [Lucknow Univ. (India)] [and others

1995-12-31

Colson have evaluated FEL gains for small deviations from perfect electron beam injection, with radiation of the same polarisation as that of the wiggler fields. We find that for optimum gain the polarisation of the optical field should be the same as that of the spontaneous emission under these conditions. With a helical wiggler the axial oscillations resulting from small departures from perfect electron beam injection lead to injection dependent unequal amplitudes and phases of the spontaneous radiation in the two transverse directions. Viewed along the axis therefore the spontaneous emission is elliptically polarised. The azimuth of the ellipse varies with the difference of phase of the two transverse components of spontaneous emission but the eccentricity remains the same. With planar wigglers the spontaneous emission viewed in the axial direction is linearly polarised, again with an injection dependent azimuth. For optimum coherent gain of a radiation field its polarisation characteristics must be the same as those of the spontaneous radiation with both types of wiggler. Thus, with a helical wiggler and the data reported earlier, an increase of 10% in the FEL gain at the fundamental frequency and of 11% at the fifth harmonic has been calculated in the small gain per pass limit. Larger enhancements in gain may result from more favourable values of input parameters.

Dynamic Sliding Mode Evolution PWM Controller for a Novel High-Gain Interleaved DC-DC Converter in PV System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taizhou Bei

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Considering the disadvantages of the traditional high-gain DC-DC converter such as big size, high voltage stress of switches, and large input current ripple, a novel high-gain interleaved boost converter with coupled-inductor and switched-capacitor was proposed correspondingly and the operation principle together with the steady-state analysis of this converter was also described. Besides, a new control approach-dynamic sliding mode evolution PWM controller (DSME PWM for the novel topological converter based on both dynamic evolution and sliding mode control was also presented. From the simulation results and experimental validation the proposed converter can fulfill high-gain boost, low ripple of both the input current and the output voltage. Furthermore, MPPT technique can be also achieved in a short time by simulation. The efficiency and stability of the converter proposed in this paper can be improved.

Flux Gain for Next-Generation Neutron-Scattering Instruments Resulting From Improved Supermirror Performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rehm, C.

2001-01-01

Next-generation spallation neutron source facilities will offer instruments with unprecedented capabilities through simultaneous enhancement of source power and usage of advanced optical components. The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), already under construction at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and scheduled to be completed by 2006, will provide greater than an order of magnitude more effective source flux than current state-of-the-art facilities, including the most advanced research reactors. An additional order of magnitude gain is expected through the use of new optical devices and instrumentation concepts. Many instrument designs require supermirror (SM) neutron guides with very high critical angles for total reflection. In this contribution, they discuss how the performance of modern neutron scattering instruments depends on the efficiency of these supermirrors. They outline ideas for enhancing the performance of the SM coatings, particularly for improving the reflectivity at the position of the critical wave vector transfer. A simulation program has been developed which allows different approaches for SM designs to be studied. Possible instrument performance gains are calculated for the example of the SNS reflectometer

Pump-beam-instability limits to Raman-gain-doublet ''fast-light'' pulse propagation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stenner, Michael D.; Gauthier, Daniel J.

2003-01-01

We investigate the behavior of a system for generating ''fast-light'' pulses in which a bichromatic Raman pumping beam is used to generate optical gain at two frequencies and a region of anomalous dispersion between them. It is expected that increasing the gain will increase the pulse advancement. However, as the gain increases, the pumping field becomes increasingly distorted, effectively limiting the pulse advancement. We observe as much as 12% of the input pump power converted to orthogonal polarization, broadening of the initially bichromatic pump field (25 MHz initial frequency separation) to more than 2.5 GHz, and a temporal collapse of the pump beam into an erratic train of sub-500-ps pulses. The instability is attributed to the combined effects of the cross modulation instability and stimulated Raman scattering. Extreme distortion of an injected pulse that should (absent the instability) experience an advancement of 21% of its width is observed. We conclude that the fast-light pulse advancement is limited to just a few percent of the pulse width using this pulse advancement technique. The limitation imposed by the instability is important because careful study of the information velocity in fast-light pulses requires that pulse advancement be large enough to distinguish the velocities of different pulse features. Possible methods for achieving pulse advancement by avoiding the distortion caused by the instability are discussed

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM THROUGH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

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Ispas Roxana

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In tourism, hotels play an important role and contribute to the economic growth in cities and other places endowed with attractions which are universally recognized. Two elements are essential in the tourism industry system: product quality and human resources. In terms of quality of the hotel services, that is the one that allows to the tourist enterprise to own a competitive advantage, gain competitive differentiation and reputation among customers by achieving a high degree of customer satisfaction. Hotel customer satisfaction would be impossible if the hotel management does not perform periodic evaluations on customer satisfaction and quality, which are the focus of this paper. Therefore, this paper focuses on customer satisfaction measured by the SERVQUAL model.

Weight gain potential affects pregnancy rates in bovine embryo recipients raised under pasture conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Carlos Antonio de Carvalho; Palhao, Miller Pereira; Figueiredo, Ana Cristina Silva; Ribeiro, Josiane Rossi; Fonseca e Silva, Fabyano; Viana, Joao Henrique Moreira

2016-01-01

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of differences in body weight gain after embryo transfer on the pregnancy rates of crossbred heifers used as recipients and raised under a grazing system. The study was performed during the dry (April to September) and the rainy (October to March) seasons. The embryos transferred were produced by in vitro fertilization. The body weight of each recipient was measured immediately before the embryo transfer and 23 to 25 days later, when the diagnosis of pregnancy was performed by ultrasonography. The associations among initial body weight (IBW), daily body weight gain (DWG), season, and pregnancy rate were evaluated using a logistic procedure that included the effect of the IBW, season, and linear and quadratic effects of the DWG. Altogether, there was no effect of season and pregnancy rates did not change between the dry and rainy seasons (42.3 vs. 45.8%, respectively; P > 0.05). However, the pregnancy rate was greater in the recipients with daily body weight gains over 250 g/day, regardless of the season. In addition, the pregnancy rate of the recipients was better (P 06703 + 0.0108 * DWG - 0.00002 * DWG ^ 2)))/(1 + Exp((-1.6703 + 0.0108 * DWG - 0.00002 * DWG ^ 2))). In conclusion, body weight gain potential is a critical factor for the pregnancy rates of in vitro embryo recipients managed under grazing systems.

Weight gain is associated with improved glycaemic control but with adverse changes in plasma lipids and blood pressure isn Type 1 diabetes.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Ferriss, J B

2012-02-03

AIMS: To assess the effects of weight gain on metabolic control, plasma lipids and blood pressure in patients with Type 1 diabetes. METHODS: Patients in the EURODIAB Prospective Complications Study (n = 3250) were examined at baseline and 1800 (55%) were re-examined a mean of 7.3 years later. Patients had Type 1 diabetes, defined as a diagnosis made before age 36 years and with a need for continuous insulin therapy within a year of diagnosis. Patients were aged 15-60 years at baseline and were stratified for age, sex and duration of diabetes. RESULTS: The change in HbA(1c) from baseline to follow-up examination was significantly more favourable in those who gained 5 kg or more during follow-up (\\'marked weight gain\\') than in patients who gained less or no weight or lost weight (\\'less or no weight gain\\'). In those with marked weight gain, there was a significantly greater rise in plasma triglycerides and total cholesterol and significantly less favourable changes in low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol compared with those with less or no weight gain, with or without adjustment for HbA(1c). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure also rose significantly more in the group with marked weight gain. CONCLUSION: Weight gain in patients with Type 1 diabetes has adverse effects on plasma lipids and blood pressure, despite a small improvement in glycaemic control.

24 CFR 3280.507 - Comfort heat gain.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Comfort heat gain. 3280.507 Section... gain. Information necessary to calculate the home cooling load shall be provided as specified in this part. (a) Transmission heat gains. Homes complying with this section shall meet the minimum heat loss...

A novel solution to the gated x-ray detector gain droop problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oertel, J. A.; Archuleta, T. N.

2014-01-01

Microchannel plate (MCP), microstrip transmission line based, gated x-ray detectors used at the premier ICF laser facilities have a drop in gain as a function of mircostrip length that can be greater than 50% over 40 mm. These losses are due to ohmic losses in a microstrip coating that is less than the optimum electrical skin depth. The electrical skin depth for a copper transmission line at 3 GHz is 1.2 μm while the standard microstrip coating thickness is roughly half a single skin depth. Simply increasing the copper coating thickness would begin filling the MCP pores and limit the number of secondary electrons created in the MCP. The current coating thickness represents a compromise between gain and ohmic loss. We suggest a novel solution to the loss problem by overcoating the copper transmission line with five electrical skin depths (∼6 μm) of Beryllium. Beryllium is reasonably transparent to x-rays above 800 eV and would improve the carrier current on the transmission line. The net result should be an optically flat photocathode response with almost no measurable loss in voltage along the transmission line

Moving beyond quantity of participation in process evaluation of an intervention to prevent excessive pregnancy weight gain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Keriann H

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Few lifestyle interventions have successfully prevented excessive gestational weight gain. Understanding the program processes through which successful interventions achieve outcomes is important for the design of effective programs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the quantity and quality of participation in a healthy lifestyle intervention on risk of excessive gestational weight gain. Findings Pregnant women (N = 179 received five newsletters about weight, nutrition, and exercise plus postcards on which they were asked to set related goals and return to investigators. The quantity of participation (dose was defined as low for returning few or some vs. high for many postcards (N = 89, 49.7%. Quality of participation was low for setting few vs. high for some or many appropriate goals (N = 92, 51.4%. Fisher’s exact tests and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the effect of participation variables on the proportion with excessive weight gain. Quantity and quality of participation alone were each not significantly associated with excessive gestational weight gain, while quality of participation among those with high-levels of participation approached significance (p = 0.07. The odds of gaining excessively was decreased when women had both a high quantity and quality of participation (OR = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.005, 0.30. Conclusions Both quantity and quality of participation are important program process measures in evaluations of lifestyle interventions to promote healthy weight gain during pregnancy.

Spontaneous indices are inconsistent with arterial baroreflex gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipman, Ruth D; Salisbury, Julie K; Taylor, J Andrew

2003-10-01

Spontaneously occurring, parallel fluctuations in arterial pressure and heart period are frequently used as indices of baroreflex function. Despite the convenience of spontaneous indices, their relation to the arterial baroreflex remains unclear. Therefore, in 97 volunteers, we derived 5 proposed indices (sequence method, alpha-index, transfer function, low-frequency transfer function, and impulse response function), compared them with arterial baroreflex gain (by the modified Oxford pharmacologic technique), and examined their relation to carotid distensibility and respiratory sinus arrhythmia. The subjects comprised men and women (n=41) aged 25 to 86 years, 30% of whom had established coronary artery disease. Generally, the indices were correlated with each other (except alpha-index and low-frequency transfer function) and with baroreflex gain. However, the Bland-Altman method demonstrated that the spontaneous indices had limits of agreement as large as the baroreflex gain itself. Even in individuals within the lowest tertile of baroreflex gain for whom baroreflex gain appears to be the most clinically relevant, spontaneous indices failed to relate to baroreflex gain. In fact, for these individuals, there was no correlation between any index and baroreflex gain. Forward stepwise linear regression showed that all spontaneous indices and baroreflex gain were related to respiratory sinus arrhythmia, but only baroreflex gain was related to carotid distensibility. Therefore, these data suggest that spontaneous indices are inadequate estimates of gain and are inconsistent with arterial baroreflex function.

Insulin detemir attenuates food intake, body weight gain and fat mass gain in diet-induced obese Sprague-Dawley rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Rojas, J M; Printz, R L; Niswender, K D

2011-07-04

Initiation and intensification of insulin therapy commonly causes weight gain, a barrier to therapy. A contrasting body of evidence indicates that insulin functions as an adiposity negative feedback signal and reduces food intake, weight gain and adiposity via action in the central nervous system. Basal insulin analogs, detemir (Det) and glargine (Glar), have been associated with less hypoglycemia compared with neutral protamine hagedorn insulin, and Det with less weight gain, especially in patients with higher body mass index (BMI). We sought to determine whether insulin therapy per se causes body weight and fat mass gain when delivered via a clinically relevant subcutaneous (SC) route in the absence of hypoglycemia and glycosuria in non-diabetic lean and diet-induced obese rats. Rats were exposed to either a low-fat diet (LFD; 13.5% fat) or high-fat diet (HFD; 60% fat), and received Det (0.5 U kg(-1)), Glar (0.2 U kg(-1)) or vehicle (Veh) SC once daily for 4 weeks. These dosages of insulin were equipotent in rats with respect to blood-glucose concentration and did not induce hypoglycemia. As predicted by current models of energy homeostasis, neither insulin Det nor Glar therapy affected food intake and weight gain in LFD rats. Det treatment significantly attenuated food intake, body weight gain and fat mass gain relative to the Glar and Veh in high-fat fed animals, mirroring observations in humans. That neither insulin group gained excess weight, suggests weight gain with SC basal insulin therapy may not be inevitable. Our data further suggest that Det possesses a unique property to attenuate the development of obesity associated with a HFD.

Timing of Excessive Weight Gain During Pregnancy Modulates Newborn Anthropometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruchat, Stephanie-May; Allard, Catherine; Doyon, Myriam; Lacroix, Marilyn; Guillemette, Laetitia; Patenaude, Julie; Battista, Marie-Claude; Ardilouze, Jean-Luc; Perron, Patrice; Bouchard, Luigi; Hivert, Marie-France

2016-02-01

Excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) is associated with increased birth weight and neonatal adiposity. However, timing of excessive GWG may have a differential impact on birth outcomes. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of early and mid/late excessive GWG on newborn anthropometry in the context of the Canadian clinical recommendations that are specific for first trimester and for second/third trimesters based on maternal pre-pregnancy BMI. We included 607 glucose-tolerant women in our main analyses, after excluding women who had less than the recommended total GWG. Maternal body weight was measured in early pregnancy, mid-pregnancy, and late pregnancy. Maternal and fetal clinical outcomes were collected, including newborn anthropometry. Women were divided into four groups according to the Canadian guidelines for GWG in the first and in the second/third trimesters: (1) "overall non-excessive" (reference group); (2) "early excessive GWG"; (3) "mid/late excessive GWG"; and (4) "overall excessive GWG." Differences in newborn anthropometry were tested across GWG categories. Women had a mean (±SD) pre-pregnancy BMI of 24.7 ± 5.2 kg/m(2) and total GWG of 15.3 ± 4.4 kg. Women with mid/late excessive GWG gave birth to heavier babies (gestational age-adjusted birth weight z-score 0.33 ± 0.91) compared with women in the reference group (0.00 ± 0.77, P = 0.007), whereas women with early excessive GWG gave birth to babies of similar weight (gestational age-adjusted z-score 0.01 ± 0.86) to the reference group (0.00 ± 0.77, P = 0.84). When we stratified our analyses and investigated women who gained within the recommendations for total GWG, mid/late excessive GWG specifically was associated with greater newborn size, similar to our main analyses. Excessive GWG in mid/late pregnancy in women who did not gain weight excessively in early pregnancy is associated with increased birth size, even in those who gained within the Canadian recommendations

Classroom Composition and Its Association with Students' Achievement and Socioemotional Characteristics in Peru

Science.gov (United States)

Cueto, Santiago; León, Juan; Miranda, Alejandra

2016-01-01

School composition is a topic that has gained increasing attention from researchers over the past few years, as it has been found that the socio-economic characteristics of students are associated with their achievement. However, most research has been cross-sectional and carried out in industrialised countries. In this study, we use parental…

Body image and gestational weight gain: a prospective study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Briony; Skouteris, Helen; McCabe, Marita; Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Matthew

2013-01-01

Approximately 50% of Australian adult women of childbearing age are overweight or obese, and, when pregnant, the majority gain excessive weight; this is also the case in the United States and other developed nations. High gestational weight gain (GWG) is the strongest predictor of maternal overweight/obesity postbirth and is also associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity. Understanding factors that contribute to excessive GWG is vital in combating obesity. The aim of the current study was to examine whether body image attitudes (eg, feeling fat, attractive, or strong and fit, and salience of weight and shape) predict GWG. Pregnant women, recruited through advertisements on pregnancy online forums and parenting magazines, completed questionnaires assessing body image, demographic variables, and GWG. The Body Attitudes Questionnaire assessed body image in early-to-middle, middle, and late pregnancy (mean of 16.8, 24.7, and 33.0 weeks' gestation, respectively). Total GWG was calculated by subtracting self-reported pre pregnancy weight from self-reported weight at 36.8 weeks' gestation. A total of 150 pregnant women responded to the study's advertisements, and 72% (n = 108) took part. After controlling for pre pregnancy body mass index (BMI), lower attractiveness in early-to-middle pregnancy was associated with higher GWG. In late pregnancy, women who had the lowest feelings of fatness had greater GWG. Body image attitudes earlier in pregnancy did not predict whether GWG recommendations were exceeded. Women of higher BMI were more likely to gain excessive weight. The findings suggest that the type and timing of pregnancy, body attitudes, and the time of pregnancy when they are noted, predict GWG. However, more research in the area is needed, including assessment of the relationship between body image concerns, GWG, and other psychosocial factors. We recommend that midwives monitor body image concerns in pregnancy to help address factors affecting GWG in at

Maternal weight gain and associations with longitudinal fetal growth in dichorionic twin pregnancies: a prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinkle, Stefanie N; Hediger, Mary L; Kim, Sungduk; Albert, Paul S; Grobman, William; Newman, Roger B; Wing, Deborah A; Grewal, Jagteshwar; Zhang, Cuilin; Buck Louis, Germaine M; Grantz, Katherine L

2017-12-01

Background: Maternal metabolic demands are much greater with twin gestations; however, there are no accepted recommendations for maternal weight gain in twin pregnancies. Objective: We assessed the association of maternal weight gain and fetal growth in dichorionic twins throughout pregnancy. Design: This was a prospective US cohort study ( n = 143, 2012-2013) of dichorionic twin pregnancies with known birth outcomes followed from enrollment (11-13 wk) and for ≤6 research visits throughout gestation. Maternal prepregnancy weight was self-reported, and current weight was measured at each research visit and abstracted from prenatal records. Fetal biometry was assessed by ultrasound at each research visit. Maternal weight and twin-pair fetal size trajectories across gestation were modeled. The adjusted associations between maternal weight gain from 0 to 13, 14 to 20, 21 to 27, and 28 to 34 wk and fetal growth at the subsequent week (i.e., 14, 21, 28, and 35 wk, respectively) were estimated with the use of linear regression. Results: The mean ± SD maternal weight gain from 0 to 13, 14 to 20, 21 to 27, and 28 to 34 wk was 2.8 ± 3.0 kg, 3.9 ± 1.2 kg, 3.8 ± 1.4 kg, and 4.4 ± 2.2 kg, respectively, with a total gain of 17.7 ± 7.4 kg. Maternal weight gain from 0 to 13 wk (first trimester) was not associated with fetal size at 14 wk. Maternal weight gain from 14 to 20 and 21 to 27 wk (second trimester) was significantly associated with increased fetal weight at 21 wk [increase of 10.5 g/kg maternal weight gain (95% CI: 1.2, 19.8 g)] and 28 wk [increase of 21.3 g/kg maternal weight gain (95% CI: 0.6, 42.0 g)]. Maternal weight gain from 14 to 20 wk was associated with increased twin abdominal circumference (AC) and biparietal diameter at 21 wk. Maternal weight gain from 21 to 27 wk was associated with increased femur and humerus lengths at 28 wk. Conclusion: Maternal weight gain was associated with dichorionic twin fetal growth in the second trimester only, driven by an

[Pre-pregnancy nutritional status, maternal weight gain, prenatal care, and adverse perinatal outcomes among adolescent mothers].

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Marta Maria Antonieta de Souza; Baião, Mirian Ribeiro; de Barros, Denise Cavalcante; Pinto, Alessandra de Almeida; Pedrosa, Priscila La Marca; Saunders, Claudia

2012-03-01

To identify the association between pre-gestational nutritional status, maternal weight gain, and prenatal care with low birth weight (LBW) and prematurity outcomes in infants of adolescent mothers. Cross-sectional study with 542 pairs of adolescent mothers and their children attending a public maternity hospital in Rio de Janeiro. Data were collected from medical records. To determine the association between independent variables and the outcomes studied, odds ratio (OR) and a 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated With respect to pre-pregnancy nutritional status of adolescents, 87% had normal weight, 1% were underweight, 10% were overweight, and 2% obese. Inadequate total gestational weight gain (72%) exceeded adequacy (28%). Birth weight was favored with greater gestational weight gain, and reduced with late onset of prenatal care. The comparison between the low birth weight and normal birth weight groups revealed significant differences between variable means: interval between the past pregnancy and current pregnancy (p = 0.022), pre-gestational weight (p = 0.018); pre-gestational body mass index (p pregnancy weight and body mass index before pregnancy. The minimum frequency of six prenatal care visits was a protective factor against LBW and prematurity.

Artificial Material Integrated Ultra-wideband Tapered Slot Antenna for Gain Enhancement with Band Notch Characteristics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Singha

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The gain of the ultra-wideband tapered slot antenna (TSA is enhanced by using broadband artificial material with band notch characteristics. The proposed artificial material unit cell is designed by fabricating non-resonant three S-shaped parallel metallic line on single side of the dielectric substrate which provides a longer current path compared to the parallel-line structure. The proposed S-shaped structure is printed on the top side of the tapered slot antenna in the extended substrate periodically. The effective refractive index of the artificial material is lower than antenna substrate and phase velocity in the region of artificial material is much higher than the other region. Therefore, the proposed artificial material acts like a beam focusing lens. The band notch at 5.5 GHz is achieved by creating a split ring resonator (SRR slot near the balun. The basic and artificial material loaded TSAs are fabricated and the measurement results show that the gain of the basic antenna has been increased by 1.6 dBi. At the same time, the proposed antenna achieves a VSWR below 2 from 3 to 11 GHz except at 5.5 GHz with a notch band from 5.1 to 5.8 GHz for band rejection of wireless local area network (WLAN application.

On the unlimited gain of a nonlinear parametric amplifier

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sorokin, Vladislav

2014-01-01

The present paper is concerned with analysis of the response of a nonlinear parametric amplifier in abroad range of system parameters, particularly beyond resonance. Such analysis is of particular interestfor micro- and nanosystems, since many small-scale parametric amplifiers exhibit a distinctly...... nonlinearbehavior when amplitude of their response is sufficiently large. The modified method of direct separa-tion of motions is employed to study the considered system. As the result it is obtained that steady-stateamplitude of the nonlinear parametric amplifier response can reach large values in the case...... of arbitrarilysmall amplitude of external excitation, so that the amplifier gain tends to infinity. Very large amplifiergain can be achieved in a broad range of system parameters, in particular when the amplitude of para-metric excitation is comparatively small. The obtained results clearly demonstrate that very...

Socioeconomic position and risk of short-term weight gain: Prospective study of 14,619 middle-aged men and women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luben Robert N

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The association between socioeconomic position in middle age and risk of subsequent, short-term weight gain is unknown. We therefore assessed this association in a prospective population based cohort study in Norfolk, UK. Methods We analysed data on 14,619 middle-aged men and women (aged between 40–75 at baseline with repeated objective measures of weight and height at baseline (1993–1997 and follow up (1998–2000. Results During follow up 5,064 people gained more than 2.5 kg. Compared with the highest social class, individuals in the lowest social class had around a 30% greater risk of gaining more than 2.5 kg (OR 1.29; 95% CI 1.11–1.51; p for trend = 0.002. This association remained statistically significant following adjustment for sex, age, baseline BMI, smoking, and follow up time (OR 1.25; CI 1.07–1.46; p for trend Conclusion Individuals of low socioeconomic position are at greatest risk of gaining weight during middle age, which is not explained by classical correlates of socioeconomic position and risk factors for obesity.

What motivates health professionals? Opportunities to gain greater insight from theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Buetow, Stephen

2007-07-01

Health care policy-makers and researchers need to pay more attention to understanding the influence of motivation on professional behaviour. Goal setting theory, including two hypotheses - the business case and the pride case - dominates current attempts to motivate professionals. However, the predominance of goal setting theory stifles other approaches to conceptualizing professional motivation. These approaches include other cognitive theories of motivation, such as self-determination theory (concerned with how to use extrinsic rewards that enhance intrinsic motivation), as well as content, psychoanalytic and environmental theories. A valuable opportunity exists to develop and test such theories in addition to possible hybrids, for example, by elaborating goal setting theory in health care. The results can be expected to inform health policy and motivate individual professionals, groups, organizations and workforces to improve and deliver high quality care.

WGC Based Robust and Gain Scheduling PI Controller Design for Condensing Boilers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cem Onat

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the water temperature PI control in condensing domestic boilers. The main challenge of this process under the controller design perspective is the fact that the dynamics of condensing boilers are strongly affected by the demanded water flow rate. First, a robust PI controller based on weighted geometrical center method is designed that stabilizes and achieves good performance for closed-loop system for a wide range of the water flow rate. Then, it is shown that if the water flow rate information is used to update the controller gains, through a technique known as gain scheduled control, the performance can be significantly improved. Important characteristics of these PI design approaches are that the resulting parameters are calculated numerically without using any graphical method or iterative optimization process and that it guarantees the stability of the closed-loop. Significantly, simulation results have demonstrated that the proposed tuning techniques can perform better for set point changes and load disturbance than other available methods in the literature.

A two-dimensional three-level sustainability framework for achieving short- and long-term gains: empirical evidence from the Chinese automotive sector

OpenAIRE

Wu, Lin

2016-01-01

A topic of academic research and business practice which has grown in importance recently is sustainability. Its main objective is to ensure the development of the current generation and protect the right of future generations to prosper. In the business context, sustainability should be reflected in firms’ efforts to simultaneously ensure short- and long-term gains. A time dimension is thus an important feature in the concept of sustainability. In the past two decades, sustainability res...

The effect of holiday weight gain on body weight.

Science.gov (United States)

Schoeller, Dale A

2014-07-01

The topic of holiday weight gain has been a frequent subject of the lay media; however, scientific interest has only been recent. Multiple studies in Western societies have reported average weight gains among adults during the period between mid-November and mid-January that were about 0.5 kg. The range in individual weight changes was large, however, and the already overweight and obese gain more weight than those who are healthy weight. When the average gain across the year was also measured, the holiday weight was the major contributor to annual excess weight gain. Efforts patterned to increase awareness to energy balance and body weight have been shown to be successful at reducing such gain. An exception to holiday weight gain being a major contributor to annual excess gain has been children, in whom summer weight gains have been observed to be the major contributor to average excess weight gain. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Personality type influence the gestational weight gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Franik, Grzegorz; Lipka, Nela; Kopyto, Katarzyna; Kopocińska, Joanna; Owczarek, Aleksander; Sikora, Jerzy; Madej, Paweł; Chudek, Jerzy; Olszanecka-Glinianowicz, Magdalena

2017-08-01

Pregnancy is frequently followed by the development of obesity. Aside from psychological factors, hormonal changes influence weight gain in pregnant women. We attempted to assess the potential association between personality type and the extent of gestational weight gain. The study group involved 773 women after term delivery (age 26.3 ± 3.9 years, body mass before pregnancy 61.2 ± 11.1 kg). Weight gain during pregnancy was calculated by using self-reported body mass prior to and during the 38th week of pregnancy. Personality type was assessed using the Polish version of the Framingham Type A Behavior Patterns Questionnaire (adapted by Juczynski). Two hundred forty-six (31.8%) study subjects represented type A personalities, 272 (35.2%) type B and 255 (33.0%) an indirect type. Gestational weight gain was related to the behavior patterns questionnaire score and age. In women gain was higher than in women with type B behavior of the same age. In women >30, the gestational weight gain was larger for type B personalities. Type A personality and increased urgency in younger pregnant women increases the risk of developing obesity during pregnancy in women below 30 years old. A higher level of competitiveness demonstrates a risk factor of excessive weight gain during pregnancy regardless of age.

Intrinsic gain modulation and adaptive neural coding.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sungho Hong

2008-07-01

Full Text Available In many cases, the computation of a neural system can be reduced to a receptive field, or a set of linear filters, and a thresholding function, or gain curve, which determines the firing probability; this is known as a linear/nonlinear model. In some forms of sensory adaptation, these linear filters and gain curve adjust very rapidly to changes in the variance of a randomly varying driving input. An apparently similar but previously unrelated issue is the observation of gain control by background noise in cortical neurons: the slope of the firing rate versus current (f-I curve changes with the variance of background random input. Here, we show a direct correspondence between these two observations by relating variance-dependent changes in the gain of f-I curves to characteristics of the changing empirical linear/nonlinear model obtained by sampling. In the case that the underlying system is fixed, we derive relationships relating the change of the gain with respect to both mean and variance with the receptive fields derived from reverse correlation on a white noise stimulus. Using two conductance-based model neurons that display distinct gain modulation properties through a simple change in parameters, we show that coding properties of both these models quantitatively satisfy the predicted relationships. Our results describe how both variance-dependent gain modulation and adaptive neural computation result from intrinsic nonlinearity.

IQ Gains in Argentina between 1964 and 1998

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, James R.; Rossi-Case, Lilia

2012-01-01

The literature on IQ gains in Latin America is sparse. We estimate gains on Raven's Progressive Matrices in the city of La Plata (Argentina) between 1964 and 1998. The gains are robust at the top of the curve as well as at the bottom. Therefore, they are contrary to the hypothesis that nutrition played a major role in recent Argentine IQ gains.…

Greater-confinement disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trevorrow, L.E.; Schubert, J.P.

1989-01-01

Greater-confinement disposal (GCD) is a general term for low-level waste (LLW) disposal technologies that employ natural and/or engineered barriers and provide a degree of confinement greater than that of shallow-land burial (SLB) but possibly less than that of a geologic repository. Thus GCD is associated with lower risk/hazard ratios than SLB. Although any number of disposal technologies might satisfy the definition of GCD, eight have been selected for consideration in this discussion. These technologies include: (1) earth-covered tumuli, (2) concrete structures, both above and below grade, (3) deep trenches, (4) augered shafts, (5) rock cavities, (6) abandoned mines, (7) high-integrity containers, and (8) hydrofracture. Each of these technologies employ several operations that are mature,however, some are at more advanced stages of development and demonstration than others. Each is defined and further described by information on design, advantages and disadvantages, special equipment requirements, and characteristic operations such as construction, waste emplacement, and closure

Loss restlessness and gain calmness: durable effects of losses and gains on choice switching.

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Yechiam, Eldad; Zahavi, Gal; Arditi, Eli

2015-08-01

While the traditional conceptualization of the effect of losses focuses on bias in the subjective weight of losses compared with respective gains, some accounts suggest more global task-related effects of losses. Based on a recent attentional theory, we predicted a positive after-effect of losses on choice switching in later tasks. In two experimental studies, we found increased choice switching rates in tasks with losses compared to tasks with no losses. Additionally, this heightened shifting behavior was maintained in subsequent tasks that do not include losses, a phenomenon we refer to as "loss restlessness." Conversely, gains were found to have an opposite "calming" effect on choice switching. Surprisingly, the loss restlessness phenomenon was observed following an all-losses payoff regime but not after a task with symmetric mixed gains and losses. This suggests that the unresolved mental account following an all-losses regime increases search behavior. Potential implications to macro level phenomena, such as the leverage effect, are discussed.

Modulating the neural bases of persuasion: why/how, gain/loss, and users/non-users.

Science.gov (United States)

Vezich, I Stephanie; Katzman, Perri L; Ames, Daniel L; Falk, Emily B; Lieberman, Matthew D

2017-02-01

Designing persuasive content is challenging, in part because people can be poor predictors of their actions. Medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) activation during message exposure reliably predicts downstream behavior, but past work has been largely atheoretical. We replicated past results on this relationship and tested two additional framing effects known to alter message receptivity. First, we examined gain- vs. loss-framed reasons for a health behavior (sunscreen use). Consistent with predictions from prospect theory, we observed greater MPFC activity to gain- vs. loss-framed messages, and this activity was associated with behavior. This relationship was stronger for those who were not previously sunscreen users. Second, building on theories of action planning, we compared neural activity during messages regarding how vs. why to enact the behavior. We observed rostral inferior parietal lobule and posterior inferior frontal gyrus activity during action planning ("how" messages), and this activity was associated with behavior; this is in contrast to the relationship between MPFC activity during the "why" (i.e., gain and loss) messages and behavior. These results reinforce that persuasion occurs in part via self-value integration-seeing value and incorporating persuasive messages into one's self-concept-and extend this work to demonstrate how message framing and action planning may influence this process. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Risk factors related to resistance to Rhipicephalus (Boophilus microplus and weight gain of heifers

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Jenevaldo Barbosa da Silva

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of age and genetics in dairy heifers on resistance to the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus microplus and correlate these parameters with weight gain. Twenty-two heifers were evaluated from birth up to two years of age. Resistance to the cattle tick was evaluated by counting the number of engorged female ticks and subjective qualification of the larvae and nymph infestation. The animals were weighted in the first 24 hours after birth and at six, 12, 18 and 24 months of age. The average tick count and weight gain were compared by Tukey’s test at 5% significance. Subsequently, linear regression was performed to verify the strength of the association between the risk factors age and genetics and infestation by R. (B. microplus. Age and genetics were both significant risk factors for R. (B. microplus infestation in heifers. Between the third and sixth months of age, the animals showed a window of susceptibility to R. (B. microplus. Regardless of age, Bos taurus heifers had higher infestations than Bos indicus, crossbred F1 (½ B. taurus x ½ B. indicus and crossbred Gir-Holstein (Girolando (? B. taurus x ? B. indicus heifers. B. taurus heifers were heavier than B. indicus heifers at birth and had significantly greater weight gain (p < 0.01.

The Impact of Supporting Family Caregivers Before Bereavement on Outcomes After Bereavement: Adequacy of End-of-Life Support and Achievement of Preferred Place of Death.

Science.gov (United States)

Aoun, Samar M; Ewing, Gail; Grande, Gunn; Toye, Chris; Bear, Natasha

2018-02-01

The investigation of the situation of bereaved family caregivers following caregiving during the end-of-life phase of illness has not received enough attention. This study investigated the extent to which using the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) intervention during the caregiving period has affected bereaved family caregivers' perceptions of adequacy of support, their grief and well-being, and achievement of their preferred place of death. All family caregivers who participated in a stepped-wedge cluster trial of the CSNAT intervention in Western Australia (2012-2014) and completed the pre-bereavement study (n = 322) were invited to take part in a caregiver survey by telephone four to six months after bereavement (2015). The survey measured the adequacy of end-of-life support, the level of grief, the current physical and mental health, and the achievement of the preferred place of death. The response rate was 66% (152, intervention; 60, control). The intervention group perceived that their pre-bereavement support needs had been adequately met to a significantly greater extent than the control group (d = 0.43, P death more often according to their caregivers (79.6% vs. 63.6%, P = 0.034). There was also a greater agreement on the preferred place of death between patients and their caregivers in the intervention group (P = 0.02). The results from this study provide evidence that the CSNAT intervention has a positive impact on perceived adequacy of support of bereaved family caregivers and achievement of preferred place of death according to caregivers. The benefits gained by caregivers in being engaged in early and direct assessment of their support needs before bereavement reinforce the need for palliative care services to effectively support caregivers well before the patient's death. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Means of achieving high load factors at Olkiluoto 1 and 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patrakka, E.

2001-01-01

Teollisuuden Voima Oy operates two BWR units Olkiluoto 1 and 2 that have achieved load factors typically higher than 90%. The operating experiences gained in the 1990s is summarised and the factors contributing to the high capacity factors are addressed. These include the general objectives for operation and maintenance, plant modernisation programme, maintenance principles, and outage policy and experiences. Finally, the international evaluations performed at Olkiluoto are mentioned. (author)

Central gain control in tinnitus and hyperacusis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Benjamin D Auerbach

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Sensorineural hearing loss induced by noise or ototoxic drug exposure reduces the neural activity transmitted from the cochlea to the central auditory system. Despite a reduced cochlear output, neural activity from more central auditory structures is paradoxically enhanced at suprathreshold intensities. This compensatory increase in the central auditory activity in response to the loss of sensory input is referred to as central gain enhancement. Enhanced central gain is hypothesized to be a potential mechanism that gives rise to hyperacusis and tinnitus, two debilitating auditory perceptual disorders that afflict millions of individuals. This review will examine the evidence for gain enhancement in the central auditory system in response to cochlear damage. Further, it will address the potential cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this enhancement and discuss the contribution of central gain enhancement to tinnitus and hyperacusis. Current evidence suggests that multiple mechanisms with distinct temporal and spectral profiles are likely to contribute to central gain enhancement. Dissecting the contributions of these different mechanisms at different levels of the central auditory system is essential for elucidating the role of central gain enhancement in tinnitus and hyperacusis and, most importantly, the development of novel treatments for these disorders.

Central Gain Control in Tinnitus and Hyperacusis

Science.gov (United States)

Auerbach, Benjamin D.; Rodrigues, Paulo V.; Salvi, Richard J.

2014-01-01

Sensorineural hearing loss induced by noise or ototoxic drug exposure reduces the neural activity transmitted from the cochlea to the central auditory system. Despite a reduced cochlear output, neural activity from more central auditory structures is paradoxically enhanced at suprathreshold intensities. This compensatory increase in the central auditory activity in response to the loss of sensory input is referred to as central gain enhancement. Enhanced central gain is hypothesized to be a potential mechanism that gives rise to hyperacusis and tinnitus, two debilitating auditory perceptual disorders that afflict millions of individuals. This review will examine the evidence for gain enhancement in the central auditory system in response to cochlear damage. Further, it will address the potential cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this enhancement and discuss the contribution of central gain enhancement to tinnitus and hyperacusis. Current evidence suggests that multiple mechanisms with distinct temporal and spectral profiles are likely to contribute to central gain enhancement. Dissecting the contributions of these different mechanisms at different levels of the central auditory system is essential for elucidating the role of central gain enhancement in tinnitus and hyperacusis and, most importantly, the development of novel treatments for these disorders. PMID:25386157

Distributed Space-Time Block Coded Transmission with Imperfect Channel Estimation: Achievable Rate and Power Allocation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonia Aïssa

2008-05-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the effects of channel estimation error at the receiver on the achievable rate of distributed space-time block coded transmission. We consider that multiple transmitters cooperate to send the signal to the receiver and derive lower and upper bounds on the mutual information of distributed space-time block codes (D-STBCs when the channel gains and channel estimation error variances pertaining to different transmitter-receiver links are unequal. Then, assessing the gap between these two bounds, we provide a limiting value that upper bounds the latter at any input transmit powers, and also show that the gap is minimum if the receiver can estimate the channels of different transmitters with the same accuracy. We further investigate positioning the receiving node such that the mutual information bounds of D-STBCs and their robustness to the variations of the subchannel gains are maximum, as long as the summation of these gains is constant. Furthermore, we derive the optimum power transmission strategy to achieve the outage capacity lower bound of D-STBCs under arbitrary numbers of transmit and receive antennas, and provide closed-form expressions for this capacity metric. Numerical simulations are conducted to corroborate our analysis and quantify the effects of imperfect channel estimation.

Crowdsourcing and the Accuracy of Online Information Regarding Weight Gain in Pregnancy: A Descriptive Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Tammy; Verma, Bianca A; Shull, Trevor; Moniz, Michelle H; Kohatsu, Lauren; Plegue, Melissa A; Collins-Thompson, Kevyn

2016-04-07

Excess weight gain affects nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States and is a strong risk factor for adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, including long-term obesity. The Internet is a prominent source of information during pregnancy; however, the accuracy of this online information is unknown. To identify, characterize, and assess the accuracy of frequently accessed webpages containing information about weight gain during pregnancy. A descriptive study was used to identify and search frequently used phrases related to weight gain during pregnancy on the Google search engine. The first 10 webpages of each query were characterized by type and then assessed for accuracy and completeness, as compared to Institute of Medicine guidelines, using crowdsourcing. A total of 114 queries were searched, yielding 305 unique webpages. Of these webpages, 181 (59.3%) included information regarding weight gain during pregnancy. Out of 181 webpages, 62 (34.3%) contained no specific recommendations, 48 (26.5%) contained accurate but incomplete recommendations, 41 (22.7%) contained complete and accurate recommendations, and 22 (12.2%) were inaccurate. Webpages were most commonly from for-profit websites (112/181, 61.9%), followed by government (19/181, 10.5%), medical organizations or associations (13/181, 7.2%), and news sites (12/181, 6.6%). The largest proportion of for-profit sites contained no specific recommendations (44/112, 39.3%). Among pages that provided inaccurate information (22/181, 12.2%), 68% (15/22) were from for-profit sites. For-profit websites dominate the online space with regard to weight gain during pregnancy and largely contain incomplete, inaccurate, or no specific recommendations. This represents a significant information gap regarding an important risk factor for obesity among mothers and infants. Our findings suggest that greater clinical and public health efforts to disseminate accurate information regarding healthy weight gain during pregnancy

Single-Sex versus Coeducational Environment and Achievement in Adolescent Females.

Science.gov (United States)

Monaco, Nanci M.; Gaier, Eugene L.

1992-01-01

Suggests that, if high school environment reduces discrepancy between conflicting roles, adolescent females may place greater emphasis on achievement. Within this context, explores differential benefits of single-sex and coeducational schooling. Issue explored is not whether one is preferable for females; rather, the concern is how each of these…

Measured stimulated Raman gain in methane

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopert, R.B.

1983-01-01

This report is about the stimulated Raman effect in methane due to the nu 1 vibration. For various gas pressures between 150 torr and 30 atm, the Raman lineshape function was both experimentally measured and synthesized using a computer model. The stimulated Raman gain was measured by sending a pump laser beam provided by an argon-ion laser and a weak probe beam provided by a tunable dye laser through a cell of methane gas. The stimulated Raman effect caused some of the energy from the pump beam to be transferred to the probe beam. The intensity of the pump beam was low so the gain of the probe beam was on the order of parts per million. A two detector arrangement and a differential amplifier system that had a feedback loop to balance the detectors was constructed to measure the small gains. A detailed description of this detection system that was able to measure gains as small as 0.2 parts per million is provided

Measuring solar reflectance - Part I: Defining a metric that accurately predicts solar heat gain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levinson, Ronnen; Akbari, Hashem; Berdahl, Paul [Heat Island Group, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2010-09-15

Solar reflectance can vary with the spectral and angular distributions of incident sunlight, which in turn depend on surface orientation, solar position and atmospheric conditions. A widely used solar reflectance metric based on the ASTM Standard E891 beam-normal solar spectral irradiance underestimates the solar heat gain of a spectrally selective ''cool colored'' surface because this irradiance contains a greater fraction of near-infrared light than typically found in ordinary (unconcentrated) global sunlight. At mainland US latitudes, this metric R{sub E891BN} can underestimate the annual peak solar heat gain of a typical roof or pavement (slope {<=} 5:12 [23 ]) by as much as 89 W m{sup -2}, and underestimate its peak surface temperature by up to 5 K. Using R{sub E891BN} to characterize roofs in a building energy simulation can exaggerate the economic value N of annual cool roof net energy savings by as much as 23%. We define clear sky air mass one global horizontal (''AM1GH'') solar reflectance R{sub g,0}, a simple and easily measured property that more accurately predicts solar heat gain. R{sub g,0} predicts the annual peak solar heat gain of a roof or pavement to within 2 W m{sup -2}, and overestimates N by no more than 3%. R{sub g,0} is well suited to rating the solar reflectances of roofs, pavements and walls. We show in Part II that R{sub g,0} can be easily and accurately measured with a pyranometer, a solar spectrophotometer or version 6 of the Solar Spectrum Reflectometer. (author)

Measuring solar reflectance Part I: Defining a metric that accurately predicts solar heat gain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levinson, Ronnen; Akbari, Hashem; Berdahl, Paul

2010-05-14

Solar reflectance can vary with the spectral and angular distributions of incident sunlight, which in turn depend on surface orientation, solar position and atmospheric conditions. A widely used solar reflectance metric based on the ASTM Standard E891 beam-normal solar spectral irradiance underestimates the solar heat gain of a spectrally selective 'cool colored' surface because this irradiance contains a greater fraction of near-infrared light than typically found in ordinary (unconcentrated) global sunlight. At mainland U.S. latitudes, this metric RE891BN can underestimate the annual peak solar heat gain of a typical roof or pavement (slope {le} 5:12 [23{sup o}]) by as much as 89 W m{sup -2}, and underestimate its peak surface temperature by up to 5 K. Using R{sub E891BN} to characterize roofs in a building energy simulation can exaggerate the economic value N of annual cool-roof net energy savings by as much as 23%. We define clear-sky air mass one global horizontal ('AM1GH') solar reflectance R{sub g,0}, a simple and easily measured property that more accurately predicts solar heat gain. R{sub g,0} predicts the annual peak solar heat gain of a roof or pavement to within 2 W m{sup -2}, and overestimates N by no more than 3%. R{sub g,0} is well suited to rating the solar reflectances of roofs, pavements and walls. We show in Part II that R{sub g,0} can be easily and accurately measured with a pyranometer, a solar spectrophotometer or version 6 of the Solar Spectrum Reflectometer.

Motivation by potential gains and losses affects control processes via different mechanisms in the attentional network.

Science.gov (United States)

Paschke, Lena M; Walter, Henrik; Steimke, Rosa; Ludwig, Vera U; Gaschler, Robert; Schubert, Torsten; Stelzel, Christine

2015-05-01

block analysis revealed greater activity in gain and loss blocks compared to the neutral condition in most of these regions but no differences in the direct comparison of gain and loss blocks. These findings show that potential monetary gain and loss rely on different mechanisms: Gain was more effective in reducing the reaction time compared to potential loss. Brain data indicate that in the gain context attentional control is executed specifically in incongruent trials, whereas the loss context induces an unspecific increase of attentional control. These findings extend previous studies by providing evidence for diverging neural mechanisms for the effects of different types of motivation on attentional control, specifying the underlying activity patterns in task- and stimulus-related regions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Greater Expectations

Science.gov (United States)

McCloskey, Patrick J.

2006-01-01

Julius Bennett was once a disinterested student destined to become a dropout. Then he enrolled in Amistad Academy, an academically focused charter middle school intent on narrowing the achievement gap between urban and suburban kids located in New Haven, Connecticut. Now Julius is making plans for college. In this article the author details the…

Achieving demand side management through eco-industrial networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knight, N.

2002-01-01

This Power Point presentation describes the progress made by the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) in achieving sustainable development. The GVRD provides regional level infrastructure for drinking water, liquid waste treatment and solid waste management. Member municipalities provide the complementary services to businesses and residents of the communities. Particular emphasis has been given to protecting the green zone, building complete communities, achieving a compact Metropolitain region, and increasing transportation choices. The GVRD has also adopted a Livable Region Strategic Plan (LRSP) which encompasses economic, social and environmental issues. All member municipalities of the GVRD have prepared statements that indicate how their local policies will help achieve the LRSP goals. This presentation also includes a review of the region's air quality in order to emphasize the link between air quality and the pattern of urban development and transportation choices. The GVRD air quality management is unique in Canada. tabs., figs

A novel analog/digital reconfigurable automatic gain control with a novel DC offset cancellation circuit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

He Xiaofeng; Ye Tianchun [Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100029 (China); Mo Taishan; Ma Chengyan, E-mail: hexiaofeng@casic.ac.cn [Hangzhou Zhongke Microelectronics Co, Ltd, Hangzhou 310053 (China)

2011-02-15

An analog/digital reconfigurable automatic gain control (AGC) circuit with a novel DC offset cancellation circuit for a direct-conversion receiver is presented. The AGC is analog/digital reconfigurable in order to be compatible with different baseband chips. What's more, a novel DC offset cancellation (DCOC) circuit with an HPCF (high pass cutoff frequency) less than 10 kHz is proposed. The AGC is fabricated by a 0.18 {mu}m CMOS process. Under analog control mode, the AGC achieves a 70 dB dynamic range with a 3 dB-bandwidth larger than 60 MHz. Under digital control mode, through a 5-bit digital control word, the AGC shows a 64 dB gain control range by 2 dB each step with a gain error of less than 0.3 dB. The DC offset cancellation circuits can suppress the output DC offset voltage to be less than 1.5 mV, while the offset voltage of 40 mV is introduced into the input. The overall power consumption is less than 3.5 mA, and the die area is 800 x 300 {mu}m{sup 2}. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Simultaneous bilateral isolated greater trochanter fracture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maruti Kambali

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A 48-year-old woman sustained simultaneous isolated bilateral greater trochanteric fracture, following a road traffic accident. The patient presented to us 1 month after the injury. She presented with complaints of pain in the left hip and inability to walk. Roentgenograms revealed displaced comminuted bilateral greater trochanter fractures. The fracture of the left greater trochanter was reduced and fixed internally using the tension band wiring technique. The greater trochanter fracture on the right side was asymptomatic and was managed conservatively. The patient regained full range of motion and use of her hips after a postoperative follow-up of 6 months. Isolated fractures of the greater trochanter are unusual injuries. Because of their relative rarity and the unsettled controversy regarding their etiology and pathogenesis, several methods of treatment have been advocated. Furthermore, the reports of this particular type of injury are not plentiful and the average textbook coverage afforded to this entity is limited. In our study we discuss the mechanism of injury and the various treatment options available.

Radiation hardness of thin Low Gain Avalanche Detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Kramberger, G.; Carulla, M.; Cavallaro, E.; Cindro, V.; Flores, D.; Galloway, Z.; Grinstein, S.; Hidalgo, S.; Fadeyev, V.; Lange, J.; Mandić, I.; Medin, G.; Merlos, A.; McKinney-Martinez, F.; Mikuž, M.; Quirion, D.; Pellegrini, G.; Petek, M.; Sadrozinski, H. F.-W.; Seiden, A.; Zavrtanik, M.

2018-05-01

Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGAD) are based on a n++-p+-p-p++ structure where an appropriate doping of the multiplication layer (p+) leads to high enough electric fields for impact ionization. Gain factors of few tens in charge significantly improve the resolution of timing measurements, particularly for thin detectors, where the timing performance was shown to be limited by Landau fluctuations. The main obstacle for their operation is the decrease of gain with irradiation, attributed to effective acceptor removal in the gain layer. Sets of thin sensors were produced by two different producers on different substrates, with different gain layer doping profiles and thicknesses (45, 50 and 80 μm). Their performance in terms of gain/collected charge and leakage current was compared before and after irradiation with neutrons and pions up to the equivalent fluences of 5 ṡ 1015 cm-2. Transient Current Technique and charge collection measurements with LHC speed electronics were employed to characterize the detectors. The thin LGAD sensors were shown to perform much better than sensors of standard thickness (∼300 μm) and offer larger charge collection with respect to detectors without gain layer for fluences gain prolongs the beneficial performance of LGADs. Pions were found to be more damaging than neutrons at the same equivalent fluence, while no significant difference was found between different producers. At very high fluences and bias voltages the gain appears due to deep acceptors in the bulk, hence also in thin standard detectors.

Genetic gain and economic values of selection strategies including semen traits in three- and four-way crossbreeding systems for swine production.

Science.gov (United States)

González-Peña, D; Knox, R V; MacNeil, M D; Rodriguez-Zas, S L

2015-03-01

. Genetic gains for paternal traits, excluding semen traits, were greater in selection Strategy I than Strategies III and II. Genetic gains for paternal and maternal traits were greater in the 4- and 3-way schemes, respectively. The selection strategy including the 4 semen traits is recommended because this approach enables genetic gains for these traits without compromising the genetic gains for maternal traits and with minimal losses in genetic gains for paternal traits.

Mitigation of inbreeding while preserving genetic gain in genomic breeding programs for outbred plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Zibei; Shi, Fan; Hayes, Ben J; Daetwyler, Hans D

2017-05-01

Heuristic genomic inbreeding controls reduce inbreeding in genomic breeding schemes without reducing genetic gain. Genomic selection is increasingly being implemented in plant breeding programs to accelerate genetic gain of economically important traits. However, it may cause significant loss of genetic diversity when compared with traditional schemes using phenotypic selection. We propose heuristic strategies to control the rate of inbreeding in outbred plants, which can be categorised into three types: controls during mate allocation, during selection, and simultaneous selection and mate allocation. The proposed mate allocation measure GminF allocates two or more parents for mating in mating groups that minimise coancestry using a genomic relationship matrix. Two types of relationship-adjusted genomic breeding values for parent selection candidates ([Formula: see text]) and potential offspring ([Formula: see text]) are devised to control inbreeding during selection and even enabling simultaneous selection and mate allocation. These strategies were tested in a case study using a simulated perennial ryegrass breeding scheme. As compared to the genomic selection scheme without controls, all proposed strategies could significantly decrease inbreeding while achieving comparable genetic gain. In particular, the scenario using [Formula: see text] in simultaneous selection and mate allocation reduced inbreeding to one-third of the original genomic selection scheme. The proposed strategies are readily applicable in any outbred plant breeding program.

Low-Gain, Low-Noise Integrated Neuronal Amplifier for Implantable Artifact-Reduction Recording System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdelhamid Benazzouz

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Brain neuroprostheses for neuromodulation are being designed to monitor the neural activity of the brain in the vicinity of the region being stimulated using a single macro-electrode. Using a single macro-electrode, recent neuromodulation studies show that recording systems with a low gain neuronal amplifier and successive amplifier stages can reduce or reject stimulation artifacts. These systems were made with off-the-shelf components that are not amendable for future implant design. A low-gain, low-noise integrated neuronal amplifier (NA with the capability of recording local field potentials (LFP and spike activity is presented. In vitro and in vivo characterizations of the tissue/electrode interface, with equivalent impedance as an electrical model for recording in the LFP band using macro-electrodes for rodents, contribute to the NA design constraints. The NA occupies 0.15 mm2 and dissipates 6.73 µW, and was fabricated using a 0.35 µm CMOS process. Test-bench validation indicates that the NA provides a mid-band gain of 20 dB and achieves a low input-referred noise of 4 µVRMS. Ability of the NA to perform spike recording in test-bench experiments is presented. Additionally, an awake and freely moving rodent setup was used to illustrate the integrated NA ability to record LFPs, paving the pathway for future implantable systems for neuromodulation.

Active Microwave Metamaterials Incorporating Ideal Gain Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hao Xin

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Incorporation of active devices/media such as transistors for microwave and gain media for optics may be very attractive for enabling desired low loss and broadband metamaterials. Such metamaterials can even have gain which may very well lead to new and exciting physical phenomena. We investigate microwave composite right/left-handed transmission lines (CRLH-TL incorporating ideal gain devices such as constant negative resistance. With realistic lumped element values, we have shown that the negative phase constant of this kind of transmission lines is maintained (i.e., left-handedness kept while gain can be obtained (negative attenuation constant of transmission line simultaneously. Possible implementation and challenging issues of the proposed active CRLH-TL are also discussed.

Nucleus accumbens response to gains in reputation for the self relative to gains for others predicts social media use.

Science.gov (United States)

Meshi, Dar; Morawetz, Carmen; Heekeren, Hauke R

2013-01-01

Our reputation is important to us; we've experienced natural selection to care about our reputation. Recently, the neural processing of gains in reputation (positive social feedback concerning one's character) has been shown to occur in the human ventral striatum. It is still unclear, however, how individual differences in the processing of gains in reputation may lead to individual differences in real-world behavior. For example, in the real-world, one way that people currently maintain their reputation is by using social media websites, like Facebook. Furthermore, Facebook use consists of a social comparison component, where users observe others' behavior and can compare it to their own. Therefore, we hypothesized a relationship between the way the brain processes specifically self-relevant gains in reputation and one's degree of Facebook use. We recorded functional neuroimaging data while participants received gains in reputation, observed the gains in reputation of another person, or received monetary reward. We demonstrate that across participants, when responding to gains in reputation for the self, relative to observing gains for others, reward-related activity in the left nucleus accumbens predicts Facebook use. However, nucleus accumbens activity in response to monetary reward did not predict Facebook use. Finally, a control step-wise regression analysis showed that Facebook use primarily explains our results in the nucleus accumbens. Overall, our results demonstrate how individual sensitivity of the nucleus accumbens to the receipt of self-relevant social information leads to differences in real-world behavior.

Achieving Universal Access to Broadband

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Morten FALCH

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses appropriate policy measures for achieving universal access to broadband services in Europe. Access can be delivered by means of many different technology solutions described in the paper. This means a greater degree of competition and affects the kind of policy measures to be applied. The paper concludes that other policy measure than the classical universal service obligation are in play, and discusses various policy measures taking the Lisbon process as a point of departure. Available policy measures listed in the paper include, universal service obligation, harmonization, demand stimulation, public support for extending the infrastructure, public private partnerships (PPP, and others.

The order of information processing alters economic gain-loss framing effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwak, Youngbin; Huettel, Scott

2018-01-01

Adaptive decision making requires analysis of available information during the process of choice. In many decisions that information is presented visually - which means that variations in visual properties (e.g., salience, complexity) can potentially influence the process of choice. In the current study, we demonstrate that variation in the left-right positioning of risky and safe decision options can influence the canonical gain-loss framing effect. Two experiments were conducted using an economic framing task in which participants chose between gambles and certain outcomes. The first experiment demonstrated that the magnitude of the gain-loss framing effect was greater when the certain option signaling the current frame was presented on the left side of the visual display. Eye-tracking data during task performance showed a left-gaze bias for initial fixations, suggesting that the option presented on the left side was processed first. Combination of eye-tracking and choice data revealed that there was a significant effect of direction of first gaze (i.e. left vs. right) as well as an interaction between gaze direction and identity of the first fixated information (i.e. certain vs. gamble) regardless of frame. A second experiment presented the gamble and certain options in a random order, with a temporal delay between their presentations. We found that the magnitude of gain-loss framing was larger when the certain option was presented first, regardless of left and right positioning, only in individuals with lower risk-taking tendencies. The effect of presentation order on framing was not present in high risk-takers. These results suggest that the sequence of visual information processing as well as their left-right positioning can bias choices by changing the impact of the presented information during risky decision making. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Association between Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Gestational Weight Gain with Size, Tempo, and Velocity of Infant Growth: Analysis of the Newborn Epigenetic Study Cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Fuemmeler, Bernard F; Wang, Lin; Iversen, Edwin S; Maguire, Rachel; Murphy, Susan K; Hoyo, Cathrine

2016-06-01

The first 1000 days of life is a critical period of infant growth that has been linked to future adult health. Understanding prenatal factors that contribute to variation in growth during this period could inform successful prevention strategies. Prenatal and maternal characteristics, including prepregnancy obesity and gestational weight gain were evaluated in relation to weight growth trajectories during the first 24 months of life using the SuperImposition by Translation and Rotation (SITAR) method, which provides estimates of infant size, timing to peak velocity, and growth velocity. The study sample included 704 mother-infant dyads from a multiethnic prebirth cohort from the Southeastern United States. The total number of weight measures was 8670 (median number per child = 14). Several prenatal and maternal characteristics were linked with infant growth parameters. The primary findings show that compared to women with a prepregnancy BMI between 18 and 24.9, women with a prepregnancy BMI ≥40 had infants that were 8% larger during the first 24 months, a delayed tempo of around 9 days, and a slower velocity. Mothers who had greater than adequate gestational weight gain had infants that were 5% larger even after controlling for prepregnancy BMI and several other covariates. The findings contribute new data on the associations between gestational weight gain and aspects of early growth using the SITAR method, and support a growing consensus in the literature that both prepregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain relate independently to risk for greater postnatal weight growth.

Simultaneous realization of a coherent perfect absorber and laser by zero-index media with both gain and loss

KAUST Repository

Bai, Ping

2016-12-20

We investigate a unique type of zero-index medium with both gain and loss (ZIMGL), whose effective permittivity and permeability are both purely imaginary but of opposite signs. We analytically show that, by using a slab of ZIMGL with equal magnitude of loss and gain, simulation realization of a coherent perfect absorber (CPA) and laser, i.e., the so-called CPA laser, can be achieved. Previously the CPA laser was proposed in parity-time (PT) symmetric systems. However, the ZIMGL does not possess the PT symmetry and thus the underlying physics is distinctly different. By designing a photonic crystal (PC) composed of core-shell rods, with loss and gain distributed in either the core or the shell, we have realized such a ZIMGL. The CPA-laser functionality of such a PC is also confirmed in our numerical simulations. Our work provides a different approach for simultaneous realization of CPA and laser besides PT-symmetric systems.

Empowered to gain a new foothold in life

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Simonÿ, Charlotte; Dreyer, Pia; Pedersen, Birthe D.

2015-01-01

carefully guided through a difficult time and supported to continue in healthy everyday lives. They were given hope which enabled them to find themselves a new foothold in life with respect to their own sense of well-being. This guidance and a sense of hopefulness were provided by heart specialists and more...... that patients achieve improvement in quality of life when participating in CR. However, knowledge of how patients are supported during CR is sparse. Moreover, knowledge of what participating in CR means to patients afflicted by a minor heart attack is lacking. In-depth knowledge in this area is crucial in order......-phased interpretation. It was found that patients were supported to gain renewed balance in their lives during CR. Three themes were identified: (1) receiving a helpful but limited caring hand, (2) being supported to find new values in life, and (3) developing responsibility for the remaining time. The patients were...

Accountability, Inequality, and Achievement: The Effects of the No Child Left Behind Act on Multiple Measures of Student Learning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer L. Jennings

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Scholars continue to debate whether gains on the state tests used for accountability generalize to other measures of student achievement. Using panel data on students from a large urban school district, we estimate the impact of accountability pressure related to the No Child Left Behind Act on two measures of academic achievement: the state test and an “audit” test that is not tied to the accountability system. Overall, we find that accountability pressure is associated with increased state test scores in math and lower audit math and reading test scores. However, the sources of state and audit test score divergence varied by students’ race. Black students in schools facing the most accountability pressure made no gains on state tests, and their losses on audit math tests were twice as large as those of Hispanic students. These findings highlight the importance of better understanding the mechanisms that produce heterogeneous effects of accountability pressure across achievement measures and subgroups.

Brillouin gain enhancement in nano-scale photonic waveguide

Science.gov (United States)

Nouri Jouybari, Soodabeh

2018-05-01

The enhancement of stimulated Brillouin scattering in nano-scale waveguides has a great contribution in the improvement of the photonic devices technology. The key factors in Brillouin gain are the electrostriction force and radiation pressure generated by optical waves in the waveguide. In this article, we have proposed a new scheme of nano-scale waveguide in which the Brillouin gain is considerably improved compared to the previously-reported schemes. The role of radiation pressure in the Brillouin gain was much higher than the role of the electrostriction force. The Brillouin gain strongly depends on the structural parameters of the waveguide and the maximum value of 12127 W-1 m-1 is obtained for the Brillouin gain.

Method and system for edge cladding of laser gain media

Science.gov (United States)

Bayramian, Andrew James; Caird, John Allyn; Schaffers, Kathleen Irene

2014-03-25

A gain medium operable to amplify light at a gain wavelength and having reduced transverse ASE includes an input surface and an output surface opposing the input surface. The gain medium also includes a central region including gain material and extending between the input surface and the output surface along a longitudinal optical axis of the gain medium. The gain medium further includes an edge cladding region surrounding the central region and extending between the input surface and the output surface along the longitudinal optical axis of the gain medium. The edge cladding region includes the gain material and a dopant operable to absorb light at the gain wavelength.

Investigating the safety and efficacy of naltrexone for anti-psychotic induced weight gain in severe mental illness: study protocol of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Tek, Cenk; Guloksuz, Sinan; Srihari, Vinod H; Reutenauer, Erin L

2013-06-27

Obesity is a growing health problem leading to high rates of mortality and morbidity in patients with severe mental illness (SMI). The increased rate of obesity is largely attributed to antipsychotic use. The effect of antipsychotic medications on H1 and 5HT2 receptors has been associated with weight gain, but there is also a substantial amount of evidence showing that D2 receptor blockade may be responsible for weight gain by interacting with the dopamine-opioid system. Unfortunately, current available medications for weight loss have limited efficacy in this population. Naltrexone, an opioid receptor antagonist, may be a promising agent to reduce antipsychotic induced weight gain by decreasing food cravings. We aim to investigate the safety and efficacy of two doses of naltrexone (25 mg & 50 mg) versus placebo for weight and health risk reduction in overweight and obese individuals (BMI ≥ 28) with SMI, who gained weight while being treated with antipsychotics. One hundred and forty four patients will be recruited throughout the greater New Haven area. The participants will be randomized to naltrexone 25 mg/day, naltrexone 50 mg/day, or placebo in a 1:1:1 ratio. Participants will be on the study medication for 52 weeks, and assessed weekly for the first 4 weeks and bi-weekly thereafter. The primary outcome measurements are weight reduction and percentage achieving clinically significant weight loss (5% of total body weight). Waist circumference, body mass index, serum lipid profile, fasting glucose, and glycosylated hemoglobin are the secondary outcome measures. The effect of naltrexone on other outcome measurements such as schizophrenia symptoms, depression, dietary consumption, quality of life, cognitive functioning, physical activity, metabolism/inflammation markers, serum leptin, ghrelin, peptide YY, adinopectin, high sensitivity CRP, interleukin 6, interleukin-1B, interleukin-18, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) will be evaluated. The data will be

Early Behavioral Self-Regulation, Academic Achievement, and Gender: Longitudinal Findings from France, Germany, and Iceland

Science.gov (United States)

Gestsdottir, Steinunn; von Suchodoletz, Antje; Wanless, Shannon B.; Hubert, Blandine; Guimard, Philippe; Birgisdottir, Freyja; Gunzenhauser, Catherine; McClelland, Megan

2014-01-01

Research suggests that behavioral self-regulation skills are critical for early school success, but few studies have explored such links among young children in Europe. This study examined the contribution of early self-regulation to academic achievement gains among children in France, Germany, and Iceland. Gender differences in behavioral…

Net energy gain from DT fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buende, R.

1985-01-01

The net energy which can be gained from an energy raw material by means of a certain conversion system is deduced as the figure-of-merit which adequately characterizes the net energy balance of utilizing an energy source. This potential net energy gain is determined for DT fusion power plants. It is represented as a function of the degree of exploitation of the energy raw material lithium ore and is compared with the net energy which can be gained with LW and FBR power plants by exploiting uranium ore. The comparison clearly demonstrates the net energetic advantage of DT fusion. A sensitivity study shows that this holds even if the energy expenditure for constructing and operating is drastically increased

Rethinking Conceptions of Borders in the Greater Mekong Subregion: An Interview With Chayan Vaddhanabhuti (RCSD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Napakadol Kittisenee

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Dr. Chayan Vaddhanabhuti is Director of the Regional Centre for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD, Thailand. The RCSD was established in 1998 at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University, in response to the need for integration of social science and natural science knowledge in order to gain a better understanding of sustainable development in upper Mainland South-East Asia. Chayan Vaddhanabhuti has long been dedicated to the fi eld of social sciences, development issues, and engaged himself extensively with ethnic groups both within Thailand and beyond. In this interview he introduces the work of RSCD and discusses the changing perceptions of the concept of ‘border’ in the context of Thailand and the Greater Mekong Subregion.

Nucleus accumbens response to gains in reputation for the self relative to gains for others predicts social media use

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dar eMeshi

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Our reputation is important to us; we’ve experienced natural selection to care about our reputation. Recently, the neural processing of gains in reputation (positive social feedback concerning one’s character has been shown to occur in the human ventral striatum. It is still unclear, however, how individual differences in the processing of gains in reputation may lead to individual differences in real-world behavior. For example, in the real-world, one way that people currently maintain their reputation is by using social media websites, like Facebook. Furthermore, Facebook use consists of a social comparison component, where users observe others’ behavior and can compare it to their own. Therefore, we hypothesized a relationship between the way the brain processes specifically self-relevant gains in reputation and one’s degree of Facebook use. We recorded functional neuroimaging data while participants received gains in reputation, observed the gains in reputation of another person, or received monetary reward. We demonstrate that across participants, when responding to gains in reputation for the self, relative to observing gains for others, reward-related activity in the left nucleus accumbens predicts Facebook use. However, nucleus accumbens activity in response to monetary reward did not predict Facebook use. Finally, a control step-wise regression analysis showed that Facebook use primarily explains our results in the nucleus accumbens. Overall, our results demonstrate how individual sensitivity of the nucleus accumbens to the receipt of self-relevant social information leads to differences in real-world behavior.

Photomultiplier gain stabilisation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Baud, P.; Sautiez, B.

1958-07-01

By the control and adjustment of magnetic deflection applied to the electron beam of a photomultiplier it has proved possible to flatten the gain curve, forming plateaux at levels dependent upon the voltage at intake. It should be possible to add this simple device to most photomultipliers on the market today. (author) [fr

Do you want the good news or the bad news? Gain- versus loss-framed messages following health risk information: The effects on leisure time physical activity beliefs and cognitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bassett-Gunter, Rebecca L; Martin Ginis, Kathleen A; Latimer-Cheung, Amy E

2013-12-01

The primary purpose was to examine the relative effectiveness of chronic disease and psychological health risk information combined with gain- versus loss-framed leisure time physical activity (LTPA) messages for changing perceived personal risk, LTPA response efficacy (i.e., the belief that LTPA can effectively reduce risk), and LTPA intentions. A secondary purpose was to explore the relationship between message framing and cognitive processing. Baseline assessments of perceived risk for inactivity-related disease and psychological health problems, LTPA response efficacy, and intentions were measured among 96 individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Participants read population-specific information about the risk for inactivity-related disease and psychological health problems following SCI, and perceived risk was reassessed. Participants were then randomized to read LTPA response efficacy messages emphasizing the benefits of LTPA (gain framed) or the risks of inactivity (loss framed). Immediately following message exposure, cognitive processing (i.e., thought listing and message recall), LTPA response efficacy, and LTPA intentions were assessed. Changes in perceived risk were observed following exposure to health risk information. Changes in LTPA response efficacy and intentions were greater following loss-framed messages targeting psychological health compared with gain-framed messages. Greater cognitive processing was observed following loss-framed messages compared with gain-framed messages. Following exposure to psychological health risk information, loss-framed messages may be more effective than gain-framed messages for eliciting cognitive processing and changing LTPA beliefs and intentions.

When, How and Why is Loss-Framing More Effective than Gain- and Non-Gain-Framing in the Promotion of Detection Behaviors?

OpenAIRE

Bosone, Lucia; Martinez, Frédéric

2017-01-01

This short paper aims to untangle the effect of loss-framing versus gain and non-gain; explaining when, how and why it influences individuals’ intentions to engage in cholesterol screening. We argue that framing-effects are (1) significant only when individuals perceive the issue to be highly relevant and (2) are mediated by perceived negative consequences (resulting from undergoing the test) and response-efficacy. In a 2(issue-relevance: high vs low) × 3(framing: gain vs non-gain vs loss) ex...

A simple method to increase effective PMT gain by amplifier circuit powered from voltage divider

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popov, V.; Majewski, S.; Wojtsekhowski, B.; Guerin, D

2001-01-01

A novel concept is introduced of additional effective signal amplification by employing a dedicated circuit to process anode or dynode signals prior to sending them through a standard 50 /spl Omega/ line/cable. The circuit is entirely powered by the current flowing through the base voltage divider. Additional gain factors of 2-10 were easily achieved with preserved operation speed and rate capability up to several MHz. This additional signal boost can be used in many applications where higher gain and/or lower PMT operational voltages are desirable. For example, in the case of a PMT employed in a low input light signal (such as a Cherenkov counter), this technique will permit operation at a lower voltage and, therefore, will result in better operational PMT stability and longer PMT lifetime. At present, two experimental set-ups at Jefferson Lab are using PMT bases using this concept

Second quarter trims earnings gain of OGJ group of U.S. oil companies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beck, R.J.; Biggs, J.B.

1991-01-01

This paper reports that first half of 1991 profits for the Oil and Gas Journal group of 22 large U.S. oil companies totaled $10,553 billion, down a scant 0.1% from the same period the year before. However, second quarter profits were down sharply, dipping to $3.656 billion or 27.4% below the second quarter of 1990. This is in sharp contrast with first quarter profits, which totaled $6.897 billion and were up 24.8% from the same period of 1990. First half individuals results were widely diverse, with seven companies showing profit improvements from last year and 15 companies a decline. Only one, Murphy Oil Co., posted a loss in the first half. Six companies showed profit gains of more than 20% and 11 posted declines greater than 20%. In the second quarter 16 of the group had lower earnings than they booked in the same period of 1990. Restructuring charges and gains, along with provisions for future environmental costs, continued to have a great deal of influence over year to year changes in profits. Chemical earnings were down for the 6 months and in the second quarter for most companies. U.S. refining and marketing earnings were mixed but generally lower for both periods. Due to an economic recession product demand was down in the first half of this year. Non-U.S. refining and marketing profits were up for the first half, but the gain stemmed from improved margins in the first quarter

The implementation of discovery learning model based on lesson study to increase student's achievement in colloid

Science.gov (United States)

Suyanti, Retno Dwi; Purba, Deby Monika

2017-03-01

The objectives of this research are to get the increase student's achievement on the discovery learning model based on lesson study. Beside of that, this research also conducted to know the cognitive aspect. This research was done in three school that are SMA N 3 Medan. Population is all the students in SMA N 11 Medan which taken by purposive random sampling. The research instruments are achievement test instruments that have been validated. The research data analyzed by statistic using Ms Excell. The result data shows that the student's achievement taught by discovery learning model based on Lesson study higher than the student's achievement taught by direct instructional method. It can be seen from the average of gain and also proved with t-test, the normalized gain in experimental class of SMA N 11 is (0.74±0.12) and control class (0.45±0.12), at significant level α = 0.05, Ha is received and Ho is refused where tcount>ttable in SMA N 11 (9.81>1,66). Then get the improvement cognitive aspect from three of school is C2 where SMA N 11 is 0.84(high). Then the observation sheet result of lesson study from SMA N 11 92 % of student working together while 67% less in active using media.

24 CFR 3280.506 - Heat loss/heat gain.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Heat loss/heat gain. 3280.506... URBAN DEVELOPMENT MANUFACTURED HOME CONSTRUCTION AND SAFETY STANDARDS Thermal Protection § 3280.506 Heat loss/heat gain. The manufactured home heat loss/heat gain shall be determined by methods outlined in...

Determinants of Weight Gain During Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy and Association of Such Weight Gain With Recurrence in Long-term Breast Cancer Survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

Raghavendra, Akshara; Sinha, Arup K; Valle-Goffin, Janeiro; Shen, Yu; Tripathy, Debu; Barcenas, Carlos H

2018-02-01

Weight gain is a negative prognostic factor in breast cancer (BC) patients. The risk factors for weight gain during adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET) and the extent to which such weight gain is associated with disease recurrence remain unclear. We retrospectively identified a cohort of women with a diagnosis of stage I-III, hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative BC from January 1997 to August 2008, who had received initial treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, had completed 5 years of ET, and had remained free of locoregional or distant relapse or contralateral BC for ≥ 5 years after diagnosis. The weight change at the end of 5 years of ET was measured as the percentage of the change in weight from the start of ET, with a weight gain of > 5% considered clinically significant. Multivariable logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the determinants of such weight gain and the risk of recurrence after 5 years. Of 1282 long-term BC survivors, 432 (33.7%) had a weight gain of > 5% after 5 years of ET. Women who were premenopausal at diagnosis were 1.40 times more likely than women who were postmenopausal at diagnosis to have a weight gain of > 5%. Asian women had the lowest risk of gaining weight. The recurrence risks of patients who had gained weight and those who had not were not significantly different. Premenopausal BC patients had an increased risk of weight gain after 5 years of ET; however, BC patients with a weight gain of > 5% did not have an increased risk of disease recurrence. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Transient optical gain in germanium quantum wells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chatterjee, Sangam; Lange, Christoph; Koester, Niko S.; Schaefer, Martin; Kira, Mackillo; Koch, Stephan W. [Faculty of Physics and Materials Sciences Center, Philipps-Universitaet Marburg (Germany); Chrastina, Daniel; Isella, Giovanni; Kaenel, Hans von [CNISM, Como (Italy); L-NESS, Dipartimento di Fisica del Politecnico di Milano, Como (Italy); Sigg, Hans [Laboratory for Micro and Nanotecnology, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen PSI (Switzerland)

2010-07-01

One of today's most-sought goals in semiconductor technology is the monolithic integration of microelectronics and photonics on Si. Optical gain is, in general, not expected for Si and Ge or its alloys due to the indirect nature of the band gap in this material system. Here, we show that Ge/SiGe QWs show transient optical gain and may thus be used as an optically-pumped amplifier at room temperature. Further, the nonequilibrium effects which govern the relaxation dynamics of the optically injected carrier distributions in this material were observed and analyzed using a microscopic many-body theory. Strong non-equilibrium gain was obtained on a sub-100 fs time scale. Long-lived gain arising from {gamma}-point transitions is overcompensated by a process bearing the character of free carrier absorption.

Optical properties of nanowire metamaterials with gain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Isidio de Lima, Joaquim Junior; Adam, Jost; Rego, Davi

2016-01-01

The transmittance, reflectance and absorption of a nanowire metamaterial with optical gain are numerically simulated and investigated. It is assumed that the metamaterial is represented by aligned silver nanowires embedded into a semiconductor matrix, made of either silicon or gallium phosphide....... The gain in the matrix is modeled by adding a negative imaginary part to the dielectric function of the semiconductor. It is found that the optical coefficients of the metamaterial depend on the gain magnitude in a non-trivial way: they can both increase and decrease with gain depending on the lattice...... constant of the metamaterial. This peculiar behavior is explained by the field redistribution between the lossy metal nanowires and the amplifying matrix material. These findings are significant for a proper design of nanowire metamaterials with low optical losses for diverse applications....

Gain Shift Corrections at Chi-Nu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brown, Tristan Brooks [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Univ. of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA (United States). Dept. of Physics and Applied Physics; Devlin, Matthew James [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-08-30

Ambient conditions have the potential to cause changes in liquid scintillator detector gain that vary with time and temperature. These gain shifts can lead to poor resolution in both energy as well as pulse shape discrimination. In order to correct for these shifts in the Chi-Nu high energy array, a laser system has been developed for calibration of the pulse height signals.

Maximum gain of Yagi-Uda arrays

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bojsen, J.H.; Schjær-Jacobsen, Hans; Nilsson, E.

1971-01-01

Numerical optimisation techniques have been used to find the maximum gain of some specific parasitic arrays. The gain of an array of infinitely thin, equispaced dipoles loaded with arbitrary reactances has been optimised. The results show that standard travelling-wave design methods are not optimum....... Yagi–Uda arrays with equal and unequal spacing have also been optimised with experimental verification....

Point Information Gain and Multidimensional Data Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Renata Rychtáriková

2016-10-01

Full Text Available We generalize the point information gain (PIG and derived quantities, i.e., point information gain entropy (PIE and point information gain entropy density (PIED, for the case of the Rényi entropy and simulate the behavior of PIG for typical distributions. We also use these methods for the analysis of multidimensional datasets. We demonstrate the main properties of PIE/PIED spectra for the real data with the examples of several images and discuss further possible utilizations in other fields of data processing.

Achieving public and global health competencies: A teaching case study of Botswana's cervical cancer screening program.

Science.gov (United States)

Okatch, Harriet; Sowicz, Timothy Joseph; Teng, Helen; Ramogola-Masire, Doreen; Buttenheim, Alison M

2018-02-09

To design and implement a case study on the cervical cancer screening program in Botswana to teach public and global health competencies to undergraduate nursing students. The case study was developed following a review of the literature on the epidemiology and health policies of cervical cancer in Botswana, and an interview with an obstetrician/gynecologist engaged in both clinical practice and research in Botswana. The case study has been implemented over seven semesters to students enrolled in the Nursing in the Community course at the University of Pennsylvania. Approximately 75-100 students are enrolled each semester. Student's perceptions of epidemiologic skills gained and group functioning. Students responded to an open-ended question about lessons learned and offered suggestions to improve the learning experience. Faculty assessment of student deliverables demonstrated that students achieved the learning objectives and mastered necessary competencies. More than 70% (n = 69) of the students indicated that they acquired relevant skills at greater than a satisfactory level. Generally, students had great experiences working in groups measured across five dimensions: engagement/contribution, creativity/resilience, on task/works independently, social interaction/communication, and preparedness. However, isolated cases of poor group functioning were reported for engagement/contribution, and creativity/resilience. The case study, which has been revised with respect to length, content and group processes, has been valuable in educating undergraduate nursing students in a more engaging way that mimics real life public health nursing scenarios. Students achieved both public and global health competencies through participation in the case study. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Numerical study on the selective excitation of Helmholtz-Gauss beams in end-pumped solid-state digital lasers with the control of the laser gain transverse position provided by off-axis end pumping

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Ko-Fan; Chu, Shu-Chun

2018-03-01

This study proposes a complete and unified method for selective excitation of any specified nearly nondiffracting Helmholtz-Gauss (HzG) beam in end-pumped solid-state digital lasers. Four types of the HzG beams: cosine-Gauss beams, Bessel-Gauss beams, Mathieu-Gauss beams, and, in particular, parabolic-Gauss beams are successfully demonstrated to be generated with the proposed methods. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, parabolic-Gauss beams have not yet been directly generated from any kind of laser system. The numerical results of this study show that one can successfully achieve any lasing HzG beams directly from the solid-state digital lasers with only added control of the laser gain transverse position provided by off-axis end pumping. This study also presents a practical digital laser set-up for easily manipulating off-axis pumping in order to achieve the control of the laser gain transverse gain position in digital lasers. The reported results in this study provide advancement of digital lasers in dynamically generating nondiffracting beams. The control of the digital laser cavity gain position creates the possibility of achieving real-time selection of more laser modes in digital lasers, and it is worth further investigation in the future.

Initiating and continuing behaviour change within a weight gain prevention trial: a qualitative investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kozica, Samantha; Lombard, Catherine; Teede, Helena; Ilic, Dragan; Murphy, Kerry; Harrison, Cheryce

2015-01-01

Preventing obesity is an international health priority. In Australia, young women who live in rural communities are at high risk of unhealthy weight gain. Interventions which engage young women and support sustainable behaviour change are needed and comprehensive evaluation of such interventions generates knowledge for population scale-up. This qualitative sub-study aims to identify enablers and barriers to behaviour change initiation and continuation within a community weight gain prevention program. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with program participants 6 months after baseline. All interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analysed independently by two investigators via thematic analysis. A total of 28 women with a mean age of 39.9±6.2years and a BMI of 28.6±5.2kg/m2 were purposively recruited from the larger cohort (n = 649) that participated in the prevention trial. Four behaviour change groups emerged were identified from participant interviews: (i) no change, (ii) relapse, (iii) intermittent and (iv) continued change. Factors influencing behaviour change initiation and continuation included realistic program expectations and the participant's ability to apply the core program elements including: setting small, achievable behaviour change goals, problem solving and using self-management techniques. Personal knowledge, skills, motivation, self-efficacy, accountability and perceived social and environmental barriers also affected behaviour change. Satisfaction with personal program progress and the perceived amount of program supports required to achieve ongoing behaviour change varied amongst participants. Women who relapsed expressed a desire for more intensive and regular support from health professionals, identified more barriers unrelated to the program, anticipated significant weight loss and had lower satisfaction with their progress. Initiating and continuing behaviour change is a complex process. Our

Adequacy of Prenatal Care and Gestational Weight Gain.

Science.gov (United States)

Yeo, SeonAe; Crandell, Jamie L; Jones-Vessey, Kathleen

2016-02-01

The goal of prenatal care is to maximize health outcomes for a woman and her fetus. We examined how prenatal care is associated with meeting the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines for gestational weight gain. The study used deidentified birth certificate data supplied by the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics. The sample included 197,354 women (≥18 years) who delivered singleton full-term infants in 2011 and 2012. A generalized multinomial model was used to identify how adequate prenatal care was associated with the odds of gaining excessive or insufficient weight during pregnancy according to the 2009 IOM guidelines. The model adjusted for prepregnancy body size, sociodemographic factors, and birth weight. A total of 197,354 women (≥18 years) delivered singleton full-term infants. The odds ratio (OR) for excessive weight gain was 2.44 (95% CI 2.37-2.50) in overweight and 2.33 (95% CI 2.27-2.40) in obese women compared with normal weight women. The OR for insufficient weight gain was 1.15 (95% CI 1.09-1.22) for underweight and 1.34 (95% CI 1.30-1.39) for obese women compared with normal weight women. Prenatal care at the inadequate or intermediate levels was associated with insufficient weight gain (OR: 1.32, 95% CI 1.27-1.38; OR: 1.15, 95% CI 1.09-1.21, respectively) compared with adequate prenatal care. Women with inadequate care were less likely to gain excessive weight (OR: 0.88, 95% CI 0.86-0.91). Whereas prenatal care was effective for preventing insufficient weight gain regardless of prepregnancy body size, educational background, and racial/ethnic group, there were no indications that adequate prenatal care was associated with reduced risk for excessive gestational weight gain. Further research is needed to improve prenatal care programs for preventing excess weight gain.

Potential gains from hospital mergers in Denmark.

Science.gov (United States)

Kristensen, Troels; Bogetoft, Peter; Pedersen, Kjeld Moeller

2010-12-01

The Danish hospital sector faces a major rebuilding program to centralize activity in fewer and larger hospitals. We aim to conduct an efficiency analysis of hospitals and to estimate the potential cost savings from the planned hospital mergers. We use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate a cost frontier. Based on this analysis, we calculate an efficiency score for each hospital and estimate the potential gains from the proposed mergers by comparing individual efficiencies with the efficiency of the combined hospitals. Furthermore, we apply a decomposition algorithm to split merger gains into technical efficiency, size (scale) and harmony (mix) gains. The motivation for this decomposition is that some of the apparent merger gains may actually be available with less than a full-scale merger, e.g., by sharing best practices and reallocating certain resources and tasks. Our results suggest that many hospitals are technically inefficient, and the expected "best practice" hospitals are quite efficient. Also, some mergers do not seem to lower costs. This finding indicates that some merged hospitals become too large and therefore experience diseconomies of scale. Other mergers lead to considerable cost reductions; we find potential gains resulting from learning better practices and the exploitation of economies of scope. To ensure robustness, we conduct a sensitivity analysis using two alternative returns-to-scale assumptions and two alternative estimation approaches. We consistently find potential gains from improving the technical efficiency and the exploitation of economies of scope from mergers.

Teacher learning in technology professional development and its impact on student achievement in science

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Hyunju; Longhurst, Max; Campbell, Todd

2017-07-01

This research investigated teacher learning and teacher beliefs in a two-year technology professional development (TPD) for teachers and its impact on their student achievement in science in the western part of the United States. Middle-school science teachers participated in TPD focused on information communication technologies (ICTs) and their applications in science inquiry pedagogy. Three self-reporting teacher instruments were used alongside their student achievement scores on the end-of-year state-science-test. The teacher self-reporting measures investigated technological literacy, ICT capabilities, and pedagogical beliefs about science inquiry pedagogy. Data were collected every year, and descriptive statistics, t-tests, and Pearson's correlations were used for analysis. We found teachers' technological skills and ICT capabilities increasing over time with significant gains each year. Additionally, teachers' pedagogical beliefs changed to become more science inquiry oriented over time; however, the gains were not significant until after the second year of TPD. Comparisons of teacher learning and belief measures with student achievement revealed that the students' performance was correlated to teachers' pedagogical beliefs about science inquiry, but not to their technological skills nor to their ICT capabilities. This research suggests that pedagogical considerations should be foregrounded in TPD and that this may require more longitudinal TPD to ensure that technology integration in science instruction is consequential to student learning.

Progress toward high-gain laser fusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Storm, E.

1988-01-01

A 1985-1986 Review of the US inertial confinement fusion program by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that five more years might be required to obtain enough data to determine the future course of the program. Since then, data from the Nova laser and from the Halite/Centurion program have resolved most of the outstanding problems identified by the NAS review. In particular, we now believe that we can produce a sufficiently uniform target; that we can keep the energy content in hot electrons and high-energy photons low enough (/approximately/1--10% of drive energy, depending on target design) and achieve enough pulse-shaping accuracy (/approximately/10%, with a dynamic range of 100:1) to keep the fuel on a near-Fermi-degenerate adiabat; that we can produce an /approximately/100-Mbar pressure pulse of sufficient uniformity (/approximately/1%), and can we control hydrodynamic instabilities so that the mix of the pusher into the hot spot is low enough to permit marginal ignition. These results are sufficiently encouraging that the US Department of Energy is planning to complete a 10-MJ laboratory microfusion facility to demonstrate high-gain ICF in the laboratory within a decade. 22 refs., 1 fig

Clinical attachment level gain and three-year maintenance of a maxillary incisor with 100% bone loss: A case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Tirone, Federico; Salzano, Stefano

2016-01-01

This case report discusses a patient suffering from chronic periodontal disease and diagnosed with a hopeless central incisor. The intention was to show the possibility of gaining new clinical attachment via regenerative surgery in a tooth with 100% bone loss around the root. Treatment of hopeless and questionable teeth in periodontal patients has become an ideological matter. On the one hand, dental implants have proved to be a reliable solution to replace lost teeth; on the other hand, newly emerging evidence suggests that successful periodontal treatment of teeth diagnosed as hopeless is possible. Here we describe surgical, orthodontic, and restorative treatments that led to clinical attachment gain and achieved clinical success over a three-year follow-up period.

An offset tone based gain stabilization technique for mixed-signal RF measurement systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joshi, Gopal, E-mail: gjos@barc.gov.in [BARC, Mumbai 400085 (India); Motiwala, Paresh D.; Randale, G.D.; Singh, Pitamber [BARC, Mumbai 400085 (India); Agarwal, Vivek; Kumar, Girish [IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai 400076 (India)

2015-09-21

This paper describes a gain stabilization technique for a RF signal measurement system. A sinusoidal signal of known amplitude, phase and close enough in frequency is added to the main, to be measured RF signal at the input of the analog section. The system stabilizes this offset tone in the digital domain, as it is sampled at the output of the analog section. This process generates a correction factor needed to stabilize the magnitude of the gain of the analog section for the main RF signal. With the help of a simple calibration procedure, the absolute amplitude of the main RF signal can be measured. The technique is especially suited for a system that processes signals around a single frequency, employs direct signal conversion into the digital domain, and processes subsequent steps in an FPGA. The inherent parallel signal processing in an FPGA-based implementation allows a real time stabilization of the gain. The effectiveness of the technique is derived from the fact, that the gain stabilization stamped to the main RF signal measurement branch requires only a few components in the system to be inherently stable. A test setup, along with experimental results is presented from the field of RF instrumentation for particle accelerators. Due to the availability of a phase synchronized RF reference signal in these systems, the measured phase difference between the main RF and the RF reference is also stabilized using this technique. A scheme of the signal processing is presented, where a moving average filter has been used to filter out not only the unwanted frequencies, but also to separate the main RF signal from the offset tone signal. This is achieved by a suitable choice of sampling and offset tone frequencies. The presented signal processing scheme is suitable to a variety of RF measurement applications.

Stability, gain, and robustness in quantum feedback networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Helon, C.; James, M. R.

2006-01-01

In this paper we are concerned with the problem of stability for quantum feedback networks. We demonstrate in the context of quantum optics how stability of quantum feedback networks can be guaranteed using only simple gain inequalities for network components and algebraic relationships determined by the network. Quantum feedback networks are shown to be stable if the loop gain is less than one--this is an extension of the famous small gain theorem of classical control theory. We illustrate the simplicity and power of the small gain approach with applications to important problems of robust stability and robust stabilization

Gain curves and hydrodynamic modeling for shock ignition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lafon, M.; Ribeyre, X.; Schurtz, G.

2010-01-01

Ignition of a precompressed thermonuclear fuel by means of a converging shock is now considered as a credible scheme to obtain high gains for inertial fusion energy. This work aims at modeling the successive stages of the fuel time history, from compression to final thermonuclear combustion, in order to provide the gain curves of shock ignition (SI). The leading physical mechanism at work in SI is pressure amplification, at first by spherical convergence, and by collision with the shock reflected at center during the stagnation process. These two effects are analyzed, and ignition conditions are provided as functions of the shock pressure and implosion velocity. Ignition conditions are obtained from a non-isobaric fuel assembly, for which we present a gain model. The corresponding gain curves exhibit a significantly lower ignition threshold and higher target gains than conventional central ignition.