Inclusive education: a challenge or a utopia?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mónica Patricia Alvarado Crespo

2014-03-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the educational inclusion as a topical issue, framed in diversity. Our society and especially our schools, have been conducive to highlight the contrast of heterogeneity, reflecting concern indices of social inequality spaces, but it is clear that today we find greater accessibility in educational and workplace, for people in vulnerable, that thanks to the intervention of the Ministry of Education and Social Inclusion. However, the real challenge is to change the secreting structures, both in educational institutions and in society in general.

Challenges: a state and compact perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, H.

1987-01-01

The challenges facing states and compacts in their efforts to implement the Low-Level Waste Policy Amendments Act are described. Institutional challenges include: small-volume sites; compact maintenance; shifting agencies and changing personnel; and timing of progress. The technical challenge lies in the enormous number of plans, procedures, and regulations that have to be developed over the next four years. There are two main fiscal challenges: funding of day-to-day operations of compact commissions; and financing the siting and construction of new disposal sites. There are also two main regulatory challenges: host states must develop regulations for siting and selection of technology; and all states have to await federal regulations to be completed. The final challenge is political: whether a region can overcome public opposition and actually site a facility

Corporate income tax and the international challenge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Folkvord Benn

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Although globalization has contributed immensely to growth and prosperity around the world, it is a growing challenge for tax policy makers. Globalization and greater mobility of tax bases increase the relative importance of taxes in corporations’ investment decisions. The combination of highly mobile capital, inadequacies in existing tax laws and a total change of international business environment have led to the fundamental problem in international tax law labeled by the OECD as the problem of BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, along with severe competition among countries to attract investments and business activities. These challenges are the topic for the 2014 seminar of the Nordic Tax Research Council. Based on the Nordic national reports we discuss these challenges

Ergonomics and sustainability – challenges from global supply chains

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hasle, Peter; Jensen, Per Langaa

2012-01-01

The development of globalised supply chains is a major challenge for sustainability. For several years, there has been discussion within the profession whether and how ergonomics and human factors can play a role. Based on our research, we have identified five major challenges from global supply...... chains especially related to the social aspects of sustainability: (1) criteria for social sustainability, (2) the role of key performance indicators in the management of supply chains, (3) the constant changes in supply chains, (4) the challenge in establishing participation, and (5) the development...... of agency and regulatory mechanisms. There are obviously no clear and simple solutions to these challenges. One possible avenue for progress might lie in acquiring a greater understanding of the challenges from global supply chains and developing a strategy which combines social and long-term business...

Rising to the Challenge: Making the Most of Gifts That Leverage Gifts.

Science.gov (United States)

McNay, Linda Wise

1992-01-01

Emory University (Georgia) has advanced its fundraising by leveraging a $2 million challenge from the Coca-Cola Foundation. The school publicized the challenge, made the case for an added incentive to give, and integrated advancement functions to get greater results. Challenge grants can come from industry, foundations, and alumni; and careful…

Challenges and Difficulties to Teaching Engineering to Generation Z: a case research

OpenAIRE

Barreiro, Suamit Correia; Bozutti, Daniel Fernando

2017-01-01

Many people from generation Z are at the beginning of their academic activities. This generation has peculiar characteristics that might be a challenge in the labor market. Thus, instructors have a great role in their preparation. However, professors might face difficulties dealing with their specific characteristics. The research aims to carry out a general survey to enable an understanding of the greater challenges and difficulties in teaching the subject of engineering to the students of G...

The Challenging Experience Questionnaire: Characterization of challenging experiences with psilocybin mushrooms.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Frederick S; Bradstreet, Matthew P; Leoutsakos, Jeannie-Marie S; Johnson, Matthew W; Griffiths, Roland R

2016-12-01

Acute adverse psychological reactions to classic hallucinogens ("bad trips" or "challenging experiences"), while usually benign with proper screening, preparation, and support in controlled settings, remain a safety concern in uncontrolled settings (such as illicit use contexts). Anecdotal and case reports suggest potential adverse acute symptoms including affective (panic, depressed mood), cognitive (confusion, feelings of losing sanity), and somatic (nausea, heart palpitation) symptoms. Responses to items from several hallucinogen-sensitive questionnaires (Hallucinogen Rating Scale, the States of Consciousness Questionnaire, and the Five-Dimensional Altered States of Consciousness questionnaire) in an Internet survey of challenging experiences with the classic hallucinogen psilocybin were used to construct and validate a Challenging Experience Questionnaire. The stand-alone Challenging Experience Questionnaire was then validated in a separate sample. Seven Challenging Experience Questionnaire factors (grief, fear, death, insanity, isolation, physical distress, and paranoia) provide a phenomenological profile of challenging aspects of experiences with psilocybin. Factor scores were associated with difficulty, meaningfulness, spiritual significance, and change in well-being attributed to the challenging experiences. The factor structure did not differ based on gender or prior struggle with anxiety or depression. The Challenging Experience Questionnaire provides a basis for future investigation of predictors and outcomes of challenging experiences with classic hallucinogens. © The Author(s) 2016.

Responses of South African teachers to the challenge of school ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

respond differently to the challenge of school integration; and a few teachers went against the ... to historicially white and Indian schools in search of quality education, a .... The race profile of the teaching cadre at these schools, however, had ..... greater challenge ahead goes beyond accommodating cultures in terms of the.

Social inclusion and people with intellectual disability and challenging behaviour: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigby, Christine

2012-12-01

Social inclusion is central to disability policies internationally. The high risk of social exclusion for people with intellectual disability is compounded for those with challenging behaviour. A systematic literature review examined how social inclusion of people with intellectual disability and challenging behaviour has been researched and operationalised in the empirical literature, and aimed to determine what evidence exists about the extent of social inclusion by people with intellectual disability and challenging behaviour. A thematic analysis of the 14 papers identified that social inclusion has been poorly defined and measured, and that the little research that has occurred in respect of people with challenging behaviour has demonstrated their potential to be socially included. Clearer conceptualisation of inclusion, and greater understanding of practices that support social inclusion and system level mechanisms, which ensure goals around inclusion gain prominence in funding and support plans, may address the neglect of this critical quality-of-life domain for people with challenging behaviour.

75 FR 21044 - Notice of Centennial Challenges 2011 CAFE Green Flight Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-22

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION [Notice (10-045)] Notice of Centennial Challenges...: Notice of Centennial Challenges 2011 CAFE Green Flight Challenge. SUMMARY: This notice is issued in... to compete may register. Centennial Challenges is a program of prize competitions to stimulate...

Cloud computing challenges, limitations and R&D solutions

CERN Document Server

Mahmood, Zaigham

2014-01-01

This important text/reference reviews the challenging issues that present barriers to greater implementation of the cloud computing paradigm, together with the latest research into developing potential solutions. Exploring the strengths and vulnerabilities of cloud provision and cloud environments, Cloud Computing: Challenges, Limitations and R&D Solutions provides case studies from a diverse selection of researchers and practitioners of international repute. The implications of emerging cloud technologies are also analyzed from the perspective of consumers. Topics and features: presents

Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Wall, K

2010-10-01

Full Text Available to contribute to greater international understanding of the issues, challenges and opportunities facing engineering, with a particular focus on contributions of our discipline to sustainable development. The Report, one of the most cost-effective reports UNESCO...

Collective welcoming: a challenge instigating new ways of producing care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Batista Cavalcante Filho

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Within the challenge of implementing a form of welcome in which the team of healthcare workers would be made comprehensive, and would be thus in relation to users, a team of professionals from the family health program has proposed collective welcoming. This is a meeting space between workers and users that is focused on their health needs. Within this creative space, active work becomes stronger in relation to normative acts and, through communicative acts, transforms tension into understandings. There is a search for a metastable balance in which work is reconstituted in the light of each new challenge, thereby building relationships of greater solidity and providing learning for new ways of producing care.

Overcoming challenges

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... breastfeeding Overcoming challenges Common questions about breastfeeding and pain Breastfeeding checklist: How to get a good latch Finding ... myths Overcoming challenges Common questions about breastfeeding and pain Breastfeeding checklist: How to get a good latch Finding ...

Applied Linguistics: The Challenge of Theory

Science.gov (United States)

McNamara, Tim

2015-01-01

Language has featured prominently in contemporary social theory, but the relevance of this fact to the concerns of Applied Linguistics, with its necessary orientation to practical issues of language in context, represents an ongoing challenge. This article supports the need for a greater engagement with theory in Applied Linguistics. It considers…

Psychosocial health challenges of the elderly in Nigeria: a narrative ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Globally, national health systems are challenged to build successful aging models to prepare for biomedical, psychological and social changes. The integral component of psychosocial health in overall quality of life and well-being, however, is underscored and requires greater focus. Changing demographics ...

Overcoming challenges: The Koeberg simulator project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marin, J: Bruchental, S.; Lagerwall, J.R.

2006-01-01

As the nuclear power simulation training industry matures, the needs of the individual training facilities are becoming increasingly diverse. To respond to this trend, simulation vendors must offer a greater level of customization, and as such, are facing increasingly challenging projects. In 2002, CAE embarked on such a project for South Africas Koeberg nuclear power station. This simulator upgrade project, carried out in two phases, served as a unique exercise in product customization. In the first phase, CAE replaced the simulation servers, the software environment, and re-hosted the existing plant models. In the second phase, CAE replaced several of the existing thermal-hydraulics models to improve simulator fidelity. Throughout this project, CAE overcame a series of challenges stemming from project-specific requirements. In fact, the retention of the legacy software maintenance tools, the preservation of the instructor station package, and the interfacing with the existing hardware panel elements presented a number of opportunities for innovation. In the end, CAE overcame the challenges and acquired invaluable experience in doing so. (author)

Cognitive Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

... Privacy Policy Sitemap Learn Engage Donate About TSC Cognitive Challenges Approximately 45% to 60% of individuals with TSC develop cognitive challenges (intellectual disabilities), although the degree of intellectual ...

Accomplishments and challenges of the severe accident research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sehga, B.R.

1998-01-01

This paper describes the progress of the severe accident research since 1980, in terms of the accomplishments made so far and the challenges that remain. Much has been accomplished: many important safety issues have been resolved and consensus is near on some others. However, some of the previously identified safety issues remain as challenges, while some new ones have arisen due to the shift in focus from containment integrity to vessel integrity. New reactor designs have also created some new challenges. In general, the regulatory demands in new reactor designs are much stricter, thereby requiring much greater attention to the safety issues concerned with the containment design of the new large reactors

The Challenging Experience Questionnaire: Characterization of challenging experiences with psilocybin mushrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Barrett, Frederick S.; Bradstreet, Matthew P.; Leoutsakos, Jeannie-Marie S.; Johnson, Matthew W.; Griffiths, Roland R.

2017-01-01

Acute adverse psychological reactions to classic hallucinogens (“bad trips”, or “challenging experiences”), while usually benign with proper screening, preparation, and support in controlled settings, remain a safety concern in uncontrolled settings (such as illicit use contexts). Anecdotal and case reports suggest potential adverse acute symptoms including affective (panic, depressed mood), cognitive (confusion, feelings of losing sanity), and somatic (nausea, heart palpitation) symptoms. Responses to items from several hallucinogen-sensitive questionnaires (Hallucinogen Rating Scale, the States of Consciousness Questionnaire, and the 5-Dimensional Altered States of Consciousness questionnaire) in an internet survey of challenging experiences with the classic hallucinogen psilocybin were used to construct and validate a Challenging Experience Questionnaire (CEQ). The stand-alone CEQ was then validated in a separate sample. Seven CEQ factors (grief, fear, death, insanity, isolation, physical distress, and paranoia) provide a phenomenological profile of challenging aspects of experiences with psilocybin. Factor scores were associated with the difficulty, meaningfulness, spiritual significance, and change in well-being attributed to the challenging experiences. The factor structure did not differ based on gender or prior struggle with anxiety or depression. The CEQ provides a basis for future investigation of predictors and outcomes of challenging experiences with psilocybin, and should be explored as a measure of challenging experiences with the broad class of classic hallucinogens. PMID:27856683

Mechatronic Design - Still a Considerable Challenge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Torry-Smith, Jonas; Qamar, Ahsan; Achiche, Sofiane

2011-01-01

Development of mechatronic products is traditionally carried out by several design experts from different design domains. Performing development of mechatronic products is thus greatly challenging. In order to tackle this, the critical challenges in mechatronics have to be well understood and well...... supported through applicable methods and tools. This paper aims at identifying the major challenges, by conducting a survey of the most relevant research work in mechatronic design. Solutions proposed in literature are assessed and illustrated through a case study in order to investigate, if the challenges...... can be handled appropriately by the methods, tools, and mindsets suggested by the mechatronic community. Using a real world mechatronics case, the paper identifies the areas where further research is required, by showing a clear connection between the actual problems faced during the design task...

Patient level costing in Ireland: process, challenges and opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, A; McElroy, B

2015-03-01

In 2013, the Department of Health released their policy paper on hospital financing entitled Money Follows the Patient. A fundamental building block for the proposed financing model is patient level costing. This paper outlines the patient level costing process, identifies the opportunities and considers the challenges associated with the process in the Irish hospital setting. Methods involved a review of the existing literature which was complemented with an interview with health service staff. There are considerable challenges associated with implementing patient level costing including deficits in information and communication technologies and financial expertise as well as timeliness of coding. In addition, greater clinical input into the costing process is needed compared to traditional costing processes. However, there are long-term benefits associated with patient level costing; these include empowerment of clinical staff, improved transparency and price setting and greater fairness, especially in the treatment of outliers. These can help to achieve the Government's Health Strategy. The benefits of patient level costing need to be promoted and a commitment to investment in overcoming the challenges is required.

Overcoming challenges

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... section Back to section menu It's Only Natural Planning ahead Breastfeeding and baby basics Making breastfeeding work ... It's Only Natural Overcoming challenges It's Only Natural Planning ahead Addressing breastfeeding myths Overcoming challenges Common questions ...

'Blue Whale Challenge': A Game or Crime?

Science.gov (United States)

Mukhra, Richa; Baryah, Neha; Krishan, Kewal; Kanchan, Tanuj

2017-11-11

A bewildering range of games are emerging every other day with newer elements of fun and entertainment to woo youngsters. Games are meant to reduce stress and enhance the cognitive development of children as well as adults. Teenagers are always curious to indulge in newer games; and e-gaming is one such platform providing an easy access and quicker means of entertainment. The particular game challenge which has taken the world by storm is the dangerous "Blue Whale Challenge" often involving vulnerable teenagers. The Blue Whale Challenge is neither an application nor internet based game but the users get a link through social media chat groups to enter this "deadly" challenge game. This probably is the only game where the participant has to end his/her life to complete the game. The innocent teenagers are being targeted based on their depressed psychology and are coercively isolated from their social milieux on the pretext of keeping the challenges confidential. To add to the woes, no option is offered to quit the challenge even if the contender is unable to complete the challenge. Blue Whale Challenge in its sheer form could be seen as an illegal, unethical and inhumane endeavor in our present society. The present communication discusses the severe effects of the game on teenagers, the ethical concerns involved and the preventive measures necessary to curb it.

Big data challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bachlechner, Daniel; Leimbach, Timo

2016-01-01

Although reports on big data success stories have been accumulating in the media, most organizations dealing with high-volume, high-velocity and high-variety information assets still face challenges. Only a thorough understanding of these challenges puts organizations into a position in which...... they can make an informed decision for or against big data, and, if the decision is positive, overcome the challenges smoothly. The combination of a series of interviews with leading experts from enterprises, associations and research institutions, and focused literature reviews allowed not only...... framework are also relevant. For large enterprises and startups specialized in big data, it is typically easier to overcome the challenges than it is for other enterprises and public administration bodies....

E-Government in the Asia-Pacific Region: Progress and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Clay Wescott

2005-12-01

Full Text Available This paper will focus on two issues: (i recent e-government progress and challenges, and (ii the practices regional organizations follow to cope with the challenges, while maximizing the benefits. Beginning with an overview of efforts to improve governance in the region, it then analyzes recent progress in the use of information and communication technology (ICT in the Asia-Pacific region to promote more efficient, cost-effective, and participatory government, facilitate more convenient government services, allow greater public access to information, and make government more accountable to citizens. Successful adoption of e-government presents major challenges. The paper concludes by examining the practices regional organizations follow to cope with the challenges, while maximizing the benefits.

A Perspective on Smart Process Manufacturing Research Challenges for Process Systems Engineers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian David Lockhart Bogle

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The challenges posed by smart manufacturing for the process industries and for process systems engineering (PSE researchers are discussed in this article. Much progress has been made in achieving plant- and site-wide optimization, but benchmarking would give greater confidence. Technical challenges confronting process systems engineers in developing enabling tools and techniques are discussed regarding flexibility and uncertainty, responsiveness and agility, robustness and security, the prediction of mixture properties and function, and new modeling and mathematics paradigms. Exploiting intelligence from big data to drive agility will require tackling new challenges, such as how to ensure the consistency and confidentiality of data through long and complex supply chains. Modeling challenges also exist, and involve ensuring that all key aspects are properly modeled, particularly where health, safety, and environmental concerns require accurate predictions of small but critical amounts at specific locations. Environmental concerns will require us to keep a closer track on all molecular species so that they are optimally used to create sustainable solutions. Disruptive business models may result, particularly from new personalized products, but that is difficult to predict.

Reflections of a Faraday Challenge Day Leader

Science.gov (United States)

Sewell, Keira

2014-01-01

Keira Sewell has just finished her second year as a Challenge Leader for the Faraday Challenge, a STEM-based scheme run by the Institution of Engineering and Technology. Aimed at 12-13 year-old students, its purpose is to engage students in future careers in engineering. Each year, a new challenge is held in over sixty schools and universities…

Challenges and Difficulties to Teaching Engineering to Generation Z: a case research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suamit Correia Barreiro

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Many people from generation Z are at the beginning of their academic activities. This generation has peculiar characteristics that might be a challenge in the labor market. Thus, instructors have a great role in their preparation. However, professors might face difficulties dealing with their specific characteristics. The research aims to carry out a general survey to enable an understanding of the greater challenges and difficulties in teaching the subject of engineering to the students of Generation Z. The research method used was a case study at a University with 20 instructors from the Faculty of Engineering. The analysis revealed a great challenge in relating theoretical concepts with practical concepts. The research also showed a probable tendency of using more exhibition methods, and the low knowledge about generation Z by most instructors. This study seeks to contribute to the teaching-learning process of engineering.

Tackling Dependency: The EU and its Energy Security Challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsson, Robert L

2007-10-15

Europe is facing a future of augmenting energy demands, domestic depletion, high prices and other energy-political challenges. Climate change, infrastructure resilience, producers' coercive energy policy and the EU's internal market failures have put stress on the EU's emerging energy policy and inspired the union to address its challenges with greater enthusiasm than before. Some of the EU's challenges call for strategic choices of a magnitude that EU is not used to handle. The aim of this report is therefore to identify, analyse and assess the political side of Europe's energy predicament and import dependency. Against the background of increasing dependence on energy imports, the report tries to answer questions: what are the key dimensions of Europe's energy security and what are their consequences?

Tackling Dependency: The EU and its Energy Security Challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsson, Robert L.

2007-10-01

Europe is facing a future of augmenting energy demands, domestic depletion, high prices and other energy-political challenges. Climate change, infrastructure resilience, producers' coercive energy policy and the EU's internal market failures have put stress on the EU's emerging energy policy and inspired the union to address its challenges with greater enthusiasm than before. Some of the EU's challenges call for strategic choices of a magnitude that EU is not used to handle. The aim of this report is therefore to identify, analyse and assess the political side of Europe's energy predicament and import dependency. Against the background of increasing dependence on energy imports, the report tries to answer questions: what are the key dimensions of Europe's energy security and what are their consequences?

Immune-Challenged Fish Up-Regulate Their Metabolic Scope to Support Locomotion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Camille Bonneaud

Full Text Available Energy-based trade-offs occur when investment in one fitness-related trait diverts energy away from other traits. The extent to which such trade-offs are shaped by limits on the rate of conversion of energy ingested in food (e.g. carbohydrates into chemical energy (ATP by oxidative metabolism rather than by the amount of food ingested in the first place is, however, unclear. Here we tested whether the ATP required for mounting an immune response will lead to a trade-off with ATP available for physical activity in mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki. To this end, we challenged fish either with lipopolysaccharide (LPS from E. coli or with Sheep Red Blood Cells (SRBC, and measured oxygen consumption at rest and during swimming at maximum speed 24h, 48h and 7 days post-challenge in order to estimate metabolic rates. Relative to saline-injected controls, only LPS-injected fish showed a significantly greater resting metabolic rate two days post-challenge and significantly higher maximal metabolic rates two and seven days post-challenge. This resulted in a significantly greater metabolic scope two days post-challenge, with LPS-fish transiently overcompensating by increasing maximal ATP production more than would be required for swimming in the absence of an immune challenge. LPS-challenged fish therefore increased their production of ATP to compensate physiologically for the energetic requirements of immune functioning. This response would avoid ATP shortages and allow fish to engage in an aerobically-challenging activity (swimming even when simultaneously mounting an immune response. Nevertheless, relative to controls, both LPS- and SRBC-fish displayed reduced body mass gain one week post-injection, and LPS-fish actually lost mass. The concomitant increase in metabolic scope and reduced body mass gain of LPS-challenged fish indicates that immune-associated trade-offs are not likely to be shaped by limited oxidative metabolic capacities, but may instead

Stable isotope views on ecosystem function: challenging or challenged?

Science.gov (United States)

Resco, Víctor; Querejeta, José I; Ogle, Kiona; Voltas, Jordi; Sebastià, Maria-Teresa; Serrano-Ortiz, Penélope; Linares, Juan C; Moreno-Gutiérrez, Cristina; Herrero, Asier; Carreira, José A; Torres-Cañabate, Patricia; Valladares, Fernando

2010-06-23

Stable isotopes and their potential for detecting various and complex ecosystem processes are attracting an increasing number of scientists. Progress is challenging, particularly under global change scenarios, but some established views have been challenged. The IX meeting of the Spanish Association of Terrestrial Ecology (AAET, Ubeda, 18-22 October 2009) hosted a symposium on the ecology of stable isotopes where the linear mixing model approach of partitioning sinks and sources of carbon and water fluxes within an ecosystem was challenged, and new applications of stable isotopes for the study of plant interactions were evaluated. Discussion was also centred on the need for networks that monitor ecological processes using stable isotopes and key ideas for fostering future research with isotopes.

Employment challenges in the future

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2011-01-01

Discussion of challenges in employment challenges in Europe and a brief discription of the Danish flexicurity system......Discussion of challenges in employment challenges in Europe and a brief discription of the Danish flexicurity system...

The Challenge of A Sustainability Change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Winkel, Thomas Dyrmann; Poulsen, Søren Bolvig; Rosenstand, Claus Andreas Foss

2015-01-01

Changing a company’s role and position in its context towards a more ambitious profile centred on waste minimisation can be challenging due to external factors such as regulations and economic logics, but also internal challenges of transforming visions into supporting activities can hinder the r...

Giant Colonic Diverticulum: a Rare Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenge of Diverticular Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Macht, Ryan; Sheldon, Holly K; Fisichella, P Marco

2015-08-01

A giant colonic diverticulum is a diverticulum of the colon greater than 4 cm in diameter that can present, albeit rarely, as a complication of diverticular disease. We discuss the three different histologic subtypes that have been described and the challenges in the diagnosis and treatment.

The GREAT3 challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyatake, H; Mandelbaum, R; Rowe, B

2014-01-01

The GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 3 (GREAT3) challenge is an image analysis competition that aims to test algorithms to measure weak gravitational lensing from astronomical images. The challenge started in October 2013 and ends 30 April 2014. The challenge focuses on testing the impact on weak lensing measurements of realistically complex galaxy morphologies, realistic point spread function, and combination of multiple different exposures. It includes simulated ground- and space-based data. The details of the challenge are described in [1], and the challenge website and its leader board can be found at http://great3challenge.info and http://great3.projects.phys.ucl.ac.uk/leaderboard/, respectively

Stable isotope views on ecosystem function: challenging or challenged?

Science.gov (United States)

Resco, Víctor; Querejeta, José I.; Ogle, Kiona; Voltas, Jordi; Sebastià, Maria-Teresa; Serrano-Ortiz, Penélope; Linares, Juan C.; Moreno-Gutiérrez, Cristina; Herrero, Asier; Carreira, José A.; Torres-Cañabate, Patricia; Valladares, Fernando

2010-01-01

Stable isotopes and their potential for detecting various and complex ecosystem processes are attracting an increasing number of scientists. Progress is challenging, particularly under global change scenarios, but some established views have been challenged. The IX meeting of the Spanish Association of Terrestrial Ecology (AAET, Úbeda, 18–22 October 2009) hosted a symposium on the ecology of stable isotopes where the linear mixing model approach of partitioning sinks and sources of carbon and water fluxes within an ecosystem was challenged, and new applications of stable isotopes for the study of plant interactions were evaluated. Discussion was also centred on the need for networks that monitor ecological processes using stable isotopes and key ideas for fostering future research with isotopes. PMID:20015858

Tackling Dependency: The EU and its Energy Security Challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsson, Robert L.

2007-10-15

Europe is facing a future of augmenting energy demands, domestic depletion, high prices and other energy-political challenges. Climate change, infrastructure resilience, producers' coercive energy policy and the EU's internal market failures have put stress on the EU's emerging energy policy and inspired the union to address its challenges with greater enthusiasm than before. Some of the EU's challenges call for strategic choices of a magnitude that EU is not used to handle. The aim of this report is therefore to identify, analyse and assess the political side of Europe's energy predicament and import dependency. Against the background of increasing dependence on energy imports, the report tries to answer questions: what are the key dimensions of Europe's energy security and what are their consequences?

Accomplishments and challenges of the severe accident research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sehgal, B.R.

2001-01-01

This paper briefly describes the progress of the severe accident research since 1980, in terms of the accomplishments made so far and the challenges that remain. Much has been accomplished: many important safety issues have been resolved and consensus is near on some others. However, some of the previously identified safety issues remain as challenges, while some new ones have arisen due to the shift in focus from containment to vessel integrity. New reactor designs have also created some new challenges. In general, the regulatory demands for new reactor designs are stricter, thereby requiring much greater attention to the safety issues concerned with the containment design of the new large reactors, and to the accident management procedures for mitigating the consequences of a severe accident. We apologize for not providing references to many fine investigations that contributed to the great progress made so far in the severe accident research

Globalisation and international compatibility - a challenge to ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The contexts of institutions for higher education are in flux with consequent learning challenges. One of these challenges is that of globalisation and the need for international compatibility. Another challenge is that Mode 2 learning programmes, material and methods need to be relevant to the specific context in which they ...

A reflective teaching challenge to motivate educational innovation.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Roger A; Kirwin, Jennifer; Gonyeau, Michael; Matthews, S James; Lancaster, Jason; DiVall, Margarita

2014-06-17

To describe a teaching challenge intended to increase faculty use of evidence-based and student-centered instructional strategies in the demanding school of pharmacy context with technology-savvy students. A teaching challenge was created that required faculty members to incorporate a "new-to-you" innovative teaching method in a class, course, or experiential activity. The method was linked to at least 1 of 7 evidence-based principles for effective teaching. Faculty members were exposed to colleagues' teaching strategies via brief voluntary presentations at department meetings. A post-challenge survey provided assessment data about the challenge. Responses to a baseline survey provided additional information about what faculty members were already doing (52% response rate). Eighty-one percent of faculty respondents completed the challenge. A wide array of new strategies (13 categories such as flipped classrooms and social media) was implemented and 75% included the use of technology. Nearly all respondents (96%) thought that participation in the challenge was worth the effort and planned to participate again the following year. All faculty members intended to continue using their new strategy and 56% planned additional modifications with future implementations. The challenge demonstrated how multiple goals of curricular improvement, faculty development, and student-centered instruction could be achieved together. The teaching challenge motivated most of the faculty members to try something new to them. Links between evidence-based principles and day-to-day activities were strengthened. The new-to-you design placed the challenge within reach of faculty members regardless of their background, subject, or experience.

Connectivity, interoperability and manageability challenges in internet of things

Science.gov (United States)

Haseeb, Shariq; Hashim, Aisha Hassan A.; Khalifa, Othman O.; Ismail, Ahmad Faris

2017-09-01

The vision of Internet of Things (IoT) is about interconnectivity between sensors, actuators, people and processes. IoT exploits connectivity between physical objects like fridges, cars, utilities, buildings and cities for enhancing the lives of people through automation and data analytics. However, this sudden increase in connected heterogeneous IoT devices takes a huge toll on the existing Internet infrastructure and introduces new challenges for researchers to embark upon. This paper highlights the effects of heterogeneity challenges on connectivity, interoperability, management in greater details. It also surveys some of the existing solutions adopted in the core network to solve the challenges of massive IoT deployment. The paper finally concludes that IoT architecture and network infrastructure needs to be reengineered ground-up, so that IoT solutions can be safely and efficiently deployed.

Key challenges to expanding renewable energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stram, Bruce N.

2016-01-01

The key advantage of renewables is that they are free of direct pollution and carbon emissions. Given concern over global warming caused by carbon emissions, there are substantial policy efforts to increase renewable penetrations. The purpose of this paper is to outline and evaluate the challenges presented by increasing penetrations of renewable electricity generation. These generation sources primarily include solar and wind which are growing rapidly and are new enough to the grid that the impact of high penetrations is not fully understood. The intrinsic nature of solar and wind power is very likely to present greater system challenges than “conventional” sources. Within limits, those challenges can be overcome, but at a cost. Later sections of the paper will draw on a variety of sources to identify a range of such costs, at least as they are foreseen by researchers helping prepare ambitious plans for grids to obtain high shares (30–50%) of their megawatt hours from primarily solar and wind generation. Energy poverty issues are outlined and related to renewable costs issues. - Highlights: •Integration of intermittent renewables with existing power grids. •Renewable ramping and over production issues. •Renewable caused system costs. •Energy poverty circumstances and consequences.

Defending or Challenging the Status Quo: Position Effects on Biased Intergroup Perceptions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emma A. Bäck

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The default ideological position is status quo maintaining, and challenging the status quo is associated with increased efforts and risks. Nonetheless, some people choose to challenge the status quo. Therefore, to challenge the status quo should imply a strong belief in one’s position as the correct one, and thus efforts may be undertaken to undermine the position of others. Study 1 (N = 311 showed that challengers undermined, by ascribing more externality and less rationality, the position of defenders to a larger extent than defenders did of challengers’ position. Studies 2 (N = 135 and 3 (N = 109 tested if these effects were driven by the implied minority status of the challenging position. Results revealed no effects of experimentally manipulated numerical status, but challengers were again more biased than defenders. Study 3 also revealed that challengers felt more negatively toward their opponents (possibly due to greater social identification with like-minded others, and these negative emotions in turn predicted biased attributions. Results are important as they add to the understanding of how intergroup conflict may arise, providing explanations for why challengers are less tolerant of others’ point of view.

Challenges and considerations for planning toward sustainable biodiesel development in developing countries: Lessons from the Greater Mekong Subregion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sukkasi, Sittha; Chollacoop, Nuwong; Ellis, Wyn; Grimley, Simon; Jai-In, Samai

2010-01-01

Biodiesel has the potential to economically, socially, and environmentally benefit communities as well as countries, and to contribute toward their sustainable development. Nonetheless, the complex nature of biodiesel development makes it susceptible to exogenous problems that could hinder sustainable development. To ensure that biodiesel development actually leads to a sustainable path, all possible issues and challenges need to be identified and analyzed up front, so that they can be prepared for and handled in the planning and management stages. Building upon lessons learned from biodiesel developments in the Greater Mekong Subregion, this work examines biodiesel development in developing countries in the aspects of policy, governance, management, infrastructure, technology, feedstock, impacts on the rural poor and local livelihood, climate change, and the environment. Issues within each aspect are also analyzed in the context of developing countries. As a result, this review can serve as a guideline for ensuring that biodiesel development contributes toward sustainable development in developing countries. (author)

The well-being of farm animals: challenges and solutions

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Benson, G. John; Rollin, Bernard E

2004-01-01

.... The Well-Being of Farm Animals: Challenges and Solutions offers veterinarians, veterinary and agriculture students, animal scientists, and food animal producers both practical methods to enhance farm animal well-being, and greater...

Night Rover Challenge

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The objective of the Night Rover Challenge was to foster innovations in energy storage technology. Specifically, this challenge asked competitors to create an energy...

Why employees with higher challenging appraisals style are more affectively engaged at work? The role of challenging stressors: a moderated mediation model.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Shin-Huei; Wu, Chia-Huei; Chen, Mei-Yen; Chen, Lung Hung

2014-10-01

Challenging stressors have been positively linked to various work outcomes. However, the role of individual differences in stress appraisal in shaping the function of challenging stressors and work outcomes has been rarely discussed. Drawing on the individual differences perspective, the authors propose that employees higher in challenge appraisal are more likely to have challenging stressors and are more responsive to such stressors to have a higher positive affect at work. Results obtained from 117 employees supported the hypotheses. The results indicated that challenge appraisal is positively related to challenging stressors. In addition, challenging stressors has a positive association with positive affect at work when challenge appraisal is high but has a null association when challenge appraisal is low. The findings suggest that challenging stressors does not necessarily bring positive work outcomes as suggested in past studies and highlight the importance of considering dispositional tendency in stress appraisal when looking into the function of challenging stressors and work outcomes. © 2014 International Union of Psychological Science.

Eccentric muscle challenge shows osteopontin polymorphism modulation of muscle damage.

Science.gov (United States)

Barfield, Whitney L; Uaesoontrachoon, Kitipong; Wu, Chung-Sheih; Lin, Stephen; Chen, Yue; Wang, Paul C; Kanaan, Yasmine; Bond, Vernon; Hoffman, Eric P

2014-08-01

A promoter polymorphism of the osteopontin (OPN) gene (rs28357094) has been associated with multiple inflammatory states, severity of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and muscle size in healthy young adults. We sought to define the mechanism of action of the polymorphism, using allele-specific in vitro reporter assays in muscle cells, and a genotype-stratified intervention in healthy controls. In vitro reporter constructs showed the G allele to respond to estrogen treatment, whereas the T allele showed no transcriptional response. Young adult volunteers (n = 187) were enrolled into a baseline study, and subjects with specific rs28357094 genotypes enrolled into an eccentric muscle challenge intervention [n = 3 TT; n = 3 GG/GT (dominant inheritance model)]. Female volunteers carrying the G allele showed significantly greater inflammation and increased muscle volume change as determined by magnetic resonance imaging T1- and T2-weighted images after eccentric challenge, as well as greater decrement in biceps muscle force. Our data suggest a model where the G allele enables enhanced activities of upstream enhancer elements due to loss of Sp1 binding at the polymorphic site. This results in significantly greater expression of the pro-inflammatory OPN cytokine during tissue remodeling in response to challenge in G allele carriers, promoting muscle hypertrophy in normal females, but increased damage in DMD patients. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Managing Challenges in a Multi Contractor Project

Science.gov (United States)

King, Ron

2011-01-01

The presentation provides a project description, describes the integrated product team, and review project challenges. The challenges include programmatic, technical, basic drop tests, heavy drop tests, C-17 envelope expansion, and Ares I-X.

78 FR 59974 - Centennial Challenges 2014 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Airspace Operations Challenge (AOC)

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-30

... NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION Centennial Challenges 2014 Unmanned Aircraft Systems... wish to compete may now register. Centennial Challenges is a program of prize competitions to stimulate...: http://www.uasaoc.org For general information on the NASA Centennial Challenges Program please visit...

Maasai Mara - the Challenges of a World Unique Ecosystem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

The report describes the complex challenges of the Maasai Mara in Kenya. The report is based on stakeholder and research inputs from the Maasai Mara Science and Development Summit in April 2015 at the Maasai Mara University, arranged by the Maasai Mara Science and Development Initiative. The emer....... The emerging challenges are categorized into: (1) land use and climate challenges: (2) ecosystem challenges; (3) political and economic challenges; (4) human and cultural challenges....

First Aid Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Roman, Harry T.

2011-01-01

This article describes a challenge wherein students will be asked to design a portable first aid kit that is normally carried in a recreational vehicle (RV), but can also be hand-carried or backpacked off road for distances of approximately 1-2 miles. This can be a very practical challenge for the students because it touches everyone. Everybody…

Oral food challenge outcomes in a pediatric tertiary care center.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrams, Elissa M; Becker, Allan B

2017-01-01

Oral food challenges are the clinical standard for diagnosis of food allergy. Little data exist on predictors of oral challenge failure and reaction severity. A retrospective chart review was done on all pediatric patients who had oral food challenges in a tertiary care pediatric allergy clinic from 2008 to 2010. 313 oral challenges were performed, of which the majority were to peanut (105), egg (71), milk (41) and tree nuts (29). There were 104 (33%) oral challenge failures. Children were more likely to fail an oral challenge if they were older (P = .04), had asthma (P = .001) or had atopic dermatitis (P = .03). Risk of challenge failure was significantly different between food allergens, with more failures noted for peanut than for tree nuts, milk or egg (P = .001). Among challenge failures, 19% met criteria for anaphylaxis. Significantly more tree nut and peanut challenges met criteria for anaphylaxis than milk or egg (P Skin test size and specific IgE level were significantly higher in those who failed oral challenges (P < .001). The highest rate of challenge failure and severity of failure was to cashew, with 63% of cashew challenges reacting, of which 80% met clinical criteria for anaphylaxis. The risk of challenge failure differed with type of food studied, with peanut and tree nut having a higher risk of challenge failure and anaphylaxis. Cashew in particular carried a high risk and caution must be exercised when performing these types of oral challenges in children.

Big Data Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandru Adrian TOLE

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The amount of data that is traveling across the internet today, not only that is large, but is complex as well. Companies, institutions, healthcare system etc., all of them use piles of data which are further used for creating reports in order to ensure continuity regarding the services that they have to offer. The process behind the results that these entities requests represents a challenge for software developers and companies that provide IT infrastructure. The challenge is how to manipulate an impressive volume of data that has to be securely delivered through the internet and reach its destination intact. This paper treats the challenges that Big Data creates.

Faculty Challenges across Rank in Liberal Arts Colleges: A Human Resources Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Vicki L.; Pifer, Meghan J.; Lunsford, Laura G.

2016-01-01

This article focuses on the challenges faced by faculty members in a consortium of 13 Liberal Arts Colleges (LACs). We present findings, by academic rank, from a mixed-methods study of faculty development needs and experiences within the consortium. Relying on human resource principles, we advocate a greater focus on the development of the person,…

Challenges as enablers for high quality Linked Data: insights from the Semantic Publishing Challenge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anastasia Dimou

2017-01-01

Full Text Available While most challenges organized so far in the Semantic Web domain are focused on comparing tools with respect to different criteria such as their features and competencies, or exploiting semantically enriched data, the Semantic Web Evaluation Challenges series, co-located with the ESWC Semantic Web Conference, aims to compare them based on their output, namely the produced dataset. The Semantic Publishing Challenge is one of these challenges. Its goal is to involve participants in extracting data from heterogeneous sources on scholarly publications, and producing Linked Data that can be exploited by the community itself. This paper reviews lessons learned from both (i the overall organization of the Semantic Publishing Challenge, regarding the definition of the tasks, building the input dataset and forming the evaluation, and (ii the results produced by the participants, regarding the proposed approaches, the used tools, the preferred vocabularies and the results produced in the three editions of 2014, 2015 and 2016. We compared these lessons to other Semantic Web Evaluation Challenges. In this paper, we (i distill best practices for organizing such challenges that could be applied to similar events, and (ii report observations on Linked Data publishing derived from the submitted solutions. We conclude that higher quality may be achieved when Linked Data is produced as a result of a challenge, because the competition becomes an incentive, while solutions become better with respect to Linked Data publishing best practices when they are evaluated against the rules of the  challenge.

A Typical Verification Challenge for the GRID

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van de Pol, Jan Cornelis; Bal, H. E.; Brim, L.; Leucker, M.

2008-01-01

A typical verification challenge for the GRID community is presented. The concrete challenge is to implement a simple recursive algorithm for finding the strongly connected components in a graph. The graph is typically stored in the collective memory of a number of computers, so a distributed

Challenges of Working in a Multicultural Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Howland, Joan S.

2001-01-01

Addresses challenges faced when working in a multicultural library setting and discusses the need for library administration to create supportive environments. Highlights include fluctuating power dynamics; merging diverse opinions and approaches; overcoming perceived lack of empathy; tokenism; accountability; and transforming challenges into…

Respiratory panic disorder subtype and sensitivity to the carbon dioxide challenge test

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.M. Valença

2002-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to verify the sensitivity to the carbon dioxide (CO2 challenge test of panic disorder (PD patients with respiratory and nonrespiratory subtypes of the disorder. Our hypothesis is that the respiratory subtype is more sensitive to 35% CO2. Twenty-seven PD subjects with or without agoraphobia were classified into respiratory and nonrespiratory subtypes on the basis of the presence of respiratory symptoms during their panic attacks. The tests were carried out in a double-blind manner using two mixtures: 1 35% CO2 and 65% O2, and 2 100% atmospheric compressed air, 20 min apart. The tests were repeated after 2 weeks during which the participants in the study did not receive any psychotropic drugs. At least 15 of 16 (93.7% respiratory PD subtype patients and 5 of 11 (43.4% nonrespiratory PD patients had a panic attack during one of two CO2 challenges (P = 0.009, Fisher exact test. Respiratory PD subtype patients were more sensitive to the CO2 challenge test. There was agreement between the severity of PD measured by the Clinical Global Impression (CGI Scale and the subtype of PD. Higher CGI scores in the respiratory PD subtype could reflect a greater sensitivity to the CO2 challenge due to a greater severity of PD. Carbon dioxide challenges in PD may define PD subtypes and their underlying mechanisms.

Psychosocial challenges and strategies for coping with HIV among adolescents in Uganda: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mutumba, Massy; Bauermeister, José A; Musiime, Victor; Byaruhanga, Judith; Francis, Kiweewa; Snow, Rachel C; Tsai, Alexander C

2015-02-01

Although more than 90% of youth perinatally infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the psychosocial factors that impact their wellbeing, or how these youth cope with these challenges. The purpose of this study was to identify the psychosocial challenges and coping strategies among perinatal HIV-infected adolescents in Uganda. In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 38 HIV-infected adolescents aged 12-19 years at a large HIV treatment center in Kampala. Data were analyzed thematically to identify themes and domains related to stressors and specific coping strategies. Psychosocial challenges included stigma/discrimination, relationship challenges such as HIV status disclosure, and medication difficulties. Coping strategies included medication adherence, concealment or limited disclosure of HIV status, treatment optimism, social support, rationalizing, social comparison, spirituality/religiosity, avoidance, and distraction. Age and gender differences also emerged: younger participants generally lacked specific coping strategies; compared to females, male adolescents reported greater use of avoidance/distraction techniques. Findings underscore the need to address stigma within homes and schools, and to equip adolescents with the comprehensive knowledge and skills to address their varied challenges.

CE Challenges : Work to Do

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stjepandic, J; Verhagen, W.J.C.; Wognum, P.M.

2015-01-01

CE has been used for more than two decades now. Despite many successes and advantages, there are still many challenges to be addressed. These challenges are both technical and organisational. In the paper we will address the current challenges of CE. Many challenges

An All-School Library Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Quirk, Connie

2005-01-01

The library media center is hosting an all-school team challenge, designed to celebrate reading and library skills. Students could choose from the contest categories like "Lord of the Rings", "Harry Potter", Author Facts Challenge and Opening Lines Challenge for the competition and those students who read more challenging books show their…

Challenge and Change

Science.gov (United States)

Mehaffy, George L.

2012-01-01

In the past twenty years, various industries have been forever altered by technology: newspapers, book publishing, the photography business, and many more. Higher education too faces unprecedented challenges primarily driven by rapid changes in technology. To meet these challenges and adapt to these changes, new models are needed. Six challenges…

The challenges of dismantling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sene, Monique; Lheureux, Yves; Leroyer, Veronique; Rollinger, Francois; Gauthier, Florence; Depauw, Denis; Reynal, Nathalie; Fraysse, Thierry; Burger, Eric; Bertrand, Adrien; Vallat, Christophe; Bernet, Philippe; Eimer, Michel; Boutin, Dominique; Bietrix, Philippe; Richard, Francoise; Piketty, Laurence; Mouchet, Chantal; Charre, Jean-Pierre

2014-01-01

This document gathers Power Point presentations which address the contexts and challenges of dismantling (legal framework, safety and radiation protection challenges, waste processing industry), and propose illustrations of dismantling challenges (example of operations to prepare EURODIF dismantling and CLIGEET work-group on EURODIF dismantling, examples of dismantling of EDF installations and CLIs' opinion on the dismantling of EDF installations, Brennilis dismantling follow-up performed by the CLI, examples of dismantling of CEA installations and opinion of a CLI on the dismantling of CEA installations)

Challenges to China's transition to a low carbon electricity system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kahrl, Fredrich; Williams, Jim; Ding Jianhua; Hu Junfeng

2011-01-01

We examine the challenges to China's transition to a low carbon electricity system, in which renewable energy would play a significant role. China's electricity system currently lacks the flexibility in planning, operations, and pricing to respond to conflicting pressures from demand growth, rising costs, and environmental mandates in a way that simultaneously maintains reliability, decarbonizes the system, and keeps prices within acceptable bounds. Greater flexibility crucially requires the ability to more systematically and transparently manage and allocate costs. This will require re-orientating sector institutions still rooted in central planning, and strengthening independent regulation. Some of the necessary changes require fundamental political and legal reforms beyond the scope of energy policy. However, the system's flexibility can still be increased through the development of traditional planning and regulatory tools and approaches, such as an avoided cost basis for energy efficiency investments, more integrated planning to improve the coordination of generation, transmission, and demand-side investments, and a transparent ratemaking process. The judicious application of OECD electricity sector experience and skills can support these developments. - Research highlights: → China's electricity system currently lacks the flexibility to integrate renewables and reduce CO 2 emissions on a large scale at an acceptable cost and level of reliability. → The challenges to increased flexibility are more institutional than technological. → Chinese government agencies need new approaches to basic power system planning and ratemaking. → OECD countries can help address these challenges through the transfer of 'soft' technologies.

Challenges of serious games

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. Fernández-Manjón

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Although educational games have revealed to be a very effective focus in diverse situations, their use in education is still very limited. In this paper we analyse the main challenges concerning educational games that, from our perspective, have to be approached so that the use of this kind of games can be widespread. These challenges are classified in three main dimensions: socio-cultural, educational and technological. Once the challenges are identified, some possible measures are suggested to address or reduce these problems so that the use of educational games may be widespread.

Wind power and community benefits: Challenges and opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aitken, Mhairi

2010-01-01

A challenge relating to the development of renewable energy in the UK concerns how large companies can foster positive relationships with local communities. The concepts of 'trust' and 'fairness' are central to debates around proposed renewable energy developments, however, these concepts are complex, ambiguous and interrelated. In the UK the provision of community benefits stemming from the development of renewable energy projects remains a voluntary activity. This paper presents the findings of a case study of one wind power development and how community benefits associated with this were perceived by the local community throughout various stages of the case study (notably during planning, construction and operation). The case study highlights the challenging nature of community benefits from wind power developments. Important decisions regarding who the relevant local community is or what form community benefits should take present opportunities for disagreement between conflicting interests. It is argued that institutionalised guidance would serve a number of worthwhile purposes. Firstly, they would provide greater clarity. Secondly, they would give developers greater confidence to discuss the community benefits package in the early planning stages, and thirdly, they would reduce the likelihood of community benefits being perceived as bribes.

Oral food challenge outcomes in a pediatric tertiary care center

OpenAIRE

Abrams, Elissa M.; Becker, Allan B.

2017-01-01

Background Oral food challenges are the clinical standard for diagnosis of food allergy. Little data exist on predictors of oral challenge failure and reaction severity. Methods A retrospective chart review was done on all pediatric patients who had oral food challenges in a tertiary care pediatric allergy clinic from 2008 to 2010. Results 313 oral challenges were performed, of which the majority were to peanut (105), egg (71), milk (41) and tree nuts (29). There were 104 (33%) oral challenge...

Challenges in Modern Anti-Doping Analytical Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayotte, Christiane; Miller, John; Thevis, Mario

2017-01-01

The challenges facing modern anti-doping analytical science are increasingly complex given the expansion of target drug substances, as the pharmaceutical industry introduces more novel therapeutic compounds and the internet offers designer drugs to improve performance. The technical challenges are manifold, including, for example, the need for advanced instrumentation for greater speed of analyses and increased sensitivity, specific techniques capable of distinguishing between endogenous and exogenous metabolites, or biological assays for the detection of peptide hormones or their markers, all of which require an important investment from the laboratories and recruitment of highly specialized scientific personnel. The consequences of introducing sophisticated and complex analytical procedures may result in the future in a change in the strategy applied by the Word Anti-Doping Agency in relation to the introduction and performance of new techniques by the network of accredited anti-doping laboratories. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

A Challenge to Watson

Science.gov (United States)

Detterman, Douglas K.

2011-01-01

Watson's Jeopardy victory raises the question of the similarity of artificial intelligence and human intelligence. Those of us who study human intelligence issue a challenge to the artificial intelligence community. We will construct a unique battery of tests for any computer that would provide an actual IQ score for the computer. This is the same…

A Water-Service Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Roman, Harry T.

2011-01-01

It is important to let students see the value of mathematics in design--and how mathematics lends perspective to problem solving. In this article, the author describes a water-service challenge which enables students to design a water utility system that uses surface runoff into an open reservoir as the potable water source. This challenge…

Creating Occupational Therapy: The Challenges to Defining a Profession.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Kathlyn L

2018-05-08

The creation of a new profession in the early 20th century, such as occupational therapy, required a commitment to certain ideas and a willingness to accept certain challenges. This study examines the commitment to the idea of therapeutic and health supporting occupation by the early leaders and proponents of the profession and the challenges they faced in gaining acceptance of occupational therapy as a profession capable of delivering a valued health care service to society. Six challenges are reviewed as they occurred in the history of the profession and as they continue to challenge the profession into the present era.

The diesel challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tobin, Geoff

1997-01-01

This article is focused on the challenges being faced by the diesel producer and these include a number of interesting developments which illustrate the highly competitive world of the European refiner. These include: The tightening quality requirements being legislated coupled with the availability of the ''city diesel'' from Scandinavia and elsewhere which is already being sold into the market. For a time there will be a clear means of product differentiation. One of the key questions is whether the consumer will value the quality difference; a growing demand for diesel which is outstripping the growth in gasoline demand and causing refiners headaches when it comes to balancing their supply/demand barrels; the emergence of alternative fuels which are challenging the traditional markets of the refiner and in particular, the niche markets for the higher quality diesel fuels. All of this at a time of poor margins and over-capacity in the industry with further major challenges ahead such as fuel oil disposal, tighter environmental standards and the likelihood of heavier, higher sulphur crude oils in the future. Clearly, in such a difficult and highly-competitive business environment it will be important to find low-cost solutions to the challenges of the diesel quality changes. An innovative approach will be required to identify the cheapest and best route to enable the manufacture of the new quality diesel. (Author)

Oral food challenges in children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hye Yung Yum

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Many patients assume that allergic reactions against foods are responsible for triggering or worsening their allergic symptoms. Therefore, it is important to identify patients who would benefit from an elimination diet, while avoiding unnecessary dietary restrictions. The diagnosis of food allergy depends on the thorough review of the patients's medical history, results of supplemented trials of dietary elimination, and in vivo and in vitro tests for measuring specific IgE levels. However, in some cases the reliability of such procedures is suboptimal. Oral food challenges are procedures employed for making an accurate diagnosis of immediate and occasionally delayed adverse reactions to foods. The timing and type of the challenge, preparation of patients, foods to be tested, and dosing schedule should be determined on the basis of the patient's history, age, and experience. Although double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenges(DBPCFC are used to establish definitively if a food is the cause of adverse reactions, they are time-consuming, expensive and troublesome for physician and patients. In practice, An open challenge controlled by trained personnel is sufficient especially in infants and young children. The interpretation of the results and follow-up after a challenge are also important. Since theses challenges are relatively safe and informative, controlled oral food challenges could become the measure of choice in children.

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE - A FURTHER CHALLENGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Робин Кранмер

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article focuses on types of challenge to intercultural communicators arising during communication between those with a good level of intercultural competence and those with a lower level and which relate to communicative style. Those with weaker intercultural competence tend to have limited awareness of variation in communicative style and its link to language and culture. As a result, they often continue using aspects of the communicative style of their first language when using a for-eign language. They may even criticise ethnocentrically aspects of the communicative style associated with that foreign language. This can create specific challenges for a more interculturally competent communicator who may well understand the behaviour in question but find it hard to deal with. The key aim of this article is to analyse these challenges prior to hypothesising what underlying skills and prac-tical strategies might help communicators to deal with them. Relevant skills are sought in existing lit-erature and the further processes used in generating hypotheses are described. Skills are identified which include the capacities to deal with negative comments on your own communicative style, to per-suade your fellow communicator of its validity, to negotiate compromises and to steer the communica-tion towards a mutually satisfactory dynamic. Besides outlining the forms further research needs to take, the article concludes by stressing the importance of better understanding these challenges and of incorporating the development of skills for dealing with them into a variety of teaching programmes containing an intercultural component.

Offshore northern Europe, the challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bergseth, S.

1996-01-01

This paper relates to challenges of the offshore activity in the North Sea. It is appropriate to address these challenges in the context of generating values through efficient management of resources, markets, safety and technology, as the challenges lie therein. The petroleum industry is built to turn natural resources into market value, assuring broad benefits to stake holders and shareholders. In the following, the challenges facing the industry the industry offshore Northern Europe is examined on this background

Virtual Bridge Design Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Mitts, Charles R.

2013-01-01

This design/problem-solving activity challenges students to design a replacement bridge for one that has been designated as either structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The Aycock MS Technology/STEM Magnet Program Virtual Bridge Design Challenge is an authentic introduction to the engineering design process. It is a socially relevant…

Overcoming Safeguards Challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henriques, Sasha

2011-01-01

The focus of the 2010 IAEA International Safeguards Symposium was how best, from a technical perspective, to prepare for future verification challenges during this time of change. By bringing together the leading experts in the field from across the world, this symposium provided an opportunity for stakeholders to explore possible solutions in support of the IAEA's nuclear verification mission, and to identify areas where the different stakeholders in the safeguards business can help address these challenges

Study of brazilian franchises internationalization: challenges and barriers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Loffredo da Rocha Leite

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The goal of this study was to analyze brazilian franchises internationalization through a case study, in order to identify the factors that influence internationalization, the adaptations of marketing strategies and main barriers and challenges of brazilian franchises internationalization. A qualitative exploratory research was developed through the case study method. The information was colected via observation and semi-structured interviews with managers in charge of international expansion of two companies. A comparative analysis between obtained data and the theoretical background was made. The results found showed that the studied companies expanded internationally due to external demands and the desire to explore new markets. Changes in marketing strategies were made in different degrees, and communication was the element that suffered greater changes. The main challenge of internationalization found, was to understand local culture and incorporate it into the company’s operations.

Challenges of Ensuring Equity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pasgaard, Maya

and on a conceptual framework to examine equity in REDD+. Qualitative research with a case study in Cambodia provides the empirical foundation for the thesis, supplemented with a quantitative analysis of climate change research to address the fourth research question. Together, these articles and approaches...... these challenges, specific recomm ndations are summarized in the thesis, namely: better integration of qualitative methods in social assessments, greater emphasis on local inclusion and representativeness in relation to resource access and decision-making, more field research and cross...... social assessments in REDD+ are inadequate due to a dominant positivistic approach to methods and indicators for social assessment, which contrasts the complexities and context of REDD+ projects; 2) The distribution of costs and benefits within communities in Oddar Meanchey is uneven, as the costs...

Challenges in diagnosing tuberculosis in children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahman, Nadia; Pedersen, Karin Kæreby; Rosenfeldt, Vibeke

2012-01-01

Clinical investigations of childhood tuberculosis (TB) are challenged by the paucibacillary nature of the disease and the difficulties in obtaining specimens. We investigated the challenges in diagnosing TB in children in a low-incidence country.......Clinical investigations of childhood tuberculosis (TB) are challenged by the paucibacillary nature of the disease and the difficulties in obtaining specimens. We investigated the challenges in diagnosing TB in children in a low-incidence country....

Overcoming challenges

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... facts about babies, breastmilk, and breastfeeding Overcoming challenges Common questions about breastfeeding and pain Breastfeeding checklist: How to get a good latch Finding support It takes a village: Building ...

The medical leadership challenge in healthcare is an identity challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Andersson, Thomas

2015-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe and analyse the identity challenges that physicians with medical leadership positions face. Four qualitative case studies were performed to address the fact that identity is processual, relational and situational. Physicians with managerial roles were interviewed, as well as their peers, supervisors and subordinates. Furthermore, observations were made to understand how different identities are displayed in action. This study illustrates that medical leadership implies identity struggles when physicians have manager positions, because of the different characteristics of the social identities of managers and physicians. Major differences are related between physicians as autonomous individuals in a system and managers as subordinates to the organizational system. There are psychological mechanisms that evoke the physician identity more often than the managerial identity among physicians who are managers, which explains why physicians who are managers tend to remain foremost physicians. The implications of the findings, that there are major identity challenges by being both a physician and manager, suggest that managerial physicians might not be the best prerequisite for medical leadership, but instead, cooperative relationships between physicians and non-physician managers might be a less difficult way to support medical leadership. Acknowledging and addressing identity challenges can be important both in creating structures in organizations and designing the training for managers in healthcare (both physicians and non-physicians) to support medical leadership. Medical leadership is most often related to organizational structure and/or leadership skills, but this paper discusses identity requirements and challenges related to medical leadership.

National Drug IQ Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

... National Drug IQ Challenge 2017 Reto nacional del coeficiente intelectual (CI) sobre las drogas y el alcohol 2016 National Drug IQ Challenge 2016 Reto nacional del coeficiente intelectual (CI) sobre las drogas y el alcohol 2015 ...

Challenges for Nordic VET-systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Christian Helms

2015-01-01

, this challenge is not new. It has been on the agenda since the late 1960s following the crisis for apprenticeship and the growing demand for equal access to all levels of education. What is new, however, is that the challenge has intensified and the solutions developed since the 1970s don’t appear tenable today......The systems of vocational education and training (VET) in the Nordic Countries all face a similar challenge: to offer double qualifications. The Nordic VET-systems are expected to give access not only to skilled employment, but also to higher education. As an increasing share of young people....... This situation calls for new solutions to tackle the challenge of double qualifications. The question, which I will examine in this chapter, is how the Nordic VET-systems have handled this challenge in different ways and what these systems can learn from Switzerland, which is often highlighted as a model...

The WCET Tool Challenge 2011

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hanxleden, Reinhard von; Holsti, Niklas; Lisper, Björn

Following the successful WCET Tool Challenges in 2006 and 2008, the third event in this series was organized in 2011, again with support from the ARTIST DESIGN Network of Excellence. Following the practice established in the previous Challenges, the WCET Tool Challenge 2011 (WCC'11) dened two kin...

WCET Tool Challenge 2011: Report

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bonenfant, Armelle; Cassé, Hugues; Bünte, Sven

2011-01-01

Following the successful WCET Tool Challenges in 2006 and 2008, the third event in this series was organized in 2011, again with support from the ARTIST DESIGN Network of Excellence. Following the practice established in the previous Challenges, the WCET Tool Challenge 2011 (WCC’11) defined two k...

Challenges of Virtual School Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Jayson W.; LaFrance, Jason; Beck, Dennis

2015-01-01

The purpose of this case study was to examine challenges faced by virtual school leaders in the United States. Through semistructured interviews, the researchers explored challenges faced by eighteen leaders of fully online or blended online programs. Analysis revealed six main challenges: funding, staff, accountability, time, parents, and…

Centennial Challenges Program

Science.gov (United States)

Ortega, Sam; Eberly, Eric

2015-01-01

NASA's Centennial Challenges Program was initiated in 2005 to directly engage the public in the process of advanced technology development. The program offers incentive prizes to generate revolutionary solutions to problems of interest to NASA and the nation. The program seeks innovations from diverse and nontraditional sources. Competitors are not supported by government funding and awards are only made to successful teams when the challenges are met. In keeping with the spirit of the Wright Brothers and other American innovators, the Centennial Challenge prizes are offered to independent inventors including small businesses, student groups, and individuals. These independent inventors are sought to generate innovative solutions for technical problems of interest to NASA and the nation and to provide them with the opportunity to stimulate or create new business ventures.

Multiphysics software and the challenge to validating physical models

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luxat, J.C.

2008-01-01

This paper discusses multi physics software and validation of physical models in the nuclear industry. The major challenge is to convert the general purpose software package to a robust application-specific solution. This requires greater knowledge of the underlying solution techniques and the limitations of the packages. Good user interfaces and neat graphics do not compensate for any deficiencies

Developmental Challenges of SMES Technology for Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Rong, Charles C.; Barnes, Paul N.

2017-12-01

This paper reviews the current status of high temperature superconductor (HTS) based superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) technology as a developmental effort. Discussion centres on the major challenges in magnet optimization, loss reduction, cooling improvement, and new development of quench detection. The cryogenic operation for superconductivity in this technological application requires continued research and development, especially with a greater engineering effort that involves the end user. For the SMES-based technology to more fully mature, some suggestions are given for consideration and discussion.

Juggling Roles and Making Changes: Suggestions for Meeting the Challenges of Being a Special Educator.

Science.gov (United States)

Luckner, John L.

1996-01-01

Special educators experiencing stress are urged to take greater responsibility for their own well-being by maintaining a balanced lifestyle, planning for success, expanding their support network, creating a positive belief system, making learning a lifelong priority, and learning to cope with complexities and challenges. (DB)

Challenges in fingertip replantation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jin-Soo; Yang, Jae-Won; Lee, Dong-Chul; Ki, Sae-Hwi; Roh, Si-Young

2013-11-01

Fingertip amputation is a challenging injury to manage. Among various reconstructive procedures, replantation results in superior outcome, but is seldom considered in many institutions. From the identification of vessel ends to reanastomosis of the submillimeter vessels, fingertip's highly specialized anatomy requires technical excellence. By addressing these anatomic challenges, fingertip replantation can be a routine reconstructive option for microvascular surgeons.

Challenges in Fingertip Replantation

OpenAIRE

Kim, Jin-Soo; Yang, Jae-Won; Lee, Dong-Chul; Ki, Sae-Hwi; Roh, Si-Young

2013-01-01

Fingertip amputation is a challenging injury to manage. Among various reconstructive procedures, replantation results in superior outcome, but is seldom considered in many institutions. From the identification of vessel ends to reanastomosis of the submillimeter vessels, fingertip's highly specialized anatomy requires technical excellence. By addressing these anatomic challenges, fingertip replantation can be a routine reconstructive option for microvascular surgeons.

Searching for Grey Literature for Systematic Reviews: Challenges and Benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Mahood, Quenby; Van Eerd, Dwayne; Irvin, Emma

2014-01-01

There is ongoing interest in including grey literature in systematic reviews. Including grey literature can broaden the scope to more relevant studies, thereby providing a more complete view of available evidence. Searching for grey literature can be challenging despite greater access through the Internet, search engines and online bibliographic…

Work Group report: oral food challenge testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Nowak-Wegrzyn, Anna; Assa'ad, Amal H; Bahna, Sami L; Bock, S Allan; Sicherer, Scott H; Teuber, Suzanne S

2009-06-01

Oral food challenges are procedures conducted by allergists/immunologists to make an accurate diagnosis of immediate, and occasionally delayed, adverse reactions to foods. The timing of the challenge is carefully chosen based on the individual patient history and the results of skin prick tests and food specific serum IgE values. The type of the challenge is determined by the history, the age of the patient, and the likelihood of encountering subjective reactions. The food challenge requires preparation of the patient for the procedure and preparation of the office for the organized conduct of the challenge, for a careful assessment of the symptoms and signs and the treatment of reactions. The starting dose, the escalation of the dosing, and the intervals between doses are determined based on experience and the patient's history. The interpretation of the results of the challenge and arrangements for follow-up after a challenge are important. A negative oral food challenge result allows introduction of the food into the diet, whereas a positive oral food challenge result provides a sound basis for continued avoidance of the food.

Challenging a court settlement: Concept, legal nature and methods of challenging in domestic and comparative law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salma Marija

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper the author offers analysis of rules regulating the challenging of a court settlement in light of the evolution and legal nature of the court settlement in domestic and comparative law (Austrian, German, and Hungarian laws. The method of the procedural challenge depended on the understanding whether the settlement is an agreement (contract between parties before the court or it is a decision of the court (on acceptance or rejection of the proposal of the parties to reach a settlement. In the earlier instance the method of challenge is by filing of an action, and in the latter instance it represents a form of a legal remedy, most often extraordinary legal remedy - request for repetition of a trial, against final and binding decision of the court by which the settlement was either accepted or rejected. Theoretical dilemma about the legal nature of the court settlement, had an effect on normative regulations, as well as on court practice. In the Serbian law, this dilemma was resolved by enactment of the Civil Procedure Code which explicitly regulates that court settlement is challenged by an action before the court. As a result of this, the idea of a court settlement, as a form of an agreement, prevailed in the legal system. However, considerable procedural effects of the court settlement cannot be ignored. The principal procedural effect is that the litigation is terminated. Further, the court settlement represents a form of an executive title.

Mobility Challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Ole B.; Lassen, Claus

2011-01-01

This article takes point of departure in the challenges to understand the importance of contemporary mobility. The approach advocated is a cross-disciplinary one drawing on sociology, geography, urban planning and design, and cultural studies. As such the perspective is to be seen as a part...... of the so-called ‘mobility turn’ within social science. The perspective is illustrative for the research efforts at the Centre for Mobility and Urban Studies (C-MUS), Aalborg University. The article presents the contours of a theoretical perspective meeting the challenges to research into contemporary urban...... mobilities. In particular the article discusses 1) the physical city, its infrastructures and technological hardware/software, 2) policies and planning strategies for urban mobility and 3) the lived everyday life in the city and the region....

Builders Challenge Quality Criteria Support Document

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None

2009-06-01

This document provides guidance to U.S. home builders participating in Builders Challenge. To qualify for the Builders Challenge, a home must score 70 or less on the EnergySmart Home Scale (E-Scale). Homes also must meet the Builders Challenge Quality Cri

Toxaphene: a challenging analytical problem

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Geus, H.J.; Wester, P.G.; Schelvis, A.; de Boer, J.; Brinkman, U.A.T.

2000-01-01

The analysis of toxaphene, a highly complex mixture of chlorinated bornanes, bornenes and camphenes, is a challenging problem, especially as individual congeners are present at trace levels in biota and other relevant samples. The complicated nomenclature of the compounds of interest is briefly

A Priority-Based View of Future Challenges in International Nuclear Safeguards.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matteucci, Kayla [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2017-06-01

The international nuclear safeguards community is faced with a host of challenges in the coming years, many of which have been outlined but have not been described in terms of their urgency. Literature regarding safeguards challenges is either broad and devoid of any reference to prioritization or tailored to a specific problem and removed from the overall goals of the safeguards community. For example, developing new methods of environmental sampling, improving containment and surveillance (C/S) technologies to increase efficiency and decrease inspection time, advancing nuclear material accountancy (NMA) techniques, and planning safeguards approaches for new types of nuclear facilities are all important. They have not, however, been distinctly prioritized at a high level within the safeguards community. Based on a review of existing literature and interviews with experts on these upcoming challenges, this paper offers a high-level summary of present and future priorities in safeguards, with attention both to what is feasible and to what is most imperative. In doing so, the paper addresses the potential repercussions for failing to prioritize, with a focus on the risk of diversion of nuclear material. Within the context of shifts in the American political landscape, and keeping in mind that nonproliferation issues may take a backseat to others in the near future, a prioritized view of safeguards objectives will be vital. In the interest of expanding upon this work, the paper offers several potential conceptual models for prioritization which can be explored in greater depth upon further research.

Challenges in Designing Mechatronic Systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Torry-Smith, Jonas; Qamar, Ahsan; Achiche, Sofiane

2013-01-01

Development of mechatronic products is traditionally carried out by several design experts from different design domains. Performing development of mechatronic products is thus greatly challenging. In order to tackle this, the critical challenges in mechatronics have to be well understood and well...... supported through applicable methods and tools. This paper aims at identifying the major challenges, by conducting a systematic and thorough survey of the most relevant research work in mechatronic design. Solutions proposed in literature are assessed and illustrated through a case study in order...... to investigate if the challenges can be handled appropriately by the methods, tools, and mindsets suggested by the mechatronic community. Using a real world mechatronics case, the paper identifies the areas where further research is required, by showing a clear connection between the actual problems faced during...

Report : business process intelligence challenge 2013

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dongen, van B.F.; Weber, B.; Ferreira, D.R.; De Weerdt, J.; Lohmann, N.; Song, M.; Wohed, P.

2014-01-01

For the third time, the Business Process Intelligence workshop hosted the Business Process Intelligence Challenge. The goal of this challenge is twofold. On the one hand, the challenge allows researchers and practitioners in the field to show their analytical capabilities to a broader audience. On

Using Linked Electronic Health Records to Estimate Healthcare Costs: Key Challenges and Opportunities.

Science.gov (United States)

Asaria, Miqdad; Grasic, Katja; Walker, Simon

2016-02-01

This paper discusses key challenges and opportunities that arise when using linked electronic health records (EHR) in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), with a particular focus on estimating healthcare costs. These challenges and opportunities are framed in the context of a case study modelling the costs of stable coronary artery disease in England. The challenges and opportunities discussed fall broadly into the categories of (1) handling and organising data of this size and sensitivity; (2) extracting clinical endpoints from datasets that have not been designed and collected with such endpoints in mind; and (3) the principles and practice of costing resource use from routinely collected data. We find that there are a number of new challenges and opportunities that arise when working with EHR compared with more traditional sources of data for HEOR. These call for greater clinician involvement and intelligent use of sensitivity analysis.

Preventing and managing challenging behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Hallett, Nutmeg

2018-02-21

Patients exhibiting challenging behaviour, which includes any non-verbal, verbal or physical behaviour, is a significant issue in healthcare settings. Preventing such behaviour and the harm it can cause is important for healthcare organisations and individuals, and involves following a public health model comprised of three tiers: primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention aims to reduce the risk of challenging behaviour occurring in the first instance; secondary prevention involves reducing the risk associated with imminent challenging behaviour and its potential escalation; and tertiary prevention focuses on minimising the physical and emotional harm caused by challenging behaviours, during and after an event. De-escalation should be the first-line response to challenging behaviour, and healthcare staff should use a range of techniques - maintaining safety, self-regulation, effective communication, and assessment and actions - to reduce the incidence of challenging behaviour. In some situations, physical interventions may be required to protect the safety of the individual, healthcare staff and other individuals involved, and healthcare staff should be aware of local policies and procedures for this. Following a serious incident, where there was potential or actual harm to patients and healthcare staff, healthcare organisations should use post-incident reviews to learn from the situation, while healthcare staff should be offered the opportunity for debriefing. Positive responses to challenging behaviour at an organisational and individual level can lead to improved work environments for healthcare staff and optimal patient care and outcomes. ©2018 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers.

Transistor challenges - A DRAM perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Faul, Juergen W.; Henke, Dietmar

2005-01-01

Key challenges of the transistor scaling from a DRAM perspective will be reviewed. Both, array transistors as well as DRAM support devices face challenges that differ essentially from high performance logic device scaling. As a major difference, retention time and standby current requirements characterize special boundary conditions in the DRAM device design. Array device scaling is determined by a chip size driven aggressive node scaling. To continue scaling, major innovations need to be introduced into state-of-the-art planar array transistors. Alternatively, non planar device concepts will have to be evaluated. Support device design for DRAMs is driven by today's market demand for increased chip performances at little to no extra cost. Major innovations are required to continue that path. Besides this strive for performance increase, special limitations for 'on pitch' circuits at the array edge will come up due to the aggressive cell size scaling

Fate of challenge schistosomula in the murine anti-schistosome vaccine model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Von Lichtenberg, F.; Correa-Oliveira, R.; Sher, A.

1985-01-01

Mice exposed to irradiated cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni develop a partial resistance to subsequent parasite challenge. In this study the authors utilized histopathologic methods to investigate the fate of both the immunizing and challenge cercariae in C57BL/6J mice. After immunization by percutaneous infection, a large number of the 50 Kr irradiated organisms could be detected in tissue sections of lung. However, as early as 2 weeks after immunization, the majority of these schistosomula apparently had died, leaving residual inflammatory foci. The numbers of these foci then gradually declined during the next 4 weeks of examination. Cercarial challenge of mice vaccinated 4 weeks previously provoked an intense eosinophil-enriched inflammatory response in percutaneously exposed ear pinnae. Despite these pronounced tissue reactions, no evidence of significant parasite damage or attrition was detected in this migration site. In contrast, schistosomula arriving in the lungs of vaccinated mice produced a greater number of residual inflammatory foci than did larvae appearing in the lungs of normal mice. In addition, challenge schistosomula were cleared from the lungs of vaccinated mice at a slower rate than they were from the lungs of control mice. These observations suggest that the lung is a major site of parasite attrition for both immunizing and challenge infections in the mouse irradiated vaccine model

6 CFR 7.30 - Classification challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 6 Domestic Security 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Classification challenges. 7.30 Section 7.30... INFORMATION Classified Information § 7.30 Classification challenges. (a) Authorized holders of information... classified are encouraged and expected to challenge the classification status of that information pursuant to...

Challenges in obesity research.

Science.gov (United States)

Palou, Andreu; Bonet, M Luisa

2013-09-01

Obesity is the main nutritional problem and one of the most important health problems in developed societies. Central to the challenge of obesity prevention and management is a thoroughly understanding of its determinants. Multiple socio-cultural, socio-economic, behavioural and biological factors--often interrelated and many of them still unknown or poorly understood--can contribute to the establishment and perpetuation of obese phenotypes. Here, we address current research challenges regarding basic aspects of obesity and emerging science for its control, including brown adipose tissue thermogenesis and browning of white fat as possible therapeutic targets for obesity, the influence of the microbioma, and genetics, epigenetics, nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics of obesity. We also highlight hot topics in relation to food and lifestyle as determinants of obesity, including the brain mechanisms underlying environmental motivation to eat, the biological control of spontaneous physical activity, the possible role of concrete foods and food components, and the importance of early life nutrition and environment. Challenges regarding the connections of obesity with other alterations and pathologies are also briefly addressed, as well as social and economical challenges in relation to healthy food production and lifestyle for the prevention of obesity, and technological challenges in obesity research and management. The objective is to give a panoramic of advances accomplished and still ahead relevant to the different stakeholders engaged in understanding and combating obesity. Copyright © AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2013. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.

Machine Learning wins the Higgs Challenge

CERN Multimedia

Abha Eli Phoboo

2014-01-01

The winner of the four-month-long Higgs Machine Learning Challenge, launched on 12 May, is Gábor Melis from Hungary, followed closely by Tim Salimans from the Netherlands and Pierre Courtiol from France. The challenge explored the potential of advanced machine learning methods to improve the significance of the Higgs discovery.   Winners of the Higgs Machine Learning Challenge: Gábor Melis and Tim Salimans (top row), Tianqi Chen and Tong He (bottom row). Participants in the Higgs Machine Learning Challenge were tasked with developing an algorithm to improve the detection of Higgs boson signal events decaying into two tau particles in a sample of simulated ATLAS data* that contains few signal and a majority of non-Higgs boson “background” events. No knowledge of particle physics was required for the challenge but skills in machine learning - the training of computers to recognise patterns in data – were essential. The Challenge, hosted by Ka...

Collaboration challenges in systematic reviews: a survey of health sciences librarians.

Science.gov (United States)

Nicholson, Joey; McCrillis, Aileen; Williams, Jeff D

2017-10-01

While many librarians have been asked to participate in systematic reviews with researchers, often these researchers are not familiar with the systematic review process or the appropriate role for librarians. The purpose of this study was to identify the challenges and barriers that librarians face when collaborating on systematic reviews. To take a wider view of the whole process of collaborating on systematic reviews, the authors deliberately focused on interpersonal and methodological issues other than searching itself. To characterize the biggest challenges that librarians face while collaborating on systematic review projects, we used a web-based survey. The thirteen-item survey included seventeen challenges grouped into two categories: methodological and interpersonal. Participants were required to indicate the frequency and difficulty of the challenges listed. Open-ended questions allowed survey participants to describe challenges not listed in the survey and to describe strategies used to overcome challenges. Of the 17 challenges listed in the survey, 8 were reported as common by over 40% of respondents. These included methodological issues around having too broad or narrow research questions, lacking eligibility criteria, having unclear research questions, and not following established methods. The remaining challenges were interpersonal, including issues around student-led projects and the size of the research team. Of the top 8 most frequent challenges, 5 were also ranked as most difficult to handle. Open-ended responses underscored many of the challenges included in the survey and revealed several additional challenges. These results suggest that the most frequent and challenging issues relate to development of the research question and general communication with team members. Clear protocols for collaboration on systematic reviews, as well as a culture of mentorship, can help librarians prevent and address these challenges.

Comparison of skin responses from macroscopic and microscopic UV challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, InSeok; Bargo, Paulo R.; Chu, Melissa; Ruvolo, Eduardo; Kollias, Nikiforos

2011-03-01

The minimal erythema dose induced by solar-simulated radiation is a useful measure of UV sensitivity of skin. Most skin phototests have been conducted by projecting a flat field of UV radiation onto the skin in an area greater than 15 cm × 15 cm with an increment of radiation doses. In this study, we investigated the responses of human skin to solar-simulated radiation of different field sizes. Twelve human subjects of skin phototype I-IV were exposed to solar-simulated radiation (SSR) on their upper inner arm or on their lower back with a series of doses in increments of 20% in order to determine the threshold dose to induce a minimal perceptible erythema response (MED). Each dose was delivered with a liquid light guide (8 mm diameter on the back or 6 mm on the upper inner arm) and with quartz optical fibers of 200 μm diameter. The resulting skin responses were evaluated visually and investigated with a reflectance confocal microscope and imaging. The erythema response to the microscopic challenge was always diffuse with no clear boundaries extending to several times the exposed site diameter at doses greater than 2 MED. The skin returned to normal appearance from the microscopic challenge after two weeks of exposure while change in appearance for the larger areas persisted for several weeks to months. This new modality of testing provides the possibility to study skin at the microscopic level with a rapid recovery following challenge.

A proof challenge: multiple alignment and information compression

OpenAIRE

Wolff, J Gerard

2014-01-01

These notes pose a "proof challenge": a proof, or disproof, of the proposition that "For any given body of information, I, expressed as a one-dimensional sequence of atomic symbols, a multiple alignment concept, described in the document, provides a means of encoding all the redundancy that may exist in I. Aspects of the challenge are described.

Challenge and opportunity: developing a gas distribution industry in New Brunswick

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pleckaitis, A.J. [Enbridge Gas New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB (Canada)

2001-07-01

The largest gas distributor in Canada is Enbridge, which also operates the longest oil pipeline system in the world. In this presentation, the author discussed the challenges facing Enbridge Gas New Brunswick (EGNB). The limited partnership, the 20-year renewable franchise and the business plan was briefly examined. The state of development of EGNB was described with the back-bone distribution system having been completed and the first customers attached. EGNB is in the process of developing the supporting infrastructure. A map of the Eastern region of the country was shown, followed by a map of New Brunswick displaying the work accomplished to date. A brief overview of the business model was provided and the challenges identified. The customer value chain was illustrated, and a graph showed the natural gas price advantage in New Brunswick. Next, the author discussed the situation in Nova Scotia, where the gas distribution franchise was awarded in December 1999 to Sempra Atlantic Gas. Looking to the future, the author mentioned supply and regional strategy. The final thought was for greater cooperation between government and industry. figs.

Challenges in aerospace medicine education.

Science.gov (United States)

Grenon, S Marlene; Saary, Joan

2011-11-01

Aerospace medicine training and research represents a dream for many and a challenge for most. In Canada, although some opportunities exist for the pursuit of education and research in the aerospace medicine field, they are limited despite the importance of this field for enabling safe human space exploration. In this commentary, we aim to identify some of the challenges facing individuals wishing to get involved in the field as well as the causal factors for these challenges. We also explore strategies to mitigate against these.

Overcoming challenges

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... Disease and Stroke HIV and AIDS Mental Health Pain Pregnancy Reproductive Health Sexual Health Sexually Transmitted Infections ... breastfeeding Overcoming challenges Common questions about breastfeeding and pain Breastfeeding checklist: How to get a good latch ...

Challenges in a Physics Course

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hernández, Carola Hernández; Ravn, Ole; Forero Shelton, Antonio Manu

2014-01-01

This article identifies and analyses some of the challenges that arose in a development process of changing from a content-based teaching environment to a student-centred environment in an undergraduate physics course for medicine and biology students at Universidad de los Andes. Through the use...

Designing the robot inclusive space challenge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rajesh Elara Mohan

2015-11-01

Full Text Available A novel robotic challenge, namely the robot inclusive spaces (RIS challenge, is proposed in this paper, which is a cross disciplinary and design focused initiative. It aims to foster the roboticists, architects, and designers towards realizing robot friendly social spaces. Contrary to conventional robotics competitions focusing on designing robots and its component technologies, robot inclusive spaces challenge adopts an interdisciplinary “design for robots” strategy to overcome the traditional research problem in real world deployments of social robots. In order to realize the RIS, various architectural elements must be adapted including: design principles for inclusive spaces, lighting schemes, furniture choices and arrangement, wall and floor surfaces, pathways among others. This paper introduces the format and design principles of RIS challenge, presents a first run of the challenge, and gives the corresponding analysis.

Deliberative democracy in health care: current challenges and future prospects.

Science.gov (United States)

Safaei, Jalil

2015-01-01

There is a vast body of literature on deliberative, participative, or engaged democracy. In the area of health care there is a rapidly expanding literature on deliberative democracy as embodied in various notions of public engagement, shared decision-making (SDM), patient-centered care, and patient/care provider autonomy over the past few decades. It is useful to review such literature to get a sense of the challenges and prospects of introducing deliberative democracy in health care. This paper reviews the key literature on deliberative democracy and SDM in health care settings with a focus on identifying the main challenges of promoting this approach in health care, and recognizing its progress so far for mapping out its future prospects in the context of advanced countries. Several databases were searched to identify the literature pertinent to the subject of this study. A total of 56 key studies in English were identified and reviewed carefully for indications and evidence of challenges and/or promising avenues of promoting deliberative democracy in health care. Time pressure, lack of financial motivation, entrenched professional interests, informational imbalance, practical feasibility, cost, diversity of decisions, and contextual factors are noted as the main challenges. As for the prospects, greater clarity on conception of public engagement and policy objectives, real commitment of the authorities to public input, documenting evidence of the effectiveness of public involvement, development of patient decision supports, training of health professionals in SDM, and use of multiple and flexible methods of engagement leadership suited to specific contexts are the main findings in the reviewed literature. Seeking deliberative democracy in health care is both challenging and rewarding. The challenges have been more or less identified. However, its prospects are potentially significant. Such prospects are more likely to materialize if deliberative democracy is

Estimating challenge load due to disease outbreaks and other challenges using reproduction records of sows.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathur, P K; Herrero-Medrano, J M; Alexandri, P; Knol, E F; ten Napel, J; Rashidi, H; Mulder, H A

2014-12-01

A method was developed and tested to estimate challenge load due to disease outbreaks and other challenges in sows using reproduction records. The method was based on reproduction records from a farm with known disease outbreaks. It was assumed that the reduction in weekly reproductive output within a farm is proportional to the magnitude of the challenge. As the challenge increases beyond certain threshold, it is manifested as an outbreak. The reproduction records were divided into 3 datasets. The first dataset called the Training dataset consisted of 57,135 reproduction records from 10,901 sows from 1 farm in Canada with several outbreaks of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). The known disease status of sows was regressed on the traits number born alive, number of losses as a combination of still birth and mummified piglets, and number of weaned piglets. The regression coefficients from this analysis were then used as weighting factors for derivation of an index measure called challenge load indicator. These weighting factors were derived with i) a two-step approach using residuals or year-week solutions estimated from a previous step, and ii) a single-step approach using the trait values directly. Two types of models were used for each approach: a logistic regression model and a general additive model. The estimates of challenge load indicator were then compared based on their ability to detect PRRS outbreaks in a Test dataset consisting of records from 65,826 sows from 15 farms in the Netherlands. These farms differed from the Canadian farm with respect to PRRS virus strains, severity and frequency of outbreaks. The single-step approach using a general additive model was best and detected 14 out of the 15 outbreaks. This approach was then further validated using the third dataset consisting of reproduction records of 831,855 sows in 431 farms located in different countries in Europe and America. A total of 41 out of 48 outbreaks detected

The competitive challenge in banking

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boot, A.W.A.; Schmeits, A.

2005-01-01

The increasingly competitive environment poses challenges to bankers. This paper emphasizes relationship banking as a prime source of the banks' comparative advantage. The proliferation of transaction-oriented banking (trading and financial market activities) does however seriously challenge

Myth of reincarnation: a challenge for mental health profession.

Science.gov (United States)

Gadit, A A Muhammad

2009-02-01

Mental health practitioners often come across a number of challenges in their clinical practice. One such challenge that posed a management dilemma presented with the history of reincarnation. This subject has been discussed in non-scientific literature at length but there is an absolute paucity in scientific literature. This paper describes a case where a boy presented with memories of previous life that started haunting him and caused significant anxiety. The subject of reincarnation needs extensive research in order to understand and manage the resultant clinical challenges.

Powering the Future: A Wind Turbine Design Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Pries, Caitlin Hicks; Hughes, Julie

2011-01-01

Nothing brings out the best in eighth-grade physical science students quite like an engineering challenge. The wind turbine design challenge described in this article has proved to be a favorite among students with its focus on teamwork and creativity and its (almost) sneaky reinforcement of numerous physics concepts. For this activity, pairs of…

2010 Panel on the Biomaterials Grand Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Reichert, William “Monty”; Ratner, Buddy D.; Anderson, James; Coury, Art; Hoffman, Allan S.; Laurencin, Cato T.; Tirrell, David

2014-01-01

In 2009, the National Academy for Engineering issued the Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century comprised of 14 technical challenges that must be addressed to build a healthy, profitable, sustainable, and secure global community (http://www.engineeringchallenges.org). Although crucial, none of the NEA Grand Challenges adequately addressed the challenges that face the biomaterials community. In response to the NAE Grand Challenges, Monty Reichert of Duke University organized a panel entitled Grand Challenges in Biomaterials at the at the 2010 Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting in Seattle. Six members of the National Academies—Buddy Ratner, James Anderson, Allan Hoffman, Art Coury, Cato Laurencin, and David Tirrell—were asked to propose a grand challenge to the audience that, if met, would significantly impact the future of biomaterials and medical devices. Successfully meeting these challenges will speed the 60-plus year transition from commodity, off-the-shelf biomaterials to bioengineered chemistries, and biomaterial devices that will significantly advance our ability to address patient needs and also to create new market opportunities. PMID:21171147

Grand Challenges facing Storage Systems

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2004-01-01

In this talk, we will discuss the future of storage systems. In particular, we will focus on several big challenges which we are facing in storage, such as being able to build, manage and backup really massive storage systems, being able to find information of interest, being able to do long-term archival of data, and so on. We also present ideas and research being done to address these challenges, and provide a perspective on how we expect these challenges to be resolved as we go forward.

Addressing complex challenges using a co-innovation approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vereijssen, Jessica; Srinivasan, M.S.; Dirks, Sarah; Fielke, Simon; Jongmans, C.T.; Agnew, Natasha; Klerkx, Laurens; Pinxterhuis, Ina; Moore, John; Edwards, Paul; Brazendale, Rob; Botha, Neels; Turner, James A.

2017-01-01

Co-innovation can be effective for complex challenges – involving interactions amongst multiple stakeholders, viewpoints, perceptions, practices and interests across programmes, sectors and national systems. Approaches to challenges in the primary sector have tended to be linear, where tools and

Examining the relationships between challenge and threat cognitive appraisals and coaching behaviours in football coaches.

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Martin; Turner, Martin J; Gillman, Jamie

2017-12-01

Previous research demonstrates that sports coaching is a stressful activity. This article investigates coaches' challenge and threat cognitive appraisals of stressful situations and their impact on coaching behaviour, using Blascovich and Mendes' (2000) biopsychosocial model as a theoretical framework. A cross-sectional correlational design was utilised to examine the relationships between irrational beliefs (Shortened general attitude and belief scale), challenge and threat appraisals (Appraisal of life events scale), and coaching behaviours (Leadership scale for sports) of 105 professional football academy coaches. Findings reveal significant positive associations between challenge appraisals and social support, and between threat appraisals and autocratic behaviour, and a significant negative association between threat appraisals and positive feedback. Results also show that higher irrational beliefs are associated with greater threat, and lesser challenge cognitive appraisals. However, no associations were revealed between irrational beliefs and challenge cognitive appraisals. Additionally, findings demonstrate a positive relationship between age and training and instruction. Results suggest that practitioners should help coaches to appraise stressful situations as a challenge to promote positive coaching behaviours.

Overcoming challenges

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... breastfeeding means to them. Subscribe To receive Breastfeeding email updates Enter email Submit Overcoming challenges Breastfeeding has a long list ... breastfeeding means to them. Subscribe To receive Breastfeeding email updates Enter email Submit All material contained on ...

Exploiting HPC Platforms for Metagenomics: Challenges and Opportunities (MICW - Metagenomics Informatics Challenges Workshop: 10K Genomes at a Time)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Canon, Shane

2011-10-12

DOE JGI's Zhong Wang, chair of the High-performance Computing session, gives a brief introduction before Berkeley Lab's Shane Canon talks about "Exploiting HPC Platforms for Metagenomics: Challenges and Opportunities" at the Metagenomics Informatics Challenges Workshop held at the DOE JGI on October 12-13, 2011.

iSTEM: The Aerospace Engineering Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

English, Lyn D.; King, Donna T.; Hudson, Peter; Dawes, Les

2014-01-01

The authors developed The Paper Plane Challenge as one of a three-part response to The Aerospace Engineering Challenge. The Aerospace Engineering Challenge was the second of three multi-part activities that they had developed with the teachers during the year. Their aim was to introduce students to the exciting world of engineering, where they…

Global challenges in energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dorian, James P.; Franssen, Herman T.; Simbeck, Dale R. MD

2006-01-01

Environmental and security concerns are stimulating global interest in hydrogen power, renewable energy, and advanced transportation technologies, but no significant movement away from oil and a carbon-based world economy is expected soon. Over the longer-term, however, a transition from fossil fuels to a non-carbon-based economy will likely occur, affecting the type of environment future generations may encounter. Key challenges will face the world's energy industry over the next few decades to ensure a smooth transition-challenges which will require government and industry solutions beginning as early as today. This paper identifies four critical challenges in energy and the choices which will have to be made on how best to confront growing pollution caused by fossil fuels and how to facilitate an eventual revolutionary-like transition to a non-carbon-based global economy

Statistics Poster Challenge for Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Payne, Brad; Freeman, Jenny; Stillman, Eleanor

2013-01-01

The analysis and interpretation of data are important life skills. A poster challenge for schoolchildren provides an innovative outlet for these skills and demonstrates their relevance to daily life. We discuss our Statistics Poster Challenge and the lessons we have learned.

The challenge of sustainability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orr, D.W.

1993-01-01

This paper discusses sustainability in a world that has changed rapidly. The author suggests that ecological assumptions embedded in communism and capitalism are badly flawed, but the flaws were not apparent when there were fewer than a billion people on earth living at low technology levels. Sustaining the earth's vital signs is a challenge to our perception of time, and the numbers - population, environmental damage, oil consumption, waste disposal - are too large to comprehend easily. There is a global debate about what sustainability means. In fact the challenge of sustainability is 6 different challenges: overcoming the tendency to deny inconvenient realities; establishing accurate indicators of human and ecological health; questions about the kinds of technology necessary to make the transition to sustainability; education; the need for an emotional bond between man and nature; rebuilding the existing democratic institutions. 16 refs

Computer graphics visions and challenges: a European perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Encarnação, José L

2006-01-01

I have briefly described important visions and challenges in computer graphics. They are a personal and therefore subjective selection. But most of these issues have to be addressed and solved--no matter if we call them visions or challenges or something else--if we want to make and further develop computer graphics into a key enabling technology for our IT-based society.

Dewey's Challenge to Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Fishman, Stephen M.; McCarthy, Lucille

2010-01-01

Given the serious social problems confronting Americans and others worldwide, the authors propose that Dewey's 1932 challenge to teachers is worthy of reconsideration by educators at all levels. In times similar to our own, Dewey challenged teachers to cultivate students' capacities to identify their happiness with what they can do to improve the…

MO-E-12A-01: Quantitative Imaging: Techniques, Applications, and Challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jackson, E; Jeraj, R; McNitt-Gray, M; Cao, Y

2014-01-01

The first symposium in the Quantitative Imaging Track focused on the introduction of quantitative imaging (QI) by illustrating the potential of QI in diagnostic and therapeutic applications in research and patient care, highlighting key challenges in implementation of such QI applications, and reviewing QI efforts of selected national and international agencies and organizations, including the FDA, NCI, NIST, and RSNA. This second QI symposium will focus more specifically on the techniques, applications, and challenges of QI. The first talk of the session will focus on modalityagnostic challenges of QI, beginning with challenges of the development and implementation of QI applications in single-center, single-vendor settings and progressing to the challenges encountered in the most general setting of multi-center, multi-vendor settings. The subsequent three talks will focus on specific QI challenges and opportunities in the modalityspecific settings of CT, PET/CT, and MR. Each talk will provide information on modality-specific QI techniques, applications, and challenges, including current efforts focused on solutions to such challenges. Learning Objectives: Understand key general challenges of QI application development and implementation, regardless of modality. Understand selected QI techniques and applications in CT, PET/CT, and MR. Understand challenges, and potential solutions for such challenges, for the applications presented for each modality

Evaluation and validation of a bee venom sting challenge performed by a micro-syringe.

Science.gov (United States)

Cortellini, Gabriele; Severino, Maurizio; Francescato, Elisabetta; Turillazzi, Stefano; Spadolini, Igino; Rogkakou, Anthi; Passalacqua, Giovanni

2012-12-01

The honeybee sting challenge is considered a reliable procedure to evaluate the efficacy of specific immunotherapy, but it is difficult and unpractical to perform in clinical practice, because live insects are required. To assess the feasibility and reliability of a challenge test using a micro-syringe, and compared the procedure with sting challenge. Patients on bee venom immunotherapy and without systemic reactions at field sting were enrolled. They underwent a sting challenge with live bee, and large local reactions were assessed up to 48 hours. Those patients displaying systemic reactions at the sting challenge were excluded from the syringe challenge for ethical reasons. The syringe challenge was done by injecting 0.5 μL fresh unfiltered bee venom at 2 mm depth (the length of the sting left by a bee). The same follow-up as at the first challenge was performed. Bee-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) and tryptase were measured after each challenge. Nineteen patients underwent the sting challenge with live bees. Four had immediate systemic reactions (urticaria or asthma) and were excluded from the second challenge. The remaining 15 patients with large local reaction underwent the syringe challenge. No significant difference was seen in the maximum area of the large local reactions between the challenge with live bees and the syringe challenge. Also, no change was seen in tryptase and specific antibodies. This preliminary study suggests that the micro-syringe challenge with honeybee venom is feasible and produces results indistinguishable from those of the traditional sting challenge. Copyright © 2012 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Water challenges of the future; how scientific understanding can help

Science.gov (United States)

Young, G.

2012-04-01

Demands for water resources are diverse and are increasing as human populations grow and become more concentrated in urban areas and as economies develop. Water is essential for many uses including the basic human needs of food and the maintenance of good health, for many industries and the creation of electrical energy and as vital for the sustenance of the natural ecosystems on which all life is dependent. At the same time threats from water - floods, droughts - are increasing with these extreme events becoming more common and more intense in many regions of the world and as more people locate in flood- and drought-prone regions. In general, the challenges for water managers are thus becoming greater; managers not only are having to make increasingly difficult decisions regarding allocation of water resources between competing uses as demand outstrips supply, but they also have to take measures to protect societies from the ravages of extreme events. The intensity of the challenges facing water managers is not uniform throughout the world - many nations in the less developed world experiencing far greater problems than most highly developed nations - but the trend towards greater challenges is clear. Decision-makers, whether at the international, national, provincial or local level benefit from reliable information on water resources. They need information on the availability in quantity and quality of water from a variety of sources - surface waters, aquifers or from artificial sources such as re-cycling of wastewater and desalination techniques. Managers also need reliable predictions on water availability for the various uses to which water is put - such predictions are needed on time scales from weeks to decades to inform decision-making. Predictions are also needed on the probabilities of occurrence of extreme events. Thus hydrological scientists developing predictive models and working within a fast-changing world have much to contribute to the needs of

Deep Space Control Challenges of the New Millennium

Science.gov (United States)

Bayard, David S.; Burdick, Garry M.

1999-01-01

The exploration of deep space presents a variety of significant control challenges. Long communication delays coupled with challenging new science objectives require high levels of system autonomy and increasingly demanding pointing and control capabilities. Historically, missions based on the use of a large single spacecraft have been successful and popular since the early days of NASA. However, these large spacecraft missions are currently being displaced by more frequent and more focused missions based on the use of smaller and less expensive spacecraft designs. This trend drives the need to design smart software and good algorithms which together with the miniaturization of control components will improve performance while replacing the heavier and more expensive hardware used in the past. NASA's future space exploration will also include mission types that have never been attempted before, posing significant challenges to the underlying control system. This includes controlled landing on small bodies (e.g., asteroids and comets), sample return missions (where samples are brought back from other planets), robotic exploration of planetary surfaces (e.g., intelligent rovers), high precision formation flying, and deep space optical interferometry, While the control of planetary spacecraft for traditional flyby and orbiter missions are based on well-understood methodologies, control approaches for many future missions will be fundamentally different. This paradigm shift will require completely new control system development approaches, system architectures, and much greater levels of system autonomy to meet expected performance in the presence of significant environmental disturbances, and plant uncertainties. This paper will trace the motivation for these changes and will layout the approach taken to meet the new challenges. Emerging missions will be used to explain and illustrate the need for these changes.

Electricity of the future: a worldwide challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Ladoucette, Ph.; Chevalier, J.M.; Barbaso, F.; Becache, P.; Belmans, P.; Brottes, F.; Chevet, P.F.; Chone, F.; David, A.; Delorme, Ph.; Hadjsaid, N.; Jalabert, M.; Julliard, Y.; Kott, B.; Lenoir, J.C.; Lewiner, C.; Maillard, D.; Moisan, F.; Pelletier, Ph.; Poniatowski, L.; Rozes, St.; Rytoft, C.; Sanchez Jimenez, M.; Seyrling, G.; Vu, A.

2010-01-01

The increase of power consumption, the development of renewable energy sources and the emergence of new usages like the electric-powered car are as many challenges that put the reliability and the reactivity of our power grids to the test. These grids have to change to become 'intelligent' thanks to the integration of new information and communication technologies over the overall supply chain, from the energy generation to its end use by consumers. For the first time in France, the actors of this change explain their opinion about this revolution and put it in perspective with its full extent and complexity. Changing power grids to make them intelligent is first of all a technical challenge but also a society challenge: the consumer will become an actor involved in the mastery of his energy demand and a renewable energy producer capable to interact with the grid in an increasing manner. This worldwide change that we are going to be the witnesses comes up against numerous obstacles. The aim of this book is to examine the determining factors of the success of this large scale change through its technical, economical and social dimensions. It shows that the emergence of such an advanced power system cannot be possible neither without the reconciliation between some contradictory goals, nor without a strong coordination between the actors. Content: Part 1 - intelligent power networks to answer the 21. century challenges: 1 - the European and French dimension of the electric power sector; 2 - towards a carbon-free economy; 3 - a power grid facing new challenges; 4 - the pre-figuration of intelligent power grids; 5 - the deployment of intelligent (smart) grids; Part 2 - perspectives of smart grids development: 1 - the future of power networks; 2 - a new industrial era; Part 3 - the consumer's position in the deployment of future grids: 1 - changing behaviours; 2 - making the consumer a 'consum'actor'. Synthesis and conclusion. (J.S.)

Challenges in obesity research

OpenAIRE

Palou, Andreu; Bonet, M. Luisa

2013-01-01

Obesity is the main nutritional problem and one of the most important health problems in developed societies. Central to the challenge of obesity prevention and management is a thoroughly understanding of its determinants. Multiple socio-cultural, socio-economic, behavioural and biological factors -often interrelated and many of them still unknown or poorly understood- can contribute to the establishment and perpetuation of obese phenotypes. Here, we address current research challenges regard...

Grand Challenges for Biological and Environmental Research: A Long-Term Vision

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arkin, A.; Baliga, N.; Braam, J.; Church, G.; Collins, J; ; Cottingham, R.; Ecker, J.; Gerstein, M.; Gilna, P.; Greenberg, J.; Handelsman, J.; Hubbard, S.; Joachimiak, A.; Liao, J.; Looger, L.; Meyerowitz, E.; Mjolness, E.; Petsko, G.; Sayler, G.; Simpson, M.; Stacey, G.; Sussman, M.; Tiedje, J.; Bader, D.; Cessi, P.; Collins, W.; Denning, S.; Dickinson, R.; Easterling, D.; Edmonds, J.; Feddema, J.; Field, C.; Fridlind, A.; Fung, I.; Held, I.; Jackson, R.; Janetos, A.; Large, W.; Leinen, M.; Leung, R.; Long, S.; Mace, G.; Masiello, C.; Meehl, G.; Ort, D.; Otto-Bliesner, B.; Penner, J.; Prather, M.; Randall, D.; Rasch, P.; Schneider, E.; Shugart, H.; Thornton, P.; Washington, W.; Wildung, R.; Wiscombe, W.; Zak, D.; Zhang, M.; Bielicki, J.; Buford, M.; Cleland, E.; Dale, V.; Duke, C.; Ehleringer, J.; Hecht, A.; Kammen, D.; Marland, G.; Pataki, D.; Riley, M. Robertson, P.; Hubbard, S.

2010-12-01

The interactions and feedbacks among plants, animals, microbes, humans, and the environment ultimately form the world in which we live. This world is now facing challenges from a growing and increasingly affluent human population whose numbers and lifestyles are driving ever greater energy demand and impacting climate. These and other contributing factors will make energy and climate sustainability extremely difficult to achieve over the 20-year time horizon that is the focus of this report. Despite these severe challenges, there is optimism that deeper understanding of our environment will enable us to mitigate detrimental effects, while also harnessing biological and climate systems to ensure a sustainable energy future. This effort is advanced by scientific inquiries in the fields of atmospheric chemistry and physics, biology, ecology, and subsurface science - all made possible by computing. The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER) within the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science has a long history of bringing together researchers from different disciplines to address critical national needs in determining the biological and environmental impacts of energy production and use, characterizing the interplay of climate and energy, and collaborating with other agencies and DOE programs to improve the world's most powerful climate models. BER science focuses on three distinct areas: (1) What are the roles of Earth system components (atmosphere, land, oceans, sea ice, and the biosphere) in determining climate? (2) How is the information stored in a genome translated into microbial, plant, and ecosystem processes that influence biofuel production, climate feedbacks, and the natural cycling of carbon? (3) What are the biological, geochemical, and physical forces that govern the behavior of Earth's subsurface environment? Ultimately, the goal of BER science is to support experimentation and modeling that can reliably predict the

They rose to the challenge!

CERN Multimedia

Anaïs Schaeffer

2015-01-01

The Challenge-Based Innovation programme is a Masters-level initiative developed at CERN in collaboration with many universities around the world. The first programme saw 45 students take part, and their final results were presented at an official "gala" held on 26 February.   On 26 February, after their official presentations, the six CBI teams presented their prototypes to the public in the IdeaSquare building.   As part of the IdeaSquare project, the Challenge-Based Innovation (CBI) programme is based on a very pragmatic question: can the tools and results produced by basic research (like that being carried out at CERN) be used to solve societal problems? If so, how? To answer this question, 45 students from very different professional and cultural backgrounds formed six teams, each with a specific societal challenge to solve (see here). Over a six-month period – from September 2014 to February 2015 – the six teams worked on the challenge in o...

Exploring the challenges faced by polytechnic students

Science.gov (United States)

Matore, Mohd Effendi @ Ewan Mohd; Khairani, Ahmad Zamri

2015-02-01

This study aims to identify other challenges besides those already faced by students, in seven polytechnics in Malaysia as a continuation to the previous research that had identified 52 main challenges faced by students using the Rasch Model. The explorative study focuses on the challenges that are not included in the Mooney Problem Checklist (MPCL). A total of 121 polytechnic students submitted 183 written responses through the open questions provided. Two hundred fifty two students had responded from a students' perspective on the dichotomous questions regarding their view on the challenges faced. The data was analysed qualitatively using the NVivo 8.0. The findings showed that students from Politeknik Seberang Perai (PSP) gave the highest response, which was 56 (30.6%) and Politeknik Metro Kuala Lumpur (PMKL) had the lowest response of 2 (1.09%). Five dominant challenges were identified, which were the English language (32, 17.5%), learning (14, 7.7%), vehicles (13, 7.1%), information technology and communication (ICT) (13, 7.1%), and peers (11, 6.0%). This article, however, focus on three apparent challenges, namely, English language, vehicles, as well as computer and ICT, as the challenges of learning and peers had been analysed in the previous MPCL. The challenge of English language that had been raised was regarding the weakness in commanding the aspects of speech and fluency. The computer and ICT challenge covered the weakness in mastering ICT and computers, as well as computer breakdowns and low-performance computers. The challenge of vehicles emphasized the unavailability of vehicles to attend lectures and go elsewhere, lack of transportation service in the polytechnic and not having a valid driving license. These challenges are very relevant and need to be discussed in an effort to prepare polytechnics in facing the transformational process of polytechnics.

ATLAS Data Challenges - A Collaborative Worldwide Activity

CERN Multimedia

Poulard, G

The goals of the ATLAS Data Challenges (DC) are the validation of the Computing Model, of the complete software suite, of the data model, and to ensure the correctness of the technical choices to be made. It is understood that these Data Challenges should be of increasing complexity and that their results will be used as input for a Computing TDR and for preparing an MoU in due time. A major feature of the current computing activities (DC1) in ATLAS is the preparation and deployment of the software required for the production of large event samples for the High Level Trigger (HLT) and physics communities, and the actual production of those samples. It should be noted that it is not an option to "run everything at CERN" even if we wanted to; the resources are not available at CERN to carry out the production on a reasonable time-scale. We have therefore had to face the great challenge of organising and then carrying out this large-scale production at a significant number of sites around the world. However, th...

Mental health challenges among adolescents living with HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Vreeman, Rachel C; McCoy, Brittany M; Lee, Sonia

2017-05-16

Mental health is a critical and neglected global health challenge for adolescents infected with HIV. The prevalence of mental and behavioural health issues among HIV-infected adolescents may not be well understood or addressed as the world scales up HIV prevention and treatment for adolescents. The objective of this narrative review is to assess the current literature related to mental health challenges faced by adolescents living with HIV, including access to mental health services, the role of mental health challenges during transition from paediatric to adult care services and responsibilities, and the impact of mental health interventions. For each of the topics included in this review, individual searches were run using Medline and PubMed, accompanied by scans of bibliographies of relevant articles. The topics on which searches were conducted for HIV-infected adolescents include depression and anxiety, transition from paediatric to adult HIV care and its impact on adherence and mental health, HIV-related, mental health services and interventions, and the measurement of mental health problems. Articles were included if the focus was consistent with one of the identified topics, involved HIV-infected adolescents, and was published in English. Mental and behavioural health challenges are prevalent in HIV-infected adolescents, including in resource-limited settings where most of them live, and they impact all aspects of HIV prevention and treatment. Too little has been done to measure the impact of mental health challenges for adolescents living with HIV, to evaluate interventions to best sustain or improve the mental health of this population, or to create healthcare systems with personnel or resources to promote mental health. Mental health issues should be addressed proactively during adolescence for all HIV-infected youth. In addition, care systems need to pay greater attention to how mental health support is integrated into the care management for HIV

Progress and challenges associated with halal authentication of consumer packaged goods.

Science.gov (United States)

Premanandh, Jagadeesan; Bin Salem, Samara

2017-11-01

Abusive business practices are increasingly evident in consumer packaged goods. Although consumers have the right to protect themselves against such practices, rapid urbanization and industrialization result in greater distances between producers and consumers, raising serious concerns on the supply chain. The operational complexities surrounding halal authentication pose serious challenges on the integrity of consumer packaged goods. This article attempts to address the progress and challenges associated with halal authentication. Advancement and concerns on the application of new, rapid analytical methods for halal authentication are discussed. The significance of zero tolerance policy in consumer packaged foods and its impact on analytical testing are presented. The role of halal assurance systems and their challenges are also considered. In conclusion, consensus on the establishment of one standard approach coupled with a sound traceability system and constant monitoring would certainly improve and ensure halalness of consumer packaged goods. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

A Radio-Controlled Car Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Roman, Harry T.

2010-01-01

Watching a radio-controlled car zip along a sidewalk or street has become a common sight. Within this toy are the basic ingredients of a mobile robot, used by industry for a variety of important and potentially dangerous tasks. In this challenge, students consider modifying an of-the-shelf, radio-controlled car, adapting it for a robotic task.

Collaboration challenges in systematic reviews: a survey of health sciences librarians

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joey Nicholson

2017-10-01

Results: Of the 17 challenges listed in the survey, 8 were reported as common by over 40% of respondents. These included methodological issues around having too broad or narrow research questions, lacking eligibility criteria, having unclear research questions, and not following established methods. The remaining challenges were interpersonal, including issues around student-led projects and the size of the research team. Of the top 8 most frequent challenges, 5 were also ranked as most difficult to handle. Open-ended responses underscored many of the challenges included in the survey and revealed several additional challenges. Conclusions: These results suggest that the most frequent and challenging issues relate to development of the research question and general communication with team members. Clear protocols for collaboration on systematic reviews, as well as a culture of mentorship, can help librarians prevent and address these challenges.  This article has been approved for the Medical Library Association’s Independent Reading Program.

Software challenges in extreme scale systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarkar, Vivek; Harrod, William; Snavely, Allan E

2009-01-01

Computer systems anticipated in the 2015 - 2020 timeframe are referred to as Extreme Scale because they will be built using massive multi-core processors with 100's of cores per chip. The largest capability Extreme Scale system is expected to deliver Exascale performance of the order of 10 18 operations per second. These systems pose new critical challenges for software in the areas of concurrency, energy efficiency and resiliency. In this paper, we discuss the implications of the concurrency and energy efficiency challenges on future software for Extreme Scale Systems. From an application viewpoint, the concurrency and energy challenges boil down to the ability to express and manage parallelism and locality by exploring a range of strong scaling and new-era weak scaling techniques. For expressing parallelism and locality, the key challenges are the ability to expose all of the intrinsic parallelism and locality in a programming model, while ensuring that this expression of parallelism and locality is portable across a range of systems. For managing parallelism and locality, the OS-related challenges include parallel scalability, spatial partitioning of OS and application functionality, direct hardware access for inter-processor communication, and asynchronous rather than interrupt-driven events, which are accompanied by runtime system challenges for scheduling, synchronization, memory management, communication, performance monitoring, and power management. We conclude by discussing the importance of software-hardware co-design in addressing the fundamental challenges for application enablement on Extreme Scale systems.

Managing a scarce resource: addressing critical health workforce challenges.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Giepmans. P.; Dussault, G.; Batenburg, R.; Frich, J.; Olivers, R.; Sermeus, W.

2013-01-01

With health care services significantly changing, the challenge is to initiate innovative, situational and integrated workforce forecasting and planning. Many health systems require a shift in mindset to move to the planning of skill mixes for health care professionals. This implies great challenges

Challenges and Obstacles of e-Government Streamlining: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anupam K. Nath

2014-05-01

Full Text Available e-Government streamlining has been a challenge since its inception in the domain of e-business. Business organizations face challenges while trying to collaborate with partners through the use of information technology in order to ensure efficient delivery of services. One of the major reasons for these inefficient services has been political bureaucracies among government organizations. To meet this challenge, a transparent and networked environment is required where government organizations can effectively partner with other relevant organizations. Using a case study analysis, we intend to identify not just the challenges in government organizations while providing services which require collaborative effort, but also the obstacles in adopting new technology for collaboration. We believe that the outcome of our research could provide a generalized guideline for government agencies where there is need for digital collaboration. Our findings will thus help government organizations to address the challenges in digital collaboration, and also help them implement new technology successfully to ensure efficient delivery of services.

Challenges and Strategies for Hospice Caregivers: A Qualitative Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliver, Debra Parker; Demiris, George; Washington, Karla T; Clark, Carlyn; Thomas-Jones, Deborah

2017-08-01

Family caregivers of hospice patients are responsible for the day-to-day care of their loved ones during the final months of life. They are faced with numerous challenges. The purpose of this study was to understand the challenges and coping strategies used by hospice caregivers as they care for their family members. This study is a secondary analysis of data from an attention control group in a large randomized controlled trial testing a cognitive behavioral intervention with hospice caregivers. Audiotaped interviews were coded with initial themes and combined into final categories of caregiving challenges and strategies for managing the hospice caregiving experience. Caregivers shared narratives discussing challenges that included their frustrations with patient care issues, emotional challenges, frustrations with various health care systems, financial problems, and personal health concerns. They also discussed coping strategies involving patient care, self-care, and emotional support. The coping techniques were both problem and emotion based. There is a need for interventions that focus on strengthening both problem-based and emotional-based coping skills to improve the caregiving experience. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Unique Identification Project Issues and Challenges Unique ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Multiple authentication methods · UID adoption can help improve pro-poor delivery systems · Technology Challenges … Biometric Challenges · Rural Biometric Challenges · Biometric De-Duplication · Architecture Challenges · Network Infrastructure · Security, Fraud Detection · Managing multiple risks · UID goals can be ...

Five challenges for public administrations in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ongaro Edoardo

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines five ‘challenges’ facing most administrative systems across Europe. The first challenge stems from the increasingly asymmetric nature of European multilevel governance; the second challenge arises from the missed opportunity of reforming in the absence of a dominant administrative paradigm; the third challenge lies in rescuing and transforming the welfare state; the fourth challenge is concerned with making the most of the knowledge generated in the field of strategic management for strategically managing public services; the fifth challenge lies in staff (demotivation. These challenges are pitched at very different levels: some are related to issues of public governance, some to issues of scholarly and practitioners’ collective understandings of public administration in Europe, and some to trends in the global economy, and notably the financial, economic and fiscal ‘crises’.

Overcoming challenges

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... menu It's Only Natural Planning ahead Breastfeeding and baby basics Making breastfeeding work for you Addressing breastfeeding ... in the African-American community Incredible facts about babies, breastmilk, and breastfeeding Overcoming challenges Common questions about ...

Overcoming challenges

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... into your life Breastfeeding in daily life: At home and in public Laws that support breastfeeding 10 ... and jobs View all pages in this section Home It's Only Natural Overcoming challenges It's Only Natural ...

Monitoring challenges and innovative ideas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

O' Neill, R.V.; Hunsaker, C.T.; Levine, D.A.

1990-01-01

Monitoring programs are difficult to design even when they focus on specific problems. Ecosystems are complex, and it is often impossible to predetermine what aspects of system structure or dynamics will respond to a specific insult. It is equally difficult to interpret whether a response is a stabilizing compensatory mechanism or a real loss of capacity to maintain the ecosystem. The problems are compounded in a broad monitoring program designed to assess ecosystem health'' at regional and continental scales. It is challenging in the extreme to monitor ecosystem response, at any scale, to past insults as well as an unknown future array of impacts. The present paper will examine some of the fundamental issues and challenges raised by large-scale monitoring efforts. The challenges will serve as a framework and as an excuse to discuss several important topics in more detail. Following the discussion of challenges, we suggest some basic innovations that could be important across a range of monitoring programs. The innovations include integrative measures, innovative methodology, and creative interpretation. 59 refs., 1 tab.

Management Challenges of Launching Multiple Payloads for Multiple Customers

OpenAIRE

Callen, Dave

1999-01-01

Orbital has provided launch services for multiple satellites as a means to provide greater economy for access to space. These include satellites from NASA, 000, commercial companies, universities, and foreign governments. While satellite customers view shared launches as a means to achieve reduced launch costs, this approach adds many complexities that a traditional launch service provider does not have to address for a dedicated launch. This paper will discuss some of the challenges associat...

The economic effect and outcome of delaying oral food challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Couch, Christopher; Franxman, Tim; Greenhawt, Matthew

2016-05-01

Food specific IgE (sIgE) is a useful marker to assess predictability of oral food challenge (OFC) outcome. A threshold of less than 2 kUA/L for peanut, egg, and milk has been proposed as a 50% negative predictive value at which patients may pass an OFC. To assess the economic effect and outcome of delaying OFCs. A retrospective analysis was performed for peanut, egg, and milk OFCs conducted between 2001 and 2012 at a tertiary food allergy referral center. Delayed OFC was defined as greater than 12 months from the time the sIgE level became less than 2 kUA/L. Time to OFC was explored in association with skin prick test result (wheal size), OFC outcome, and the economic effect of delay. Of 319 challenges, 173 OFCs were delayed (54.2%) by a mean time of 35.5 months (range, 13-123 months) vs a mean time of 4.2 months in the 146 challenges that were not delayed (P care system. Copyright © 2016 American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ITER safety challenges and opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piet, S.J.

1991-01-01

Results of the Conceptual Design Activity (CDA) for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) suggest challenges and opportunities. ''ITER is capable of meeting anticipated regulatory dose limits,'' but proof is difficult because of large radioactive inventories needing stringent radioactivity confinement. We need much research and development (R ampersand D) and design analysis to establish that ITER meets regulatory requirements. We have a further opportunity to do more to prove more of fusion's potential safety and environmental advantages and maximize the amount of ITER technology on the path toward fusion power plants. To fulfill these tasks, we need to overcome three programmatic challenges and three technical challenges. The first programmatic challenge is to fund a comprehensive safety and environmental ITER R ampersand D plan. Second is to strengthen safety and environment work and personnel in the international team. Third is to establish an external consultant group to advise the ITER Joint Team on designing ITER to meet safety requirements for siting by any of the Parties. The first of the three key technical challenges is plasma engineering -- burn control, plasma shutdown, disruptions, tritium burn fraction, and steady state operation. The second is the divertor, including tritium inventory, activation hazards, chemical reactions, and coolant disturbances. The third technical challenge is optimization of design requirements considering safety risk, technical risk, and cost. Some design requirements are now too strict; some are too lax. Fuel cycle design requirements are presently too strict, mandating inappropriate T separation from H and D. Heat sink requirements are presently too lax; they should be strengthened to ensure that maximum loss of coolant accident temperatures drop

Cognitive Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

... Alliance Our Story Our Vision Our Team Our Leadership Our Results Our Corporate Policies FAQs Careers Contact Us Media Store Privacy Policy Sitemap Learn Engage Donate About TSC Cognitive Challenges Approximately 45% to 60% of individuals with TSC ...

Seven challenges for neuroscience.

Science.gov (United States)

Markram, Henry

2013-01-01

Although twenty-first century neuroscience is a major scientific enterprise, advances in basic research have not yet translated into benefits for society. In this paper, I outline seven fundamental challenges that need to be overcome. First, neuroscience has to become "big science" - we need big teams with the resources and competences to tackle the big problems. Second, we need to create interlinked sets of data providing a complete picture of single areas of the brain at their different levels of organization with "rungs" linking the descriptions for humans and other species. Such "data ladders" will help us to meet the third challenge - the development of efficient predictive tools, enabling us to drastically increase the information we can extract from expensive experiments. The fourth challenge goes one step further: we have to develop novel hardware and software sufficiently powerful to simulate the brain. In the future, supercomputer-based brain simulation will enable us to make in silico manipulations and recordings, which are currently completely impossible in the lab. The fifth and sixth challenges are translational. On the one hand we need to develop new ways of classifying and simulating brain disease, leading to better diagnosis and more effective drug discovery. On the other, we have to exploit our knowledge to build new brain-inspired technologies, with potentially huge benefits for industry and for society. This leads to the seventh challenge. Neuroscience can indeed deliver huge benefits but we have to be aware of widespread social concern about our work. We need to recognize the fears that exist, lay them to rest, and actively build public support for neuroscience research. We have to set goals for ourselves that the public can recognize and share. And then we have to deliver on our promises. Only in this way, will we receive the support and funding we need.

Millennium Challenge Account

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tarnoff, Curt

2008-01-01

.... foreign aid initiative. The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) provides assistance through a competitive selection process to developing nations that are pursing political and economic reforms in three areas...

Families of returned defence force personnel: a changing landscape of challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Berle, David; Steel, Zachary

2015-08-01

This paper aims to identify the key challenges experienced by the families of defence force personnel following deployment. We undertook a selective review of four post-deployment challenges to the families of defence force personnel: (1) changes to relationships; (2) changes to family member roles and responsibilities; (3) adjustment of children and parenting challenges; and (4) anger, family conflict and violence. Emerging issues in the area of post-deployment adjustment are also discussed. Empirical studies of post-deployment family adjustment are lacking. Each of the reviewed challenges can contribute to psychological difficulties and precipitate contact with mental health services. The challenges faced by defence force personnel when returning from deployment arise within a family context. Clinicians should thoroughly assess these factors in families following deployment, but also recognise family strengths and resilience to these challenges. © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2015.

Sustainable Supply of Resources and Energy is a Challenge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kühn, Michael; Ask, Maria; Bruckman, Viktor; Hangx, S.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/30483579X; Juhlin, Christopher

2015-01-01

The European Geosciences Union brings together geoscientists from all over Europe and the rest of the world, covering all disciplines of the earth sciences. This geoscientific inter- and multi-disciplinarity is needed to tackle the challenges of the future. A major challenge for humankind is to

Next Generation Innovation Policy and Grand Challenges

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuhlmann, Stefan; Rip, Arie

2018-01-01

The paper explores transformative ways to address Grand Challenges, while locating them in a broader diagnosis of ongoing changes. Coping with Grand Challenges is a challenge in its own right, for policy as well as for science, technology, and innovation actors. The paper presents building blocks

ITER safety challenges and opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Piet, S.J.

1992-01-01

This paper reports on results of the Conceptual Design Activity (CDA) for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) suggest challenges and opportunities. ITER is capable of meeting anticipated regulatory dose limits, but proof is difficult because of large radioactive inventories needing stringent radioactivity confinement. Much research and development (R ampersand D) and design analysis is needed to establish that ITER meets regulatory requirements. There is a further oportunity to do more to prove more of fusion's potential safety and environmental advantages and maximize the amount of ITER technology on the path toward fusion power plants. To fulfill these tasks, three programmatic challenges and three technical challenges must be overcome. The first step is to fund a comprehensive safety and environmental ITER R ampersand D plan. Second is to strengthen safety and environment work and personnel in the international team. Third is to establish an external consultant group to advise the ITER Joint Team on designing ITER to meet safety requirements for siting by any of the Parties. The first of three key technical challenges is plasma engineering - burn control, plasma shutdown, disruptions, tritium burn fraction, and steady state operation. The second is the divertor, including tritium inventory, activation hazards, chemical reactions, and coolant disturbances. The third technical challenge is optimization of design requirements considering safety risk, technical risk, and cost

Problems, challenges and promises: perspectives on precision medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, David J

2016-05-01

The 'precision medicine (systems medicine)' concept promises to achieve a shift to future healthcare systems with a more proactive and predictive approach to medicine, where the emphasis is on disease prevention rather than the treatment of symptoms. The individualization of treatment for each patient will be at the centre of this approach, with all of a patient's medical data being computationally integrated and accessible. Precision medicine is being rapidly embraced by biomedical researchers, pioneering clinicians and scientific funding programmes in both the European Union (EU) and USA. Precision medicine is a key component of both Horizon 2020 (the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation) and the White House's Precision Medicine Initiative. Precision medicine promises to revolutionize patient care and treatment decisions. However, the participants in precision medicine are faced with a considerable central challenge. Greater volumes of data from a wider variety of sources are being generated and analysed than ever before; yet, this heterogeneous information must be integrated and incorporated into personalized predictive models, the output of which must be intelligible to non-computationally trained clinicians. Drawing primarily from the field of 'oncology', this article will introduce key concepts and challenges of precision medicine and some of the approaches currently being implemented to overcome these challenges. Finally, this article also covers the criticisms of precision medicine overpromising on its potential to transform patient care. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Early Childhood Teachers' Views about Teaching Physical Education: Challenges and Recommendations

Science.gov (United States)

Tsangaridou, Niki

2017-01-01

Background: Educational scholars emphasize that in order to gain a better understanding of the complexity of teaching, greater attention needs to be paid to teachers' views and perceptions of the challenges and barriers of teaching. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe preschool teachers' views and perceptions of the main challenges…

Nuclear Explosion Monitoring Advances and Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, G. E.

2015-12-01

We address the state-of-the-art in areas important to monitoring, current challenges, specific efforts that illustrate approaches addressing shortcomings in capabilities, and additional approaches that might be helpful. The exponential increase in the number of events that must be screened as magnitude thresholds decrease presents one of the greatest challenges. Ongoing efforts to exploit repeat seismic events using waveform correlation, subspace methods, and empirical matched field processing holds as much "game-changing" promise as anything being done, and further efforts to develop and apply such methods efficiently are critical. Greater accuracy of travel time, signal loss, and full waveform predictions are still needed to better locate and discriminate seismic events. Important developments include methods to model velocities using multiple types of data; to model attenuation with better separation of source, path, and site effects; and to model focusing and defocusing of surface waves. Current efforts to model higher frequency full waveforms are likely to improve source characterization while more effective estimation of attenuation from ambient noise holds promise for filling in gaps. Censoring in attenuation modeling is a critical problem to address. Quantifying uncertainty of discriminants is key to their operational use. Efforts to do so for moment tensor (MT) inversion are particularly important, and fundamental progress on the statistics of MT distributions is the most important advance needed in the near term in this area. Source physics is seeing great progress through theoretical, experimental, and simulation studies. The biggest need is to accurately predict the effects of source conditions on seismic generation. Uniqueness is the challenge here. Progress will depend on studies that probe what distinguishes mechanisms, rather than whether one of many possible mechanisms is consistent with some set of observations.

Deliberative democracy in health care: current challenges and future prospects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Safaei J

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Jalil Safaei Department of Economics, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, CanadaBackground: There is a vast body of literature on deliberative, participative, or engaged democracy. In the area of health care there is a rapidly expanding literature on deliberative democracy as embodied in various notions of public engagement, shared decision-making (SDM, patient-centered care, and patient/care provider autonomy over the past few decades. It is useful to review such literature to get a sense of the challenges and prospects of introducing deliberative democracy in health care.Objective: This paper reviews the key literature on deliberative democracy and SDM in health care settings with a focus on identifying the main challenges of promoting this approach in health care, and recognizing its progress so far for mapping out its future prospects in the context of advanced countries.Method: Several databases were searched to identify the literature pertinent to the subject of this study. A total of 56 key studies in English were identified and reviewed carefully for indications and evidence of challenges and/or promising avenues of promoting deliberative democracy in health care.Results: Time pressure, lack of financial motivation, entrenched professional interests, informational imbalance, practical feasibility, cost, diversity of decisions, and contextual factors are noted as the main challenges. As for the prospects, greater clarity on conception of public engagement and policy objectives, real commitment of the authorities to public input, documenting evidence of the effectiveness of public involvement, development of patient decision supports, training of health professionals in SDM, and use of multiple and flexible methods of engagement leadership suited to specific contexts are the main findings in the reviewed literature.Conclusion: Seeking deliberative democracy in health care is both challenging and rewarding. The

Challenging Identities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

depends on the conceptual or ideological constellation in which it takes part. This volume on one hand demonstrates the role of notions of identity in a variety of European contexts, and on the other hand highlights how there may be reasons to challenge the use of the term and corresponding social...

Energy and environment: a challenge for materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marchand, Ch.; Walle, E.; Hody, St.; Alleau, Th.; Bassat, J.M.; Pourcelly, G.; Aitelli, P.; Crepy, Ch. de; Le Douaron, A.; Moussy, F.; Guibert, A. de; Mogensen, P.C.; Beauvy, M.

2005-01-01

The ESIREM (Ecole Superieure d'Ingenieurs de Recherche en Electronique et en Materiaux) has organized its yearly colloquium in Dijon on the 20. of January 2005. The topic was 'energy and environment: a challenge for materials'. Here are presented the summaries of the speeches of Mr C. Marchand: how to conciliate increasing needs in energy, limited resources in hydrocarbons and to control the releases of greenhouse gases: a main challenge for the 21. century; of Mr E. Walle: materials for the future nuclear systems; of Mr S. Hody: which future prospect for the energy production: the point of view of Gaz de France; of Mr T. Alleau: the hydrogen, the energy of the future; of Mr J.M. Bassat: the specificities of the SOFC, new materials for a carrying out at ambient temperature; of Mr G. Pourcelly: the PEMFC; of Mrs A. Le Douaron and F. Moussy: materials, energy and environment in automotive industry; of Ms A. de Guibert: the key role of materials in the lithium-ion accumulators; of Mr P. C. Mogensen: the photovoltaic materials: the key of the solar energy; and of Mr M. Beauvy: the future reactors: challenges for materials. (O.M.)

Circuit-Adaptive Challenge Balancing in Racing Games

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rietveld, A.; Bakkes, S.; Roijers, D.

2014-01-01

In this paper, we propose a novel approach to challenge balancing in racing games: circuit-adaptive challenge balancing. We propose to automatically adapt the actual racing circuit - while it is being played - such that the performed circuit adaptations intelligently balance the challenge for all

Educational Leadership: Key Challenges and Ethical Tensions

Science.gov (United States)

Duignan, Patrick

2007-01-01

"Educational Leadership" is a major research book on contemporary leadership challenges for educational leaders. In this groundbreaking new work, educational leaders in schools, including teachers, are provided with ways of analysing and resolving common but complex leadership challenges. Ethical tensions inherent in these challenges are…

Principles and challenges of programme planning at a language ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Kate H

Principles and challenges of programme planning at a language centre serving two Swiss universities. Sabina Schaffner. The UZH and ETH Zurich Language Center, Switzerland. E-mail: sabina.schaffner@sprachen.uzh.ch. 1. Introduction. In this contribution, I would like to share some of the professional challenges that I ...

[Improving treatment adherence in kidney transplantation: a major challenge].

Science.gov (United States)

Kessler, Michèle

2014-06-01

The kidney transplant recipient is faced not only with the perspective of taking immunosuppressive drugs lifelong, but also the possibility of other long-term treatments prescribed for preexisting conditions, complications, or side effects. Proper management, and most importantly patient adherence, can become a complex challenge. Here we recall current definitions and describe methods for measuring treatment adherence, followed by a discussion on the prevalence of non-adherence in kidney transplant recipients, its effect on graft survival, and factors predictive of non-adherence. Ways of improving adherence are examined, leading to the conviction that helping patients take their medications regularly would probably have a greater impact on graft survival than marketing a new immunosuppressive agent. Copyright © 2014 Association Société de néphrologie. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

The Challenge of the Deanship.

Science.gov (United States)

Montez, Joni; Wolverton, Mimi

This paper addresses the evolution of the kinds of challenges that deans have met over time and examines perceptions of today's deans concerning their ability to deal effectively with current challenges. A sample of deans (n=695) in the colleges of education, business, liberal arts, and nursing at 360 public and private institutions was surveyed…

Challenges of Collaborative Product Styling in Design Teams

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ovesen, Nis

2016-01-01

Apart from a long list of advantages, design students face certain challenges when working collectively in groups on form, styling and aesthetics. An investigation about these challenges has been carried out and a number of challenges have been identified. The most apparent challenges relate to d...... to different aesthetic preferences, lack of tools and methods, and difficulties in establishing form related requirements. The challenges are presented and design quality, as well as some solution strategies, is discussed....

Anaesthetic Challenges in a High Risk Parturient with Myasthenia ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The prevalence of myasthenia gravis is low. The management implications of this disease in pregnant women are very challenging for anaesthetists. The objective is to highlight some of the challenges, the management and the lessons learnt during the management of this patient. This is a case report of a 31-year old ...

Challenges and Strategies of Abidjan Port-Hinterland Connectivity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gamassa Pascal Kany Prud’ome

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Abidjan port-hinterland is composed of three countries which include Ivory Coast, Mali and Burkina Faso. The fast economic growth of the above countries resulted to a greater demand for the foreign goods from their population, causing a congestion problem at Abidjan port. Because of this problem, the connectivity movement between the port and its hinterland has considerably slowed down. In this article a qualitative methodology is used to analyse the Abidjan port-hinterland connectivity. The constant delays of the train services, the road congestion and the lack of coordination and communication between Abidjan port and its hinterland customers are the main presented challenges. The results of this research demonstrate that the poor quality roads and railways and the lack of a new dry port in Ivory Coast greatly affects the fluidity of the Abidjan port-hinterland connectivity. This article suggests some strategies on how to solve the current challenges and will be helpful in deciding on how the Abidjan port should be developed better and improve its connectivity with its hinterland.

International migration: a global challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, P; Widgren, J

1996-04-01

Trends in international migration are presented in this multiregional analysis. Seven of the world's wealthiest countries have about 33% of the world's migrant population, but under 16% of the total world population. Population growth in these countries is substantially affected by the migrant population. The migration challenge is external and internal. The external challenge is to balance the need for foreign labor and the commitment to human rights for those migrants seeking economic opportunity and political freedom. The internal challenge is to assure the social adjustment of immigrants and their children and to integrate them into society as citizens and future leaders. Why people cross national borders and how migration flows are likely to evolve over the next decades are explained. This report also presents some ways that countries can manage migration or reduce the pressures which force people to migrate. It is recommended that receiving nations control immigration by accelerating global economic growth and reducing wars and human rights violations. This report examines the impact of immigration on international trade, aid, and direct intervention policies. Although migration is one of the most important international economic issues, it is not coordinated by an international group. The European experience indicates that it is not easy to secure international cooperation on issues that affect national sovereignty. It is suggested that countries desiring control of their borders should remember that most people never cross national borders to live or work in another country, that 50% of the world's migrants move among developing countries, and that countries can shift from being emigration to immigration countries. The author suggests that sustained reductions in migration pressure are a better alternative than the "quick fixes" that may invite the very much feared mass and unpredictable movements.

Satisfaction amid professional challenges: International medical graduates in rural Tasmania

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel R Terry

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background At the time of recruitment, migration, and placement, international medical graduates (IMGs encounter professional challenges. These challenges may include a loss of status and professional identity, professional isolation in rural practice, restrictions on medical practice, and social isolation. Understanding the nature of these challenges may facilitate the recruitment, placement, and success of international medical graduates within rural Tasmania. Aims The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences, challenges,and barriers that IMGs encounter as they work and live in rural Tasmania. Methods The study used a mixed-methods design where data were collected using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews across the south, north, and northwest of Tasmania. IMGs were recruited through purposive snowball and convenience sampling. Results A total of 105 questionnaires were returned (response rate 30.0per cent and 23semi-structured interviews were conducted with IMGs across Tasmania. Questionnaire participants indicated that the majority of IMGs are satisfied in their current employment; however, interview participants indicated there were a number of barriers to practising medicine in Tasmania as well as factors that would influence ongoing employment in the state. Despite these challenges, professional support was recognised as a key contributor to professional satisfaction, particularly among IMGs who had just arrived. Conclusion The study contributes to the current knowledge and understanding of IMGs who live and work in rural areas. The study shows that there are high levels of satisfaction among IMGs with their current position; however, the research also provides insight into the complexities and factors that impact IMGs as they work and live within rural areas such as Tasmania. This study offers an understanding for policy to improve greater retention of IMGs across rural areas.

Overcoming challenges

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... Contact Us Blog Popular topics Vision and mission Leadership Programs and activities In your community Funding opportunities Internships and jobs View all pages in this section Home It's Only Natural Overcoming challenges It's Only Natural Planning ahead Addressing breastfeeding myths ...

Open Innovation Challenge in Healthcare. Role for Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Dimitriu, Rodica; Lungeanu, Diana; Mãnescu, Cristina; Pantazi, Mirela; Mihalas, George I

2015-01-01

The vision of this paper is that collaboration creates new openings for engagement of non-commercial actors, such as universities, in innovation networks on the one hand, while opening up for collaborative innovation, and getting valuable real life anchors on the other hand, all these underpinned by greater connectivity and globalization. We present our approach in re-designing the courses on medical informatics and data processing to meet these challenges by employing public Internet services and media facilitation.

The challenge of conceiving

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Claus Thorp; Jørgensen, Ulrik

2011-01-01

the perspective of engineering design challenges where the need for problem identification is obvious to avoid the pitfall to reproduce and piecemeal engineer already existing product or service concepts. Problem identification is not a simple desk research task as it often involves a multitude of actors having......One of the big challenges in the CDIO approach to engineering education is the first part focusing on conceiving problems to be handled and eventually solved. Traditional engineering education has been dominated by its focus on technical disciplines emphasising their individual tool box of problem...

Anticipating flow assurance challenges through geochemistry

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Flannery, M. [Fluid Evaluation and Sampling Technologies (FEAST) Team, Shell International Exploration and Production (United Kingdom)

2008-07-01

The behaviour of reservoir fluids pose a challenge at all stages of petroleum production, from the reservoir to refinery. The challenges sometimes stem from sub-optimal operations or inappropriate system design, with assumptions of similar fluid properties across the field. Hydrocarbon fluid phase behaviour is the product of local PVT conditions and the geochemical identity of the fluids. An appropriate development scenario along with anticipation of production challenges, can benefit from early integration of engineering and geochemical understanding of hydrocarbon fluids. This paper presented field examples of how the kerogen type and maturity, and later post-generation alteration processes such as biodegradation, water washing, TSR can influence likely flow assurance challenges in the production stream. The confounding issues of multiple charges and overlaying signatures were also discussed.

Patients who challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Ward, Michael; Savulescu, Julian

2006-12-01

Individuals have different values. They seek to express their individuality even when receiving medical care. It is a part of modern medical practice and respect for patient autonomy to show respect for different values. We give an account of what it means to respect different values and challenging patients in medical practice. Challenging choices are often choices which are perceived by many to be either irrational or against a person's interests, such as engaging in harmful or excessively risky activities. When the medical profession is involved in such choices, the basic medical principle of acting in a person's best interests is challenged. Often doctors refuse to respect controversial choices on paternalistic grounds. We should all respect and facilitate the controversial choices of competent individuals, subject to resource limitations, our own and others well-being and autonomy, and the public interest. But more importantly, sometimes such choices make for a better, more autonomous life. Sometimes, such choices reflect considerations of global well-being or altruism, or idiosyncratic attitudes to risk. Sometimes, they reflect unusual values. However, in some other cases, controversial choices are irrational and are not expressions of our autonomy. Doctors should assist patients to make rational if individual choices. The patient also bears the responsibility for bringing his beliefs to the attention of the clinician.

The Terawatt Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Haegel, Nancy

In response to concerns about accelerating climate change, the world is uniting to both envision and enable a global energy system that supports a sustainable environment and broad economic prosperity. Growth in the technology and the deployment of renewable energy has been dramatic. Evidence can be seen in the growth of photovoltaics (PV) and wind as contributors to worldwide electricity production over the last decade. PV and wind provided 1.2% and 3.7% of global electricity production in 2015, compared to 0.1% and 1.3% respectively in 2005. These numbers indicate both the rapid increase in the rate of deployment, as well as the remaining work to be done to extend this trend to transform a massive energy system and provide a significant fraction of the world's future energy demand with renewable energy. Based on recent trends, it is highly likely that global cumulative PV installation will reach terawatt scale in the next few decades. The challenges, as well as the resulting impact, vary greatly depending on whether we envision 1 TW ( 15% of 2015 global electricity capacity), 3 TW ( 50% of 2015 global electricity capacity) or 10 TW, a level that could drive electrification of transportation and industrial sectors and production of solar fuels. This presentation will draw upon the work of the 2016 GA-SERI (Global Alliance of Solar Energy Research Institutes) Terawatt Workshop to assess the feasibility and summarize the challenges for PV as a primary energy source. These challenges include the continuing demand for improved efficiency and reliability, the required magnitude of capital expenditure, the need for a sustainable industry (both financially and environmentally), as well as needs for grid modernization and consistent policies that support global climate goals. Physicists can play important roles in addressing this full range of challenges, from materials science to public policy, as well as in education of the public and its future leaders.

Diabetes and Menopause: A Twin Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Diabetes and menopause: A twin challenge Diabetes and menopause may team up for varied effects on your body. Here's what to ... to stay in control. By Mayo Clinic Staff Menopause — and the years leading up to it — may ...

Ethical challenges for accountable care organizations: a structured review.

Science.gov (United States)

DeCamp, Matthew; Farber, Neil J; Torke, Alexia M; George, Maura; Berger, Zackary; Keirns, Carla C; Kaldjian, Lauris C

2014-10-01

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are proliferating as a solution to the cost crisis in American health care, and already involve as many as 31 million patients. ACOs hold clinicians, group practices, and in many circumstances hospitals financially accountable for reducing expenditures and improving their patients' health outcomes. The structure of health care affects the ethical issues arising in the practice of medicine; therefore, like all health care organizational structures, ACOs will experience ethical challenges. No framework exists to assist key ACO stakeholders in identifying or managing these challenges. We conducted a structured review of the medical ACO literature using qualitative content analysis to inform identification of ethical challenges for ACOs. Our analysis found infrequent discussion of ethics as an explicit concern for ACOs. Nonetheless, we identified nine critical ethical challenges, often described in other terms, for ACO stakeholders. Leaders could face challenges regarding fair resource allocation (e.g., about fairly using ACOs' shared savings), protection of professionals' ethical obligations (especially related to the design of financial incentives), and development of fair decision processes (e.g., ensuring that beneficiary representatives on the ACO board truly represent the ACO's patients). Clinicians could perceive threats to their professional autonomy (e.g., through cost control measures), a sense of dual or conflicted responsibility to their patients and the ACO, or competition with other clinicians. For patients, critical ethical challenges will include protecting their autonomy, ensuring privacy and confidentiality, and effectively engaging them with the ACO. ACOs are not inherently more or less "ethical" than other health care payment models, such as fee-for-service or pure capitation. ACOs' nascent development and flexibility in design, however, present a time-sensitive opportunity to ensure their ethical operation

Bridging the Chasm: Challenges, Opportunities, and Resources for Integrating a Dissemination and Implementation Science Curriculum into Medical Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Ginossar, Tamar; Heckman, Carolyn J; Cragun, Deborah; Quintiliani, Lisa M; Proctor, Enola K; Chambers, David A; Skolarus, Ted; Brownson, Ross C

2018-01-01

Physicians are charged with implementing evidence-based medicine, yet few are trained in the science of Dissemination and Implementation (D&I). In view of the potential of evidence-based training in D&I to help close the gap between research and practice, the goal of this review is to examine the importance of D&I training in medical education, describe challenges to implementing such training, and provide strategies and resources for building D&I capacity. We conducted (1) a systematic review to identify US-based D&I training efforts and (2) a critical review of additional literature to inform our evaluation of the challenges and opportunities of integrating D&I training in medical education. Out of 269 unique articles reviewed, 11 described US-based D&I training. Although vibrant and diverse training opportunities exist, their capacity is limited, and they are not designed to meet physicians' needs. Synthesis of relevant literature using a critical review approach identified challenges inherent to changing medical education, as well as challenges related to D&I science. Finally, selected strategies and resources are available for facilitating incorporation of D&I training into medical education and overcoming existing challenges. Integrating D&I training in the medical education curriculum, and particularly in residency and fellowship training, holds promise for bridging the chasm between scientific discoveries and improved patient care and outcomes. However, unique challenges should be addressed, including the need for greater evidence.

Ecological Challenges for Closed Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Mark; Dempster, William; Allen, John P.

2012-07-01

Closed ecological systems are desirable for a number of purposes. In space life support systems, material closure allows precious life-supporting resources to be kept inside and recycled. Closure in small biospheric systems facilitates detailed measurement of global ecological processes and biogeochemical cycles. Closed testbeds facilitate research topics which require isolation from the outside (e.g. genetically modified organisms; radioisotopes) so their ecological interactions and fluxes can be studied separate from interactions with the outside environment. But to achieve and maintain closure entails solving complex ecological challenges. These challenges include being able to handle faster cycling rates and accentuated daily and seasonal fluxes of critical life elements such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, water, macro- and mico-nutrients. The problems of achieving sustainability in closed systems for life support include how to handle atmospheric dynamics including trace gases, producing a complete human diet and recycling nutrients and maintaining soil fertility, the sustaining of healthy air and water and preventing the loss of crucial elements from active circulation. In biospheric facilities the challenge is also to produce analogues to natural biomes and ecosystems, studying processes of self-organization and adaptation in systems that allow specification or determination of state variables and cycles which may be followed through all interactions from atmosphere to soils. Other challenges include the dynamics and genetics of small populations, the psychological challenges for small isolated human groups and measures and options which may be necessary to ensure long-term operation of closed ecological systems.

Implementing the Rock Challenge: Teacher Perspectives on a Performing Arts Programme

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Mathew; Murphy, Simon; Salmon, Debra; Kimberlee, Richard; Orme, Judy

2004-01-01

The Rock Challenge is a school-based performing arts programme that aims to promote healthy lifestyles amongst secondary school students. This paper reports on teacher perspectives on the implementation of The Rock Challenge in nine English schools. This study highlights how performing arts programmes, such as The Rock Challenge, are unlikely to…

Challenges Facing Healthwatch, a New Consumer Champion in England.

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Pam; Martin, Graham

2016-01-21

This article engages with debates about the conceptualisation and practical challenges of patient and public involvement (PPI) in health and social care services. Policy in this area in England has shifted numerous times but increasingly a consumerist discourse seems to override more democratic ideas concerning the relationship between citizens and public services. Recent policy change in England has seen the creation of new consumer champion bodies in the form of local Healthwatch. The article describes these new organisational structures for PPI and shows how those who seek to influence planning and delivery of services or comment or complain about aspects of their care face considerable complexity. This is due, in part, to the ambiguous remit set out for newly instigated Healthwatch organisations by government. Drawing on governance theory, we show that it can also be understood as a function of an increasingly polycentric governance arena. Challenges that flow from this include problems of specifying jurisdictional responsibility, accountability, and legitimacy. We review Healthwatch progress to date, then we set out four challenges facing local Healthwatch organisations before discussing the implications of these for patients and the public. The first challenge relates to non-coterminous boundaries and jurisdictional integrity. Secondly, establishing the unique features of Healthwatch is problematic in the crowded PPI arena. The third challenge arises from limited resources as well as the fact that resources flow to Healthwatch from the local authorities that Healthwatch are expected to hold to account. The fourth challenge we identify is how local Healthwatch organisations negotiate the complexity of being a partner to statutory and other organisations, while at the same time being expected to champion local people's views. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Scoliosis correction in children-anaesthetic challenge: A case report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amarjeet D Patil, Sivashankar KR, Arpan Sashankar, Shikha A Malhotra

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Kyphoscoliosis is a challenging surgery to surgeons but even more challenging to anaesthesiologist to give anaesthesia and maintain it throughout the surgery and post operative pain relief and ventilation. Here we are describing the case of 3 years old male child weighing 9kg for surgical correction of spine deformity with instrumentation.

Benefits and challenges of electrical demand response: A critical review

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

O'Connell, Niamh; Pinson, Pierre; Madsen, Henrik

2014-01-01

and challenges of demand response. These benefits include the ability to balance fluctuations in renewable generation and consequently facilitate higher penetrations of renewable resources on the power system, an increase in economic efficiency through the implementation of real-time pricing, and a reduction...... in generation capacity requirements. Nevertheless, demand response is not without its challenges. The key challenges for demand response centre around establishing reliable control strategies and market frameworks so that the demand response resource can be used optimally. One of the greatest challenges...... for demand response is the lack of experience, and the consequent need to employ extensive assumptions when modelling and evaluating this resource. This paper concludes with an examination of these assumptions, which range from assuming a fixed linear price–demand relationship for price responsive demand...

Challenges facing production grids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pordes, Ruth; /Fermilab

2007-06-01

Today's global communities of users expect quality of service from distributed Grid systems equivalent to that their local data centers. This must be coupled to ubiquitous access to the ensemble of processing and storage resources across multiple Grid infrastructures. We are still facing significant challenges in meeting these expectations, especially in the underlying security, a sustainable and successful economic model, and smoothing the boundaries between administrative and technical domains. Using the Open Science Grid as an example, I examine the status and challenges of Grids operating in production today.

The VSEPR Challenge: A Student's Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Jennings, Ashley S.

2010-01-01

To solve the challenge of learning VSEPR molecules in three dimensions, a high school student leverages her passion for 3D computer animation to develop a creative solution. This article outlines the process and story behind the creation of her unique video. (Contains 1 figure.)

Small finance banks: Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jayadev M

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A recent innovation in the Indian banking structure has been the formation of a new banking institution—small finance banks (SFBs. These banks are expected to penetrate into financial inclusion by providing basic banking and credit services with a differentiated banking model to the larger population. In this context the new SFBs have multiple challenges in coming out with a new, differentiated business model. The challenges include building low cost liability portfolio, technology management, and balancing the regulatory compliances. This paper also presents the top of mind views of three senior executives of new small finance banks.

Participation and occupation in occupational therapy models of practice: A discussion of possibilities and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Larsson-Lund, Maria; Nyman, Anneli

2017-11-01

Occupation has been the focus in occupational therapy practice to greater or lesser degrees from a historical viewpoint. This evokes a need to discuss whether concepts that are added to our field will enhance or blur our focus on occupation. To explore how the concept of participation in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) is related to the concept of occupation by reviewing and comparing its use in three models of practice within occupational therapy. The aim was also to generate discussion on possibilities and challenges concerning the relationship of participation and occupation. The models reviewed were The Model of Human Occupation (MOHO), the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement (CMOP-E) and the Occupational Therapy Intervention Process Model (OTIPM). The concept of participation was related to occupation in different ways in these models. Based on the review some challenges and considerations for occupational therapy were generated. Relating the concept of participation from the ICF to the concept of occupation in models of practice can be challenging. At the same time, relating the concepts can be a resource to develop occupational therapy and the understanding of occupational issues in society.

Challenges to China's transition to a low carbon electricity system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kahrl, Fredrich, E-mail: fkahrl@berkeley.edu [Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, 310 Barrows Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Williams, Jim [Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc., 101 Montgomery Street, 16th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104 (United States); Monterey Institute of International Studies, 460 Pierce Street, Monterey, CA 93940 (United States); Ding Jianhua [Energy and Environmental Economics, Inc., 101 Montgomery Street, 16th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104 (United States); Hu Junfeng [School of Economics and Business Administration, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206 (China)

2011-07-15

We examine the challenges to China's transition to a low carbon electricity system, in which renewable energy would play a significant role. China's electricity system currently lacks the flexibility in planning, operations, and pricing to respond to conflicting pressures from demand growth, rising costs, and environmental mandates in a way that simultaneously maintains reliability, decarbonizes the system, and keeps prices within acceptable bounds. Greater flexibility crucially requires the ability to more systematically and transparently manage and allocate costs. This will require re-orientating sector institutions still rooted in central planning, and strengthening independent regulation. Some of the necessary changes require fundamental political and legal reforms beyond the scope of energy policy. However, the system's flexibility can still be increased through the development of traditional planning and regulatory tools and approaches, such as an avoided cost basis for energy efficiency investments, more integrated planning to improve the coordination of generation, transmission, and demand-side investments, and a transparent ratemaking process. The judicious application of OECD electricity sector experience and skills can support these developments. - Research Highlights: > China's electricity system currently lacks the flexibility to integrate renewables and reduce CO{sub 2} emissions on a large scale at an acceptable cost and level of reliability. > The challenges to increased flexibility are more institutional than technological. > Chinese government agencies need new approaches to basic power system planning and ratemaking. > OECD countries can help address these challenges through the transfer of 'soft' technologies.

Cultural challenges to the psychiatric enterprise.

Science.gov (United States)

Fabrega, H

1995-01-01

Two challenges to psychiatry emanating from the study of cultural differences in mental illness are reviewed. The first challenge, conducted under the banner of cultural relativism, appeared to undermine the validity of psychiatric disorders. The misconceptions of this challenge, as embodied in the excesses of the labeling theory of sociology, were associated with the writings of antipsychiatrists and rejection of the community mental health movement. The result of all this was a devaluation of insights inherent in the cultural perspective. The second challenge draws emphasis to the pervasive role played by cultural differences in every facet of the psychiatric enterprise. Its relevance and contributions are briefly summarized. The study of the cultural sciences as they pertain to psychiatry offers a necessary corrective to the increasing impersonality and reductionism that is coming to characterize the neurobiologic approach.

How do challenges increase customer loyalty to online games?

Science.gov (United States)

Teng, Ching-I

2013-12-01

Despite the design of various challenge levels in online games, exactly how these challenges increase customer loyalty to online games has seldom been examined. This study investigates how such challenges increase customer loyalty to online games. The study sample comprises 2,861 online gamers. Structural equation modeling is performed. Analytical results indicate that the relationship between challenge and loyalty intensifies when customers perceive that overcoming challenges takes a long time. Results of this study contribute to efforts to determine how challenges and challenge-related perceptions impact customer loyalty to online games.

Challenges Facing Group Work Online

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Bo; Kang, Haijun

2016-01-01

Online group work can be complicated because of its asynchronous characteristics and lack of physical presence, and its requirements for skills in handling technology, human relationships, and content-related tasks. This study focuses on the administrative, logistical and relationship-related challenges in online group work. Challenges in areas…

Designing a Smaller Power Inverter: the Google Littlebox Challenge - Text

Science.gov (United States)

Version | Energy Systems Integration Facility | NREL Designing a Smaller Power Inverter: the Google Littlebox Challenge - Text Version er Power Inverter: the Google Littlebox Challenge - Text Version Below is the text version for the Designing a Smaller Power Inverter: the Google Littlebox

Oncology nurses' communication challenges with patients and families: A qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Banerjee, Smita C; Manna, Ruth; Coyle, Nessa; Shen, Megan Johnson; Pehrson, Cassandra; Zaider, Talia; Hammonds, Stacey; Krueger, Carol A; Parker, Patricia A; Bylund, Carma L

2016-01-01

The benefits of effective communication in an oncology setting are multifold and include the overall well-being of patients and health professionals, adherence to treatment regimens, psychological functioning, and improvements in quality of life. Nevertheless, there are substantial barriers and communication challenges reported by oncology nurses. This study was conducted to present a summary of communication challenges faced by oncology nurses. From November 2012 to March 2014, 121 inpatient nurses working in the oncology setting participated in an online pre-training qualitative survey that asked nurses to describe common communication challenges in communicating empathy and discussing death, dying, and end-of-life (EOL) goals of care. The results revealed six themes that describe the challenges in communicating empathically: dialectic tensions, burden of carrying bad news, lack of skills for providing empathy, perceived institutional barriers, challenging situations, and perceived dissimilarities between the nurse and the patient. The results for challenges in discussing death, dying and EOL goals of care revealed five themes: dialectic tensions, discussing specific topics related to EOL, lack of skills for providing empathy, patient/family characteristics, and perceived institutional barriers. This study emphasizes the need for institutions to provide communication skills training to their oncology nurses for navigating through challenging patient interactions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Eight challenges in phylodynamic inference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon D.W. Frost

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The field of phylodynamics, which attempts to enhance our understanding of infectious disease dynamics using pathogen phylogenies, has made great strides in the past decade. Basic epidemiological and evolutionary models are now well characterized with inferential frameworks in place. However, significant challenges remain in extending phylodynamic inference to more complex systems. These challenges include accounting for evolutionary complexities such as changing mutation rates, selection, reassortment, and recombination, as well as epidemiological complexities such as stochastic population dynamics, host population structure, and different patterns at the within-host and between-host scales. An additional challenge exists in making efficient inferences from an ever increasing corpus of sequence data.

Overcoming challenges

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... we are What we do Programs and activities Work with us Contact Us Blog Popular topics Vision and mission Leadership Programs and activities In your community Funding opportunities Internships and jobs View all pages in this section Home It's Only Natural Overcoming challenges It's Only Natural ...

The challenges of risk society for impact assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Sanne Vammen

2017-01-01

, the challenge of delivering assessments and predictions and the challenge of handling differences of opinion and debate. Through a case example of integration of climate change in strategic environmental assessment, the paper uses empirical evidence from a survey and a series of interviews to carry out......This paper takes its point of departure in Ulrich Beck’s theory of risk society and the aspects that characterise this society. The paper puts forward a hypothe- sis, on which theoretical challenges the characteristics of risk society pose to impact assessment as a decision support tool; namely...... a preliminary discussion of how the theoretical challenges are reflected in practice. The case study results show that the challenge of delivering assessments and predictions in a risk society is reflected in the current state of practice, while the challenge of handling differences of opinion and debate...

The mental health needs of asylum seekers and refugees - challenges and solutions.

Science.gov (United States)

Sen, Piyal

2016-05-01

Global events like wars and natural disasters have led to the refugee population reaching numbers not seen since the Second World War. Attitudes to asylum have hardened, with the potential to compromise the mental health needs of asylum seekers and refugees. The challenges in providing mental healthcare for asylum seekers and refugees include working with the uncertainties of immigration status and cultural differences. Ways to meet the challenges include cultural competency training, availability of interpreters and cultural brokers as well as appropriately adapting modes of therapy. Service delivery should support adjustment to life in a foreign country. Never has the need been greater for psychiatrists to play a leadership role in the area.

Challenges and opportunities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morgan, G.

1998-01-01

Challenges and opportunities facing the Canadian natural gas industry were discussed. The greatest opportunity is that the industry will become part of a fully functioning continental gas market for the first time in history. The challenge will be to ensure that the access to continental markets, which the Alliance project would provide, moves forward in a timely way, especially if the proposed merger between Canada's two dominant natural gas pipelines occurs. The second challenge is to find ways to deal with global warming in a more sensible and knowledgeable way. In the view of this author, the implications of the Kyoto greenhouse gas emission protocol could be potentially devastating to the competitiveness of the North American economy. According to the author, the emission stabilization policy will save the Earth only 0.05 degree C of warming in 2025 based on projected planetary temperature rise from 1990 to 2050. By 2050, the stabilization of emissions will have resulted in savings of only 0.10 degrees C, still a negligible amount. The impact of the Canadian Kyoto obligation was analyzed using federal Department of the Environment data. It was noted that in order for Canada to meet its commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 6 per cent by 2008-2012, actual annual reduction in emission would have to amount to 20-25 per cent. To achieve that would require unimaginably drastic measures. 1 tab., 1 fig

Nasal mucosal blood flow after intranasal allergen challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holmberg, K.; Bake, B.; Pipkorn, U.

1988-01-01

The nasal mucosal blood flow in patients with allergic rhinitis was determined at nasal allergen challenges with the 133 Xenon washout method. Determinations were made in 12 subjects before and 15 minutes after challenge with diluent and increasing doses of allergen. The time course was followed in eight subjects by means of repeated measurements during 1 hour after a single allergen dose. Finally, the blood flow was measured after unilateral allergen challenge in the contralateral nasal cavity. A dose-dependent decrease in blood flow was found after nasal challenge with increasing doses of allergens, whereas challenge with diluent alone did not induce any changes. The highest allergen dose, which also induced pronounced nasal symptoms, resulted in a decrease in blood flow of 25% (p less than 0.001). The time-course study demonstrated a maximum decrease in blood flow 10 to 20 minutes after challenge and then a gradual return to baseline. Unilateral allergen challenge resulted in a decrease in blood flow in the contralateral, unchallenged nasal cavity, suggesting that part of the allergen-induced changes in blood flow were reflex mediated

Training Staff to Manage Challenging Behaviour

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oorsouw, W.M.W.J. van; Embregts, P.J.C.M.; Bosman, A.M.T.; Jahoda, A.

2010-01-01

Background - A training package for staff working with clients presenting challenging behaviour was developed to (1) increase their knowledge regarding challenging behaviour, and (2) to improve the quality of physical intervention techniques. The latter aim was intended to reduce staff anxiety about

Challenging Beliefs: Memoirs of a Career

African Journals Online (AJOL)

a world authority on sports science. Numerous challenges faced in pursuit of 'the truth' expose intellectual and scientific duplicity and the myth of accepting that peer review guarantees an elusive chimera of 'balanced opinions'. The commercialism of the sports industry, a massive marketing game with profit being the driving.

Large-scale perspective as a challenge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Plomp, M.G.A.

2012-01-01

1. Scale forms a challenge for chain researchers: when exactly is something ‘large-scale’? What are the underlying factors (e.g. number of parties, data, objects in the chain, complexity) that determine this? It appears to be a continuum between small- and large-scale, where positioning on that

Environmental challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conable, B.; Warford, J.; Partow, Z.; Lutz, E.; Munasinghe, M.

1991-09-01

The contents include the following: Development and the Environment: A Global Balance; Evolution of the World Bank's Environmental Policy; Accounting for the Environment; Public Policy and the Environment; Managing Drylands; Environmental Action Plans in Africa; Agroforestry in Sub-Saharan Africa; Irrigation and the Environmental Challenge; Curbing Pollution in Developing Countries; Global Warming and the Developing World; and The Global Environment Facility

Challenging experiences: gender differences in task choice

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Pater, I.E.; van Vianen, A.E.M.; Fischer, A.H.; van Ginkel, W.P.

2009-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine: gender differences in the choice to perform challenging tasks, gender differences in the actual performance of challenging tasks, and the impact of challenging experiences on supervisors' evaluations of individuals' potential for career advancement.

The 24-Hour Mathematical Modeling Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Galluzzo, Benjamin J.; Wendt, Theodore J.

2015-01-01

Across the mathematics curriculum there is a renewed emphasis on applications of mathematics and on mathematical modeling. Providing students with modeling experiences beyond the ordinary classroom setting remains a challenge, however. In this article, we describe the 24-hour Mathematical Modeling Challenge, an extracurricular event that exposes…

Data Challenges

CERN Multimedia

McCubbin, N A

Some two years ago we planned a series of Data Challenges starting at the end of 2001. At the time, that seemed to be comfortingly far in the future... Well, as the saying goes, doesn't time fly when you are having fun! ATLAS Computing is now deep in the throes of getting the first Data Challenge (DC0) up and running. One of the main aims of DC0 is to have a software 'release' in which we can generate full physics events, track all particles through the detector, simulate the detector response, reconstruct the event, and study it, with appropriate data storage en route. As all software is "always 95% ready" (!), we have been able to do most of this, more or less, for some time. But DC0 forces us to have everything working, together, at the same time: a reality check. DC0 should finish early next year, and it will be followed almost immediately afterwards by DC1 (DC0 was foreseen as the 'check' for DC1). DC1 will last into the middle of 2002, and has two major goals. The first is generation, simulation, and r...

Respiratory challenge MRI: Practical aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fiona C. Moreton

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Respiratory challenge MRI is the modification of arterial oxygen (PaO2 and/or carbon dioxide (PaCO2 concentration to induce a change in cerebral function or metabolism which is then measured by MRI. Alterations in arterial gas concentrations can lead to profound changes in cerebral haemodynamics which can be studied using a variety of MRI sequences. Whilst such experiments may provide a wealth of information, conducting them can be complex and challenging. In this paper we review the rationale for respiratory challenge MRI including the effects of oxygen and carbon dioxide on the cerebral circulation. We also discuss the planning, equipment, monitoring and techniques that have been used to undertake these experiments. We finally propose some recommendations in this evolving area for conducting these experiments to enhance data quality and comparison between techniques.

The Challenges of Leadership.

Science.gov (United States)

Myrtle, Robert C

Perhaps in no other period in recent times have the challenges leaders face been so profound. In these times of uncertainty and turbulence, we look to leaders who create a sense of purpose, who generate feelings of trust and optimism, and who tap the passion, talent, and efforts of those so essential to the success of the organization and of the people it serves. Our research suggests that becoming the leader whom people look to and admire requires an active commitment to responding to 5 essential leadership challenges. These are (1) creating a sense of purpose, (2) devising means for aligning the actions of the followers with that sense of purpose, (3) establishing a context that enables others to behave in a way that is consistent with the vision and values of the organization, (4) ensuring that the work that is done provides meaning to those engaging in the work activities, and (5) adding to the sum of everyone's knowledge through learning through reflective actions. In this article, we describe these challenges and offer suggestions that you can take to become a more effective and respected leader.

50 top IT project management challenges

CERN Document Server

Doraiswamy, Premanand

2012-01-01

This book offers a focused and concise summary of 50 challenges facing today's IT project manager. The authors draw on years of practical experience (rather than classroom theory) to outline these challenges and offer useful tips and advice on how to deal with them.

Effect of the challenger experience on elementary children's attitudes to science

Science.gov (United States)

Jarvis, Tina; Pell, Anthony

2002-12-01

This research explored how the Challenger experience influenced over 655 elementary boys' and girls' general attitudes to science and space during the 5 months after their visit by examining their responses to four different attitude scales. These were administered to the 10- to 11-year-olds immediately before and after the Challenger experience as well as 2 and 5 months later. Knowledge tests were also administered before and after the visit. A sample of children completed an existing measure of anxiety. Although there were mainly positive outcomes immediately after the Challenger experience, there were some negative effects. There were also noticeable differences between boys and girls. Some 24% of pupils were inspired to become scientists. There was also less fear of space travel with a greater appreciation of the use of science to protect the planet after the visit. Most girls improved and maintained their attitudes toward science in society. A sizeable number of pupils were relatively unaffected by the experience and there was a significant negative effect on a small group of anxious girls. There are indications that previsit preparation and careful choice of roles during the simulation are important.

Multi-scale biomedical systems: measurement challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Summers, R

2016-01-01

Multi-scale biomedical systems are those that represent interactions in materials, sensors, and systems from a holistic perspective. It is possible to view such multi-scale activity using measurement of spatial scale or time scale, though in this paper only the former is considered. The biomedical application paradigm comprises interactions that range from quantum biological phenomena at scales of 10-12 for one individual to epidemiological studies of disease spread in populations that in a pandemic lead to measurement at a scale of 10+7. It is clear that there are measurement challenges at either end of this spatial scale, but those challenges that relate to the use of new technologies that deal with big data and health service delivery at the point of care are also considered. The measurement challenges lead to the use, in many cases, of model-based measurement and the adoption of virtual engineering. It is these measurement challenges that will be uncovered in this paper. (paper)

Global challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blix, H.

1990-01-01

A major challenge now facing the world is the supply of energy needed for growth and development in a manner which is not only economically viable but also environmentally acceptable and sustainable in view of the demands of and risks to future generations. The internationally most significant pollutants from energy production through fossil fuels are SO 2 and NO x which cause acid rain, and CO 2 which is the most significant contributor to the greenhouse effect. Nuclear power, now providing about 17% of the world's electricity and 5% of the primary energy already is making a notable contribution to avoiding these emissions. While the industrialized countries will need more energy and especially electricity in the future, the needs of the developing countries are naturally much larger and present a tremendous challenge to the shaping of the world's future energy supply system. The advanced countries will have to accept special responsibilities, as they can most easily use advanced technologies and they have been and remain the main contributors to the environmental problems we now face. Energy conservation and resort to new renewable energy sources, though highly desirable, appear inadequate alone to meet the challenges. The world can hardly afford to do without an increased use of nuclear power, although it is strongly contested in many countries. The objections raised against the nuclear option focus on safety, waste management and disposal problems and the risk for proliferation of nuclear weapons. These issues are not without their problems. The risk of proliferation exists but will not appreciably diminish with lesser global reliance on nuclear power. The waste issue is more of a political than a technical problem. The use of nuclear power, or any other energy source, will never be at zero risk, but the risks are constantly reduced by new techniques and practices. The IAEA sees it as one of its priority tasks to promote such techniques. (author)

Health benefits achieved through the Seventh-Day Adventist Wellness Challenge program.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamieneski, R; Brown, C M; Mitchell, C; Perrin, K M; Dindial, K

2000-11-01

The Wellness Challenge program introduces the philosophy of the healing power of God and stresses the importance of developing a sense of spirituality in conjunction with the promotion of good health. To employ scientific rigor to the outcome measures of the Seventh-Day Adventist Wellness Challenge program. A 2-tailed, paired sample t test. East Pasco Medical Center in Zephyrhills, Fla. 165 participants. Presurvey, 21-day outpatient wellness intervention; postsurvey, 6 weeks after completion of the program. Changes in behaviors related to cigarette smoking, alcohol use, eating patterns, exercise, water consumption, rest, relaxation, and time spent outdoors, as well as demographic data. Statistically significant differences were found between the pre- and postprogram clinical and laboratory test results for the participants' blood pressure, weight, glucose levels, and cholesterol at .05 alpha. Furthermore, self-health improvements measured by a pre- and postsurvey response confirmed statistically significant improvement in participants' willingness to improve their lifestyle behaviors for a potentially greater quality of life. The Wellness Challenge program offers ways to reduce risk factors related to chronic disease while improving the quality of life within an adult population by allowing people to slowly incorporate newly acquired tools into their everyday life.

The RERS 2017 Challenge and Workshop

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jasper, Marc; Fecke, Maximilian; Steffen, Bernhard; Schordan, Markus; Meijer, Jeroen; Pol, Jaco van de; Howar, Falk; Siegel, Stephen F.

RERS is an annual verification challenge that focuses on LTL and reachability properties of reactive systems. In 2017, RERS was extended to a one day workshop that in addition to the original challenge program also featured an invited talk about possible future developments. As a satellite of ISSTA

Quality Teaching in a Managerial Setting: Higher Education Challenges in Australia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Therese Demediuk

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Australian universities face increased challenges in a global higher education marketplace. They have responded to this competitive environment by introducing greater efficiency and accountability measures. One key measure is the quality of teaching and in particular, the delivery of student-centred teaching. However, the reforms have changed the working lives of academic teachers who now have greater reporting and administrative responsibilities with less sense of collegiality in the sector. In these circumstances, it is not clear that teaching staff will share the same perceptions of quality teaching as their institutions expect. This paper examines the utility of role theory and learning organization theory as part of a project which will examine the ways in which implicit knowledge can be made explicit and shared in the organization as part of academic teachers’ roles. The paper hypothesizes that when academics share their perceptions of good teaching, universities will benefit from a coherent set of quality teaching indicators which are aligned with their organizational cultures.

Homeland Security. Management Challenges Facing Federal Leadership

Science.gov (United States)

2002-12-01

Security Management Challenges Facing Federal Leadership 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT...including attention to management practices and key success factors. HOMELAND SECURITY Management Challenges Facing Federal Leadership www.gao.gov/cgi...significant management and coordination challenges if it is to provide this leadership and be successful in preventing and responding to any future

The challenges of pharmacy education in Yemen.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Worafi, Yaser Mohammed

2014-10-15

Pharmacy education in Yemen has faced many challenges since its introduction in the 1980s. Most Yemeni pharmacy schools, especially private ones, are experiencing difficulties in providing the right quality and quantity of clinical educational experiences. Most of these challenges are imbedded in a teaching style and curricula that have failed to respond to the needs of the community and country. The slow shift from traditional drug-dispensing to a patient-centered or focused approach in pharmacy practice requires a fundamental change in the roles and responsibilities of both policymakers and educators. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to discuss the challenges facing the pharmacy education in Yemen; (2) to provided recommendations to overcome challenges.

Palliative care for patients in the USA with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: current challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Houseman G

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Gail Houseman,1 Mary Kelley2 1The ALS Association Greater Philadelphia Chapter, Ambler, PA, USA; 2Department of Neurology, ALS Center at Penn Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA Abstract: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS is a motor neuron disease that results in eventual paralysis of all voluntary muscles. Cognitive impairment may be a co-occurring condition with the ALS patient. Palliative care, which involves symptom management, is the most utilized treatment of choice. Managing the symptoms of ALS can be challenging. This paper provides experience-based facts on daily care provision in the USA and some practical guidelines. Keywords: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, palliative care, challenges, symptom management

Activities to Address Challenges in Digital Innovation

OpenAIRE

Lund , Jesper

2014-01-01

Part 3: Structures and Networks; International audience; Based on a literature review, this paper identifies four socio-technical challenges relating to innovation actor’s interactions in digital innovation. Furthermore, the paper explores how these challenges can be addressed. The challenges are investigated in a case study of digital innovation. The study is based on a two year long research and development project where an e-newspaper concept and a demonstrator based on e-paper technology ...

The challenges of amblyopia treatment

OpenAIRE

Maconachie, Gail D.E.; Gottlob, Irene

2015-01-01

The treatment of amblyopia, particularly anisometropic (difference in refractive correction) and/or strabismic (turn of one eye) amblyopia has long been a challenge for many clinicians. Achieving optimum outcomes, where the amblyopic eye reaches a visual acuity similar to the fellow eye, is often impossible in many patients. Part of this challenge has resulted from a previous lack of scientific evidence for amblyopia treatment that was highlight by a systematic review by Snowdon et al. in 199...

Community Challenge Grantees

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Housing and Urban Development — HUD's Community Challenge Grants aim to reform and reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital and sustainable communities. The funds are awarded to...

IT Challenges for Space Medicine

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson-Throop, Kathy

2010-01-01

This viewgraph presentation reviews the various Information Technology challenges for aerospace medicine. The contents include: 1) Space Medicine Activities; 2) Private Medical Information; 3) Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health; 4) Mission Medical Support; 5) Data Repositories for Research; 6) Data Input and Output; 7) Finding Data/Information; 8) Summary of Challenges; and 9) Solutions and questions.

THORP and after - challenging state decisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bowden, P.; Lawrence, J.

1994-01-01

This article looks at an increasing trend for European Community law to be used by those seeking to challenge decisions taken at a national level which effect the environment. The debate over the future operation of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd's Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant at the Sellafield site (THORP) is used as an example of this trend. The United Kingdom government's energy policy authorised the construction and operation of the THORP plant. The decision to continue with the project has been challenged by Greenpeace and Lancashire County Council acting cooperatively. Their challenge was based on Community law and legislation. (UK)

An Evaluation of ChalleNGe Graduates DOD Employability

Science.gov (United States)

2018-01-22

initial reading and applied math TABE scores are more likely to complete ChalleNGe. In addition, those graduates who begin ChalleNGe with higher TABE...each site is given discretion in how it structures its program. As a result, the academic goals of the ChalleNGe sites vary. Some seek to have...students arrive at ChalleNGe at low levels of reading comprehension, writing, and basic math ; they simply are not ready to acquire a second language

Challenges for renewable hydrogen production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levin, D.B.; Chahine, R.

2009-01-01

The increasing demand for H 2 for heavy oil upgrading, desulfurization and upgrading of conventional petroleum, and for production of ammonium, in addition to the projected demand for H 2 as a transportation fuel and portable power, will require H 2 production on a massive scale. Increased production of H 2 by current technologies will consume greater amounts of conventional hydrocarbons (primarily natural gas) which in turn will generate greater greenhouse gas emissions. Production of H 2 from renewable sources derived from agricultural or other waste streams offers the possibility to contribute to the production capacity with lower or no net greenhouse gas emissions (without carbon sequestration technologies), increasing the flexibility and improving the economics of distributed and semi-centralized reforming. Electrolysis, thermo-catalytic, and biological production can be easily adapted to on-site decentralized production of H 2 , circumventing the need to establish a large and costly distribution infrastructure. Each of these H 2 production technologies, however, faces technical challenges, including conversion efficiencies, feedstock type, and the need to safely integrate H 2 production systems with H 2 purification and storage technologies. These issues are being addressed by H2CAN, a recently launched NSERC funded national strategic network in hydrogen production, purification, storage, infrastructure and safety. (author)

Space Robotics Challenge

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Space Robotics Challenge seeks to infuse robot autonomy from the best and brightest research groups in the robotics community into NASA robots for future...

Ireland’s Competitiveness Challenge 2014

OpenAIRE

2014-01-01

Ireland’s Competitiveness Challenge 2014, which is produced under the Action Plan for Jobs 2014, outlines the National Competitiveness Council’s view of the main competitiveness issues confronting the business sector in Ireland over the medium term, and sets out a series of policy responses required to address these challenges. Building on their earlier benchmarking of Irish competitiveness, the Council focus on six major themes in the 2014 report: addressing cost competitiveness; broadening ...

Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Electronics Challenge Data

Science.gov (United States)

On September 22, 2012, EPA launched the SMM Electronics Challenge. The Challenge encourages electronics manufacturers, brand owners and retailers to strive to send 100 percent of the used electronics they collect from the public, businesses and within their own organizations to third-party certified electronics refurbishers and recyclers. The Challenge??s goals are to: 1). Ensure responsible recycling through the use of third-party certified recyclers, 2). Increase transparency and accountability through public posting of electronics collection and recycling data, and 3). Encourage outstanding performance through awards and recognition. By striving to send 100 percent of used electronics collected to certified recyclers and refurbishers, Challenge participants are ensuring that the used electronics they collect will be responsibly managed by recyclers that maximize reuse and recycling, minimize exposure to human health and the environment, ensure the safe management of materials by downstream handlers, and require destruction of all data on used electronics. Electronics Challenge participants are publicly recognized on EPA's website as a registrant, new participant, or active participant. Awards are offered in two categories - tier and champion. Tier awards are given in recognition of achieving all the requirements under a gold, silver or bronze tier. Champion awards are given in two categories - product and non-product. For champion awards, a product is an it

Navigating Transitions: Challenges for Engineering Students

Science.gov (United States)

Moore-Russo, Deborah; Wilsey, Jillian N.; Parthum, Michael J., Sr.; Lewis, Kemper

2017-01-01

As college students enter engineering, they face challenges when they navigate across various transitions. These challenges impact whether a student can successfully adapt to the rigorous curricular requirements of an engineering degree and to the norms and expectations that are particular to engineering. This article focuses on the transitions…

Challenges to Nordic Police Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holmberg, Lars

2015-01-01

The paper will cover three main points: A short description of published police research in the Nordic countries; a somewhat longer discussion of the nature of, and challenges to, Nordic police research and, finally, a critique of the homeliness of research.......The paper will cover three main points: A short description of published police research in the Nordic countries; a somewhat longer discussion of the nature of, and challenges to, Nordic police research and, finally, a critique of the homeliness of research....

Challenges of Trainees in a Multidisciplinary Research Program: Nano-Biotechnology

Science.gov (United States)

Kriegel, Christina; Koehne, Jessica; Tinkle, Sally; Maynard, Andrew D.; Hill, Rodney A.

2011-01-01

The breadth of knowledge required for the multidisciplinary field of nanotechnology challenges and extends traditional concepts of multidisciplinary graduate education. There is a paucity of information, both general reporting and peer-reviewed studies, on the challenges for graduate students working in this multidisciplinary paradigm, from the…

Pigeons trade efficiency for stability in response to level of challenge during confined flight.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, C David; Biewener, Andrew A

2015-03-17

Individuals traversing challenging obstacles are faced with a decision: they can adopt traversal strategies that minimally disrupt their normal locomotion patterns or they can adopt strategies that substantially alter their gait, conferring new advantages and disadvantages. We flew pigeons (Columba livia) through an array of vertical obstacles in a flight arena, presenting them with this choice. The pigeons selected either a strategy involving only a slight pause in the normal wing beat cycle, or a wings-folded posture granting reduced efficiency but greater stability should a misjudgment lead to collision. The more stable but less efficient flight strategy was not used to traverse easy obstacles with wide gaps for passage but came to dominate the postures used as obstacle challenge increased with narrower gaps and there was a greater chance of a collision. These results indicate that birds weigh potential obstacle negotiation strategies and estimate task difficulty during locomotor pattern selection.

Evergreening, patent challenges, and effective market life in pharmaceuticals.

Science.gov (United States)

Hemphill, C Scott; Sampat, Bhaven N

2012-03-01

Observers worry that generic patent challenges are on the rise and reduce the effective market life of drugs. A related concern is that challenges disproportionately target high-sales drugs, reducing market life for these "blockbusters." To study these questions, we examine new data on generic entry over the past decade. We show that challenges are more common for higher sales drugs. We also demonstrate a slight increase in challenges over this period, and a sharper increase for early challenges. Despite this, effective market life is stable across drug sales categories, and has hardly changed over the decade. To better understand these results, we examine which patents are challenged on each drug, and show that lower quality and later expiring patents disproportionately draw challenges. Overall, this evidence suggests that challenges serve to maintain, not reduce, the historical baseline of effective market life, thereby limiting the effectiveness of "evergreening" by branded firms. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sympathetic nervous system activity measured by skin conductance quantifies the challenge of walking adaptability tasks after stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, David J; Chatterjee, Sudeshna A; McGuirk, Theresa E; Porges, Eric C; Fox, Emily J; Balasubramanian, Chitralakshmi K

2018-02-01

Walking adaptability tasks are challenging for people with motor impairments. The construct of perceived challenge is typically measured by self-report assessments, which are susceptible to subjective measurement error. The development of an objective physiologically-based measure of challenge may help to improve the ability to assess this important aspect of mobility function. The objective of this study to investigate the use of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity measured by skin conductance to gauge the physiological stress response to challenging walking adaptability tasks in people post-stroke. Thirty adults with chronic post-stroke hemiparesis performed a battery of seventeen walking adaptability tasks. SNS activity was measured by skin conductance from the palmar surface of each hand. The primary outcome variable was the percent change in skin conductance level (ΔSCL) between the baseline resting and walking phases of each task. Task difficulty was measured by performance speed and by physical therapist scoring of performance. Walking function and balance confidence were measured by preferred walking speed and the Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, respectively. There was a statistically significant negative association between ΔSCL and task performance speed and between ΔSCL and clinical score, indicating that tasks with greater SNS activity had slower performance speed and poorer clinical scores. ΔSCL was significantly greater for low functioning participants versus high functioning participants, particularly during the most challenging walking adaptability tasks. This study supports the use of SNS activity measured by skin conductance as a valuable approach for objectively quantifying the perceived challenge of walking adaptability tasks in people post-stroke. Published by Elsevier B.V.

LHC luminosity upgrade detector challenges

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva; de Roeck, Albert; Bortoletto, Daniela; Wigmans, Richard; Riegler, Werner; Smith, Wesley H

2006-01-01

LHC luminosity upgrade: detector challenges The upgrade of the LHC machine towards higher luminosity (1035 cm -2s-1) has been studied over the last few years. These studies have investigated scenarios to achieve the increase in peak luminosity by an order of magnitude, as well as the physics potential of such an upgrade and the impact of a machine upgrade on the LHC DETECTORS. This series of lectures will cover the following topics: • Physics motivation and machine scenarios for an order of magnitude increase in the LHC peak luminosity (lecture 1) • Detector challenges including overview of ideas for R&D programs by the LHC experiments: tracking and calorimetry, other new detector developments (lectures 2-4) • Electronics, trigger and data acquisition challenges (lecture 5) Note: the much more ambitious LHC energy upgrade will not be covered

Mathematical olympiad challenges

CERN Document Server

Andreescu, Titu

2000-01-01

Mathematical Olympiad Challenges is a rich collection of problems put together by two experienced and well-known professors and coaches of the U.S. International Mathematical Olympiad Team. Hundreds of beautiful, challenging, and instructive problems from algebra, geometry, trigonometry, combinatorics, and number theory were selected from numerous mathematical competitions and journals. An important feature of the work is the comprehensive background material provided with each grouping of problems. The problems are clustered by topic into self-contained sections with solutions provided separately. All sections start with an essay discussing basic facts and one or two representative examples. A list of carefully chosen problems follows and the reader is invited to take them on. Additionally, historical insights and asides are presented to stimulate further inquiry. The emphasis throughout is on encouraging readers to move away from routine exercises and memorized algorithms toward creative solutions to open-e...

Addressing the empathy deficit: beliefs about the malleability of empathy predict effortful responses when empathy is challenging.

Science.gov (United States)

Schumann, Karina; Zaki, Jamil; Dweck, Carol S

2014-09-01

Empathy is often thought to occur automatically. Yet, empathy frequently breaks down when it is difficult or distressing to relate to people in need, suggesting that empathy is often not felt reflexively. Indeed, the United States as a whole is said to be displaying an empathy deficit. When and why does empathy break down, and what predicts whether people will exert effort to experience empathy in challenging contexts? Across 7 studies, we found that people who held a malleable mindset about empathy (believing empathy can be developed) expended greater empathic effort in challenging contexts than did people who held a fixed theory (believing empathy cannot be developed). Specifically, a malleable theory of empathy--whether measured or experimentally induced--promoted (a) more self-reported effort to feel empathy when it is challenging (Study 1); (b) more empathically effortful responses to a person with conflicting views on personally important sociopolitical issues (Studies 2-4); (c) more time spent listening to the emotional personal story of a racial outgroup member (Study 5); and (d) greater willingness to help cancer patients in effortful, face-to-face ways (Study 6). Study 7 revealed a possible reason for this greater empathic effort in challenging contexts: a stronger interest in improving one's empathy. Together, these data suggest that people's mindsets powerfully affect whether they exert effort to empathize when it is needed most, and these data may represent a point of leverage in increasing empathic behaviors on a broad scale. 2014 APA, all rights reserved

Challenges for utilization of the new synchrotron facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Attwood, D.

1989-08-01

The emergence of third generation synchrotron radiation facilities provides new scientific opportunities and challenges. Optimized for small phase space electron beams, long periodic magnet structures, and dedicated scientific user access -- these new machines promise significant increases in spectral brightness, as well as enhanced spatial and temporal coherence properties, which translates to new opportunities for combining high spatial and spectral resolution. The challenges to the machine builders are well known: designing and maintaining the small phase space beams, constructing long magnet structures with minimal errors, stabilizing the beam to long and short term fluctuations, and multiple undulator tuning, to name a few. The challenges in beamline optics, spectroscopic and focusing systems are also quite clear. The issue of optical stability quickly comes to the forefront as we attempt to focus and image to ever finer spatial scales, with minimal loss of photon flux. Surface figure and polish are of greater importance, as is minimization of aberrations, as we strive to maintain these small phase space photon beams. The higher intensities and power loading mandate cooled, or cleverly controlled optics, to avoid thermal distortion. Spectroscopic efficiency, with minimal wavefront distortion to the near diffraction limited radiation, becomes more important, as do order and harmonic suppression resolution are called for -- with both diffractive and reflective optics. Two of our major issues will be efficient time sharing of these valuable resources, relegating time consuming setup procedures to branch lines while others take data, and controlling the cost of these ever more complex beamline engineering systems. 12 refs., 6 figs., 8 tabs

NASA Space Rocket Logistics Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Neeley, James R.; Jones, James V.; Watson, Michael D.; Bramon, Christopher J.; Inman, Sharon K.; Tuttle, Loraine

2014-01-01

The Space Launch System (SLS) is the new NASA heavy lift launch vehicle and is scheduled for its first mission in 2017. The goal of the first mission, which will be uncrewed, is to demonstrate the integrated system performance of the SLS rocket and spacecraft before a crewed flight in 2021. SLS has many of the same logistics challenges as any other large scale program. Common logistics concerns for SLS include integration of discreet programs geographically separated, multiple prime contractors with distinct and different goals, schedule pressures and funding constraints. However, SLS also faces unique challenges. The new program is a confluence of new hardware and heritage, with heritage hardware constituting seventy-five percent of the program. This unique approach to design makes logistics concerns such as commonality especially problematic. Additionally, a very low manifest rate of one flight every four years makes logistics comparatively expensive. That, along with the SLS architecture being developed using a block upgrade evolutionary approach, exacerbates long-range planning for supportability considerations. These common and unique logistics challenges must be clearly identified and tackled to allow SLS to have a successful program. This paper will address the common and unique challenges facing the SLS programs, along with the analysis and decisions the NASA Logistics engineers are making to mitigate the threats posed by each.

Meeting the Challenge of Crohn's Disease

Science.gov (United States)

... page please turn JavaScript on. Feature: Crohn's Disease Meeting the Challenge of Crohn's Disease Past Issues / Winter ... Living with Crohn's Disease / What Is Crohn's Disease / Meeting the Challenge of Crohn's Disease Winter 2016 Issue: ...

Advances and Challenges in Convergent Communication Networks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toral-Cruz, Homero; Mihovska, Albena

2017-01-01

Welcome to this special issue of Wireless Personal Communications on Advances and Challenges in Convergent Communication Networks. The main purpose of this special issue is to present new progresses and challenges in convergent networks. Communication networks play an important role in our daily...... life because they allow communicating and sharing contents between heterogeneous nodes around the globe. The emergence of multiple network architectures and emerging technologies have resulted in new applications and services over a heterogeneous network. This heterogeneous network has undergone...... significant challenges in recent years, such as the evolution to a converged network with the capability to support multiple services, while maintaining a satisfactory level of QoE/QoS, security, efficiency and trust. The special issue on Advances and Challenges in Convergent Communication Networks...

Ombuds’ corner: A manager’s challenge

CERN Multimedia

Vincent Vuillemin

2013-01-01

Achieving two goals at once is a real challenge in personnel management: on the one hand, a manager must reach the results expected by the institution with the available workforce; and on the other hand, the manager must take care of their collaborators' well-being. Pursuing these dual aims calls for a real potential towards leadership. Why should a line manager care about the well-being of his/her supervisees? Is it not sufficient and satisfactory that the deliverables for which he/she is accountable come in time and within the budget?   The ethical challenge of managing the interests of the employer and of the employees cannot be left solely in the hands of HR, but requires all parties to contribute to a satisfactory compromise. Let us consider these dimensions with two examples: Luke is responsible for an important installation. He is stressed as he feels that there is barely enough time for all the work to be completed. He worries that his team may relax and so he start...

Eyes and ears: Using eye tracking and pupillometry to understand challenges to speech recognition.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Engen, Kristin J; McLaughlin, Drew J

2018-05-04

Although human speech recognition is often experienced as relatively effortless, a number of common challenges can render the task more difficult. Such challenges may originate in talkers (e.g., unfamiliar accents, varying speech styles), the environment (e.g. noise), or in listeners themselves (e.g., hearing loss, aging, different native language backgrounds). Each of these challenges can reduce the intelligibility of spoken language, but even when intelligibility remains high, they can place greater processing demands on listeners. Noisy conditions, for example, can lead to poorer recall for speech, even when it has been correctly understood. Speech intelligibility measures, memory tasks, and subjective reports of listener difficulty all provide critical information about the effects of such challenges on speech recognition. Eye tracking and pupillometry complement these methods by providing objective physiological measures of online cognitive processing during listening. Eye tracking records the moment-to-moment direction of listeners' visual attention, which is closely time-locked to unfolding speech signals, and pupillometry measures the moment-to-moment size of listeners' pupils, which dilate in response to increased cognitive load. In this paper, we review the uses of these two methods for studying challenges to speech recognition. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Preservice Teachers' Perceptions of Challenging Behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Anne; Monda-Amaya, Lisa

2016-01-01

Challenging behavior can have adverse effects on both students and teachers, and preservice teachers often report feeling ill prepared to manage this behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine (a) preservice teacher perceptions of student and teacher behavior during scenarios of challenging behavior, (b) alternative solutions or strategies…

The Marihuana Dilemma: Challenge to Commanders.

Science.gov (United States)

The marihuana dilemma poses a major challenge to commanders in the US Army today. The problem was analyzed as to the characteristics of the drug...available to commanders to meet the challenge. The essay concludes that marihuana should not be legalized; drug users or former drug users should not be

Training Staff to Manage Challenging Behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

van Oorsouw, Wietske M. W. J.; Embregts, Petri J. C. M.; Bosman, Anna M. T.; Jahoda, Andrew

2010-01-01

Background: A training package for staff working with clients presenting challenging behaviour was developed to (1) increase their knowledge regarding challenging behaviour, and (2) to improve the quality of physical intervention techniques. The latter aim was intended to reduce staff anxiety about dealing with incidents and limit physical risk of…

Overcoming the Challenges of Co-creation

Science.gov (United States)

Pandya, R.; Udu-gama, N.; Goodwin, M.; Otellini, P.

2016-12-01

There is growing interest in co-creation, especially for community-related issues like climate change, resilience, pollution, and environmental justice. Nevertheless, co-creation is still not mainstream practice in either geosciences or the world of decision-makers. This presents many challenges. On the science side, challenges include a paucity of training opportunities, lack of funding for co-creation, difficulty publishing or otherwise getting credit for the effort, and a perceived lack of prestige compared to theoretical research. On the community side, parallel challenges include a lack of experience working with scientists or thinking about geoscience's relevance to community issues, tight budgets and competing priorities, the need for outputs beyond publications, and the difficulty including science among a range of factors. Additionally, scientists and community leaders often work across public and private sectors and must navigate different approaches to data, privacy, and accountability. We'll use this session to explore opportunities to overcome the challenges of co-creation. Systems thinking suggests a range of approaches: enabling individuals, reducing specific challenges, changing the relationship between the elements of the systems, and changing the goals or mindsets of the systems - each more powerful than the last. For example, mentoring and coaching enables individuals, and pro-bono work eases the challenge of getting professional credit. New modes of output, like plain language abstracts, change the relationship between publications and other outputs. We can work on changing mindsets by publicizing and celebrating individual successes. With more effort and impact, we can build collaborations in the collective impact model, where we bring scientific and community organizations together around a common agenda and shared measurement. Building on these examples, we will use this session to collect strategies and opportunities from all participants.

7 CFR 1230.639 - Additional absentee voter challenge period.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Voter Request List indicated they had returned their ballot are not subject to challenge during this... period. FSA county offices will notify all challenged persons that documentation such as sales documents... challenged producers as soon as practicable but no later than November 9, 2000. (f) Challenged ballot. A...

Challenges for Infants’ Home Care: a Qualitative Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zeinab Hemati

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Background Home care is an acceptable strategy for the relationship between family and healthcare team and implementation of healthcare interventions, and infants’ nurses could play an important role in enhancing the capability of families and promoting child health in this area. This study examined challenges facing infants’ home care from nurses’ viewpoints in Iranian culture.Materials and MethodsA qualitative design was used to explain challenges facing infants’ home care from nurses’ viewpoints. Participants included 20 nurses’ working in the neonatal units of University hospitals in Isfahan, Iran in 2015. Data collection was done by interviewing nurses working in neonatal units of Shahid Beheshti and Alzahra hospitals. All the data were analyzed by qualitative content analysis.ResultsFour main categories of “The need to warn the community ", “culture",” need for security " and ” legal support" were extracted from the participants' explanations, indicating the dimensions of Challenges for Infants’ Home Care.Conclusion Nursing policy makers and managers are able to help to facilitate home care and improve the infants’ health through correcting the infrastructure and eliminating current obstacles.

A new approach to wind energy: Opportunities and challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Dabiri, John O.; Greer, Julia R.; Koseff, Jeffrey R.; Moin, Parviz; Peng, Jifeng

2015-03-01

Despite common characterizations of modern wind energy technology as mature, there remains a persistent disconnect between the vast global wind energy resource—which is 20 times greater than total global power consumption—and the limited penetration of existing wind energy technologies as a means for electricity generation worldwide. We describe an approach to wind energy harvesting that has the potential to resolve this disconnect by geographically distributing wind power generators in a manner that more closely mirrors the physical resource itself. To this end, technology development is focused on large arrays of small wind turbines that can harvest wind energy at low altitudes by using new concepts of biology-inspired engineering. This approach dramatically extends the reach of wind energy, as smaller wind turbines can be installed in many places that larger systems cannot, especially in built environments. Moreover, they have lower visual, acoustic, and radar signatures, and they may pose significantly less risk to birds and bats. These features can be leveraged to attain cultural acceptance and rapid adoption of this new technology, thereby enabling significantly faster achievement of state and national renewable energy targets than with existing technology alone. Favorable economics stem from an orders-of-magnitude reduction in the number of components in a new generation of simple, mass-manufacturable (even 3D-printable), vertical-axis wind turbines. However, this vision can only be achieved by overcoming significant scientific challenges that have limited progress over the past three decades. The following essay summarizes our approach as well as the opportunities and challenges associated with it, with the aim of motivating a concerted effort in basic and applied research in this area.

The challenge for gas: get price-competitive with coal-fired electricity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gill, Len

1999-01-01

The challenge for the gas industry is to become price competitive with coal-fired electricity if it wants a larger share of the energy market. Returning to the issue of greater use of gas for electricity generation, the author points out that although electricity prices were rising they were still below the point where gas-fired electricity generation was viable. Copyright (1999) The Australian Gas Journal

Grand challenges for integrated USGS science—A workshop report

Science.gov (United States)

Jenni, Karen E.; Goldhaber, Martin B.; Betancourt, Julio L.; Baron, Jill S.; Bristol, R. Sky; Cantrill, Mary; Exter, Paul E.; Focazio, Michael J.; Haines, John W.; Hay, Lauren E.; Hsu, Leslie; Labson, Victor F.; Lafferty, Kevin D.; Ludwig, Kristin A.; Milly, Paul C. D.; Morelli, Toni L.; Morman, Suzette A.; Nassar, Nedal T.; Newman, Timothy R.; Ostroff, Andrea C.; Read, Jordan S.; Reed, Sasha C.; Shapiro, Carl D.; Smith, Richard A.; Sanford, Ward E.; Sohl, Terry L.; Stets, Edward G.; Terando, Adam J.; Tillitt, Donald E.; Tischler, Michael A.; Toccalino, Patricia L.; Wald, David J.; Waldrop, Mark P.; Wein, Anne; Weltzin, Jake F.; Zimmerman, Christian E.

2017-06-30

Executive SummaryThe U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a long history of advancing the traditional Earth science disciplines and identifying opportunities to integrate USGS science across disciplines to address complex societal problems. The USGS science strategy for 2007–2017 laid out key challenges in disciplinary and interdisciplinary arenas, culminating in a call for increased focus on a number of crosscutting science directions. Ten years on, to further the goal of integrated science and at the request of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), a workshop with three dozen invited scientists spanning different disciplines and career stages in the Bureau convened on February 7–10, 2017, at the USGS John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis in Fort Collins, Colorado.The workshop focused on identifying “grand challenges” for integrated USGS science. Individual participants identified nearly 70 potential grand challenges before the workshop and through workshop discussions. After discussion, four overarching grand challenges emerged:Natural resource security,Societal risk from existing and emerging threats,Smart infrastructure development, andAnticipatory science for changing landscapes.Participants also identified a “comprehensive science challenge” that highlights the development of integrative science, data, models, and tools—all interacting in a modular framework—that can be used to address these and other future grand challenges:Earth Monitoring, Analyses, and Projections (EarthMAP)EarthMAP is our long-term vision for an integrated scientific framework that spans traditional scientific boundaries and disciplines, and integrates the full portfolio of USGS science: research, monitoring, assessment, analysis, and information delivery.The Department of Interior, and the Nation in general, have a vast array of information needs. The USGS meets these needs by having a broadly trained and agile scientific workforce. Encouraging and supporting

Challenges experienced by parents living with a child with attention ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Results: Five themes emerged: burden of care; emotional effects; social effects; impact of the educational challenges, and attempts to cope with the burden of care. ... Health care practitioners need to take note of the challenges inherent to parenting a child with ADHD in order to provide multi-disciplinary interventions aimed ...

Managing voluntary turnover through challenging assignments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Preenen, P.T.Y.; de Pater, I.E.; van Vianen, A.E.M.; Keijzer, L.

2011-01-01

This study examines employees’ challenging assignments as manageable means to reduce turnover intentions, job search behaviors, and voluntary turnover. Results indicate that challenging assignments are negatively related to turnover intentions and job search behaviors and that these relationships

Managing voluntary turnover through challenging assignments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Preenen, P.T.Y.; Pater, I.E. de; Vianen, A.E.M. van; Keijzer, L.

2011-01-01

This study examines employees' challenging assignments as manageable means to reduce turnover intentions, job search behaviors, and voluntary turnover. Results indicate that challenging assignments are negatively related to turnover intentions and job search behaviors and that these relationships

A Challenge with the Greatest Reward

Science.gov (United States)

Essary, Jessica

2007-01-01

For many teachers, the first time that they have a student who has little or no background with English, the thought of constantly engaging them in relevant activities throughout the entire day can be intimidating. Based on the author's experience teaching English language learners, she can assure teachers that it is a challenge worth facing. In…

Introducing "optimal challenges" in resident training

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Anette Bagger; Christensen, Mette Krogh

Background: Residents are often caught between two interests: the resident’s desire to participate in challenging learning situations and the department’s work planning. However, these interests may clash if they are not coordinated by the senior doctors, and challenging learning situations risk...... that the residents benefit from the intervention because they experienced more optimal challenges than before the intervention. However, the matching of resident and case seems to work against the established culture in the department: The daily work has for many years been organized so that senior doctors have...... their “own” patients and they do not “share” patients with residents. Thus the patients were accustomed to have their “own” specialist doctor. Conclusion: The intervention generated optimal challenges, but revealed the need for more team-based organization of senior doctors and residents’ working...

Challenges when electricity markets face the investment phase

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finon, Dominique; Johnsen, Tor Arnt; Midttun, Atle

2004-01-01

Deregulation of electricity industry in Europe has tended to start with a grace period of energy surplus inherited from the previously expansive coordinated economies and further amplified by better resource utilisation from extended international trade. The regulatory challenge has therefore primarily been to allocate existing generation to consumers in an efficient way. However, as energy demand increases, due to economic growth, the challenge of providing new capacity surfaces. The Nordic region, which has been a pioneer in internationalising and deregulating electricity, is now approaching this stage, ahead of most of the rest of Europe. While the Nordic case is characterised by specificities related to hydropower it also raises the more general challenge of capacity expansion under a deregulated market economy. The article therefore discusses how the Nordic investment challenges of today shed light on more generic challenges that may become more general European challenges of tomorrow. In a final section, the article discusses policy options available to address the investment/price-hike challenge. The argument is put forward that recursion to some degree of coordinated governance might seem necessary if solutions are confined within large-scale technical systems. However, within the context of a small-scale decentralised technological development, one may be more confident of competitive solutions. (Author)

Challenges and Opportunities for Libraries in Pakistan

OpenAIRE

Shafiq UR, Rehman; Pervaiz, Ahmad

2007-01-01

Abstract: This paper, based on review of literature, observation, and informal conversations, discusses various challenges regarding finance, collection development, ICTs, human resources, library education, library association and research & development faced by library profession in Pakistan. The opportunities to meet these challenges have also been explored. Keywords: Library challenges and opportunities (Pakistan); Librarianship (Pakistan); Library issues; Library profession in Pa...

Urban mental health: Challenges and perspectives

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Okkels, Niels

2018-01-01

Purpose of review: To provide an update on urban mental health and highlight the challenges that require urgent attention. Recent findings: The majority of the world's population live in towns and urbanization is expected to increase in all areas of the world. Challenges to mental health in urban...... services. Fast and unstructured urbanization, such as that seen in many developing countries, further exacerbates these challenges. There are promising initiatives emerging including initiatives to end homelessness, to improve access to green areas in urban environments, to provide emergency psychiatric...

Cultural Challenges of Social-Economic Innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bajde, Domen; Ottlewski, Lydia

2016-01-01

Purpose We introduce the concept of social-economic innovation (SEI) and point to cultural challenges involved in instituting SEI. In the second part of the paper, we delve into the alternative exchange system of “Housing for help” (HFH) to explore the challenging negotiation of roles and relations...... of the cultural processes and challenges involved in instituting unconventional social-economic systems. The paucity of existent research and the preliminary nature of our study call for further investigation. Practical implications The study informs individual and institutional efforts to negotiate...

Using Grand Challenges to Teach Science: A Biology-Geology Collaboration

Science.gov (United States)

Lyford, M.; Myers, J. D.

2012-12-01

Three science courses at the University of Wyoming explore the inextricable connections between science and society by centering on grand challenges. Two of these courses are introductory integrated science courses for non-majors while the third is an upper level course for majors and non-majors. Through collaboration, the authors have developed these courses to explore the grand challenges of energy, water and climate. Each course focuses on the fundamental STEM principles required for a citizen to understand each grand challenge. However, the courses also emphasize the non-STEM perspectives (e.g., economics, politics, human well-being, externalities) that underlie each grand challenge and argue that creating equitable, sustainable and just solutions to the grand challenges hinges on an understanding of STEM and non-STEM perspectives. Moreover, the authors also consider the multitude of personal perspectives individuals bring to the classroom (e.g., values, beliefs, empathy misconceptions) that influence any stakeholder's ability to engage in fruitful discussions about grand challenge solutions. Discovering Science (LIFE 1002) focuses on the grand challenges of energy and climate. Students attend three one-hour lectures, one two-hour lab and a one-hour discussion each week. Lectures emphasize the STEM and non-STEM principles underlying each grand challenge. Laboratory activities are designed to be interdisciplinary and engage students in inquiry-driven activities to reinforce concepts from lecture and to model how science is conducted. Labs also expose students to the difficulties often associated with scientific studies, the limits of science, and the inherent uncertainties associated with scientific findings. Discussion sessions provide an opportunity for students to explore the complexity of the grand challenges from STEM and non-STEM perspectives, and expose the multitude of personal perspectives an individual might harbor related to each grand challenge

Energy challenges and strategic challenges in the 21. Century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paillard, Christophe-Alexandre

2011-01-01

Prices of fossil fuels are still increasing in 2011. This trend should accentuate in the next years. Because natural resources are indeed limited and without any possibility of quickly reversing current consuming habits, world consumers must find a way to limit the impact of these bullish tendencies. This challenge must be confronted to the lack of credible alternative to fossil fuels. In fact, there is no energy with comparable qualities to oil and gas. Thus other resources will keep a low profile in the world energy balance in the next twenty years. This phenomenon of scarcity and a high level of dependency to hydrocarbons will have four consequences: redefinition of military and economic alliances; calling into questions the positions of established powers; implementation of policies which aim to reduce any external dependency; upholding of the Middle East as a key energy area, due to the amount of its natural reserves. In such a context, producing countries will try to preserve their resources from any external lust. For all, any energy policy based on abstinence should contribute to limit the risks of a possible world energy crisis. However, such a development seems to be unlikely on the mid term. Energy will stay one of the major challenges of the 21. century

Recognizing and overcoming challenges of couple interview research.

Science.gov (United States)

Mellor, Ruth M; Slaymaker, Emma; Cleland, John

2013-10-01

In this article we discuss some methodological and ethical challenges we faced when conducting a couple-based study on men's role in contraceptive switching, and how we overcame them. The challenges we discuss include recruiting couples with a range of experiences, ensuring informed consent of participants, maintaining confidentiality within interviews, and participants discussing interview content between interviews. As appropriate, we have drawn on study participants' views of these challenges. We conclude that although couple research poses challenges, they can be overcome or minimized, and that for certain research questions this methodology is well worth using.

Challenges, opportunities and trends in engineering education

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosen, M.A.

2005-01-01

Many challenges and opportunities face the engineering profession and engineering education. The engineering profession advances best if challenges are properly addressed, opportunities beneficially exploited and reasoned speculation made on future trends. In this article, the author presents his views on some of the challenges and opportunities facing the engineering education, and possible future trends, with the objective of fostering continued discussion of and action on these issues. This topic is of great importance because the development of engineering education is strongly influenced by the challenges and opportunities it faces and how it responds, and by anticipated future trends. (author)

Higgs Machine Learning Challenge 2014

CERN Document Server

Olivier, A-P; Bourdarios, C ; LAL / Orsay; Goldfarb, S ; University of Michigan

2014-01-01

High Energy Physics (HEP) has been using Machine Learning (ML) techniques such as boosted decision trees (paper) and neural nets since the 90s. These techniques are now routinely used for difficult tasks such as the Higgs boson search. Nevertheless, formal connections between the two research fields are rather scarce, with some exceptions such as the AppStat group at LAL, founded in 2006. In collaboration with INRIA, AppStat promotes interdisciplinary research on machine learning, computational statistics, and high-energy particle and astroparticle physics. We are now exploring new ways to improve the cross-fertilization of the two fields by setting up a data challenge, following the footsteps of, among others, the astrophysics community (dark matter and galaxy zoo challenges) and neurobiology (connectomics and decoding the human brain). The organization committee consists of ATLAS physicists and machine learning researchers. The Challenge will run from Monday 12th to September 2014.

Success of Breast Cancer Startup Challenge Inspires Second Challenge | Poster

Science.gov (United States)

By Thomas Stackhouse, Joseph Conrad, and Michele Newton, Contributing Writers, and Rosemarie Truman, Guest Writer Sixty-one teams have been accepted into, and are now competing in, the Neuro Startup Challenge, a new collaboration established by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) and Heritage Provider Network, Inc.

Perampanel and Challenging Behaviour in Intellectual Disability and Epilepsy: A Management Dilemma

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily Dolton

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We describe a case of a patient with a diagnosis of moderate learning disability with challenging behaviour and treatment refractory epilepsy. Antiepileptics can increase challenging behaviour; however, antipsychotics can provoke seizures. This results in a difficult balance for patient care. Due to worsening seizures, the patient was prescribed perampanel. This increased her aggression and agitation resulting in admission. We trialled four antipsychotic drugs to reduce her challenging behaviour, two of which worsened her seizures. It was necessary to continue antiepileptic medication to maintain adequate seizure control. However, the resulting uncontrolled challenging behaviour persisted, meaning she was unable to return to her family home on discharge. This case emphasises the difficult scenario clinician’s encounter when balancing the use of antipsychotics and antiepileptics. The case demonstrates the significant functional loss due to challenging behaviour, balanced against controlling life threatening seizures.

The Cross-Cultural Knowledge Sharing Challenge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Persson, John Stouby

2013-01-01

Cross-cultural offshoring in software development challenges effective knowledge sharing. While research has suggested temporarily co-locating participants to address this challenge, few studies are available on what knowledge sharing practices emerge over time when co-locating cross-cultural sof...

Challenges in implementing electronic hand hygiene monitoring systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, Laurie J

2016-05-02

Electronic hand hygiene (HH) monitoring systems offer the exciting prospect of a more precise, less biased measure of HH performance than direct observation. However, electronic systems are challenging to implement. Selecting a system that minimizes disruption to the physical infrastructure and to clinician workflow, and that fits with the organization's culture and budget, is challenging. Getting front-line workers' buy-in and addressing concerns about the accuracy of the system and how the data will be used are also difficult challenges. Finally, ensuring information from the system reaches front-line workers and is used by them to improve HH practice is a complex challenge. We describe these challenges in detail and suggests ways to overcome them. Copyright © 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Projectile Motion Hoop Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Connor; Dunn, Amy; Armstrong, Zachary; Adams, Wendy K.

2018-04-01

Projectile motion is a common phenomenon that is used in introductory physics courses to help students understand motion in two dimensions. Authors have shared a range of ideas for teaching this concept and the associated kinematics in The Physics Teacher; however, the "Hoop Challenge" is a new setup not before described in TPT. In this article an experiment is illustrated to explore projectile motion in a fun and challenging manner that has been used with both high school and university students. With a few simple materials, students have a vested interest in being able to calculate the height of the projectile at a given distance from its launch site. They also have an exciting visual demonstration of projectile motion when the lab is over.

E-Learning: a virtual boon and the challenges in Tourism Higher Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramjit Singh

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a critical review of research on challenges for e-Learning with a particular focus on developing countries. A comprehensive literature review including 124 papers on e-Learning benefits and challenges was undertaken for the purpose of understanding how to implement e-Learning in developing countries. The literature study found 62 papers which were condensed to base on exclusion and inclusion criteria designed to find the research papers which match the criteria and objectives of the present study as well as papers that clearly investigated well-defined advantages and challenges of e learning in the education system. The research found 30 specific challenges which were grouped into four categories, viz.: courses, individuals, technology and context. The overall conclusion is that these advantages and challenges are equally valid for both developed and developing countries.

Communication Challenge Softball

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Tom; Vance, Mike

2005-01-01

Communication Challenge Softball is a developmentally appropriate game for middle school students. The game allows them to develop new communication skills using American Sign Language (signing). Traditional softball has been a part of physical education for years, and remains a popular sport played by children in community leagues throughout the…

Characterizing challenged Minnesota ballots

Science.gov (United States)

Nagy, George; Lopresti, Daniel; Barney Smith, Elisa H.; Wu, Ziyan

2011-01-01

Photocopies of the ballots challenged in the 2008 Minnesota elections, which constitute a public record, were scanned on a high-speed scanner and made available on a public radio website. The PDF files were downloaded, converted to TIF images, and posted on the PERFECT website. Based on a review of relevant image-processing aspects of paper-based election machinery and on additional statistics and observations on the posted sample data, robust tools were developed for determining the underlying grid of the targets on these ballots regardless of skew, clipping, and other degradations caused by high-speed copying and digitization. The accuracy and robustness of a method based on both index-marks and oval targets are demonstrated on 13,435 challenged ballot page images.

Architect Critical Challenges as a Project Manager in Construction Projects: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammadreza Yadollahi

2014-01-01

Full Text Available All construction professionals such as civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers, quantity surveyors, and architects have important roles in the construction process. Among these, architects are frequently appointed as a project manager (PM. The role of a PM will drive the success of the projects implementation. Therefore, the capability of an architect as a PM (ArPM is critical in reducing challenges encountered. Accordingly, the identification of these challenges is an important task in selecting an appropriate ArPM. The aim of this study is to identify the most critical challenges faced by an ArPM for construction projects. The data were collected through questionnaires and interviews with architects and professionals in the Malaysian construction industry. Because of the fuzziness and uncertainty of subjective responses, Fuzzy Set Ttheory is applied to identify critical challenges. A total of 65 questionnaires were distributed and 36 questionnaires were returned. The results revealed that the critical challenges faced by an ArPM are “poor planning,” “unfamiliar technology,” “unfamiliarity with green buildings and materials,” “inappropriate scheduling,” and “poor workmanship.” All critical challenges were then categorized into six main groups including technical, managerial, personal skills, contractual, psychological, and financial.

No difference in health-related quality of life, after a food challenge with cashew nut in children participating in a clinical trial

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Valk, J. P. M.; van Wijk, R. Gerth; Flokstra-de Blok, B. M. J.; van der Velde, J. L.; de Groot, H.; Wichers, H. J.; Dubois, A. E. J.; de Jong, N. W.

2016-01-01

Background: Previous studies showed that health-related quality of life (HRQL) significantly improved after the food challenge, with greater improvements in HRQL after a negative outcome than after a positive outcome. It is currently unknown whether this also occurs in patients undergoing DBPCFCs

Inequality and Development Challenges | IDRC - International ...

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

2013-08-30

Inequality and Development Challenges. Couverture du livre Inequality and Development Challenges. Editor(s):. Maria Clara Couto Soares, Mario Scerri et Rasigan Maharajh. Publisher(s):. Routledge, CRDI. August 30, 2013. ISBN: 9780415710329. 372 pages. e-ISBN: 9781552505571. Download PDF · Read the e-book.

Gender differences in job challenge: a matter of task alllocation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Pater, I.E.; van Vianen, A.E.M.; Bechtoldt, M.N.

2010-01-01

Challenging job experiences are considered important prerequisites for management development and career success. Several researchers have suggested that women are given fewer challenging assignments than their male colleagues. To test this idea we performed two studies. The first examined possible

Localized skin changes at the site of immunization with highly irradiated cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni are associated with enhanced resistance to a challenge infection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, K.L.; Smithers, S.R.

1982-01-01

The level of immunity to a percutaneous cercarial challenge with Schistosoma mansoni was assayed 4-6 weeks after immunization of mice with highly irradiated (20 krad.) cercariae or schistosomula. When immunization and challenge occurred through the same skin site, resistance, particularly that which occurred in the skin, was greater than that observed when immunization and challenge occurred in different sites. The enhanced resistance is believed to be due to localized changes in the skin; 4 weeks after exposure to irradiated cercariae, abdominal skin is characterized by a thickened epidermis, changes in the ground substance and a cellular infiltration of the dermis. A convenient mouse model is described in which one or both ear pinnae are exposed to irradiated cercariae and a percutaneous challenge is given via the abdomen, thus eliminating the effects of local skin changes. In this model, the majority of the challenge infection which succumbs to the immune response appears to be killed in the skin. (author)

The Climate Change Challenge for Land Professionals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Enemark, Stig

2014-01-01

“Climate change is the defining challenge of our time”. This statement by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon (2009) is still valid. The challenges of food shortage, environmental degradation and natural disasters are to a large extent caused by the overarching challenge of climate change, while...... the rapid urbanisation is a general trend that in itself has a significant impact on climate change. Measures for adaptation to climate change must be integrated into strategies for poverty reduction to ensure sustainable development and for meeting the Millennium Development Goals and beyond. Sustainable...... monitoring systems and systems for land administration and management should serve as a basis for climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as prevention and management of natural disasters. In facing the climate change challenge the role of land professionals is twofold: • Monitoring change...

Leadership Challenges in a Culture of Entitlement

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-18

transparent is that such a culture, if it exists, may present a significant leadership challenge to overcome. During the research for this debate, a...subject matter and to improve leadership discussions. Supported conclusions have been provided with recommended courses of action to mitigate

Challenges in modelling nanoparticles for drug delivery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnard, Amanda S

2016-01-01

Although there have been significant advances in the fields of theoretical condensed matter and computational physics, when confronted with the complexity and diversity of nanoparticles available in conventional laboratories a number of modeling challenges remain. These challenges are generally shared among application domains, but the impacts of the limitations and approximations we make to overcome them (or circumvent them) can be more significant one area than another. In the case of nanoparticles for drug delivery applications some immediate challenges include the incompatibility of length-scales, our ability to model weak interactions and solvation, the complexity of the thermochemical environment surrounding the nanoparticles, and the role of polydispersivity in determining properties and performance. Some of these challenges can be met with existing technologies, others with emerging technologies including the data-driven sciences; some others require new methods to be developed. In this article we will briefly review some simple methods and techniques that can be applied to these (and other) challenges, and demonstrate some results using nanodiamond-based drug delivery platforms as an exemplar. (topical review)

A cross-cultural survey of residents' perceived barriers in questioning/challenging authority.

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, H; Pian-Smith, M; Sato, M; Sawa, R; Takeshita, T; Raemer, D

2006-08-01

To identify perceived barriers to residents' questioning or challenging their seniors, to determine how these barriers affect decisions, and to assess how these barriers differ across cultures. A written questionnaire was administered to residents in teaching hospitals in the US and Japan to assess factors affecting residents' willingness to question or challenge their superiors. The responses were analyzed for statistical significance of differences between the two cultures and to determine the importance of issues affecting decisions. Questionnaires were completed by 175 US and 65 Japanese residents, with an overall response rate of 71%. Trainees from both countries believe that questioning and challenging contribute to safety. The perceived importance of specific beliefs about the workplace differed across cultures in seven out of 22 questions. Residents' decisions to make a challenge were related to the relationships and perceived response of the superiors. There was no statistical difference between the US and Japanese residents in terms of the threshold for challenging their seniors. We have identified attributes of residents' beliefs of communication, including several cross-cultural differences in the importance of values and issues affecting one's decision to question or challenge. In contrast, there was no difference in the threshold for challenging seniors by the Japanese and US residents studied. Changes in organizational and professional culture may be as important, if not more so, than national culture to encourage "speaking up". Residents should be encouraged to overcome barriers to challenging, and training programs should foster improved relationships and communication between trainers and trainees.

Hyperkinesis and diet: a double-blind crossover trial with a tartrazine challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Levy, F; Dumbrell, S; Hobbes, G; Ryan, M; Wilton, N; Woodhill, J M

1978-01-28

A pilot study was conducted on 22 children (19 boys and three girls) aged between four and eight years, who were selected as hyperactive on the basis of developmental history and clinical judgement. Conners' parent-teacher ratings, objective tests of attention, standard perceptualmotor tests and subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC), were used as response variables. The children were tested before and after four weeks on the elimination diet, after a tartrazine and placebo challenge, and, finally, after a four-week washout period on the diet. Results showed a statistically significant improvement in the mothers' ratings of the children's behaviour after the first four weeks of the diet. The improvement was maintained in a combined analysis of the initial four-week diet period and four-week washout period. This result was not substantiated by the statistical analysis of the results from objective tests. The rating scales and objective tests for the full sample did not show a statistically significant deterioration in the children's behaviour when they were challenged under double-blind test conditions with the Yellow Dye No. 5, tartrazine, and the tests were conducted the day after a two-week challenge period. A comparison of mother ratings of behaviour during challenge and placebo double-blind trial and in the 24 hours preceding tests, in a subgroup of the children who, while on the diet, showed a 25% reduction of symptoms on the Conner's rating scale, indicated a significant challenge effect (P less than 0.025), with mothers reporting more symptoms during the challenge period. Dietary infringements with suspected trigger substances occurred throughout the trial.

The challenges of maintaining indigenous ecological knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joe McCarter

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Increased interest in indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK has led to concern that it is vulnerable amidst social and ecological change. In response, multiple authors have recommended the establishment of programs for the maintenance and revitalization of IEK systems. However, few studies have analyzed the methods, opportunities, and challenges of these programs. This is a critical gap, as IEK maintenance is challenging and will require layered and evidence-based solutions. We seek to build a foundation for future approaches to IEK maintenance. First, we present a systematic literature review of IEK maintenance programs (n = 39 and discuss the opportunities and challenges inherent in five broad groups of published approaches. Second, we use two case studies from the Republic of Vanuatu to illustrate these challenges in more depth. The first case study takes a community-based approach, which has inherent strengths (e.g., localized organization. It has, however, faced practical (e.g., funding and epistemological (changing modes of knowledge transmission challenges. The second case study seeks to facilitate IEK transmission within the formal school system. Although this model has potential, it has faced significant challenges (e.g., lack of institutional linkages. We conclude that supporting and strengthening IEK is important but that serious attention is needed to account for the social, situated, and dynamic nature of IEK. In closing, we use the review and case studies to propose four principles that may guide adaptive and flexible approaches for the future maintenance of IEK systems.

Spinal cord grey matter segmentation challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Prados, Ferran; Ashburner, John; Blaiotta, Claudia; Brosch, Tom; Carballido-Gamio, Julio; Cardoso, Manuel Jorge; Conrad, Benjamin N; Datta, Esha; Dávid, Gergely; Leener, Benjamin De; Dupont, Sara M; Freund, Patrick; Wheeler-Kingshott, Claudia A M Gandini; Grussu, Francesco; Henry, Roland; Landman, Bennett A; Ljungberg, Emil; Lyttle, Bailey; Ourselin, Sebastien; Papinutto, Nico; Saporito, Salvatore; Schlaeger, Regina; Smith, Seth A; Summers, Paul; Tam, Roger; Yiannakas, Marios C; Zhu, Alyssa; Cohen-Adad, Julien

2017-05-15

An important image processing step in spinal cord magnetic resonance imaging is the ability to reliably and accurately segment grey and white matter for tissue specific analysis. There are several semi- or fully-automated segmentation methods for cervical cord cross-sectional area measurement with an excellent performance close or equal to the manual segmentation. However, grey matter segmentation is still challenging due to small cross-sectional size and shape, and active research is being conducted by several groups around the world in this field. Therefore a grey matter spinal cord segmentation challenge was organised to test different capabilities of various methods using the same multi-centre and multi-vendor dataset acquired with distinct 3D gradient-echo sequences. This challenge aimed to characterize the state-of-the-art in the field as well as identifying new opportunities for future improvements. Six different spinal cord grey matter segmentation methods developed independently by various research groups across the world and their performance were compared to manual segmentation outcomes, the present gold-standard. All algorithms provided good overall results for detecting the grey matter butterfly, albeit with variable performance in certain quality-of-segmentation metrics. The data have been made publicly available and the challenge web site remains open to new submissions. No modifications were introduced to any of the presented methods as a result of this challenge for the purposes of this publication. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Challenges and opportunities for REDD+

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pasgaard, Maya; Sun, Zhanli; Müller, Daniel

2016-01-01

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is a promising mechanism of payments for ecosystem services with the aim to effectively reduce emissions in an efficient and equitable manner. REDD+ is part of the Paris-agreement reached at the UNFCCC COP21 in December 2015...... the opportunities and challenges of REDD+ for achieving effective, efficient and equitable outcomes and co-benefits (3E+). We substantiate our survey results with a literature review. Results suggest that the challenges in achieving the 3E+ relate to the disproportionality between deforestation drivers...

Hospital management autonomy in Chile: the challenges for human resources in health.

Science.gov (United States)

Méndez, Claudio A; Torres A, M Cristina

2010-04-01

In Latin America, some health sector reforms have included steps to the implementation of autonomous hospitals. In Chile, the health system is implementing a reform that introduces a network of self-managed institutions. These organizations will be high complexity centers that involve greater technical diversity, cost centers and mechanisms to evaluate users' satisfaction. For human resources in health, the implementation of these centers creates challenges in the planning of service provision and a change from the traditional management style of the teams to one based on networks. These challenges include the estimation of gaps in medical specialists and in other professions in the health sector. In order to be successful with self-management, Chile needs to establish universal and local policies that address training and the organization of health service provisioning in these institutions.

DuraChem trademark - challenges and solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howard, I.S.; Bowan, B.W.; Kirshe, M.H.

1996-01-01

Vitrification of low-level ion exchange resins represents numerous challenges never before successfully accomplished. These challenges include (1) Feed material preparation and transfer, (2) Melter temperature and volume control, (3) Glass composition, stabilization, and control, and (4) Off-gas treatment and particulate capture. The DuraChem trademark team of Chem-Nuclear Systems, Inc. and GTS Duratek, Inc. began its journey in 1994 and is in the process of starting-up the first centralized vitrification facility for commercial ion-exchange and filtration media. This paper addresses each of the challenges and provides an update of this unique volume-reduction and stabilization technology

Practical Challenges for Digital Watermarking Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sharma Ravi K

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The field of digital watermarking has recently seen numerous articles covering novel techniques, theoretical studies, attacks, and analysis. In this paper, we focus on an emerging application to highlight practical challenges for digital watermarking applications. Challenges include design considerations, requirements analysis, choice of watermarking techniques, speed, robustness, and the tradeoffs involved. We describe common attributes of watermarking systems and discuss the challenges in developing real world applications. Our application uses digital watermarking to connect ordinary toys to the digital world. The application captures important aspects of watermarking systems and illustrates some of the design issues faced.

Safety analysis - current and future regulatory challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jamieson, T., E-mail: Terry.Jamieson@cnsc-ccsn.gc.ca [Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

2015-07-01

'Full text:' The current and future regulatory challenges associated with deterministic safety analysis are reviewed, including: 1. The CNSC's and safety control areas. 2. Traditional safety analysis approach. 3. Experience gained and impact. 4. Current analysis and regulatory approaches. 5. Current status. 6. Complexity and challenges In particular, the technical, regulatory and strategic aspects of these challenges are discussed. (author)

Safety analysis - current and future regulatory challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jamieson, T.

2015-01-01

'Full text:' The current and future regulatory challenges associated with deterministic safety analysis are reviewed, including: 1. The CNSC's and safety control areas. 2. Traditional safety analysis approach. 3. Experience gained and impact. 4. Current analysis and regulatory approaches. 5. Current status. 6. Complexity and challenges In particular, the technical, regulatory and strategic aspects of these challenges are discussed. (author)

Common Breastfeeding Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

... or duplicated without permission of the Office on Women’s Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Citation of the source is appreciated. Page last updated: March 02, 2018. Common breastfeeding challenges Breastfeeding can be ...

The boomer challenge.

Science.gov (United States)

Barr, Paul

2014-01-01

Hospitals and the rest of health care will have to make some major adjustments to meet the needs of the aging baby boom generation. The first article in our year-long series inventories the many challenges that lie ahead.

Neonatal Vaccination: Challenges and Intervention Strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Matthew C; Surendran, Naveen

2016-01-01

While vaccines have been tremendously successful in reducing the incidence of serious infectious diseases, newborns remain particularly vulnerable in the first few months of their life to life-threatening infections. A number of challenges exist to neonatal vaccination. However, recent advances in the understanding of neonatal immunology offer insights to overcome many of those challenges. This review will present an overview of the features of neonatal immunity which make vaccination difficult, survey the mechanisms of action of available vaccine adjuvants with respect to the unique features of neonatal immunity, and propose a possible mechanism contributing to the inability of neonates to generate protective immune responses to vaccines. We surveyed recent published findings on the challenges to neonatal vaccination and possible intervention strategies including the use of novel vaccine adjuvants to develop efficacious neonatal vaccines. Challenges in the vaccination of neonates include interference from maternal antibody and excessive skewing towards Th2 immunity, which can be counteracted by the use of proper adjuvants. Synergistic stimulation of multiple Toll-like receptors by incorporating well-defined agonist-adjuvant combinations to vaccines is a promising strategy to ensure a protective vaccine response in neonates. © 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Greener energy solutions for a sustainable future: issues and challenges for Malaysia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zamzam Jaafar, M.; Kheng, Wong Hwee E-mail: edwong@ptm.org.my; Kamaruddin, Norhayati

2003-09-01

This paper examines the intricacy of energy policies, issues and challenges woven into the development of the energy sector in Malaysia. As highlighted in the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3) and the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP) unveiled in April 2001, efforts will be intensified to moderate the growth of energy demand and to develop renewable energy as the fifth fuel in electricity generation. Whilst the general energy policy thrust for the next ten years remains unchanged, concerted efforts will be made to usher the energy sector development on a greener path. With a projected average economic growth rate of 7.5% per year in the 2001-2005 period, resource rich Malaysia would have to cater for the 7.8% yearly increase in final energy demand. Total primary energy supply is projected to grow at an average of 7.2% per year in the same period. Against the backdrop of a growing need for coal and piped natural gas imports and Malaysia becoming a net crude oil importer in 2008, greater challenges lie ahead for the energy sector. This implies that Peninsular Malaysia may become a net importer of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) sooner than expected. Higher utilization rate of natural gas as the 'green' fuel will be encouraged in electricity and non-electricity sectors. Furthermore, fiscal incentives in Budget 2001 to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency provide a timely boost for implementation of the new fifth fuel strategy. Although the overall approach in addressing energy issues and challenges hinges on the precautionary principle, the main thrust of energy sector development in Malaysia will continue to focus on adequacy, quality and security of energy supply and the promotion of its efficient utilization with minimum negative impacts on the environment.

Greener energy solutions for a sustainable future: issues and challenges for Malaysia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaafar, Mohammad Zamzam; Wonghwee Kheng; Kamaruddin, Norhayati [Kawasan Institusi Bangi, Pusat Tenaga Malaysia (Malaysia Energy Centre), Selangor Darul Ehsan (Malaysia)

2003-09-01

This paper examines the intricacy of energy policies, issues and challenges woven into the development of the energy sector in Malaysia. As highlighted in the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3) and the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP) unveiled in April 2001, efforts will be intensified to moderate the growth of energy demand and to develop renewable energy as the fifth fuel in electricity generation. Whilst the general energy policy thrust for the next ten years remains unchanged, concerted efforts will be made to usher the energy sector development on a greener path. With a projected average economic growth rate of 7.5% per year in the 2001-2005 period, resource rich Malaysia would have to cater for the 7.8% yearly increase in final energy demand. Total primary energy supply is projected to grow at an average of 7.2% per year in the same period. Against the backdrop of a growing need for coal and piped natural gas imports and Malaysia becoming a net crude oil importer in 2008, greater challenges lie ahead for the energy sector. This implies that Peninsular Malaysia may become a net importer of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) sooner than expected. Higher utilization rate of natural gas as the 'green' fuel will be encouraged in electricity and non-electricity sectors. Furthermore, fiscal incentives in Budget 2001 to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency provide a timely boost for implementation of the new fifth fuel strategy. Although the overall approach in addressing energy issues and challenges hinges on the precautionary principle, the main thrust of energy sector development in Malaysia will continue to focus on adequacy, quality and security of energy supply and the promotion of its efficient utilization with minimum negative impacts on the environment. (Author)

Greener energy solutions for a sustainable future: issues and challenges for Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zamzam Jaafar, M.; Kheng, Wong Hwee; Kamaruddin, Norhayati

2003-01-01

This paper examines the intricacy of energy policies, issues and challenges woven into the development of the energy sector in Malaysia. As highlighted in the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3) and the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP) unveiled in April 2001, efforts will be intensified to moderate the growth of energy demand and to develop renewable energy as the fifth fuel in electricity generation. Whilst the general energy policy thrust for the next ten years remains unchanged, concerted efforts will be made to usher the energy sector development on a greener path. With a projected average economic growth rate of 7.5% per year in the 2001-2005 period, resource rich Malaysia would have to cater for the 7.8% yearly increase in final energy demand. Total primary energy supply is projected to grow at an average of 7.2% per year in the same period. Against the backdrop of a growing need for coal and piped natural gas imports and Malaysia becoming a net crude oil importer in 2008, greater challenges lie ahead for the energy sector. This implies that Peninsular Malaysia may become a net importer of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) sooner than expected. Higher utilization rate of natural gas as the 'green' fuel will be encouraged in electricity and non-electricity sectors. Furthermore, fiscal incentives in Budget 2001 to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency provide a timely boost for implementation of the new fifth fuel strategy. Although the overall approach in addressing energy issues and challenges hinges on the precautionary principle, the main thrust of energy sector development in Malaysia will continue to focus on adequacy, quality and security of energy supply and the promotion of its efficient utilization with minimum negative impacts on the environment

Greener energy solutions for a sustainable future: issues and challenges for Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaafar, Mohammad Zamzam; Wonghwee Kheng; Kamaruddin, Norhayati

2003-01-01

This paper examines the intricacy of energy policies, issues and challenges woven into the development of the energy sector in Malaysia. As highlighted in the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3) and the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP) unveiled in April 2001, efforts will be intensified to moderate the growth of energy demand and to develop renewable energy as the fifth fuel in electricity generation. Whilst the general energy policy thrust for the next ten years remains unchanged, concerted efforts will be made to usher the energy sector development on a greener path. With a projected average economic growth rate of 7.5% per year in the 2001-2005 period, resource rich Malaysia would have to cater for the 7.8% yearly increase in final energy demand. Total primary energy supply is projected to grow at an average of 7.2% per year in the same period. Against the backdrop of a growing need for coal and piped natural gas imports and Malaysia becoming a net crude oil importer in 2008, greater challenges lie ahead for the energy sector. This implies that Peninsular Malaysia may become a net importer of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) sooner than expected. Higher utilization rate of natural gas as the 'green' fuel will be encouraged in electricity and non-electricity sectors. Furthermore, fiscal incentives in Budget 2001 to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency provide a timely boost for implementation of the new fifth fuel strategy. Although the overall approach in addressing energy issues and challenges hinges on the precautionary principle, the main thrust of energy sector development in Malaysia will continue to focus on adequacy, quality and security of energy supply and the promotion of its efficient utilization with minimum negative impacts on the environment. (Author)

Knowledge Management Challenges For Global Business

OpenAIRE

Veli Denizhan Kalkan

2011-01-01

Managing organizational knowledge effectively is a prerequisite for securing competitive advantages in the global marketplace. The field of knowledge management brings out important challenges for global business practices. Based on a comprehensive academic and popular literature review, this paper identifies six main knowledge management challenges faced by global business today. These are developing a working definition of knowledge, dealing with tacit knowledge and utilization of informati...

Fostering sustained energy behavior change and increasing energy literacy in a student housing energy challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Brewer, Robert Stephen

We designed the Kukui Cup challenge to foster energy conservation and increase energy literacy. Based on a review of the literature, the challenge combined a variety of elements into an overall game experience, including: real-time energy feedback, goals, commitments, competition, and prizes. We designed a software system called Makahiki to provide the online portion of the Kukui Cup challenge. Energy use was monitored by smart meters installed on each floor of the Hale Aloha residence halls on the University of Hawai'i at Manoa campus. In October 2011, we ran the UH Kukui Cup challenge for the over 1000 residents of the Hale Aloha towers. To evaluate the Kukui Cup challenge, I conducted three experiments: challenge participation, energy literacy, and energy use. Many residents participated in the challenge, as measured by points earned and actions completed through the challenge website. I measured the energy literacy of a random sample of Hale Aloha residents using an online energy literacy questionnaire administered before and after the challenge. I found that challenge participants' energy knowledge increased significantly compared to non-challenge participants. Positive self-reported energy behaviors increased after the challenge for both challenge participants and non-participants, leading to the possibility of passive participation by the non-challenge participants. I found that energy use varied substantially between and within lounges over time. Variations in energy use over time complicated the selection of a baseline of energy use to compare the levels during and after the challenge. The best team reduced its energy use during the challenge by 16%. However, team energy conservation did not appear to correlate to participation in the challenge, and there was no evidence of sustained energy conservation after the challenge. The problems inherent in assessing energy conservation using a baseline call into question this common practice. My research has

The Clinical Response to Gluten Challenge: A Review of the Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Bruins, Maaike J.

2013-01-01

The aim of this review was to identify, evaluate and summarize all relevant studies reporting on the clinical response to gluten challenge by adult or pediatric patients with suspected or diagnosed coeliac disease (CD) on a gluten-free diet. We evaluated the effect of gluten challenge on changes in symptoms, intestinal mucosa histology, and serum antibodies. A systematic electronic search was performed for studies published as of 1966 using PubMed and Scopus databases. In the reviewed studies, doses ranged from 0.2 to 30 g/day of wheat gluten or comprised a gluten-containing diet. The onset of symptoms upon gluten intake varied largely from days to months and did not parallel serum antibody or histological changes. Within 3 months of gluten challenge, 70%–100% of pediatric CD patients became positive for AGA-IgA and EMA-IgA antibodies and 50%–70% for AGA-IgG. A limited number of trials suggest that no more than half of adult patients developed positive AGA-IgA, EMA-IgA, tTG-IgA or DGP-IgA/IgG titers. Approximately 50%–100% of pediatric and adult patients experienced mucosal relapse of gluten provocation within 3 months, which was preceded by increased mucosal intra-epithelial lymphocytes within several days of challenge. A 3-month high-dose gluten challenge should be suitable to diagnose the majority of CD patients. In some cases prolonged challenge may be needed to verify diagnosis. Combination testing for antibodies and mucosal histology may fasten the diagnosis. PMID:24284613

The Clinical Response to Gluten Challenge: A Review of the Literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maaike J. Bruins

2013-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of this review was to identify, evaluate and summarize all relevant studies reporting on the clinical response to gluten challenge by adult or pediatric patients with suspected or diagnosed coeliac disease (CD on a gluten-free diet. We evaluated the effect of gluten challenge on changes in symptoms, intestinal mucosa histology, and serum antibodies. A systematic electronic search was performed for studies published as of 1966 using PubMed and Scopus databases. In the reviewed studies, doses ranged from 0.2 to 30 g/day of wheat gluten or comprised a gluten-containing diet. The onset of symptoms upon gluten intake varied largely from days to months and did not parallel serum antibody or histological changes. Within 3 months of gluten challenge, 70%–100% of pediatric CD patients became positive for AGA-IgA and EMA-IgA antibodies and 50%–70% for AGA-IgG. A limited number of trials suggest that no more than half of adult patients developed positive AGA-IgA, EMA-IgA, tTG-IgA or DGP-IgA/IgG titers. Approximately 50%–100% of pediatric and adult patients experienced mucosal relapse of gluten provocation within 3 months, which was preceded by increased mucosal intra-epithelial lymphocytes within several days of challenge. A 3-month high-dose gluten challenge should be suitable to diagnose the majority of CD patients. In some cases prolonged challenge may be needed to verify diagnosis. Combination testing for antibodies and mucosal histology may fasten the diagnosis.

The Challenge of Prejudice: Counsellors' Talk about Challenging Clients' Prejudices

Science.gov (United States)

Spong, Sheila J.

2012-01-01

This paper considers the implications for training and practice of counsellors' responses to the notion of challenging clients' prejudices. It explores tensions in counselling discourse between social responsibility, responsibility to the client and responsibility for one's self as counsellor. Three focus groups of counsellors were asked whether a…

Challenges to Business Excellence: Some Empirical Evidence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brown Alan

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The business excellence models are used by many organisations around the world as a strategic driver for business improvement and in some cases as the basis for applications for awards based on the models. These include the Baldrige, EFQM, Australian Business Excellence Framework and many other national and regional models. Whilst many award recipients showcase their achievements, comparatively little is known about the challenges and impediments they face in reaching and sustaining high levels of success as evidenced by winning awards. This paper seeks to identify challenges faced by examining the experience of a sample of Australian Business Excellence Award winners. Findings suggest that the primary challenges include; leadership support, drive and consistency throughout the organisation and communicating strategy and making it meaningful for people at all levels. The study also found variability in challenges across organisations.

Asia's new challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brach, Juliana; Vang, Jan

2012-01-01

Asian countries are currently undergoing significant changes with respect to their role in and interaction with the international economy. Despite their heterogeneity, Asian countries share the common aim to upgrade capacities, skills and capabilities. This paper aims at unpacking the challenges ...

Visualizing news: obstacles, challenges, and solutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dr. Piet Bakker; Gerard Smit; Yael de Haan; Laura Buijs

2013-01-01

Depicting news graphically is considered an apt way to deal with challenges of modern journalism: to disclose big data, and present news attractively, visually, and fast to grasp. This study delves into reported obstacles and challenges for the production of news visualizations. It focuses on the

22 CFR 9.8 - Classification challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Classification challenges. 9.8 Section 9.8 Foreign Relations DEPARTMENT OF STATE GENERAL SECURITY INFORMATION REGULATIONS § 9.8 Classification... classification status is improper are expected and encouraged to challenge the classification status of the...

Meeting the challenge of interacting threats in freshwater ecosystems: A call to scientists and managers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura S. Craig

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Human activities create threats that have consequences for freshwater ecosystems and, in most watersheds, observed ecological responses are the result of complex interactions among multiple threats and their associated ecological alterations. Here we discuss the value of considering multiple threats in research and management, offer suggestions for filling knowledge gaps, and provide guidance for addressing the urgent management challenges posed by multiple threats in freshwater ecosystems. There is a growing literature assessing responses to multiple alterations, and we build off this background to identify three areas that require greater attention: linking observed alterations to threats, understanding when and where threats overlap, and choosing metrics that best quantify the effects of multiple threats. Advancing science in these areas will help us understand existing ecosystem conditions and predict future risk from multiple threats. Because addressing the complex issues and novel ecosystems that arise from the interaction of multiple threats in freshwater ecosystems represents a significant management challenge, and the risks of management failure include loss of biodiversity, ecological goods, and ecosystem services, we also identify actions that could improve decision-making and management outcomes. These actions include drawing insights from management of individual threats, using threat attributes (e.g., causes and spatio-temporal dynamics to identify suitable management approaches, testing management strategies that are likely to be successful despite uncertainties about the nature of interactions among threats, avoiding unintended consequences, and maximizing conservation benefits. We also acknowledge the broadly applicable challenges of decision-making within a socio-political and economic framework, and suggest that multidisciplinary teams will be needed to innovate solutions to meet the current and future challenge of interacting

Meeting the challenge of interacting threats in freshwater ecosystems: A call to scientists and managers

Science.gov (United States)

Craig, Laura S.; Olden, Julian D.; Arthington, Angela; Entrekin, Sally; Hawkins, Charles P.; Kelly, John J.; Kennedy, Theodore A.; Maitland, Bryan M.; Rosi, Emma J.; Roy, Allison; Strayer, David L.; Tank, Jennifer L.; West, Amie O.; Wooten, Matthew S.

2017-01-01

Human activities create threats that have consequences for freshwater ecosystems and, in most watersheds, observed ecological responses are the result of complex interactions among multiple threats and their associated ecological alterations. Here we discuss the value of considering multiple threats in research and management, offer suggestions for filling knowledge gaps, and provide guidance for addressing the urgent management challenges posed by multiple threats in freshwater ecosystems. There is a growing literature assessing responses to multiple alterations, and we build off this background to identify three areas that require greater attention: linking observed alterations to threats, understanding when and where threats overlap, and choosing metrics that best quantify the effects of multiple threats. Advancing science in these areas will help us understand existing ecosystem conditions and predict future risk from multiple threats. Because addressing the complex issues and novel ecosystems that arise from the interaction of multiple threats in freshwater ecosystems represents a significant management challenge, and the risks of management failure include loss of biodiversity, ecological goods, and ecosystem services, we also identify actions that could improve decision-making and management outcomes. These actions include drawing insights from management of individual threats, using threat attributes (e.g., causes and spatio-temporal dynamics) to identify suitable management approaches, testing management strategies that are likely to be successful despite uncertainties about the nature of interactions among threats, avoiding unintended consequences, and maximizing conservation benefits. We also acknowledge the broadly applicable challenges of decision-making within a socio-political and economic framework, and suggest that multidisciplinary teams will be needed to innovate solutions to meet the current and future challenge of interacting threats in

Heart rate responses to autonomic challenges in obstructive sleep apnea.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul M Macey

Full Text Available Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA is accompanied by structural alterations and dysfunction in central autonomic regulatory regions, which may impair dynamic and static cardiovascular regulation, and contribute to other syndrome pathologies. Characterizing cardiovascular responses to autonomic challenges may provide insights into central nervous system impairments, including contributions by sex, since structural alterations are enhanced in OSA females over males. The objective was to assess heart rate responses in OSA versus healthy control subjects to autonomic challenges, and, separately, characterize female and male patterns. We studied 94 subjects, including 37 newly-diagnosed, untreated OSA patients (6 female, age mean ± std: 52.1 ± 8.1 years; 31 male aged 54.3 ± 8.4 years, and 57 healthy control subjects (20 female, 50.5 ± 8.1 years; 37 male, 45.6 ± 9.2 years. We measured instantaneous heart rate with pulse oximetry during cold pressor, hand grip, and Valsalva maneuver challenges. All challenges elicited significant heart rate differences between OSA and control groups during and after challenges (repeated measures ANOVA, p<0.05. In post-hoc analyses, OSA females showed greater impairments than OSA males, which included: for cold pressor, lower initial increase (OSA vs. control: 9.5 vs. 7.3 bpm in females, 7.6 vs. 3.7 bpm in males, OSA delay to initial peak (2.5 s females/0.9 s males, slower mid-challenge rate-of-increase (OSA vs. control: -0.11 vs. 0.09 bpm/s in females, 0.03 vs. 0.06 bpm/s in males; for hand grip, lower initial peak (OSA vs. control: 2.6 vs. 4.6 bpm in females, 5.3 vs. 6.0 bpm in males; for Valsalva maneuver, lower Valsalva ratio (OSA vs. control: 1.14 vs. 1.30 in females, 1.29 vs. 1.34 in males, and OSA delay during phase II (0.68 s females/1.31 s males. Heart rate responses showed lower amplitude, delayed onset, and slower rate changes in OSA patients over healthy controls, and impairments may be more pronounced in

Strategical challenges for the Copenhagen conference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2009-01-01

A CARA team analyzed the impacts and challenges generated by the new climatic, energetic and food situation of our security: conflict of interests between the North and South countries, USA-China equation, the european Union, France specificities. This analyse points out the main challenges for the France and the European Union during the world conference on the climate in december 2009 at Copenhagen. (A.L.B.)

Systems Challenges for Hypersonic Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

Hunt, James L.; Laruelle, Gerard; Wagner, Alain

1997-01-01

This paper examines the system challenges posed by fully reusable hypersonic cruise airplanes and access to space vehicles. Hydrocarbon and hydrogen fueled airplanes are considered with cruise speeds of Mach 5 and 10, respectively. The access to space matrix is examined. Airbreathing and rocket powered, single- and two-stage vehicles are considered. Reference vehicle architectures are presented. Major systems/subsystems challenges are described. Advanced, enhancing systems concepts as well as common system technologies are discussed.

Enhancing the Career Planning Self-Determination of Young Adults with Mental Health Challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Sowers, Jo-Ann; Swank, Paul

2017-01-01

The impact of an intervention on the self-determination and career planning engagement of young adults with mental health challenges was studied. Sixty-seven young adults, 20 to 30 years of age, with mental health diagnoses (e.g., depression, bipolar disorder) were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Statistically significant greater increases were made by the intervention group versus the control group for self-determination and career planning engagement, and self-determination at least partially mediated increases in career planning engagement. With career planning self-determination interventions, young adults with mental health challenges might be able to achieve better career and life outcomes than is typical for this population.

Avoidable challenges of a nuclear medicine facility in a developing nation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adedapo, Kayode Solomon; Onimode, Yetunde Ajoke; Ejeh, John Enyi; Adepoju, Adewale Oluwaseun

2013-01-01

The role of nuclear medicine in disease management in a developing nation is as impactful as it is in other regions of the world. However, in the developing world, the practice of nuclear medicine is faced with a myriad of challenges, which can be easily avoided. In this review, we examine the many avoidable challenges to the practice of nuclear medicine in a developing nation. The review is largely based on personal experiences of the authors who are the pioneers and current practitioners of nuclear medicine in a typical developing nation. If the challenges examined in this review are avoided, the practice of nuclear medicine in such a nation will be more effective and practitioners will be more efficient in service delivery. Hence, the huge benefits of nuclear medicine will be made available to patients in such a developing nation

CHALLENGES OF SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE AND TESTING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md.Shahadat Hossain

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Uncertainty exists in Software Company over the world. Software quality problem is leading issue for the software industry. The issue exists from 40 years or 50 years long. The industry is suffering and closing for this issue. In this circumstance, it is important to address and remove its root cause. Otherwise, day by day industry economic loss will increase. I figure out some vital challenges of software quality assurance and testing which have been facing by software industries. The research focused on several small and medium software companies of the world. This paper represents different category of challenges along with responsible stakeholders. This research finds out that testing tools are available testing elements are available testing process has improved but still software has some testing challenges. My research figured out the bottleneck of challenges and explained in this paper. Here software engineers have scope to improve & overcome those challenges. This paper suggests systematic approach to solve the problem.

Tasty THC: Promises and Challenges of Cannabis Edibles

Science.gov (United States)

Barrus, Daniel G.; Capogrossi, Kristen L.; Cates, Sheryl C.; Gourdet, Camille K.; Peiper, Nicholas C.; Novak, Scott P.; Lefever, Timothy W.; Wiley, Jenny L.

2016-01-01

Food products containing cannabis extract (edibles) have emerged as a popular and lucrative facet of the legalized market for both recreational and medicinal cannabis. The many formulations of cannabis extracts used in edibles present a unique regulatory challenge for policy makers. Though edibles are often considered a safe, discreet, and effective means of attaining the therapeutic and/or intoxicating effects of cannabis without exposure to the potentially harmful risks of cannabis smoking, little research has evaluated how ingestion differs from other methods of cannabis administration in terms of therapeutic efficacy, subjective effects, and safety. The most prominent difference between ingestion and inhalation of cannabis extracts is the delayed onset of drug effect with ingestion. Consumers often do not understand this aspect of edible use and may consume a greater than intended amount of drug before the drug has taken effect, often resulting in profoundly adverse effects. Written for the educated layperson and for policy makers, this paper explores the current state of research regarding edibles, highlighting the promises and challenges that edibles present to both users and policy makers, and describes the approaches that four states in which recreational cannabis use is legal have taken regarding regulating edibles. PMID:28127591

Energy challenges in Asia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niquet, V.

2007-01-01

Energy challenges represent one of the most important security paradigms in the Asia Pacific region where you have a mixture of growing energy dependency, fuelled by high economic growth, the emergence of new major players like China and India, and a quasi-complete absence of regional regulatory mechanisms to tackle the challenges in a multilateral way. These challenges mostly concern Japan and China, where crucial energy issues are aggravated by power rivalry, historical and ideological issues, and a lack of both economic and political harmony between them. Neither countries are self sufficient in terms of energy needs. This can lead to a shared analysis and common approaches regarding Japan and China concerning this issue. Their cases are. however very different and the solutions applied are related to different world views that are not easily reconcilable. Both countries share common objectives: both want security and stable supply. But there are also big divergences and these divergences could be new sources of conflict and misunderstanding between Tokyo and Beijing. One of the main differences is history related. Both China and Japan are uneasy regarding outside energy dependency. In Japan, memories of the pre-war oil embargo have not disappeared. The oil shocks of the 70's renewed this uneasiness. However, Japan's outside dependency is not new. Tokyo has learned to live with it, finding a system to alleviate this vulnerability in cooperation with its partners, multilateral institutions like the International Energy Agency (IEA). China's outside dependency is new. The country's dependency on oil, which began in 1993, is particularly challenging since the principles of independence, non interference and military autonomy, principles at the core of Maoist foreign strategy, did not completely disappear in spite of China's new policy of reform and opening up. China's leadership, even the fourth generation, did not forget its isolation during the 60's and 70's

Terabit Wireless Communication Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Hwu, Shian U.

2012-01-01

This presentation briefly discusses a research effort on Terabit Wireless communication systems for possible space applications. Recently, terahertz (THz) technology (300-3000 GHz frequency) has attracted a great deal of interest from academia and industry. This is due to a number of interesting features of THz waves, including the nearly unlimited bandwidths available, and the non-ionizing radiation nature which does not damage human tissues and DNA with minimum health threat. Also, as millimeter-wave communication systems mature, the focus of research is, naturally, moving to the THz range. Many scientists regard THz as the last great frontier of the electromagnetic spectrum, but finding new applications outside the traditional niches of radio astronomy, Earth and planetary remote sensing, and molecular spectroscopy particularly in biomedical imaging and wireless communications has been relatively slow. Radiologists find this area of study so attractive because t-rays are non-ionizing, which suggests no harm is done to tissue or DNA. They also offer the possibility of performing spectroscopic measurements over a very wide frequency range, and can even capture signatures from liquids and solids. According to Shannon theory, the broad bandwidth of the THz frequency bands can be used for terabit-per-second (Tb/s) wireless communication systems. This enables several new applications, such as cell phones with 360 degrees autostereoscopic displays, optic-fiber replacement, and wireless Tb/s file transferring. Although THz technology could satisfy the demand for an extremely high data rate, a number of technical challenges need to be overcome before its development. This presentation provides an overview the state-of-the- art in THz wireless communication and the technical challenges for an emerging application in Terabit wireless systems. The main issue for THz wave propagation is the high atmospheric attenuation, which is dominated by water vapor absorption in the THz

Conclusion: challenges for the future.

Science.gov (United States)

North, D W

1993-12-01

The title "Challenges for the Future" implies the challenge to summarize a very complex meeting. Of necessity, I will present a personal impression. My interest is in risk assessment, which I define as a process for summarizing science in support of decision making. Risk assessment is sometimes regarded as arcane numerology, a rigid process of computing risk numbers in which much available science is unused. I am a strong advocate for the broader definition of risk assessment. It is encouraging to learn how much science is becoming available for use in risk assessment for gasoline, its components, and alternative fuels.

The merits of measuring challenge and hindrance appraisals.

Science.gov (United States)

Searle, Ben J; Auton, Jaime C

2015-01-01

The challenge-hindrance framework has shown that challenge stressors (work characteristics associated with potential personal gain) tend to have positive outcomes, whereas hindrance stressors (those which obstruct goals) have negative outcomes. However, typical research methods assume that stressors allocated to these categories are appraised consistently by different people and across different situations. We validate new measures of challenge and hindrance appraisals and demonstrate their utility in stress research. We used a cross-sectional survey of American employees (Study 1, n = 333), a diary survey of Australian employees (Study 2, n = 241), and a survey of Australian college students whose performance was evaluated independently (Study 3, n = 350). Even after accounting for the effects of stressors, challenge and hindrance appraisals consistently explained unique variance in affective states, with indications that stressors have indirect effects via appraisals. Such effects were seen within- as well as between-participants (Study 2). Appraisals also had expected associations with specific coping behaviors (Study 1), while challenge appraisal was associated with task performance (Study 3). The scales of challenge and hindrance appraisals were psychometrically sound across multiple contexts. RESULTS highlight the merit of considering appraisal in stress research.

Transsphenoidal surgery in patients with acromegaly: operative strategies for overcoming technically challenging anatomical variations.

Science.gov (United States)

Zada, Gabriel; Cavallo, Luigi M; Esposito, Felice; Fernandez-Jimenez, Julio Cesar; Tasiou, Anastasia; De Angelis, Michelangelo; Cafiero, Tullio; Cappabianca, Paolo; Laws, Edward R

2010-10-01

In addition to difficulties with anesthetic and medical management, transsphenoidal operations in patients with longstanding acromegaly are associated with inherent intraoperative challenges because of anatomical variations that occur frequently in these patients. The object of this study was to review the overall safety profile and anatomical/technical challenges associated with transsphenoidal surgery in patients with acromegaly. The authors performed a retrospective analysis of 169 patients who underwent endoscopic transsphenoidal operations for growth hormone-secreting adenomas to assess the incidence of surgical complications. A review of frequently occurring anatomical challenges and operative strategies employed during each phase of the operation to address these particular issues was performed. Of 169 cases reviewed, there was no perioperative mortality. Internal carotid artery injury occurred in 1 patient (0.6%) with complex sinus anatomy, who remained neurologically intact following endovascular unilateral carotid artery occlusion. Other complications included: significant postoperative epistaxis (5 patients [3%]), transient diabetes insipidus (5 patients [3%]), delayed symptomatic hyponatremia (4 patients [2%]), CSF leak (2 patients [1%]), and pancreatitis (1 patient [0.6%]). Preoperative considerations in patients with acromegaly should include a cardiopulmonary evaluation and planning regarding intubation and other aspects of the anesthetic technique. During the nasal phase of the transsphenoidal operation, primary challenges include maintaining adequate visualization and hemostasis, which is frequently compromised by redundant, edematous nasal mucosa and bony hypertrophy of the septum and the nasal turbinates. During the sphenoid phase, adequate bony removal, optimization of working space, and correlation of imaging studies to intraoperative anatomy are major priorities. The sellar phase is frequently challenged by increased sellar floor thickness

American education: the challenge of change.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffith, J E; Frase, M J; Ralph, J H

1989-12-01

The American education system is being challenged to raise the academic achievement of students to prepare them for the jobs of the future. Yet many demographic, as well as economic and social factors, are making the task more difficult. Low birth rates, especially among non-Hispanic whites, along with high immigration rates, have increased the share of minority and non-English students in public schools. The rise in single-parent families has increased the number of poor students and migration from the cities to the suburbs has concentrated poor and minority students in inner city schools. These same children will make up a greater share of the future labor force. At the same time, the aging of the general population may lessen the commitment of homeowners- -whose taxes pay between 1/3 and 1/2 of education costs. The aging labor force may bring a shortage of qualified teachers, particularly in specialized subject areas. Poor and minority students generally have below average academic skills and are more likely to drop out of high school than non-minority students. However, the skills of American students rank below those of most other industrialized nations, calling into question the ability of Americans to succeed in an increasingly international economic system. How can schools be improved and minority student achievement be enhanced? Reforms of education finance systems, court-ordered integration, and stiffer requirements for teachers and for graduation from high school are among many attempts to meet the immense challenges faced by American schools.

2005 the North American Solar Challenge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dan Eberle

2008-12-22

In July 2005 the North American Solar Challenge (NASC) featured university built solar powered cars ran across the United States into Canada. The competition began in Austin, Texas with stops in Weatherford, Texas; Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; Topeka, Kansas; Omaha, Nebraska; Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Fargo, North Dakota; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Brandon, Manitoba; Regina, Saskatchewan; Medicine Hat, Alberta; mainly following U.S. Highway 75 and Canadian Highway 1 to the finish line in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for a total distance of 2,500 miles. NASC major sponsors include the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Natural Resources Canada and DOEs National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The event is designed to inspire young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. NASCs predecessors, the American Solar Challenge and Sunrayce, generally have been held every two years since 1990. With each race, the solar cars travel faster and further with greater reliability. The NASC promotes: -Renewable energy technologies (specifically photovoltaic or solar cells) -Educational excellence in science, engineering and mathematics -Creative integration of technical and scientific expertise across a wide-range of disciplines -Hands-on experience for students and engineers to develop and demonstrate their technical and creative abilities. Safety is the first priority for the NASC. Each team put its car through grueling qualifying and technical inspections. Teams that failed to meet the requirements were not allowed participate. During the race, each team was escorted by lead and chase vehicles sporting rooftop hazard flashers. An official observer accompanied each solar car team to keep it alert to any safety issues.

Workplace Charging Challenge Mid-Program Review: Employees Plug In

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2015-12-31

The EV Everywhere Workplace Charging Challenge aims to have 500 U.S. employers offering workplace charging by 2018. These reports describe the progress made in the Challenge. In 2015, the Workplace Charging Challenge celebrated a major milestone – it reached the halfway point to its goal of 500 Challenge partners committed to installing workplace charging by 2018. More than 250 employers have joined as Challenge partners and the installation of workplace charging as a sustainable business practice is growing across the country. Their efforts have resulted in more than 600 workplaces with over 5,500 charging stations accessible to nearly one million employees. In 2015, more than 9,000 PEV-driving employees charged at these worksites on a regular basis. Our Workplace Charging Challenge Mid-Program Review reports this progress and other statistics related to workplace charging, including employee satisfaction and charger usage.

Energy a planetary challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dessus, B.; Souviron, J.P

1996-01-01

After explaining that nuclear energy as well fossil fuel energy are a problem for environment, in radioactive wastes for the first one and for the greenhouse effect for the second one, a new energy policy for France and for the whole countries in the world is described here. Technological and financial arguments in support of this demonstration, it is possible to live better on making the right choices; The energy future is built on the exploitation of two richnesses the energy economies and the renewable energies, as solar energy or wind energy. Technologies exist, they have to be improved and to be applied with judgment according to areas. This challenge is, above all, a question of policy will. (N.C.)

The Moon Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Fitzsimmons, Pat; Leddy, Diana; Johnson, Lindy; Biggam, Sue; Locke, Suzan

2013-01-01

This article describes a first-grade research project that incorporates trade books and challenges misconceptions. Educators see the power of their students' wonder at work in their classrooms on a daily basis. This wonder must be nourished by students' own experiences--observing the moon on a crystal clear night--as well as by having…

Challenges for renewable hydrogen production from biomass

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levin, David B.; Chahine, Richard

2010-01-01

The increasing demand for H 2 for heavy oil upgrading, desulfurization and upgrading of conventional petroleum, and for production of ammonium, in addition to the projected demand for H 2 as a transportation fuel and portable power, will require H 2 production on a massive scale. Increased production of H 2 by current technologies will consume greater amounts of conventional hydrocarbons (primarily natural gas), which in turn will generate greater greenhouse gas emissions. Production of H 2 from renewable sources derived from agricultural or other waste streams offers the possibility to contribute to the production capacity with lower or no net greenhouse gas emissions (without carbon sequestration technologies), increasing the flexibility and improving the economics of distributed and semi-centralized reforming. Electrolysis, thermocatalytic, and biological production can be easily adapted to on-site decentralized production of H 2 , circumventing the need to establish a large and costly distribution infrastructure. Each of these H 2 production technologies, however, faces technical challenges, including conversion efficiencies, feedstock type, and the need to safely integrate H 2 production systems with H 2 purification and storage technologies. (author)

Hopes and Challenges

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2010-01-01

China tops the medal tally again at the Asian Games but still faces challenges in some events The curtain of the 16th Asian Games has fallen, but the 15 days of exciting competitions will be recorded in the history of the Games.

Positron-emission tomography imaging of long-term shape recognition challenges

OpenAIRE

Rosier, A.; Cornette, L.; Dupont, P.; Bormans, G.; Michiels, J.; Mortelmans, L.; Orban, G. A.

1997-01-01

Long-term visual memory performance was impaired by two types of challenges: a diazepam challenge on acquisition and a sensory challenge on recognition. Using positron-emission tomography regional cerebral blood flow imaging, we studied the effect of these challenges on regional brain activation during the delayed recognition of abstract visual shapes as compared with a baseline fixation task. Both challenges induced a significant decrease in differential activation in the left fusiform gyrus...

Challenged by cognition : toward optimal measurement and greater understanding of youth cognition in school refusal and cognitive behavioural therapy outcome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maric, Marija

2010-01-01

The main purpose of this dissertation was to highlight and address seven challenges related to the measurement of youth cognition, understanding the role of cognitive constructs in anxiety and school refusal, and the examination of cognitive mediators of cognitive-behavioural treatment outcomes. The

A Short Study on Cooperative Sector in Iran. Challenges and Issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassan Danaee Fard

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to study the issues of cooperative sector in Iran. According to the theories,among the three sectors i.e. Public, private and cooperative sector probably cooperative sectorbecause of participating people directly in its process, can work better for economic development andcan be considered as a country economic developer example by job creation and others, Prior Workbecause Islam religion has invited people for having cooperation and also Iranian is a Muslim countrythen there have been a lot work on cooperative sector and this work is among the others who looks forthe challenges and issues in this sector, Approach this paper looks for the challenges and issues ofthe cooperative sector in Iran to run effective cooperation, Results Cooperative sector in alldeveloped and undeveloped and developing countries has its own challenges and in Iran as a fastdeveloping country which want to speed the developing process then needs to consider thecooperative sector challenges in Iran and other countries as well, Implications Practitioners,academician and others who want to work on challenges and issues of cooperative sector in Iran andothers . Value among the other important variables in economic development, cooperative has thepriority because of its fast returned effects in economic development then this paper aims to study thechallenges of this sector.

Ethical challenges in neonatal intensive care nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Strandås, Maria; Fredriksen, Sven-Tore D

2015-12-01

Neonatal nurses report a great deal of ethical challenges in their everyday work. Seemingly trivial everyday choices nurses make are no more value-neutral than life-and-death choices. Everyday ethical challenges should also be recognized as ethical dilemmas in clinical practice. The purpose of this study is to investigate which types of ethical challenges neonatal nurses experience in their day-to-day care for critically ill newborns. Data were collected through semi-structured qualitative in-depth interviews. Phenomenological-hermeneutic analysis was applied to interpret the data. Six nurses from neonatal intensive care units at two Norwegian hospitals were interviewed on-site. The study is designed to comply with Ethical Guidelines for Nursing Research in the Nordic Countries and the Helsinki declaration. Findings suggest that nurses experience a diverse range of everyday ethical challenges related to challenging interactions with parents and colleagues, emotional strain, protecting the vulnerable infant, finding the balance between sensitivity and authority, ensuring continuity of treatment, and miscommunication and professional disagreement. A major finding in this study is how different agents involved in caring for the newborn experience their realities differently. When these realities collide, ethical challenges arise. Findings suggest that acting in the best interests of the child becomes more difficult in situations involving many agents with different perceptions of reality. The study presents new aspects which increases knowledge and understanding of the reality of nursing in a neonatal intensive care unit, while also demanding increased research in this field of care. © The Author(s) 2014.

Lessons Learned and Challenges in Building a Filipino Health Coalition

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilar, David E.; Abesamis-Mendoza, Noilyn; Ursua, Rhodora; Divino, Lily Ann M.; Cadag, Kara; Gavin, Nicholas P.

2010-01-01

In recent years, community-based coalitions have become an effective channel to addressing various health problems within specific ethnic communities. The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to describe the process involved in building the Kalusugan Coalition (KC), a Filipino American health coalition based in New York City, and (b) to highlight the lessons learned and the challenges from this collaborative venture. The challenges described also offer insights on how the coalition development process can be greatly affected by the partnership with an academic institution on a community-based research project. Because each cultural group has unique issues and concerns, the theoretical framework used by KC offers creative alternatives to address some of the challenges regarding coalition infrastructures, leadership development, unexpected change of coalition dynamics, and cultural nuances. PMID:19098260

Teaching Fairness in Journalism: A Challenging Task

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Joseph

2016-01-01

Objectivity has long been contentious in American journalism. Many practitioners call it essential to a news organization's credibility. Critics, however, hold objectivity is impossible and urge reporters simply to reveal their biases. For educators, teaching objectivity is challenging. Some, seeking a middle ground, instead urge fairness and…

The Problem Behaviour Check List: a short scale to assess challenging behaviours

OpenAIRE

Tyrer, PJ; Nagar, J; Evans, R; Oliver, P; Bassett, P; Liedtka, N; Tarabi, A

2016-01-01

Background Challenging behaviour, especially in intellectual disability, covers a wide range that is in need of further evaluation. Aims To develop a short but comprehensive instrument for all aspects of challenging behaviour. Method In the first part of a two-stage enquiry, a 28-item scale was constructed to examine the components of challenging behaviour. Following a simple factor analysis this was developed further to create a new short scale, the Problem Behaviour Checklist (PBCL). The sc...

Design, Results and Plans for Power Beaming Competitive Challenge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shelef, Ben

2008-01-01

In our context, Power Beaming refers to the extraction of useable electrical power from a directed electromagnetic beam. In order to promote interest in this technology, the Spaceward Foundation proposed and is managing a technology prize challenge based on a Space Elevator design scenario. The challenge has a prize purse of $2M, provided by NASA's Centennial Challenges office. This paper covers the considerations that went into the design of the challenge, a brief chronology of past results, and plans for the future

Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Electronics Challenge Data

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — On September 22, 2012, EPA launched the SMM Electronics Challenge. The Challenge encourages electronics manufacturers, brand owners and retailers to strive to send...

[Ambulatory pediatrics: a challenge].

Science.gov (United States)

Ransy, V; Gevers, B; Landsberg, M

2006-01-01

Ambulatory paediatrics in University hospitals has remarkably evolved during the past decade, along with technological progress and the current need for undelayed information and attention; demand for hospital medical advice increases consequently, either directly in outpatients wards or indirectly by phone or e-mails. Specific medico-social aspects linked essentially to populations' migration, poverty, chronic stress and family splitting are regularly encountered. Hospital architecture and adequacy of medical and nursing staff must both be adjusted to these changing medical demands including medical teaching. We now face the ever-growing challenge of providing an adequate management of actual medico-psycho-social aspects and integrating up-to-date paediatrics in our daily practices.

Being a Mathematics Teacher Educator in China: Challenges and Strategic Responses

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Yingkang; Hwang, Stephen; Cai, Jinfa

2017-01-01

In this exploratory study, we developed a portrait of the challenges and strategic responses of secondary mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) in Chinese universities. The MTEs reported encountering more challenges when teaching pedagogical courses and supervising student teachers than when teaching college mathematics courses and teaching…

Challenges in biomimetic design and innovation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lenau, Torben Anker; Barfoed, Michael; Shu, Li

Biomimetic design copies desired principles found in nature and implement them into artificial applications. Applications could be products we use in our daily life but it can also be used to inspire material innovation. However there are significant challenges in performing biomimetic design. One....... This is a key issue in design and innovation work where problem identification and systematic search for suitable solution principle are major activities. One way to deal with this challenge is to use a biology search method. The use of such a method is illustrated with a case story describing the design...... including the terminology and knowledge organisation. It is often easy to recognise the splendour of a biological solution, but it can be much more difficult to understand the underlying mechanisms. Another challenge in biomimetic design is the search and identification of relevant solutions in nature...

Clinical Parameters and Challenges of Managing Cervicofacial ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: Necrotizing fasciitis is a severe soft tissue infection. In our environment, patients presenting with this infection are usually financially incapacitated and, therefore, their management can be challenging. This paper aimed to document the pattern and challenges encountered in the management of cervicofacial ...

A Grounded Theory of Collaborative Synchronizing in Relation to Challenging Students

Science.gov (United States)

Thornberg, Robert

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate multiprofessional collaboration as well as collaboration between professionals and challenging students and their parents in which the focus for these collaborations was on handling the challenging students' academic and social behavior. A grounded theory study of collaboration between a prereferral…

Challenges in Request Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sommer, Anita Friis

2014-01-01

and its customers. The study provides an insight into a new area of supply chain management, including the process activity flow and challenges involved across the process. Furthermore, the method is dyadic including the customer in the case study, which is rare in related research....... profitability. This research study seeks to investigate the challenges of RQM in practice. Existing demand chain management literature is used as a basis for developing a RQM framework. RQM is investigated through an explorative research design in a dyadic B2B case study including a global industrial company......Request management (RQM) is a new term used for managing customer requests for new products. It is the counterpart to typical product development processes, which has no direct customer involvement. It is essential to manage customer requests in a structured and efficient way to obtain...

Workplace Charging Challenge Progress Update 2016: A New Sustainable Commute

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2017-01-31

In the 2016 Workplace Charging Challenge annual survey, partners shared for the how their efforts were making an impact in their communities and helped identify best practices for workplace charging. The Workplace Charging Challenge Progress Update highlights the findings from this survey and recognizes leading employers for their workplace charging efforts.

Implementing EHR in a developing country: potential challenges and benefits

OpenAIRE

Tanko, Abdulai

2009-01-01

Developing countries are slow adopters of new technologies, particularly with regards to the health services of these countries. This study explores the data collection and management challenges in a Ghanaian hospital using an interpretative case study approach and proposes implementing an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system as a solution to these challenges. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Actor Network Theory (ANT) and Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) are used in discussi...

WERF Nutrient Challenge investigates limits of nutrient removal technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Neethling, J B; Clark, D; Pramanik, A; Stensel, H D; Sandino, J; Tsuchihashi, R

2010-01-01

The WERF Nutrient Challenge is a multi-year collaborative research initiative established in 2007 to develop and provide current information about wastewater treatment nutrients (specifically nitrogen and phosphorus in wastewater), their characteristics, and bioavailability in aquatic environments to help regulators make informed decisions. The Nutrient Challenge will also provide data on nutrient removal so that treatment facilities can select sustainable, cost-effective methods and technologies to meet permit limits. To meet these goals, the Nutrient Challenge has teamed with a wide array of utilities, agencies, consultants, universities and other researchers and practitioners to collaborate on projects that advance these goals. The Nutrient Challenge is focusing on a different approach to collaborating and leveraging resources (financial and intellectual) on research projects by targeting existing projects and research that correspond with its goals and funding those aspects that the Nutrient Challenge identified as a priority. Because the Nutrient Challenge is focused on collaboration, outreach is an absolutely necessary component of its effectiveness. Through workshops, webinars, a web portal and online compendium, published papers, and conference lectures, the Nutrient Challenge is both presenting important new information, and soliciting new partnerships.

New challenges for grizzly bear management in Yellowstone National Park

Science.gov (United States)

van Manen, Frank T.; Gunther, Kerry A.

2016-01-01

A key factor contributing to the success of grizzly bear Ursus arctos conservation in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem has been the existence of a large protected area, Yellowstone National Park. We provide an overview of recovery efforts, how demographic parameters changed as the population increased, and how the bear management program in Yellowstone National Park has evolved to address new management challenges over time. Finally, using the management experiences in Yellowstone National Park, we present comparisons and perspectives regarding brown bear management in Shiretoko National Park.

Opportunities and challenges associated with clinical diagnostic genome sequencing: a report of the Association for Molecular Pathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Schrijver, Iris; Aziz, Nazneen; Farkas, Daniel H; Furtado, Manohar; Gonzalez, Andrea Ferreira; Greiner, Timothy C; Grody, Wayne W; Hambuch, Tina; Kalman, Lisa; Kant, Jeffrey A; Klein, Roger D; Leonard, Debra G B; Lubin, Ira M; Mao, Rong; Nagan, Narasimhan; Pratt, Victoria M; Sobel, Mark E; Voelkerding, Karl V; Gibson, Jane S

2012-11-01

This report of the Whole Genome Analysis group of the Association for Molecular Pathology illuminates the opportunities and challenges associated with clinical diagnostic genome sequencing. With the reality of clinical application of next-generation sequencing, technical aspects of molecular testing can be accomplished at greater speed and with higher volume, while much information is obtained. Although this testing is a next logical step for molecular pathology laboratories, the potential impact on the diagnostic process and clinical correlations is extraordinary and clinical interpretation will be challenging. We review the rapidly evolving technologies; provide application examples; discuss aspects of clinical utility, ethics, and consent; and address the analytic, postanalytic, and professional implications. Copyright © 2012 American Society for Investigative Pathology and the Association for Molecular Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding Extension in the Southern Marianas and the Challenger Deep: a 21ST Century Geoscientific Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Stern, R. J.; Ribeiro, J. M.; Martinez, F.; Ohara, Y.

2017-12-01

The Challenger Deep (CD) is the deepest spot on Earth's solid surface and the reasons for its great depth are controversial. In general, trench depths (without sediments) are thought to reflect slab age; old oceanic lithosphere arrives at the trench deeper so similar downbending makes deeper trenches than young oceanic lithosphere. Slab tears and edges and short slabs also may help trenches deepen by making it easier to roll back. In the case of the CD, we are unsure of subducted oceanic lithosphere age because this lies near the juncture of Jurassic and Oligocene crusts. A slab edge to the west and a slab tear to the east may also help the Pacific plate roll back and contribute to its depth. A possible unexamined reason for CD's great depth may be strong extension of the overlying plate associated with opening of the Mariana Trough backarc basin (MT-BAB). GPS on islands indicate southward-increasing extension rates of at least 45mm/yr at the latitude of Guam (Kato et al. 2003 GRL; see Martinez et al. T037 for more info); extension rates are likely to be greater in the MT-BAB north of CD. There are few convergent margins where strong extension affects the overriding plate. Overriding plate extension may help deepen trenches by narrowing the plate coupling zone (Gvirtzman and Stern 2003 Tectonics). Asthenosphere outflow from the shrinking Philippine Sea plate could also push against the slab to depress it. The region around the CD is very deep water, presenting major challenges for future study. The combined deepwater assets and brainpower of the US, Japan, and China are needed to do this work. Both subducting and overriding plates need study. For the downgoing plate, we need IODP drilling and refraction studies to determine its age and crustal and lithospheric structure; electromagnetic sounding would also help reveal upper plate structure. We need passive OBS studies to map slab tears and edges. We need to better understand the tectonic evolution of the MT

Partner Country Series: Gas Pricing - China's Challenges and IEA Experience

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-07-01

China will play a positive role in the global development of gas, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Executive Director, Maria Van der Hoeven has said in Beijing on 11 September, 2012 when launching a new IEA report: Gas Pricing and Regulation, China’s challenges and IEA experiences. In line with its aim to meet growing energy demand while shifting away from coal, China has set an ambitious goal of doubling its use of natural gas from 2011 levels by 2015. Prospects are good for significant new supplies – both domestic and imported, conventional and unconventional – to come online in the medium-term, but notable challenges remain, particularly concerning gas pricing and the institutional and regulatory landscape. While China’s circumstances are, in many respects unique, some current issues are similar to those a number of IEA countries have faced. This report highlights some key challenges China faces in its transition to greater reliance on natural gas, then explores in detail relevant experiences from IEA countries, particularly in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States as well as the European Union (EU). Preliminary suggestions about how lessons learned in other countries could be applied to China’s situation are offered as well. The aim of this report is to provide stakeholders in China with a useful reference as they consider decisions about the evolution of the gas sector in their country.

Higher Education Quality in Kenya: A Critical Reflection of Key Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Odhiambo, George O.

2011-01-01

This article examines the unique challenges facing Kenya's public higher education institutions. It explores the struggle to develop quality and quality assurance mechanisms against a background of rapidly diminishing income, brain drain, political interference and the negative aspects of globalisation. The challenges have consequently led to a…

Five Decades: From Challenge to Acclaim.

Science.gov (United States)

Melina, Vesanto

2016-09-01

What can make your work as a dietitian so meaningful that you begin each day with enthusiasm, and if you so choose, retain that joy in your work for 5 decades or more? Three themes are: (i) doing work that profoundly makes sense to you, (ii) inspiring others (and yourself) to make healthful choices, and (iii) moving through challenges to success. Initially it can be challenging to make a living through work that is most deeply meaningful or closest to your heart. Yet it is well worth finding the balance between practicality and movement in the desired direction. Other challenges faced by dietitians involve helping others to adopt new, more healthful lifestyle choices. As health professionals, our attitudes towards plant-based diets have changed dramatically during these past decades. This article examines our evolving perspectives of plant-based diets, and uses this as an example of movement through challenges to success and acclaim. Vegetarian and vegan diets that were considered entirely inappropriate for many stages of the life cycle in the 1970s are now seen to confer health benefits. This applies to well-designed plant-based diets, thus offering a significant role for dietitians as creative leaders in this field.

Transmissibility of the Ice Bucket Challenge among globally influential celebrities: retrospective cohort study

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Brandford H Y; Leung, Gabriel M; Lau, Eric H Y; Pang, Herbert

2014-01-01

Objectives To estimate the transmissibility of the Ice Bucket Challenge among globally influential celebrities and to identify associated risk factors. Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). Participants David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Hawking, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Homer Simpson, and Kermit the Frog were defined as index cases. We included contacts up to the fifth generation seeded from each index case and enrolled a total of 99 participants into the cohort. Main outcome measures Basic reproduction number R0, serial interval of accepting the challenge, and odds ratios of associated risk factors based on fully observed nomination chains; R0 is a measure of transmissibility and is defined as the number of secondary cases generated by a single index in a fully susceptible population. Serial interval is the duration between onset of a primary case and onset of its secondary cases. Results Based on the empirical data and assuming a branching process we estimated a mean R0 of 1.43 (95% confidence interval 1.23 to 1.65) and a mean serial interval for accepting the challenge of 2.1 days (median 1 day). Higher log (base 10) net worth of the participants was positively associated with transmission (odds ratio 1.63, 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 2.50), adjusting for age and sex. Conclusions The Ice Bucket Challenge was moderately transmissible among a group of globally influential celebrities, in the range of the pandemic A/H1N1 2009 influenza. The challenge was more likely to be spread by richer celebrities, perhaps in part reflecting greater social influence. PMID:25514905

Transmissibility of the Ice Bucket Challenge among globally influential celebrities: retrospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Michael Y; Chan, Brandford H Y; Leung, Gabriel M; Lau, Eric H Y; Pang, Herbert

2014-12-16

To estimate the transmissibility of the Ice Bucket Challenge among globally influential celebrities and to identify associated risk factors. Retrospective cohort study. Social media (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram). David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Hawking, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Homer Simpson, and Kermit the Frog were defined as index cases. We included contacts up to the fifth generation seeded from each index case and enrolled a total of 99 participants into the cohort. Basic reproduction number R0, serial interval of accepting the challenge, and odds ratios of associated risk factors based on fully observed nomination chains; R0 is a measure of transmissibility and is defined as the number of secondary cases generated by a single index in a fully susceptible population. Serial interval is the duration between onset of a primary case and onset of its secondary cases. Based on the empirical data and assuming a branching process we estimated a mean R0 of 1.43 (95% confidence interval 1.23 to 1.65) and a mean serial interval for accepting the challenge of 2.1 days (median 1 day). Higher log (base 10) net worth of the participants was positively associated with transmission (odds ratio 1.63, 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 2.50), adjusting for age and sex. The Ice Bucket Challenge was moderately transmissible among a group of globally influential celebrities, in the range of the pandemic A/H1N1 2009 influenza. The challenge was more likely to be spread by richer celebrities, perhaps in part reflecting greater social influence. © Ni et al 2014.

Student reflections on learning with challenging tasks: `I think the worksheets were just for practice, and the challenges were for maths'

Science.gov (United States)

Russo, James; Hopkins, Sarah

2017-09-01

The current study considered young students' (7 and 8 years old) experiences and perceptions of mathematics lessons involving challenging (i.e. cognitively demanding) tasks. We used the Constant Comparative Method to analyse the interview responses ( n = 73) regarding what work artefacts students were most proud of creating and why. Five themes emerged that characterised student reflections: enjoyment, effort, learning, productivity and meaningful mathematics. Overall, there was evidence that students embraced struggle and persisted when engaged in mathematics lessons involving challenging tasks and, moreover, that many students enjoyed the process of being challenged. In the second section of the paper, the lesson structure preferences of a subset of participants ( n = 23) when learning with challenging tasks are considered. Overall, more students preferred the teach-first lesson structure to the task-first lesson structure, primarily because it activated their cognition to prepare them for work on the challenging task. However, a substantial minority of students (42 %) instead endorsed the task-first lesson structure, with several students explaining they preferred this structure precisely because it was so cognitively demanding. Other reasons for preferring the task-first structure included that it allowed the focus of the lesson to be on the challenging task and the subsequent discussion of student work. A key implication of these combined findings is that, for many students, work on challenging tasks appeared to remain cognitively demanding irrespective of the structure of the lesson.

Threat ≠ prevention, challenge ≠ promotion: the impact of threat, challenge and regulatory focus on attention to negative stimuli.

Science.gov (United States)

Sassenberg, Kai; Sassenrath, Claudia; Fetterman, Adam K

2015-01-01

The purpose of the current experiment was to distinguish between the impact of strategic and affective forms of gain- and loss-related motivational states on the attention to negative stimuli. On the basis of the counter-regulation principle and regulatory focus theory, we predicted that individuals would attend more to negative than to neutral stimuli in a prevention focus and when experiencing challenge, but not in a promotion focus and under threat. In one experiment (N = 88) promotion, prevention, threat, or challenge states were activated through a memory task, and a subsequent dot probe task was administered. As predicted, those in the prevention focus and challenge conditions had an attentional bias towards negative words, but those in promotion and threat conditions did not. These findings provide support for the idea that strategic mindsets (e.g., regulatory focus) and hot emotional states (e.g., threat vs. challenge) differently affect the processing of affective stimuli.

A review of smart homes- present state and future challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Marie; Estève, Daniel; Escriba, Christophe; Campo, Eric

2008-07-01

In the era of information technology, the elderly and disabled can be monitored with numerous intelligent devices. Sensors can be implanted into their home for continuous mobility assistance and non-obtrusive disease prevention. Modern sensor-embedded houses, or smart houses, cannot only assist people with reduced physical functions but help resolve the social isolation they face. They are capable of providing assistance without limiting or disturbing the resident's daily routine, giving him or her greater comfort, pleasure, and well-being. This article presents an international selection of leading smart home projects, as well as the associated technologies of wearable/implantable monitoring systems and assistive robotics. The latter are often designed as components of the larger smart home environment. The paper will conclude by discussing future challenges of the domain.

Challenging and valuable

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van Hal, J.D.M.

2008-01-01

Challenging and valuable Inaugural speech given on May 7th 2008 at the occasion of the acceptance of the position of Professor Sustainable Housing Transformation at the faculty of Architeeture of the Delft University of Technology by Prof. J.D.M. van Hal MSc PhD.

BPI Challenge 2014

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dongen, B.F. van

2014-01-01

BPI Challenge 2014: Similar to other ICT companies, Rabobank Group ICT has to implement an increasing number of software releases, while the time to market is decreasing. Rabobank Group ICT has implemented the ITIL-processes and therefore uses the Change-proces for implementing these so called

Dietary Supplements: Regulatory Challenges and Research Resources.

Science.gov (United States)

Dwyer, Johanna T; Coates, Paul M; Smith, Michael J

2018-01-04

Many of the scientific and regulatory challenges that exist in research on the safety, quality and efficacy of dietary supplements are common to all countries as the marketplace for them becomes increasingly global. This article summarizes some of the challenges in supplement science and provides a case study of research at the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health, USA, along with some resources it has developed that are available to all scientists. It includes examples of some of the regulatory challenges faced and some resources for those who wish to learn more about them.

Involving other communities through challenges and cooperation

CERN Document Server

Nellist, Clara; The ATLAS collaboration

2015-01-01

The ATLAS collaboration has recently setup three projects targeting citizen science or specific communities : The goal of the HiggsML project was to bring particle physicists and data scientists together through a challenge: compete online to obtain the best Higgs to tau tau signal significance on a set of ATLAS fully simulated signal and background. The challenge ran from May to September 2014, drawing considerable attention. In total, there were 1785 teams that participated, making it the most popular challenge at the time on the Kaggle platform. The ATLAS@home project allows volunteers to run simulations of collisions in the ATLAS detector. During the first year the community mostly consisted of software fans, who were attracted by the technical challenge and contributed greatly to the debugging through the message boards on the website. With the start of LHC, the number of people attracted for outreach reasons grew. Higgs Hunters is the first Particle Physics project hosted on the web-based citizen scienc...

Communication challenges in the perspective of nuclear organizations in Brazil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Machado, Tariana Brocardo, E-mail: tariana@usp.br [Universidade de São Paulo (USP), SP (Brazil). Escola de Comunicações e Artes

2017-07-01

The aim of this paper is to discuss the results of a study which reveals the communication challenges faced by organizations of the nuclear segment in Brazil towards its public acceptance. This is a descriptive study with qualitative approach based on primary data collection made through interview with non-probabilistic sample and categorical content analysis as method. The study was carried out with managers, technicians and communicators of three representative organizations of the segment in the country – CNEN, Eletronuclear and IPEN – in the period ranging from October, 2015, to March, 2016, as part of a greater study composing the author’s Master’s dissertation presented at Universidade de São Paulo in October, 2016. As results, the main communication challenges spotted by nuclear professionals in Brazil are lack of public acceptance of the nuclear energy in the country, followed by low levels of communication of the benefits of the nuclear field, lack of budget for investing in communication strategy and activities and institutional bureaucracy, as well as political motives and professionals being politically appointed for holding communication positions. Other communication-related challenges faced by the nuclear field in Brazil mentioned by interviewees include employees without adequate amount of time to dedicate to communication or unfit for this specific work, excessive use of technical language, discredit of the nuclear area within local society, lack of interest by the media and difficulty for hiring new communication professionals. This research was financially supported by CAPES. 1. (author)

Communication challenges in the perspective of nuclear organizations in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Machado, Tariana Brocardo

2017-01-01

The aim of this paper is to discuss the results of a study which reveals the communication challenges faced by organizations of the nuclear segment in Brazil towards its public acceptance. This is a descriptive study with qualitative approach based on primary data collection made through interview with non-probabilistic sample and categorical content analysis as method. The study was carried out with managers, technicians and communicators of three representative organizations of the segment in the country – CNEN, Eletronuclear and IPEN – in the period ranging from October, 2015, to March, 2016, as part of a greater study composing the author’s Master’s dissertation presented at Universidade de São Paulo in October, 2016. As results, the main communication challenges spotted by nuclear professionals in Brazil are lack of public acceptance of the nuclear energy in the country, followed by low levels of communication of the benefits of the nuclear field, lack of budget for investing in communication strategy and activities and institutional bureaucracy, as well as political motives and professionals being politically appointed for holding communication positions. Other communication-related challenges faced by the nuclear field in Brazil mentioned by interviewees include employees without adequate amount of time to dedicate to communication or unfit for this specific work, excessive use of technical language, discredit of the nuclear area within local society, lack of interest by the media and difficulty for hiring new communication professionals. This research was financially supported by CAPES. 1. (author)

Safe prescribing: a titanic challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Routledge, Philip A

2012-01-01

The challenge to achieve safe prescribing merits the adjective ‘titanic’. The organisational and human errors leading to poor prescribing (e.g. underprescribing, overprescribing, misprescribing or medication errors) have parallels in the organisational and human errors that led to the loss of the Titanic 100 years ago this year. Prescribing can be adversely affected by communication failures, critical conditions, complacency, corner cutting, callowness and a lack of courage of conviction, all of which were also factors leading to the Titanic tragedy. These issues need to be addressed by a commitment to excellence, the final component of the ‘Seven C's’. Optimal prescribing is dependent upon close communication and collaborative working between highly trained health professionals, whose role is to ensure maximum clinical effectiveness, whilst also protecting their patients from avoidable harm. Since humans are prone to error, and the environments in which they work are imperfect, it is not surprising that medication errors are common, occurring more often during the prescribing stage than during dispensing or administration. A commitment to excellence in prescribing includes a continued focus on lifelong learning (including interprofessional learning) in pharmacology and therapeutics. This should be accompanied by improvements in the clinical working environment of prescribers, and the encouragement of a strong safety culture (including reporting of adverse incidents as well as suspected adverse drug reactions whenever appropriate). Finally, members of the clinical team must be prepared to challenge each other, when necessary, to ensure that prescribing combines the highest likelihood of benefit with the lowest potential for harm. PMID:22738396

Challenges in sexual medicine

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cellek, Selim; Giraldi, Annamaria

2012-01-01

The sexual medicine field has been in mode of revolution until recently. Like all other fields of biomedical research, the economic situation around the world has had a negative impact on the field's momentum-research funding bodies, regulatory bodies and pharmaceutical companies seem to have...... placed sexual medicine in their low-priority list. But this is not the only challenge the field is facing. The successful development of phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors for treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) means that research in this area seems to have slowed. However, there remain...... several unmet medical needs within sexual medicine such as premature ejaculation, severe ED and hypoactive sexual desire disorder, which await novel therapeutic approaches. Despite these challenges, research into finding and developing such therapies is likely to continue in the sexual medicine field...

Confidentiality in participatory research: Challenges from one study.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrova, Elmira; Dewing, Jan; Camilleri, Michelle

2016-06-01

This article presents key ethical challenges that were encountered when conducting a participatory qualitative research project with a very specific, small group of nurses, in this case with practice development nurses in Malta. With the small number of nurses employed in practice development roles in Malta, there are numerous difficulties of maintaining confidentiality. Poorly constructed interventions by the researcher could have resulted in detrimental effects to research participants and the overall trustworthiness of the research. Generally, ethical guidelines for research exist to reinforce validity of research; however, there is not an established consensus on how these strategies can be utilised in some types of qualitative field work. The researcher used an exploratory case study methodology. The sample consisted of 10 participants who were interviewed twice using face-to-face interviews, over a period of 2 months. The study was ethically reviewed by the University Research Ethics Committee and the Faculty Research Ethics Committee, University of Malta. The participants referred to in this article have been given adequate information about the study and their consent has been obtained. Numerous strategies for ensuring confidentiality during recruitment of the participants, during data collection, during transcription and data analysis and during dissemination of research results assisted the researcher in responding to potential and actual ethical issues. This article emphasises the main strategies that can be used to respond to ethical challenges when researching with a small easily identifiable group. The learning discussed here may be relevant to or even transferable to other similar research studies or research contexts. These methods fostered a greater credibility throughout the research process and predisposed the participants to greater trust, and thus, they disclosed their experiences and speak more freely, thus enhancing the quality of the study

Résultats challenge

CERN Multimedia

Club de pétanque

2015-01-01

C'est avec un temps magnifique que se disputait pour la deuxième année le Challenge de notre cher ami Patrick DURAND le jeudi 30 juillet 2015. Vingt-six personnes formées en doublettes s'affrontaient pour trois parties .Après des parties très serrées le juge arbitre Claude JOUVE épaulé par Alain PHILIPONA déclarait  vainqueur l'imbattable Claude MACARI suivi de très près par Eric DARMEDRU et à la troisième place Christian JOUVE. La première féminine était Mireille ROCHE. La soirée se clôturait par une succulente paëlla préparée par Jennifer et sa maman Sylvie JOUVE. Rendez-vous à tous pour le jeudi 27 août 2015 pour le challenge Jean-Claude FROT Nos concours sont ouverts à tous les amateurs de pétanque.

Grand Challenges of Enterprise Integration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brosey, W.D; Neal, R.E.; Marks, D.

2001-04-01

Enterprise Integration connects and combines people, processes, systems, and technologies to ensure that the right people and the right processes have the right information and the right resources at the right time. A consensus roadmap for Technologies for Enterprise Integration was created as part of an industry/government/academia partnership in the Integrated Manufacturing Technology Initiative (IMTI). Two of the grand challenges identified by the roadmapping effort will be addressed here--Customer Responsive Enterprises and Totally Connected Enterprises. Each of these challenges is briefly discussed as to the current state of industry and the future vision as developed in the roadmap.

Challenges and solutions for climate change

CERN Document Server

Gaast, Wytze

2012-01-01

The latest scientific knowledge on climate change indicates that higher greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere through unchecked emissions will provoke severe climate change and ocean acidification threatening environmental structures on which humanity relies. Climate change therefore poses major socio-economic, technical and environmental challenges which will have serious impacts on countries’ pathways towards sustainable development. As a result, climate change and sustainable development have increasingly become interlinked. A changing climate makes achieving Millennium Development Goals more difficult and expensive, so there is every reason to achieve development goals with low greenhouse gas emissions. This leads to the following five challenges discussed by Challenges and Solutions for Climate Change: To place climate negotiations in the wider context of sustainability, equity and social change so that development benefits can be maximised at the same time as decreasing greenhouse gas emissi...

Safeguards challenges of Fast Breeder Reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ko, H. S.

2010-01-01

Although the safeguards system of Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) seems similar to that of Light Water Reactor (LWR), it was raised safeguards challenges of SFR that resulted from the visual opacity of liquid sodium, chemical reactivity of sodium and other characteristics of fast reactor. As it is the basic concept stage of the safeguards of SFR in Korea, this study tried to analyze the latest similar study of safeguards issues of the Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) at Joyo and Monju in Japan. For this reason, this study is to introduce some potential safeguards challenges of Fast Breeder Reactor. With this analysis, future study could be to address the safeguards challenges of SFR in Korea

Case study: The Challenge of sustainability

OpenAIRE

Kennell, James

2014-01-01

Tourism can be a challenging subject for students because it is both dynamic and susceptible to economic turbulence and shifts in trends. Tourism: A Modern Synthesis is an essential textbook for tourism students looking for a clear and comprehensive introduction to their studies which helps overcome these challenges. The authors apply a strong business approach to the subject reflecting developments in the teaching and content of modern courses and the text covers both key principles and cont...

The Challenges of Adopting International Financial Reporting ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Challenges of Adopting International Financial Reporting System in Nigeria. ... Nigeria is going to adopt International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) ... its challenges and to proffer solutions that would ensure seamless transition in ...

Opportunities and Challenges in Deep Mining: A Brief Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pathegama G. Ranjith

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Mineral consumption is increasing rapidly as more consumers enter the market for minerals and as the global standard of living increases. As a result, underground mining continues to progress to deeper levels in order to tackle the mineral supply crisis in the 21st century. However, deep mining occurs in a very technical and challenging environment, in which significant innovative solutions and best practice are required and additional safety standards must be implemented in order to overcome the challenges and reap huge economic gains. These challenges include the catastrophic events that are often met in deep mining engineering: rockbursts, gas outbursts, high in situ and redistributed stresses, large deformation, squeezing and creeping rocks, and high temperature. This review paper presents the current global status of deep mining and highlights some of the newest technological achievements and opportunities associated with rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering in deep mining. Of the various technical achievements, unmanned working-faces and unmanned mines based on fully automated mining and mineral extraction processes have become important fields in the 21st century.

Challenges of hotel outsourcing in Ghana: A transaction cost perspective

OpenAIRE

Stephen Edem Hiamey

2012-01-01

Outsourcing is one of the many business strategies adopted by hotels due to the many opportunities that it provides. These opportunities notwithstanding, there are teething challenges with outsourcing. This study sought to find out from hotel managers in the Accra Metropolis of Ghana some of the challenges they face with outsourcing from a transaction cost perspective. Eight in-depth interviews were conducted in six hotels that outsourced. After capturing and transcribing ...

BYOD Security: A New Business Challenge

OpenAIRE

Downer, K.; Bhattacharya, Maumita

2016-01-01

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a rapidly growing trend in businesses concerned with information technology. BYOD presents a unique list of security concerns for businesses implementing BYOD policies. Recent publications indicate a definite awareness of risks involved in incorporating BYOD into business, however it is still an underrated issue compared to other IT security concerns. This paper focuses on two key BYOD security issues: security challenges and available frameworks. A taxonomy sp...

"Egg Races" and Other Practical Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Auty, Geoff

2013-01-01

This article presents ideas behind science and technology challenges and shares experiences of "egg races." Different challenges were set, but there was always the need to transport an egg across some obstacle course without breaking it. It was so popular in the 1980s that the term "egg race" came to mean any kind of simple…

Experiencing work as a daily challenge: the case of scleroderma.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendelson, Cindy; Poole, Janet L; Allaire, Saralynn

2013-01-01

Little is known about the physical and discretionary aspects of work that people with scleroderma (SSc) find difficult. This article describes the findings from a study that explored the challenges and adaptations made by individuals with SSc to continue to work. Thirty-two employed individuals with SSc participated. Participants were predominantly women (82%), white (79%), and well educated (M = 16.9 years). The average age was 47.3 years, and 60.6% were married. Mean disease duration was 9.7 years, and 56.2% had diffuse SSc. Mean years on the job was 10.2 (SD ± 8.8), and 71.9% worked at least 35 hours per week. Participants engaged in a single structured interview about work-related challenges and adaptations. Content and thematic analysis was used to identify key themes across the interviews. Employees with SSc experienced Work as a daily challenge. This central theme described the general work experience for most participants. Three subthemes described their specific experiences: The work environment: Opportunities, challenges, and accommodations; Career planning; and Supportive others. The participants were anxious to find scenarios that allowed them to continue to work. Worksite accommodations and flexibility in scheduling can make the difference between working and disability.

Atmospheric effects in astroparticle physics experiments and the challenge of ever greater precision in measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Louedec, Karim

2015-01-01

Astroparticle physics and cosmology allow us to scan the universe through multiple messengers. It is the combination of these probes that improves our understanding of the universe, both in its composition and its dynamics. Unlike other areas in science, research in astroparticle physics has a real originality in detection techniques, in infrastructure locations, and in the observed physical phenomenon that is not created directly by humans. It is these features that make the minimisation of statistical and systematic errors a perpetual challenge. In all these projects, the environment is turned into a detector medium or a target. The atmosphere is probably the environment component the most common in astroparticle physics and requires a continuous monitoring of its properties to minimise as much as possible the systematic uncertainties associated. This paper introduces the different atmospheric effects to take into account in astroparticle physics measurements and provides a non-exhaustive list of techniques and instruments to monitor the different elements composing the atmosphere. A discussion on the close link between astroparticle physics and Earth sciences ends this paper.

Interdisciplinary and physics challenges of network theory

Science.gov (United States)

Bianconi, Ginestra

2015-09-01

Network theory has unveiled the underlying structure of complex systems such as the Internet or the biological networks in the cell. It has identified universal properties of complex networks, and the interplay between their structure and dynamics. After almost twenty years of the field, new challenges lie ahead. These challenges concern the multilayer structure of most of the networks, the formulation of a network geometry and topology, and the development of a quantum theory of networks. Making progress on these aspects of network theory can open new venues to address interdisciplinary and physics challenges including progress on brain dynamics, new insights into quantum technologies, and quantum gravity.

Challenge of the oil market

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaidah, A M

1981-11-01

The oil market is experiencing a different environment in 1981 as demand for OPEC oil fades while customers run down their inventories. The oil-producing countries face a new challenge, but the need of consuming countries for secure oil supplies and the need of producing countries to broaden their economies and reduce dependence on a depleting resource continue. Two episodes 1973 to 1975 and late 1978 to the present, illustrate the current market situation. The impact of these episodes is the basis for recommended long-run goals that go beyond market management to the real challenge of converting oil resources into the real assets of economic development. (DCK)

Statistical Challenges in Modeling Big Brain Signals

KAUST Repository

Yu, Zhaoxia; Pluta, Dustin; Shen, Tong; Chen, Chuansheng; Xue, Gui; Ombao, Hernando

2017-01-01

Brain signal data are inherently big: massive in amount, complex in structure, and high in dimensions. These characteristics impose great challenges for statistical inference and learning. Here we review several key challenges, discuss possible

Internal quality assurance reviews: challenges and processes ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Internal quality assurance reviews: challenges and processes – Walter Sisulu University\\'s Business, Management Sciences and Law Faculty. ... This article examines some of the challenges and processes followed by six of the departments ...

Crowdsourcing for Challenging Technical Problems - It Works!

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, Jeffrey R.

2011-01-01

The NASA Johnson Space Center Space Life Sciences Directorate (SLSD) and Wyle Integrated Science and Engineering (Wyle) will conduct a one-day business cluster at the 62nd IAC so that IAC attendees will understand the benefits of open innovation (crowdsourcing), review successful results of conducting technical challenges in various open innovation projects, and learn how an organization can effectively deploy these new problem solving tools to innovate more efficiently and effectively. Results from both the SLSD open innovation pilot program and the open innovation workshop conducted by the NASA Human Health and Performance Center will be discussed. NHHPC members will be recruited to participate in the business cluster (see membership http://nhhpc.nasa.gov) and as IAF members. Crowdsourcing may be defined as the act of outsourcing tasks that are traditionally performed by an employee or contractor to an undefined, generally large group of people or community (a crowd) in the form of an open call. The open call may be issued by the organization wishing to find a solution to a particular problem or complete a task, or by an open innovation service provider on behalf of that organization. In 2008, the SLSD, with the support of Wyle, established and implemented pilot projects in open innovation (crowdsourcing) to determine if these new internet-based platforms could indeed find solutions to difficult technical challenges. These unsolved technical problems were converted to problem statements, called Challenges by some open innovation service providers, and were then posted externally to seek solutions to these problems. In addition, an open call was issued internally to NASA employees Agency wide (11 Field Centers and NASA HQ) using an open innovation service provider crowdsourcing platform to post NASA challenges from each Center for the others to propose solutions). From 2008 to 2010, the SLSD issued 34 challenges, 14 externally and 20 internally. The 14 external

A Challenge-Based Approach to Body Weight-Supported Treadmill Training Poststroke: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Naidu, Avantika; Brown, David; Roth, Elliot

2018-05-03

Body weight support treadmill training protocols in conjunction with other modalities are commonly used to improve poststroke balance and walking function. However, typical body weight support paradigms tend to use consistently stable balance conditions, often with handrail support and or manual assistance. In this paper, we describe our study protocol, which involved 2 unique body weight support treadmill training paradigms of similar training intensity that integrated dynamic balance challenges to help improve ambulatory function post stroke. The first paradigm emphasized walking without any handrails or manual assistance, that is, hands-free walking, and served as the control group, whereas the second paradigm incorporated practicing 9 essential challenging mobility skills, akin to environmental barriers encountered during community ambulation along with hands-free walking (ie hands-free + challenge walking). We recruited individuals with chronic poststroke hemiparesis and randomized them to either group. Participants trained for 6 weeks on a self-driven, robotic treadmill interface that provided body weight support and a safe gait-training environment. We assessed participants at pre-, mid- and post 6 weeks of intervention-training, with a 6-month follow-up. We hypothesized greater walking improvements in the hands-free + challenge walking group following training because of increased practice opportunity of essential mobility skills along with hands-free walking. We assessed 77 individuals with chronic hemiparesis, and enrolled and randomized 30 individuals poststroke for our study (hands-free group=19 and hands-free + challenge walking group=20) from June 2012 to January 2015. Data collection along with 6-month follow-up continued until January 2016. Our primary outcome measure is change in comfortable walking speed from pre to post intervention for each group. We will also assess feasibility, adherence, postintervention efficacy, and changes in various

Challenges of Integrating Affordable and Sustainable Housing in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Syed Jamaludin, S. Z. H.; Mahayuddin, S. A.; Hamid, S. H. A.

2018-04-01

Developing countries including Malaysia have begun to comprehend the needs for affordable and sustainable housing development. The majority of the population is still aspiring for a comfortable, safe and reasonably priced house. Households in the low-middle income range face difficulties to find housing that can satisfy their needs and budget. Unfortunately, most of the housing development programs are considering affordability rather than sustainable aspects. Furthermore, developers are more interested in profit and neglect sustainability issues. Thus, the aim of this paper is to review the challenges in integrating affordable housing and sustainable practices in Malaysia. This paper is produced based on an extensive literature review as a basis to develop strategies of integrated affordable and sustainable housing in Malaysia. The challenges are divided into four sections, namely market challenges, professional challenges, societal challenges and technological challenges. The outcomes of this paper will assist in the decision making involving housing development and in enhancing quality of life for sustainable communities.

Scientific challenges in sustainable energy technology

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Nathan

2006-04-01

We describe and evaluate the technical, political, and economic challenges involved with widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies. First, we estimate fossil fuel resources and reserves and, together with the current and projected global primary power production rates, estimate the remaining years of oil, gas, and coal. We then compare the conventional price of fossil energy with that from renewable energy technologies (wind, solar thermal, solar electric, biomass, hydroelectric, and geothermal) to evaluate the potential for a transition to renewable energy in the next 20-50 years. Secondly, we evaluate - per the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the greenhouse constraint on carbon-based power consumption as an unpriced externality to fossil-fuel use, considering global population growth, increased global gross domestic product, and increased energy efficiency per unit GDP. This constraint is projected to drive the demand for carbon-free power well beyond that produced by conventional supply/demand pricing tradeoffs, to levels far greater than current renewable energy demand. Thirdly, we evaluate the level and timescale of R&D investment needed to produce the required quantity of carbon-free power by the 2050 timeframe. Fourth, we evaluate the energy potential of various renewable energy resources to ascertain which resources are adequately available globally to support the projected demand. Fifth, we evaluate the challenges to the chemical sciences to enable the cost-effective production of carbon-free power required. Finally, we discuss the effects of a change in primary power technology on the energy supply infrastructure and discuss the impact of such a change on the modes of energy consumption by the energy consumer and additional demands on the chemical sciences to support such a transition in energy supply.

The Challenges Facing Accounting Education: The Nigerian ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The need of the accounting profession to effectively and continuously meet new challenges confronting it and adapt its services to changing conditions and circumstances has become a necessity to the survival of the profession and the society. The challenges confronting the accountant on his role to the society at large in a ...

Creative Leadership: A Challenge of Our Times

Science.gov (United States)

Stoll, Louise; Temperley, Julie

2009-01-01

In times of constant change, teachers need to be flexible, adaptable and creative. This article argues that promoting creativity of staff to enhance twenty-first century learning is a fundamental challenge for school leadership today. Drawing on the findings of a research and development project involving senior leadership teams and a local…

Towards a Standardized e-Assessment System: Motivations, Challenges and First Findings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denis Helic

2009-10-01

Full Text Available “Global Learning” with shared learning contents, resources, activities and goals is one of the contributions of Globalization. With the capability to use new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT it is a bit easier to have a technology based learning systems that enable learners to share the learning resources and possibilities. As a result many Learning Management Systems (LMS were developed with divers of platforms and approaches. Consequently, sharing learning resources and components has become a major challenge. E-assessment as a primary activity of any LMS is facing the same challenges and problems. In order to stand on this challenge people in the field of technology enhanced learning have recommended that LMS should conform to specific standards. This paper discuses this challenge, the consequences and limitations of standards in the modern learning settings. Moreover, it shows a service oriented framework for assessment which aims to make the e-assessment systems flexible and also to initiate the term of “Global Learning Assessment” with the possibility of sharing the e-assessment system components.

Inverted U-Shaped Curvilinear Relationship between Challenge and One's Intrinsic Motivation: Evidence from Event-Related Potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Qingguo; Pei, Guanxiong; Meng, Liang

2017-01-01

The balance between task demand and one's competence is critical for the maintenance of intrinsic motivation. According to Flow theory and Self-determination theory, optimal challenge gives rise to the maximum intrinsic motivation, and an inverted U-shaped curvilinear relationship between perceived challenge and one's intrinsic motivation is suggested. In order to provide direct experimental evidences for predictions of these theories, in this study, we employed the two-player StopWatch game that we previously designed, which made references to the game format of a badminton tournament. According to our manipulation, a male participant was defeated by the same-sex player paired with him (played by a well-trained confederate of the experimenter) in two matches, one with a wide margin (the complete defeat condition) and another with a narrow one (the near miss condition). Participants performed better and reported to enjoy the near miss match to a greater extent. Besides, an enlarged Stimulus-preceding negativity was elicited when participants were actively anticipating outcomes in the near miss condition, suggesting greater anticipatory attention toward the outcome and an enhanced intrinsic motivation to win. Thus, converging electrophysiological evidences from this study and our former study confirmed the inverted U-shaped curvilinear relationship between perceived challenge and one's intrinsic motivation.

Research Challenges for the Internet of Things: What Role Can OR Play?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter J. Ryan

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The Internet of Things (IoT is an extension of the Internet in which large numbers of “things”, including sensors, actuators and processors, in addition to human users, are networked and able to provide high resolution data on their environment and exercise a degree of control over it. It is still at an early stage of development, and many problems/research challenges must be solved before it is widely adopted. Many of these are technical, including interoperability and scalability, as billions of heterogeneous devices will be connected, but deciding on how to invest in the IoT is a challenge for business, and there are also major social, legal and ethical challenges, including security and privacy of data collection, which must be resolved. As the future IoT will be a multi-national, multi-industry, multi-technology infrastructure, the paper reviews the global standardization efforts that are underway to facilitate its worldwide creation and adoption. The main purpose of the paper is to give a broad survey, based on published literature, of the methods of Operations Research (OR, both the mathematical tools and techniques of “hard” OR, and the various approaches of Systems Thinking, including “soft” OR, which may assist in dealing with these problems. A subset of these is described in greater depth to better convey what might be involved in applying OR and Systems Thinking to the IoT. It is suggested that OR has a role to play in balancing the technical and non-technical research challenges which confront the IoT.

Greener energy solutions for a sustainable future: issues and challenges for Malaysia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mohd. Zamzam Jaafar; Wong Hwee Kheng; Norhayati Kamaruddin [Pusat Tenaga Malaysia, Kajang (Malaysia)

2003-09-01

The paper examines the intricacy of energy policies, issues and challenges woven into the development of the energy sector in Malaysia. As highlighted in the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3) and the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP) unveiled in April 2001, efforts will be intensified to moderate the growth of energy demand and to develop renewable energy as the fifth fuel in electricity generation. Whilst the general energy policy thrust for the next ten years remains unchanged, concerted efforts will be made to usher the energy sector development on a greener path. With a projected average economic growth rate of 7.5% per year in the 2001 2005 period, resource rich Malaysia would have to cater for the 7.8% yearly increase in final energy demand. Total primary energy supply is projected to grow at an average of 7.2% per year in the same period. Against the backdrop of a growing need for coal and piped natural gas imports and Malaysia becoming a net crude oil importer in 2008, greater challenges lie ahead for the energy sector. This implies that Peninsular Malaysia may become a net importer of fossil fuels (oil, gas and coal) sooner than expected. Higher utilization rate of natural gas as the green fuel will be encouraged in electricity and non-electricity sectors. 8 refs., 7 figs., 2 tabs.

Nutraceuticals, A New Challenge for Medicinal Chemistry.