Great Books. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

Science.gov (United States)

What Works Clearinghouse, 2011

2011-01-01

"Great Books" is a program that aims to improve the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills of students in kindergarten through high school. The program is implemented as a core or complementary curriculum and is based on the Shared Inquiry[TM] method of learning. The purpose of "Great Books" is to engage students in…

GREAT3 results - I. Systematic errors in shear estimation and the impact of real galaxy morphology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mandelbaum, R.; Rowe, B.; Armstrong, R.; Bard, D.; Bertin, E.; Bosch, J.; Boutigny, D.; Courbin, F.; Dawson, W. A.; Donnarumma, A.; Fenech Conti, I.; Gavazzi, R.; Gentile, M.; Gill, M. S. S.; Hogg, D. W.; Huff, E. M.; Jee, M. J.; Kacprzak, T.; Kilbinger, M.; Kuntzer, T.; Lang, D.; Luo, W.; March, M. C.; Marshall, P. J.; Meyers, J. E.; Miller, L.; Miyatake, H.; Nakajima, R.; Ngole Mboula, F. M.; Nurbaeva, G.; Okura, Y.; Paulin-Henriksson, S.; Rhodes, J.; Schneider, M. D.; Shan, H.; Sheldon, E. S.; Simet, M.; Starck, J. -L.; Sureau, F.; Tewes, M.; Zarb Adami, K.; Zhang, J.; Zuntz, J.

2015-05-01

We present first results from the third GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing (GREAT3) challenge, the third in a sequence of challenges for testing methods of inferring weak gravitational lensing shear distortions from simulated galaxy images. GREAT3 was divided into experiments to test three specific questions, and included simulated space- and ground-based data with constant or cosmologically varying shear fields. The simplest (control) experiment included parametric galaxies with a realistic distribution of signal-to-noise, size, and ellipticity, and a complex point spread function (PSF). The other experiments tested the additional impact of realistic galaxy morphology, multiple exposure imaging, and the uncertainty about a spatially varying PSF; the last two questions will be explored in Paper II. The 24 participating teams competed to estimate lensing shears to within systematic error tolerances for upcoming Stage-IV dark energy surveys, making 1525 submissions overall. GREAT3 saw considerable variety and innovation in the types of methods applied. Several teams now meet or exceed the targets in many of the tests conducted (to within the statistical errors). We conclude that the presence of realistic galaxy morphology in simulations changes shear calibration biases by ~1 per cent for a wide range of methods. Other effects such as truncation biases due to finite galaxy postage stamps, and the impact of galaxy type as measured by the Sérsic index, are quantified for the first time. Our results generalize previous studies regarding sensitivities to galaxy size and signal-to-noise, and to PSF properties such as seeing and defocus. Almost all methods’ results support the simple model in which additive shear biases depend linearly on PSF ellipticity.

Great Ellipse Route Planning Based on Space Vector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

LIU Wenchao

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Aiming at the problem of navigation error caused by unified earth model in great circle route planning using sphere model and modern navigation equipment using ellipsoid mode, a method of great ellipse route planning based on space vector is studied. By using space vector algebra method, the vertex of great ellipse is solved directly, and description of great ellipse based on major-axis vector and minor-axis vector is presented. Then calculation formulas of great ellipse azimuth and distance are deduced using two basic vectors. Finally, algorithms of great ellipse route planning are studied, especially equal distance route planning algorithm based on Newton-Raphson(N-R method. Comparative examples show that the difference of route planning between great circle and great ellipse is significant, using algorithms of great ellipse route planning can eliminate the navigation error caused by the great circle route planning, and effectively improve the accuracy of navigation calculation.

An evaluation of The Great Escape: can an interactive computer game improve young children's fire safety knowledge and behaviors?

Science.gov (United States)

Morrongiello, Barbara A; Schwebel, David C; Bell, Melissa; Stewart, Julia; Davis, Aaron L

2012-07-01

Fire is a leading cause of unintentional injury and, although young children are at particularly increased risk, there are very few evidence-based resources available to teach them fire safety knowledge and behaviors. Using a pre-post randomized design, the current study evaluated the effectiveness of a computer game (The Great Escape) for teaching fire safety information to young children (3.5-6 years). Using behavioral enactment procedures, children's knowledge and behaviors related to fire safety were compared to a control group of children before and after receiving the intervention. The results indicated significant improvements in knowledge and fire safety behaviors in the intervention group but not the control. Using computer games can be an effective way to promote young children's understanding of safety and how to react in different hazardous situations.

Mercury Sources and Cycling in the Great Lakes: Dramatic Changes Resulting from Altered Atmospheric Loads and the Near-Shore Shunt

Science.gov (United States)

Krabbenhoft, D. P.; DeWild, J. F.; Maglio, M. M.; Tate, M. T.; Ogorek, J. M.; Hurley, J. P.; Lepak, R.

2013-12-01

Mercury (Hg) contamination of the aquatic food webs across the Great Lakes remains a significant environmental issue. However, our ability to prescribe corrective actions has been significantly hampered by a scarcity of data, particularly for methylmercury (MeHg) the most toxic and bioaccumulative form of mercury in freshwater ecosystems. As part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative initiated in 2010, a joint effort was undertaken by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to improve our understanding of total Hg and MeHg concentrations and distributions in the Great Lakes. Since 2010, sampling surveys have been conducted at about 15-20 stations twice annually (April and August) at 15-20 stations per lake to collect data from both cold and warm water conditions. All sampling was conducted using trace-metal free protocols using a sampling rosette equipped with 12 Teflon-lined Niskin. Water samples were collected at predetermined depths: mid-epilimnion, mid-thermocline, deep chlorophyll layer, mid-hypolimnion, and about 2 meters above the bottom. Seston samples were collected from the top 20 meters using plankton nets, while bottom sediments and benthos samples were acquired using a ponar sampler. Water, biota, and sediment samples were all analyzed for Hg and MeHg concentration at the USGS Mercury Research Laboratory in Middleton, Wisconsin. Several important trends are apparent from the water column samples. First, most stations reveal a strong top-to-bottom declining trend total Hg concentration, underscoring the importance of atmospheric deposition to the Great Lakes. Methylmercury profiles, show maximal concentrations at the thermocline or deep chlorophyll layer, suggesting in situ water-column MeHg production. Calculations suggest this in-lake MeHg source is similar in magnitude to tributary loading of MeHg, which heretofore was thought to be the dominant MeHg source. Aqueous total Hg results also suggest that

History of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, 1941-1945. Volume 6. Results of the Great Patriotic War,

Science.gov (United States)

1982-10-06

Iraq, Iceland, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, Lebanon, Mexico , Netherlands, Nicaragua, New Zealand, Syria, Uruguay, Chile, Ecuador, Ethiopia 4. The number...Great Patriotic War), a collection of docu- ments. Yaroslavl’ Book Publishers, 1960. ALBANIA Banca Nazionale d’Albania. Ufficio studi. Economia albanese

ECMO: Improving our Results by Chasing the Rabbits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luiz Fernando Canêo

2015-12-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT As Marcelo Giugale published in the Financial Times, Latin America, on the whole, has not excelled at innovation - doing the same things in a new and better way or at doing new things. It has been slow to acquire, adopt and adapt technologies by this time available in other places[1]. Although extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO is not a new technology, its use in Latin America is not widespread as needed. Furthermore, we still have a number centers doing ECMO, not reporting their cases, lacking a structured training program and not registered with the extracorporeal life support organization (ELSO. With this scenario, and accepting that ECMO is the first step in any circulatory support program, it is difficult to anticipate the incorporation of new and more complex devices as the technologically advanced world is currently doing. However, the good news is that with the support of experts from USA, Europe and Canada the results in Latin America ELSO'S centers are improving by following its guidelines for training, and using a standard educational process. There is no doubt that we can learn a great deal from the high velocity organizations - the rabbits - whom everyone chases but never catches, that manage to stay ahead because of their endurance, responsiveness, and their velocity in self-correction[2].

State Government Revenue Recovery from the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

James Alm; David L. Sjoquist

2014-01-01

The "Great Recession" lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, and it wreaked havoc on the revenues of state (and local) governments. While the U.S. economy has improved since the end of the Great Recession, state government revenues have in most cases still not completely recovered. We use various indicators to measure how different states have -- or have not -- recovered in the aftermath of the Great Recession, and we also attempt to explain why these different patterns of recovery have emer...

The Great Recession was not so Great

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Ours, J.C.

2015-01-01

The Great Recession is characterized by a GDP-decline that was unprecedented in the past decades. This paper discusses the implications of the Great Recession analyzing labor market data from 20 OECD countries. Comparing the Great Recession with the 1980s recession it is concluded that there is a

IMAGE ANALYSIS FOR COSMOLOGY: RESULTS FROM THE GREAT10 STAR CHALLENGE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kitching, T. D.; Heymans, C.; Rowe, B.; Witherick, D.; Gill, M.; Massey, R.; Courbin, F.; Gentile, M.; Meylan, G.; Georgatzis, K.; Gruen, D.; Kilbinger, M.; Li, G. L.; Mariglis, A. P.; Storkey, A.; Xin, B.

2013-01-01

We present the results from the first public blind point-spread function (PSF) reconstruction challenge, the GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 2010 (GREAT10) Star Challenge. Reconstruction of a spatially varying PSF, sparsely sampled by stars, at non-star positions is a critical part in the image analysis for weak lensing where inaccuracies in the modeled ellipticity e and size R 2 can impact the ability to measure the shapes of galaxies. This is of importance because weak lensing is a particularly sensitive probe of dark energy and can be used to map the mass distribution of large scale structure. Participants in the challenge were presented with 27,500 stars over 1300 images subdivided into 26 sets, where in each set a category change was made in the type or spatial variation of the PSF. Thirty submissions were made by nine teams. The best methods reconstructed the PSF with an accuracy of σ(e) ≈ 2.5 × 10 –4 and σ(R 2 )/R 2 ≈ 7.4 × 10 –4 . For a fixed pixel scale, narrower PSFs were found to be more difficult to model than larger PSFs, and the PSF reconstruction was severely degraded with the inclusion of an atmospheric turbulence model (although this result is likely to be a strong function of the amplitude of the turbulence power spectrum).

Climate variability and Great Plains agriculture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosenberg, N.J.; Katz, L.A.

1991-01-01

The ways in which inhabitants of the Great Plains, including Indians, early settlers, and 20th century farmers, have adapted to climate changes on the Great Plains are explored. The climate of the Great Plains, because of its variability and extremes, can be very stressful to plants, animals and people. It is suggested that agriculture and society on the Great Plains have, during the last century, become less vulnerable to the stresses imposed by climate. Opinions as to the sustainability of agriculture on the Great Plains vary substantially. Lockeretz (1981) suggests that large scale, high cost technologies have stressed farmers by creating surpluses and by requiring large investments. Opie (1989) sees irrigation as a climate substitute, however he stresses that the Ogallala aquifer must inevitably become depleted. Deborah and Frank Popper (1987) believe that farming on the Plains is unsustainable, and destruction of shelterbelts, out-migration of the rural population and environmental problems will lead to total collapse. With global warming, water in the Great Plains is expected to become scarcer, and although improvements in irrigation efficiency may slow depletion of the Ogallala aquifer, ultimately the acreage under irrigation must decrease to levels that can be sustained by natural recharge and reliable surface flows. 23 refs., 2 figs

Great Basin Factsheet Series 2016 - Information and tools to restore and conserve Great Basin ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Jeanne C. Chambers

2016-01-01

Land managers are responsible for developing effective strategies for conserving and restoring Great Basin ecosystems in the face of invasive species, conifer expansion, and altered fire regimes. A warming climate is magnifying the effects of these threats and adding urgency to implementation of management practices that will maintain or improve ecosystem...

Contrasting results from GWAS and QTL mapping on wing length in great reed warblers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansson, Bengt; Sigeman, Hanna; Stervander, Martin; Tarka, Maja; Ponnikas, Suvi; Strandh, Maria; Westerdahl, Helena; Hasselquist, Dennis

2018-04-15

A major goal in evolutionary biology is to understand the genetic basis of adaptive traits. In migratory birds, wing morphology is such a trait. Our previous work on the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) shows that wing length is highly heritable and under sexually antagonistic selection. Moreover, a quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping analysis detected a pronounced QTL for wing length on chromosome 2, suggesting that wing morphology is partly controlled by genes with large effects. Here, we re-evaluate the genetic basis of wing length in great reed warblers using a genomewide association study (GWAS) approach based on restriction site-associated DNA sequencing (RADseq) data. We use GWAS models that account for relatedness between individuals and include covariates (sex, age and tarsus length). The resulting association landscape was flat with no peaks on chromosome 2 or elsewhere, which is in line with expectations for polygenic traits. Analysis of the distribution of p-values did not reveal biases, and the inflation factor was low. Effect sizes were however not uniformly distributed on some chromosomes, and the Z chromosome had weaker associations than autosomes. The level of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in the population decayed to background levels within c. 1 kbp. There could be several reasons to why our QTL study and GWAS gave contrasting results including differences in how associations are modelled (cosegregation in pedigree vs. LD associations), how covariates are accounted for in the models, type of marker used (multi- vs. biallelic), difference in power or a combination of these. Our study highlights that the genetic architecture even of highly heritable traits is difficult to characterize in wild populations. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

IMAGE ANALYSIS FOR COSMOLOGY: RESULTS FROM THE GREAT10 STAR CHALLENGE

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kitching, T. D.; Heymans, C. [Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT (United Kingdom); Rowe, B.; Witherick, D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT (United Kingdom); Gill, M. [Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics, Physics Department, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Massey, R. [Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE (United Kingdom); Courbin, F.; Gentile, M.; Meylan, G. [Laboratoire d' Astrophysique, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) (Switzerland); Georgatzis, K. [Department of Information and Computer Science, Aalto University, P.O. Box 15400, FI-00076 Aalto (Finland); Gruen, D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, 209 South 33rd Street, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States); Kilbinger, M. [Excellence Cluster Universe, Boltzmannstr. 2, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Li, G. L. [Purple Mountain Observatory, 2 West Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008 (China); Mariglis, A. P.; Storkey, A. [School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh EH8 9AB (United Kingdom); Xin, B., E-mail: t.kitching@ucl.ac.uk [Department of Physics, Purdue University, 525 Northwestern Avenue, West Lafayette, IN 47907 (United States)

2013-04-01

We present the results from the first public blind point-spread function (PSF) reconstruction challenge, the GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 2010 (GREAT10) Star Challenge. Reconstruction of a spatially varying PSF, sparsely sampled by stars, at non-star positions is a critical part in the image analysis for weak lensing where inaccuracies in the modeled ellipticity e and size R {sup 2} can impact the ability to measure the shapes of galaxies. This is of importance because weak lensing is a particularly sensitive probe of dark energy and can be used to map the mass distribution of large scale structure. Participants in the challenge were presented with 27,500 stars over 1300 images subdivided into 26 sets, where in each set a category change was made in the type or spatial variation of the PSF. Thirty submissions were made by nine teams. The best methods reconstructed the PSF with an accuracy of {sigma}(e) Almost-Equal-To 2.5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4} and {sigma}(R {sup 2})/R {sup 2} Almost-Equal-To 7.4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4}. For a fixed pixel scale, narrower PSFs were found to be more difficult to model than larger PSFs, and the PSF reconstruction was severely degraded with the inclusion of an atmospheric turbulence model (although this result is likely to be a strong function of the amplitude of the turbulence power spectrum).

Big Ship Data: Using vessel measurements to improve estimates of temperature and wind speed on the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Fries, Kevin; Kerkez, Branko

2017-05-01

The sheer size of many water systems challenges the ability of in situ sensor networks to resolve spatiotemporal variability of hydrologic processes. New sources of vastly distributed and mobile measurements are, however, emerging to potentially fill these observational gaps. This paper poses the question: How can nontraditional measurements, such as those made by volunteer ship captains, be used to improve hydrometeorological estimates across large surface water systems? We answer this question through the analysis of one of the largest such data sets: an unprecedented collection of one million unique measurements made by ships on the North American Great Lakes from 2006 to 2014. We introduce a flexible probabilistic framework, which can be used to integrate ship measurements, or other sets of irregular point measurements, into contiguous data sets. The performance of this framework is validated through the development of a new ship-based spatial data product of water temperature, air temperature, and wind speed across the Great Lakes. An analysis of the final data product suggests that the availability of measurements across the Great Lakes will continue to play a large role in the confidence with which these large surface water systems can be studied and modeled. We discuss how this general and flexible approach can be applied to similar data sets, and how it will be of use to those seeking to merge large collections of measurements with other sources of data, such as physical models or remotely sensed products.

Performance Results of CMMI-Based Process Improvement

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gibson, Diane L; Goldenson, Dennis R; Kost, Keith

2006-01-01

.... There now is evidence that process improvement using the CMMI Product Suite can result in improvements in schedule and cost performance, product quality, return on investment and other measures of performance outcome...

Great software debates

CERN Document Server

Davis, A

2004-01-01

The industry’s most outspoken and insightful critic explains how the software industry REALLY works. In Great Software Debates, Al Davis, shares what he has learned about the difference between the theory and the realities of business and encourages you to question and think about software engineering in ways that will help you succeed where others fail. In short, provocative essays, Davis fearlessly reveals the truth about process improvement, productivity, software quality, metrics, agile development, requirements documentation, modeling, software marketing and sales, empiricism, start-up financing, software research, requirements triage, software estimation, and entrepreneurship.

Many faces of rationality: Implications of the great rationality debate for clinical decision-making

OpenAIRE

Djulbegovic, B.; Elqayam, Shira

2017-01-01

open access article Given that more than 30% of healthcare costs are wasted on inappropriate care, suboptimal care is increasingly connected to the quality of medical decisions. It has been argued that personal decisions are the leading cause of death, and 80% of healthcare expenditures result from physicians' decisions. Therefore, improving healthcare necessitates improving medical decisions, ie, making decisions (more) rational. Drawing on writings fromThe Great Rationality Debate from t...

Improved nuclear emergency management system reflecting lessons learned from the emergency response at Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station after the Great East Japan Earthquake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawamura, Shinichi; Narabayashi, Tadashi

2016-01-01

Three nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station lost all their ultimate heat sinks owing to damage from the tsunami caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. Water was injected into the reactors by alternate measures, damaged cooling systems were restored with promptly supplied substitute materials, and all the reactors were brought to a cold shutdown state within four days. Lessons learned from this experience were identified to improve emergency management, especially in the areas of strategic response planning, logistics, and functions supporting response activities continuing over a long period. It was found that continuous planning activities reflecting information from plant parameters and response action results were important, and that relevant functions in emergency response organizations should be integrated. Logistics were handled successfully but many difficulties were experienced. Therefore, their functions should be clearly established and improved by emergency response organizations. Supporting emergency responders in the aspects of their physical and mental conditions was important for sustaining continuous response. As a platform for improvement, the concept of the Incident Command System was applied for the first time to a nuclear emergency management system, with specific improvement ideas such as a phased approach in response planning and common operation pictures. (author)

Do clinical safety charts improve paramedic key performance indicator results? (A clinical improvement programme evaluation).

Science.gov (United States)

Ebbs, Phillip; Middleton, Paul M; Bonner, Ann; Loudfoot, Allan; Elliott, Peter

2012-07-01

Is the Clinical Safety Chart clinical improvement programme (CIP) effective at improving paramedic key performance indicator (KPI) results within the Ambulance Service of New South Wales? The CIP intervention area was compared with the non-intervention area in order to determine whether there was a statistically significant improvement in KPI results. The CIP was associated with a statistically significant improvement in paramedic KPI results within the intervention area. The strategies used within this CIP are recommended for further consideration.

Reproductive behavior of the great hornbill (Buceros bicornis).

Science.gov (United States)

Kozlowski, Corinne P; Bauman, Karen L; Asa, Cheryl S

2015-01-01

Great hornbills (Buceros bicornis) are a long-lived, monogamous species that forms strong pair-bonds, and mate compatibility is thought to be important for successful reproduction. Within AZA, great hornbills are listed as a red SSP. The population consists of a limited number of individuals that do not breed reliably, and improving reproduction is a top priority for the Coraciiformes TAG. To better understand mating behavior and evaluate mate compatibility, this study documented the behavior of pairs of great hornbills during and immediately after courtship. Using live observations, the study followed one female, an experienced and successful breeder, as she was paired with four successive males over 11 breeding seasons. Initially, males frequently vocalized, investigated the nest, and approached the female. As the female spent more time in the nest, these behaviors were replaced by regurgitation and food offering. The female was most often observed plastering and vocalizing. Behavioral differences between successful and unsuccessful pairs, possibly indicative of pair compatibility, included rates of approaching, billing, and biting. Numerous behaviors occurred more frequently during years that a chick hatched, including pseudoregurgitation, regurgitation, offering food items, and nest investigation. Males also spent more time in proximity to both the female and the nest during years that a chick hatched. Together, these results suggest that the amount of time pairs spend in proximity, the amount of time a male spends near the nest, and the frequency of certain behaviors may help evaluate compatibility and the likelihood of successful reproduction for pairs of great hornbills. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Guiding principles for the improved governance of port and shipping impacts in the Great Barrier Reef.

Science.gov (United States)

Grech, A; Bos, M; Brodie, J; Coles, R; Dale, A; Gilbert, R; Hamann, M; Marsh, H; Neil, K; Pressey, R L; Rasheed, M A; Sheaves, M; Smith, A

2013-10-15

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) region of Queensland, Australia, encompasses a complex and diverse array of tropical marine ecosystems of global significance. The region is also a World Heritage Area and largely within one of the world's best managed marine protected areas. However, a recent World Heritage Committee report drew attention to serious governance problems associated with the management of ports and shipping. We review the impacts of ports and shipping on biodiversity in the GBR, and propose a series of guiding principles to improve the current governance arrangements. Implementing these principles will increase the capacity of decision makers to minimize the impacts of ports and shipping on biodiversity, and will provide certainty and clarity to port operators and developers. A 'business as usual' approach could lead to the GBR's inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2014. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Network Interactions in the Great Altai Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lev Aleksandrovich Korshunov

2017-12-01

Full Text Available To improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the regional economy, an effective interaction between educational institutions in the Great Altai region is needed. The innovation growth can enhancing this interaction. The article explores the state of network structures in the economy and higher education in the border territories of the countries of Great Altai. The authors propose an updated approach to the three-level classification of network interaction. We analyze growing influence of the countries with emerging economies. We define the factors that impede the more stable and multifaceted regional development of these countries. Further, the authors determine indicators of the higher education systems and cooperation systems at the university level between the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries (SCO and BRICS countries, showing the international rankings of the universities in these countries. The teaching language is important to overcome the obstacles in the interregional cooperation. The authors specify the problems of the development of the universities of the SCO and BRICS countries as global educational networks. The research applies basic scientific logical methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, as well as the SWOT analysis method. We have indentified and analyzed the existing economic and educational relations. To promote the economic innovation development of the border territories of the Great Altai, we propose a model of regional network university. Modern universities function in a new economic environment. Thus, in a great extent, they form the technological and social aspects of this environment. Innovative network structures contribute to the formation of a new network institutional environment of the regional economy, which impacts the macro- and microeconomic performance of the region as a whole. The results of the research can help to optimize the regional economies of the border

Tungsten ion implantation of aluminum for improved resistance to pitting corrosion -- electrochemical testing results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, P.P.; Buchanan, R.A.; Williams, J.M.

1995-01-01

The greatly accelerated localized corrosion of aluminum in salt solutions has been observed and combated for many years. The susceptibility to pitting attack has been linked to the presence of chloride ions in the solution. Alloying additions to aluminum for improved corrosion resistance are restricted due to its limited solubility for passivating species such as chromium and molybdenum. However, many recent attempts to produce non-equilibrium alloys with these and other species, both through sputtering techniques and by rapid solidification, have met with very promising pitting resistance enhancements. The most dramatic increase in passivity is demonstrated by a thin co-sputtered film of Al and 9 atomic percent W, in which the pitting potential is increased by 2600 m V relative to pure Al. Recent efforts to extrapolate the promising W-Al thin film results to a bulk aluminum alloy using tungsten ion implantation are discussed here

10 ways to improve NSS results

OpenAIRE

Byrd, Hugh

2014-01-01

This presentation is a series of suggestions and ideas for improving NSS results in an architectural course, though much of it is applicable to other design-based courses. The slides are not intended to be in any order of priority. 50 practical suggestions around 10 themes that correspond to NSS questions

Native plant development and restoration program for the Great Basin, USA

Science.gov (United States)

N. L. Shaw; M. Pellant; P. Olweli; S. L. Jensen; E. D. McArthur

2008-01-01

The Great Basin Native Plant Selection and Increase Project, organized by the USDA Bureau of Land Management, Great Basin Restoration Initiative and the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station in 2000 as a multi-agency collaborative program (http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/boise/research/shrub/greatbasin.shtml), has the objective of improving the availability of...

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PRACTICE IN LARGE ENTERPRISES: STUDY RESULTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dorota Stadnicka

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Continuous improvement is indispensable for ensuring the company's development and its survival on the constantly changing global market. Continuous improvement is particularly important in the quality and production management systems. A company should deliver a product compliant with a client's requirements in a specified time and at an appropriate price. That is why, continuous improvement refers to different areas of an organization's functioning and it is an integral part of Lean Manufacturing. This article presents the results of the study conducted in production enterprises on a limited area. The aim of the study was the assessment of the implementation of continuous improvement in Lean Manufacturing, and, in particular, employees' involvement in the problem identification and in reporting improvements as well as the way of motivating employees to involve themselves. The authors also tried to identify the factors influencing the elements of a continuous improvement system.

Long-term results after atrial correction of complete transposition of the great arteries.

Science.gov (United States)

Merlo, M; de Tommasi, S M; Brunelli, F; Abbruzzese, P A; Crupi, G; Ghidoni, I; Casari, A; Pitì, A; Mamprin, F; Parenzan, L

1991-02-01

This study presents the late results for the first 104 consecutive patients surviving and atrial repair for transposition of the great arteries (TGA) between January 1971 and December 1978 (group 1). Mean follow-up was 12 years (range, 0.1 to 17.7 years). The actuarial survival rate at 18 years was 84.2% (70% confidence limits, 79% to 88%) for simple TGA and 93.7% (70% confidence limits, 84% to 97%) for complex TGA. Nine of the 11 deaths were sudden. Two (2.6%) of the 78 late survivors operated on for simple TGA are in New York Heart Association functional class III or IV versus 4 (26.7%) of the 15 survivors with complex TGA; the other patients are doing very well. To better assess long-term results, we report the findings for randomly obtained electrocardiograms, Holter monitor recordings, radionuclide angiographic studies, and cardiac catheterizations performed in 1987 in a larger group of 159 long-term survivors of atrial repair operated on at Ospedale Riuniti di Bergamo from January 1971 to December 1984 (group 2), which includes all of group 1. The findings confirm that the arterial switch repair is the procedure of choice for complex TGA and that there is a major incidence (approximately 10%) of systemic right ventricular dysfunction and rhythm disturbances after the atrial repair. On the other hand, our late survival rate at 18 years of 84% for simple TGA with 97.5% of the patients in functional class I is a result that should be kept in mind, especially in institutions where the arterial switch is a relatively new approach and presumably is a higher risk to cause early death.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Great Lakes Mussel Watch(2009-2014)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Following the inception of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to address the significant environmental issues plaguing the Great Lakes region, the...

Determinants of residential space heating expenditures in Great Britain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meier, Helena [Department of Economics, University of Hamburg, Von Melle Park 5, 20146 Hamburg (Germany); Rehdanz, Katrin [Department of Economics, University of Kiel, Olshausenstrasse 40, 24118 Kiel (Germany)

2010-09-15

In Great Britain, several policy measures have been implemented in order to increase energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. In the domestic sector, this could, for example, be achieved by improving space heating efficiency and thus decreasing heating expenditure. However, in order to efficiently design and implement such policy measures, a better understanding of the determinants affecting heating expenditure is needed. In this paper we examine the following determinants: socio-economic factors, building characteristics, heating technologies and weather conditions. In contrast to most other studies we use panel data to investigate household demand for heating in Great Britain. Our data sample is the result of an annual set of interviews with more than 5000 households, starting in 1991 and ending in 2005. The sample represents a total of 64,000 observations over the fifteen-year period. Our aim is to derive price and income elasticities both for Britain as a whole and for different types of household. Our results suggest that differences exist between owner-occupied and renter households. These households react differently to changes in income and prices. Our results also imply that a number of socio-economic criteria have a significant influence on heating expenditure, independently of the fuel used for heating. Understanding the impacts of different factors on heating expenditure and impact differences between types of household is helpful in designing target-oriented policy measures. (author)

Empirical study of peak-load pricing and investment policies for the domestic market of gas in Great Britain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tzoannos, J

1977-06-01

This paper reports the main results of a study aimed at determining empirically an optimal structure of seasonal tariffs for the domestic sector of gas in Great Britain. The study first involves the development of a peak-load pricing model which maximizes social welfare. The model is then quantified with cost and demand functions which have been statistically estimated for Great Britian using data for town gas. The procedure of estimating these functions is based on an error components model. The seasonal pricing and investment policy resulting from the solution to the above model is then compared with the existing policy for the domestic sector of gas in Great Britain. It is shown that the former is superior to the latter in terms of improvements in social welfare and capacity utilization. 22 references.

Prenatal Diagnosis of Transposition of the Great Arteries over a 20-Year Period: Improved but Imperfect

Science.gov (United States)

Escobar-Diaz, Maria C; Freud, Lindsay R; Bueno, Alejandra; Brown, David W; Friedman, Kevin; Schidlow, David; Emani, Sitaram; del Nido, Pedro; Tworetzky, Wayne

2015-01-01

Objective To evaluate temporal trends in prenatal diagnosis of transposition of the great arteries with intact ventricular septum (TGA/IVS) and its impact on neonatal morbidity and mortality. Methods Newborns with TGA/IVS referred for surgical management to our center over a 20-year period (1992 – 2011) were included. The study time was divided into 5 four-year periods, and the primary outcome was rate of prenatal diagnosis. Secondary outcomes included neonatal pre-operative status and perioperative survival. Results Of the 340 patients, 81 (24%) had a prenatal diagnosis. Prenatal diagnosis increased over the study period from 6% to 41% (p<0.001). Prenatally diagnosed patients underwent a balloon atrial septostomy (BAS) earlier than postnatally diagnosed patients (0 vs. 1 day, p<0.001) and fewer required mechanical ventilation (56% vs. 69%, p=0.03). There were no statistically significant differences in pre-operative acidosis (16% vs. 26%, p=0.1) and need for preoperative ECMO (2% vs. 3%, p=1.0). There was also no significant mortality difference (1 pre-operative and no post-operative deaths among prenatally diagnosed patients, as compared to 4 pre-operative and 6 post-operative deaths among postnatally diagnosed patients). Conclusion The prenatal detection rate of TGA/IVS has improved but still remains below 50%, suggesting the need for strategies to increase detection rates. The mortality rate was not statistically different between pre- and postnatally diagnosed patients; however, there were significant pre-operative differences with regard to earlier BAS and less mechanical ventilation. Ongoing study is required to elucidate whether prenatal diagnosis confers long-term benefit. PMID:25484180

["Great jobs"-also in psychiatry?].

Science.gov (United States)

Spiessl, H; Hübner-Liebermann, B

2003-09-01

Against the background of a beginning shortage of psychiatrists, results from interviews with 112 employees of an automotive company with the topic "Great Job" are presented to discuss their relevance to psychiatry. The interviews were analysed by means of a qualitative content analysis. Most employees assigned importance to great pay, constructive collaboration with colleagues, and work appealing to personal interests. Further statements particularly relevant to psychiatry were: successful career, flexible working hours, manageable job, work-life balance, well-founded training, no bureaucracy within the company, and personal status in society. The well-known economic restrictions in health care and the still negative attitude towards psychiatry currently reduce the attraction of psychiatry as a profession. From the viewpoint of personnel management, the attractors of a great job revealed in this study are proposed as important clues for the recruitment of medical students for psychiatry and the development of psychiatric staff.

Public opinion on environmental and energy issues. Result of the census after 3 years of the Great East Japan Earthquake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kosugi, Motoko

2014-01-01

The public opinion on the energy and environmental issues has changed greatly in Japan through experiences in and along the Great East Japan Earthquake. We conducted a social survey in order to grasp public opinions for environment and energy issues in March, 2014, which obtained 2313 valid responses (response rate was 64.3%). For the energy and environmental issues, while respondents show high interests in matters related to the Fukushima accident and nuclear power generation as well as electricity prices, they show relatively low interest in every other aspect. With regard to Japan's energy policy in the future, as expectations for renewable and natural sources of energy are large, about 60% of respondents have negative attitude in restart of nuclear power. For nuclear power, as compared to the previous survey conducted in August 2008, evaluation of 'control-ability of environmental impacts' and 'the power companies' risk management ability' was greatly reduced in particular. These results suggest the importance of provoke interest in the energy issues in general, as a premise to seek an understanding of the activities of the government and power companies. Furthermore, in order for the power companies to restore trust from the public, it is important to sympathize to public's anticipations of impacts on the health and environment through uses of nuclear power in the future. (author)

Great Lakes Literacy Principles

Science.gov (United States)

Fortner, Rosanne W.; Manzo, Lyndsey

2011-03-01

Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Erie together form North America's Great Lakes, a region that contains 20% of the world's fresh surface water and is home to roughly one quarter of the U.S. population (Figure 1). Supporting a $4 billion sport fishing industry, plus $16 billion annually in boating, 1.5 million U.S. jobs, and $62 billion in annual wages directly, the Great Lakes form the backbone of a regional economy that is vital to the United States as a whole (see http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/downloads/economy/11-708-Great-Lakes-Jobs.pdf). Yet the grandeur and importance of this freshwater resource are little understood, not only by people in the rest of the country but also by many in the region itself. To help address this lack of knowledge, the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Great Lakes, supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, developed literacy principles for the Great Lakes to serve as a guide for education of students and the public. These “Great Lakes Literacy Principles” represent an understanding of the Great Lakes' influences on society and society's influences on the Great Lakes.

Air pollution and environmental justice in the Great Lakes region

Science.gov (United States)

Comer, Bryan

While it is true that air quality has steadily improved in the Great Lakes region, air pollution remains at unhealthy concentrations in many areas. Research suggests that vulnerable and susceptible groups in society -- e.g., minorities, the poor, children, and poorly educated -- are often disproportionately impacted by exposure to environmental hazards, including air pollution. This dissertation explores the relationship between exposure to ambient air pollution (interpolated concentrations of fine particulate matter, PM2.5) and sociodemographic factors (race, housing value, housing status, education, age, and population density) at the Census block-group level in the Great Lakes region of the United States. A relatively novel approach to quantitative environmental justice analysis, geographically weighted regression (GWR), is compared with a simplified approach: ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. While OLS creates one global model to describe the relationship between air pollution exposure and sociodemographic factors, GWR creates many local models (one at each Census block group) that account for local variations in this relationship by allowing the value of regression coefficients to vary over space, overcoming OLS's assumption of homogeneity and spatial independence. Results suggest that GWR can elucidate patterns of potential environmental injustices that OLS models may miss. In fact, GWR results show that the relationship between exposure to ambient air pollution and sociodemographic characteristics is non-stationary and can vary geographically and temporally throughout the Great Lakes region. This suggests that regulators may need to address environmental justice issues at the neighborhood level, while understanding that the severity of environmental injustices can change throughout the year.

Results of bald eagle, osprey and great blue heron nest site surveys near Fort MacKay, Alberta

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strom, K.; Balagus, P.

1996-01-01

As part of the environmental impact assessment process, a study was conducted to assess the occurrence of bald eagle, osprey and great blue heron on Syncrude's proposed oil sand leases near Fort MacKay. The objective of the study was to determine the relative abundance, habitat preferences and nesting occurrences of these different birds. Aerial count surveys were conducted to include coverage of the shorelines of four rivers and 22 lakes. Breeding activities of the osprey, bald eagle and great blue heron were observed in the regional study area, but not in the local study area. 14 refs., 1 tab., 4 figs

Bi-national Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin climate change and hydrologic scenarios report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lavender, B.; Smith, J.V.; Koshida, G.; Mortsch, L.D. [eds.

1998-09-01

Climate experts in government, industry and academic institutions have put together a national assessment of how climate change will affect Canadians and their social, biological and economic environment over the next century. This volume documents the impacts and implications of climate change on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin, and provides an analysis and assessment of various climate and hydrologic scenarios used for the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Basin Project. As part of the analysis and assessment, results from the Canadian Climate Centre second-generation General Circulation Model and four transposition scenarios for both climate and hydrological resources are reviewed. The objective is to provide an indication of sensitivities and vulnerabilities of the region to climate, with a view to improve adaptation to potential climate changes. 25 tabs., 26 figs. figs.

Data requirements of GREAT-ER: Modelling and validation using LAS in four UK catchments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, Oliver R.; Munday, Dawn K.; Whelan, Mick J.; Holt, Martin S.; Fox, Katharine K.; Morris, Gerard; Young, Andrew R.

2009-01-01

Higher-tier environmental risk assessments on 'down-the-drain' chemicals in river networks can be conducted using models such as GREAT-ER (Geography-referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers). It is important these models are evaluated and their sensitivities to input variables understood. This study had two primary objectives: evaluate GREAT-ER model performance, comparing simulated modelled predictions for LAS (linear alkylbenzene sulphonate) with measured concentrations, for four rivers in the UK, and investigate model sensitivity to input variables. We demonstrate that the GREAT-ER model is very sensitive to variability in river discharges. However it is insensitive to the form of distributions used to describe chemical usage and removal rate in sewage treatment plants (STPs). It is concluded that more effort should be directed towards improving empirical estimates of effluent load and reducing uncertainty associated with usage and removal rates in STPs. Simulations could be improved by incorporating the effect of river depth on dissipation rates. - Validation of GREAT-ER.

Data requirements of GREAT-ER: Modelling and validation using LAS in four UK catchments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Price, Oliver R., E-mail: oliver.price@unilever.co [Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LQ (United Kingdom); Munday, Dawn K. [Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LQ (United Kingdom); Whelan, Mick J. [Department of Natural Resources, School of Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, College Road, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL (United Kingdom); Holt, Martin S. [ECETOC, Ave van Nieuwenhuyse 4, Box 6, B-1160 Brussels (Belgium); Fox, Katharine K. [85 Park Road West, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH43 8SQ (United Kingdom); Morris, Gerard [Environment Agency, Phoenix House, Global Avenue, Leeds LS11 8PG (United Kingdom); Young, Andrew R. [Wallingford HydroSolutions Ltd, Maclean building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8BB (United Kingdom)

2009-10-15

Higher-tier environmental risk assessments on 'down-the-drain' chemicals in river networks can be conducted using models such as GREAT-ER (Geography-referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers). It is important these models are evaluated and their sensitivities to input variables understood. This study had two primary objectives: evaluate GREAT-ER model performance, comparing simulated modelled predictions for LAS (linear alkylbenzene sulphonate) with measured concentrations, for four rivers in the UK, and investigate model sensitivity to input variables. We demonstrate that the GREAT-ER model is very sensitive to variability in river discharges. However it is insensitive to the form of distributions used to describe chemical usage and removal rate in sewage treatment plants (STPs). It is concluded that more effort should be directed towards improving empirical estimates of effluent load and reducing uncertainty associated with usage and removal rates in STPs. Simulations could be improved by incorporating the effect of river depth on dissipation rates. - Validation of GREAT-ER.

50th Anniversary of Bilyar Archaeological Expedition: results and issues of Great Town investigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khuzin Fayaz Sh.

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The article outlines the main results of the investigation of Bilyar fortified settlement – a unique monument of medieval East-European archaeology located in Alexeyevsky District of the Tatarstan Republic. A small amount of information on Bilyar has remained in Ancient Russian chronicles (in which it is referred to as Great Town and the works by 10th – 14th century Arabic and Persian authors. The monument has been known to historians since 18th century, but its archaeological excavations only started in 1967. For 20 years researchers studied its fortifications, five urban burial grounds (including a necropolis of nobility in the centre of the town, discovered the ruined remains of three brick buildings and a white-stone Cathedral Mosque with a free-standing minaret, craft workshops (pottery, glass-making, blacksmithing and metallurgical, as well as tens and hundreds of common dwellings, utility structures and wells. The discoveries made by Bilyar expedition received a positive reaction from the archaeological community of the country. Since late 1980s the activity of the expedition gradually decreased due to the absence of adequate financing. Minor protective excavations were generally performed in the neighbouring villages. Investigation of the settlement it self continued in 2015. The necessity of continuing systematic excavations in Bilyar and the surrounding monuments is evident from both the scientific and practical viewpoints – application of investigation results for the purposes of tourism.

Staple Food Self-Sufficiency of Farmers Household Level in The Great Solo

Science.gov (United States)

Darsono

2017-04-01

Analysis of food security level of household is a novelty of measurement standards which usually includes regional and national levels. With household approach is expected to provide the basis of sharp food policy formulation. The purpose of this study are to identify the condition of self-sufficiency in staple foods, and to find the main factors affecting the dynamics of self-sufficiency in staple foods on farm household level in Great Solo. Using primary data from 50 farmers in the sample and secondary data in Great Solo (Surakarta city, Boyolali, Sukoharjo, Karanganyar, Wonogiri, Sragen and Klaten). Compiled panel data were analyzed with linear probability regression models to produce a good model. The results showed that farm households in Great Solo has a surplus of staple food (rice) with an average consumption rate of 96.8 kg/capita/year. This number is lower than the national rate of 136.7 kg/capita/year. The main factors affecting the level of food self-sufficiency in the farmer household level are: rice production, rice consumption, land tenure, and number of family members. Key recommendations from this study are; improvement scale of the land cultivation for rice farming and non-rice diversification consumption.

Artificial reefs and reef restoration in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

McLean, Matthew W.; Roseman, Edward; Pritt, Jeremy J.; Kennedy, Gregory W.; Manny, Bruce A.

2015-01-01

We reviewed the published literature to provide an inventory of Laurentian Great Lakes artificial reef projects and their purposes. We also sought to characterize physical and biological monitoring for artificial reef projects in the Great Lakes and determine the success of artificial reefs in meeting project objectives. We found records of 6 artificial reefs in Lake Erie, 8 in Lake Michigan, 3 in Lakes Huron and Ontario, and 2 in Lake Superior. We found 9 reefs in Great Lakes connecting channels and 6 reefs in Great Lakes tributaries. Objectives of artificial reef creation have included reducing impacts of currents and waves, providing safe harbors, improving sport-fishing opportunities, and enhancing/restoring fish spawning habitats. Most reefs in the lakes themselves were incidental (not created purposely for fish habitat) or built to improve local sport fishing, whereas reefs in tributaries and connecting channels were more frequently built to benefit fish spawning. Levels of assessment of reef performance varied; but long-term monitoring was uncommon as was assessment of physical attributes. Artificial reefs were often successful at attracting recreational species and spawning fish; however, population-level benefits of artificial reefs are unclear. Stressors such as sedimentation and bio-fouling can limit the effectiveness of artificial reefs as spawning enhancement tools. Our investigation underscores the need to develop standard protocols for monitoring the biological and physical attributes of artificial structures. Further, long-term monitoring is needed to assess the benefits of artificial reefs to fish populations and inform future artificial reef projects.

The use of process models to inform and improve statistical models of nitrate occurrence, Great Miami River Basin, southwestern Ohio

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, Donald A.; Starn, J. Jeffrey

2013-01-01

Statistical models of nitrate occurrence in the glacial aquifer system of the northern United States, developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, use observed relations between nitrate concentrations and sets of explanatory variables—representing well-construction, environmental, and source characteristics— to predict the probability that nitrate, as nitrogen, will exceed a threshold concentration. However, the models do not explicitly account for the processes that control the transport of nitrogen from surface sources to a pumped well and use area-weighted mean spatial variables computed from within a circular buffer around the well as a simplified source-area conceptualization. The use of models that explicitly represent physical-transport processes can inform and, potentially, improve these statistical models. Specifically, groundwater-flow models simulate advective transport—predominant in many surficial aquifers— and can contribute to the refinement of the statistical models by (1) providing for improved, physically based representations of a source area to a well, and (2) allowing for more detailed estimates of environmental variables. A source area to a well, known as a contributing recharge area, represents the area at the water table that contributes recharge to a pumped well; a well pumped at a volumetric rate equal to the amount of recharge through a circular buffer will result in a contributing recharge area that is the same size as the buffer but has a shape that is a function of the hydrologic setting. These volume-equivalent contributing recharge areas will approximate circular buffers in areas of relatively flat hydraulic gradients, such as near groundwater divides, but in areas with steep hydraulic gradients will be elongated in the upgradient direction and agree less with the corresponding circular buffers. The degree to which process-model-estimated contributing recharge areas, which simulate advective transport and therefore account for

Ear surgery techniques results on hearing threshold improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farhad Mokhtarinejad

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Bone conduction (BC threshold depression is not always by means of sensory neural hearing loss and sometimes it is an artifact caused by middle ear pathologies and ossicular chain problems. In this research, the influences of ear surgeries on bone conduction were evaluated. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted as a clinical trial study. The ear surgery performed on 83 patients classified in four categories: Stapedectomy, tympanomastoid surgery and ossicular reconstruction partially or totally; Partial Ossicular Replacement Prosthesis (PORP and Total Ossicular Replacement Prosthesis (TORP. Bone conduction thresholds assessed in frequencies of 250, 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 Hz pre and post the surgery. Results: In stapedectomy group, the average of BC threshold in all frequencies improved approximately 6 dB in frequency of 2000 Hz. In tympanomastoid group, BC threshold in the frequency of 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz changed 4 dB (P-value < 0.05. Moreover, In the PORP group, 5 dB enhancement was seen in 1000 and 2000 Hz. In TORP group, the results confirmed that BC threshold improved in all frequencies especially at 4000 Hz about 6.5 dB. Conclusion: In according to results of this study, BC threshold shift was seen after several ear surgeries such as stapedectomy, tympanoplasty, PORP and TORP. The average of BC improvement was approximately 5 dB. It must be considered that BC depression might happen because of ossicular chain problems. Therefore; by resolving middle ear pathologies, the better BC threshold was obtained, the less hearing problems would be faced.

Spinal Cord Stimulation Provides Pain Relief with Improved Psychosocial Function: Results from EMP3OWER.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, Jason; Fabi, Alain; Candido, Kenneth; Knezevic, Nick; Creamer, Michael; Carayannopoulos, Alexios; Ghodsi, Abdi; Nelson, Christopher; Bennett, Matthew

2016-12-01

The EMP 3 OWER™ study evaluated spinal cord stimulation (SCS) safety and efficacy and the associated changes in psychosocial and functional outcomes. Upon informed consent and IRB approval, 620 eligible subjects were enrolled prior to SCS trial evaluation and were assessed at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months post-implant. Patient-reported pain relief (PRP), numerical rating scale (NRS), satisfaction, quality of life (QOL), and pain disability index (PDI) were assessed at all follow-up visits while the pain catastrophizing scale (PCS), short form-36 (SF-36), short form-McGill pain questionnaire version 2 (SF-MPQ-2), and the state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) were assessed at the 6- and 12-month follow-up visits. Device and/or procedure-related adverse events were also recorded and reported. Subjects reporting a PRP ≥ 50% were considered responders. Repeated measures analysis of variance (RMANOVA) examined the changes across time for all continuous measures. A total of 401 (71%) subjects received a permanent implant. Mean (±SD) patient-reported pain relief was 59.3% (±26.2), 59.2% (±28.9), and 58.2% (±32.0) at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. A majority of enrolled subjects were responders at 3 (75.5%), 6 (74.7%), and 12 months (69.7%). RMANOVA revealed a statistically significant change for NRS, PCS, PDI, SF-36, SF-MPQ-2, and STAI scores. At 3 months, the majority of subjects (85.7%) were either very satisfied or satisfied with their device, with similar results at 6 and 12 months. At 3 months, the majority of subjects (73.3%) reported greatly improved or improved QOL with similar results at 6 and 12 months. Spinal cord stimulation provided pain relief and significant improvement of patient psychological and functional outcome measures. © 2016 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Great Lakes Science Center

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — Since 1927, Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) research has provided critical information for the sound management of Great Lakes fish populations and other important...

Enriching Great Britain's National Landslide Database by searching newspaper archives

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Faith E.; Malamud, Bruce D.; Freeborough, Katy; Demeritt, David

2015-11-01

Our understanding of where landslide hazard and impact will be greatest is largely based on our knowledge of past events. Here, we present a method to supplement existing records of landslides in Great Britain by searching an electronic archive of regional newspapers. In Great Britain, the British Geological Survey (BGS) is responsible for updating and maintaining records of landslide events and their impacts in the National Landslide Database (NLD). The NLD contains records of more than 16,500 landslide events in Great Britain. Data sources for the NLD include field surveys, academic articles, grey literature, news, public reports and, since 2012, social media. We aim to supplement the richness of the NLD by (i) identifying additional landslide events, (ii) acting as an additional source of confirmation of events existing in the NLD and (iii) adding more detail to existing database entries. This is done by systematically searching the Nexis UK digital archive of 568 regional newspapers published in the UK. In this paper, we construct a robust Boolean search criterion by experimenting with landslide terminology for four training periods. We then apply this search to all articles published in 2006 and 2012. This resulted in the addition of 111 records of landslide events to the NLD over the 2 years investigated (2006 and 2012). We also find that we were able to obtain information about landslide impact for 60-90% of landslide events identified from newspaper articles. Spatial and temporal patterns of additional landslides identified from newspaper articles are broadly in line with those existing in the NLD, confirming that the NLD is a representative sample of landsliding in Great Britain. This method could now be applied to more time periods and/or other hazards to add richness to databases and thus improve our ability to forecast future events based on records of past events.

Improvement results of rice (Oryza glaberima) by induced mutation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cisse, F.

1994-01-01

In Mali, rice (Orzya glaberima) is still largely cultivated under conditions of natural semi-controlled submersion. To improve productivity the local varieties have been gradually replaced by new varieties, but the yields of these became lower because of the irregularity of the rain and the comparative weakness of the strain. For this reason a programme to improve the local varieties by means of gamma radiation has been undertaken. This document presents the results obtained to date

Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Edsall, Thomas A.; Mac, Michael J.; Opler, Paul A.; Puckett Haecker, Catherine E.; Doran, Peter D.

1998-01-01

The Great Lakes region, as defined here, includes the Great Lakes and their drainage basins in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. The region also includes the portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the 21 northernmost counties of Illinois that lie in the Mississippi River drainage basin, outside the floodplain of the river. The region spans about 9º of latitude and 20º of longitude and lies roughly halfway between the equator and the North Pole in a lowland corridor that extends from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean.The Great Lakes are the most prominent natural feature of the region (Fig. 1). They have a combined surface area of about 245,000 square kilometers and are among the largest, deepest lakes in the world. They are the largest single aggregation of fresh water on the planet (excluding the polar ice caps) and are the only glacial feature on Earth visible from the surface of the moon (The Nature Conservancy 1994a).The Great Lakes moderate the region’s climate, which presently ranges from subarctic in the north to humid continental warm in the south (Fig. 2), reflecting the movement of major weather masses from the north and south (U.S. Department of the Interior 1970; Eichenlaub 1979). The lakes act as heat sinks in summer and heat sources in winter and are major reservoirs that help humidify much of the region. They also create local precipitation belts in areas where air masses are pushed across the lakes by prevailing winds, pick up moisture from the lake surface, and then drop that moisture over land on the other side of the lake. The mean annual frost-free period—a general measure of the growing-season length for plants and some cold-blooded animals—varies from 60 days at higher elevations in the north to 160 days in lakeshore areas in the south. The climate influences the general distribution of wild plants and animals in the region and also influences the activities and distribution of the human

The diverse impacts of the great recession

OpenAIRE

Makoto Nakajima

2013-01-01

The Great Recession had a large negative impact on the U.S. economy. Asset prices, most notably stock and house prices, declined substantially, resulting in a loss in wealth for many American households. In this article, Makoto Nakajima documents how diverse households were affected in a variety of dimensions during the Great Recession, in particular between 2007 and 2009, using newly available data from the 2007-2009 Survey of Consumer Finances. He discusses why it is important to look at th...

Long-term results of external valvuloplasty in adult patients with isolated great saphenous vein insufficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarac A

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Atilla Sarac,1 Artan Jahollari,1 Sureyya Talay,1 Sevket Ozkaya,2 Ertugrul Ozal1 1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Samsun Medical Park Hospital, Samsun, Turkey; 2Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Bahcesehir University, Istanbul, Turkey Objective: The aim of this study is to present our 7-year results of external valvuloplasty for isolated great saphenous vein (GSV insufficiency. Methods: External valvuloplasty was applied in 83 patients with isolated GSV insufficiency. Follow-up consisted of venous color duplex scanning performed on the first postoperative day, the first postoperative month, and then annually. Valvular insufficiency, venous reflux, and venous thrombosis formation in the saphenofemoral junction were the main outcomes. Results: A complete clinical and radiological healing was observed in 50 patients (60%. In 13 cases (15.6%, a secondary surgical treatment was performed consisting of vena saphena magna high ligation/stripping and varicose vein excisions, mainly due to severe and progressive vena saphena magna valvular insufficiency and clinical persistence of symptoms. Eight patients (9.6% developed superficial vein thrombosis, and only one patient (1.2% developed deep vein thrombosis. Contact was lost from 32 patients (38.5% for different reasons. Conclusion: External valvuloplasty is an effective surgical technique for selected cases of isolated GSV insufficiency without extensive varicose dilatations. This alternative method can be safely administered as an alternative to high ligation and conventional GSV stripping. Keyword: vein, saphenous, insufficiency, external valv, valvuloplasty, varicosis

Great apes prefer cooked food.

Science.gov (United States)

Wobber, Victoria; Hare, Brian; Wrangham, Richard

2008-08-01

The cooking hypothesis proposes that a diet of cooked food was responsible for diverse morphological and behavioral changes in human evolution. However, it does not predict whether a preference for cooked food evolved before or after the control of fire. This question is important because the greater the preference shown by a raw-food-eating hominid for the properties present in cooked food, the more easily cooking should have been adopted following the control of fire. Here we use great apes to model food preferences by Paleolithic hominids. We conducted preference tests with various plant and animal foods to determine whether great apes prefer food items raw or cooked. We found that several populations of captive apes tended to prefer their food cooked, though with important exceptions. These results suggest that Paleolithic hominids would likewise have spontaneously preferred cooked food to raw, exapting a pre-existing preference for high-quality, easily chewed foods onto these cooked items. The results, therefore, challenge the hypothesis that the control of fire preceded cooking by a significant period.

Credit spread variability in U.S. business cycles: the Great Moderation versus the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Hylton Hollander; Guangling Liu

2014-01-01

This paper establishes the prevailing financial factors that influence credit spread variability, and its impact on the U.S. business cycle over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods. To do so, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium framework with a central role of financial intermediation and equity assets. Over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods, we find an important role for bank market power (sticky rate adjustments and loan rate markups) on credit spread variab...

Credit spread variability in U.S. business cycles: The Great Moderation versus the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Hylton Hollander and Guangling Liu

2014-01-01

This paper establishes the prevailing financial factors that influence credit spread variability, and its impact on the U.S. business cycle over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods. To do so, we develop a dynamic general equilibrium framework with a central role of financial intermediation and equity assets. Over the Great Moderation and Great Recession periods, we find an important role for bank market power (sticky rate adjustments and loan rate markups) on credit spread variab...

Great Lakes Regional Biomass Energy Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuzel, F.

1993-01-01

The Great Lakes Regional Biomass Energy Program (GLRBEP) was initiated September, 1983, with a grant from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the US Department of Energy (DOE). The program provides resources to public and private organizations in the Great Lakes region to increase the utilization and production of biomass fuels. The objectives of the GLRBEP are to: (1) improve the capabilities and effectiveness of biomass energy programs in the state energy offices; (2) assess the availability of biomass resources for energy in light of other competing needs and uses; (3) encourage private sector investments in biomass energy technologies; (4) transfer the results of government-sponsored biomass research and development to the private sector; (5) eliminate or reduce barriers to private sector use of biomass fuels and technology; (6) prevent or substantially mitigate adverse environmental impacts of biomass energy use. The Program Director is responsible for the day-to-day activities of the GLRBEP and for implementing program mandates. A 40 member Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) sets priorities and recommends projects. The governor of each state in the region appoints a member to the Steering Council, which acts on recommendations of the TAC and sets basic program guidelines. The GLRBEP is divided into three separate operational elements. The State Grants component provides funds and direction to the seven state energy offices in the region to increase their capabilities in biomass energy. State-specific activities and interagency programs are emphasized. The Subcontractor component involves the issuance of solicitations to undertake projects that address regional needs, identified by the Technical Advisory Committee. The Technology Transfer component includes the development of nontechnical biomass energy publications and reports by Council staff and contractors, and the dissemination of information at conferences, workshops and other events

Synthesis of research on Biogrout soil improvement method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zsolt KALTENBACHER

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Because of the great rhythm of city developments, there is a great need for a new cost effective method for ground improvement. In this paper, a few chemical improvement technologies and a new biological ground improvement method called Biogrout are discussed. The method, used in the paper for a Sarmatian sand in Transylvania (Feleac locality implies using microorganisms as catalysts in order to induce a microbial carbonate precipitation (MICP to increase the strength and stiffness of cohesionless soils. For this calcium based procedure, the bacteria Sporosarcina Pasteurii (DSMZ 33 is used, while for the treatment solution urea (CO(NH22 and calcium chloride (CaCl2 are used. The study presents the triaxial testing of sand probes treated with Biogrout and the comparison of results obtained with untreated sand probes.

Improved self-exclusion program: preliminary results.

Science.gov (United States)

Tremblay, Nicole; Boutin, Claude; Ladouceur, Robert

2008-12-01

The gambling industry has offered self-exclusion programs for quite a long time. Such measures are designed to limit access to gaming opportunities and provide problem gamblers with the help they need to cease or limit their gambling behaviour. However, few studies have empirically evaluated these programs. This study has three objectives: (1) to observe the participation in an improved self-exclusion program that includes an initial voluntary evaluation, phone support, and a mandatory meeting, (2) to evaluate satisfaction and usefulness of this service as perceived by self-excluders, (3) to measure the preliminary impact of this improved program. One hundred sixteen self-excluders completed a questionnaire about their satisfaction and their perception of the usefulness during the mandatory meeting. Among those participants, 39 attended an initial meeting. Comparisons between data collected at the initial meeting and data taken at the final meeting were made for those 39 participants. Data showed that gamblers chose the improved self-exclusion program 75% of the time; 25% preferred to sign a regular self-exclusion contract. Among those who chose the improved service, 40% wanted an initial voluntary evaluation and 37% of these individuals actually attended that meeting. Seventy percent of gamblers came to the mandatory meeting, which was a required condition to end their self-exclusion. The majority of participants were satisfied with the improved self-exclusion service and perceived it as useful. Major improvements were observed between the final and the initial evaluation on time and money spent, consequences of gambling, DSM-IV score, and psychological distress. The applicability of an improved self-exclusion program is discussed and, as shown in our study, the inclusion of a final mandatory meeting might not be so repulsive for self-excluders. Future research directives are also proposed.

A Dynamical Downscaling study over the Great Lakes Region Using WRF-Lake: Historical Simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, C.; Lofgren, B. M.

2014-12-01

As the largest group of fresh water bodies on Earth, the Laurentian Great Lakes have significant influence on local and regional weather and climate through their unique physical features compared with the surrounding land. Due to the limited spatial resolution and computational efficiency of general circulation models (GCMs), the Great Lakes are geometrically ignored or idealized into several grid cells in GCMs. Thus, the nested regional climate modeling (RCM) technique, known as dynamical downscaling, serves as a feasible solution to fill the gap. The latest Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) is employed to dynamically downscale the historical simulation produced by the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory-Coupled Model (GFDL-CM3) from 1970-2005. An updated lake scheme originated from the Community Land Model is implemented in the latest WRF version 3.6. It is a one-dimensional mass and energy balance scheme with 20-25 model layers, including up to 5 snow layers on the lake ice, 10 water layers, and 10 soil layers on the lake bottom. The lake scheme is used with actual lake points and lake depth. The preliminary results show that WRF-Lake model, with a fine horizontal resolution and realistic lake representation, provides significantly improved hydroclimates, in terms of lake surface temperature, annual cycle of precipitation, ice content, and lake-effect snowfall. Those improvements suggest that better resolution of the lakes and the mesoscale process of lake-atmosphere interaction are crucial to understanding the climate and climate change in the Great Lakes region.

American undergraduate students' value development during the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Heejung; Twenge, Jean M; Greenfield, Patricia M

2017-02-01

The Great Recession's influence on American undergraduate students' values was examined, testing Greenfield's and Kasser's theories concerning value development during economic downturns. Study 1 utilised aggregate-level data to investigate (a) population-level value changes between the pre-recession (2004-2006: n = 824,603) and recession freshman cohort (2008-2010: n = 662,262) and (b) overall associations of population-level values with national economic climates over long-term periods by correlating unemployment rates and concurrent aggregate-level values across 1966-2015 (n = 10 million). Study 2 examined individual-level longitudinal value development from freshman to senior year, and whether the developmental trajectories differed between those who completed undergraduate education before the Great Recession (freshmen in 2002, n = 12,792) versus those who encountered the Great Recession during undergraduate years (freshmen in 2006, n = 13,358). Results suggest American undergraduate students' increased communitarianism (supporting Greenfield) and materialism (supporting Kasser) during the Great Recession. The recession also appears to have slowed university students' development of positive self-views. Results contribute to the limited literature on the Great Recession's influence on young people's values. They also offer theoretical and practical implications, as values of this privileged group of young adults are important shapers of societal values, decisions, and policies. © 2016 International Union of Psychological Science.

SLAC modulator system improvements and reliability results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donaldson, A.R.

1998-06-01

In 1995, an improvement project was completed on the 244 klystron modulators in the linear accelerator. The modulator system has been previously described. This article offers project details and their resulting effect on modulator and component reliability. Prior to the project, the authors had collected four operating cycles (1991 through 1995) of MTTF data. In this discussion, the '91 data will be excluded since the modulators operated at 60 Hz. The five periods following the '91 run were reviewed due to the common repetition rate at 120 Hz

OF THE GREAT TEMPLE OF BEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Denker

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The Great Temple of Bel in Palmyra was a unique edifice which had blended the well established lines of Greco-Roman architecture with the art and taste of the Orient. With the gilded bronze capitals of its 41 Corinthian columns it was the product of enormous effort and budget. It was the gem of a remarkable epoch of wealthy Palmyra and mighty Roma. With its splendidly decorated adyta ceilings it became a source of inspiration and imagination for Western architecture and decorative arts. While continuing to captivate the World, it was leveled and vanished as a grim result of conflict based vandalism. The aim of this work is to piece together this, the most eloquent and stupendous monument of the Roman East, from its ruins and reconstruct it as it was once extant. Its loss is irreplacable, but its photo-realistic reconstruction can offer some solace by waking the memories of the great temple as in the past. The lost reality of the Great Temple of Bel is revived here by digitally constructing its “ghost images".

Assessment of compliance costs resulting from implementation of the proposed Great Lakes water quality guidance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fenner, K.; Podar, M.; Snyder, B.

1993-01-01

The primary purpose of the study was to develop an estimate of the incremental cost to direct dischargers resulting from the implementation of the proposed Great Lakes Water Quality Guidance (GLWQG). This estimate reflects the incremental cost of complying with permit requirements developed using the Implementation Procedures and water quality criteria proposed in the GLWQG versus permit requirements based on existing State water quality standards. Two secondary analyses were also performed, one to develop a preliminary estimate of the costs that would be incurred by indirect dischargers to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), and another to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the GLWQG. Finally, several sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of several major assumptions on the estimated compliance costs. To estimate compliance costs, permit limitations and conditions based on existing State water quality standards were compared to water quality-based limitations and conditions based on the proposed GLWQG criteria and Implementation Procedures for a sample of plants. The control measures needed to comply with the proposed GLWQG-based effluent limitations were evaluated. Individual plant compliance costs were estimated for these control measures based on information on treatment technology and cost analyses available in the literature. An overall compliance cost was projected from the sample based on statistical methods

The Time Scale of Recombination Rate Evolution in Great Apes

Science.gov (United States)

Stevison, Laurie S.; Woerner, August E.; Kidd, Jeffrey M.; Kelley, Joanna L.; Veeramah, Krishna R.; McManus, Kimberly F.; Bustamante, Carlos D.; Hammer, Michael F.; Wall, Jeffrey D.

2016-01-01

Abstract We present three linkage-disequilibrium (LD)-based recombination maps generated using whole-genome sequence data from 10 Nigerian chimpanzees, 13 bonobos, and 15 western gorillas, collected as part of the Great Ape Genome Project (Prado-Martinez J, et al. 2013. Great ape genetic diversity and population history. Nature 499:471–475). We also identified species-specific recombination hotspots in each group using a modified LDhot framework, which greatly improves statistical power to detect hotspots at varying strengths. We show that fewer hotspots are shared among chimpanzee subspecies than within human populations, further narrowing the time scale of complete hotspot turnover. Further, using species-specific PRDM9 sequences to predict potential binding sites (PBS), we show higher predicted PRDM9 binding in recombination hotspots as compared to matched cold spot regions in multiple great ape species, including at least one chimpanzee subspecies. We found that correlations between broad-scale recombination rates decline more rapidly than nucleotide divergence between species. We also compared the skew of recombination rates at centromeres and telomeres between species and show a skew from chromosome means extending as far as 10–15 Mb from chromosome ends. Further, we examined broad-scale recombination rate changes near a translocation in gorillas and found minimal differences as compared to other great ape species perhaps because the coordinates relative to the chromosome ends were unaffected. Finally, on the basis of multiple linear regression analysis, we found that various correlates of recombination rate persist throughout the African great apes including repeats, diversity, and divergence. Our study is the first to analyze within- and between-species genome-wide recombination rate variation in several close relatives. PMID:26671457

Does Sympathy Motivate Prosocial Behaviour in Great Apes?

Science.gov (United States)

Liebal, Katja; Vaish, Amrisha; Haun, Daniel; Tomasello, Michael

2014-01-01

Prosocial behaviours such as helping, comforting, or sharing are central to human social life. Because they emerge early in ontogeny, it has been proposed that humans are prosocial by nature and that from early on empathy and sympathy motivate such behaviours. The emerging question is whether humans share these abilities to feel with and for someone with our closest relatives, the great apes. Although several studies demonstrated that great apes help others, little is known about their underlying motivations. This study addresses this issue and investigates whether four species of great apes (Pongo pygmaeus, Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes, Pan paniscus) help a conspecific more after observing the conspecific being harmed (a human experimenter steals the conspecific’s food) compared to a condition where no harming occurred. Results showed that in regard to the occurrence of prosocial behaviours, only orangutans, but not the African great apes, help others when help is needed, contrasting prior findings on chimpanzees. However, with the exception of one population of orangutans that helped significantly more after a conspecific was harmed than when no harm occurred, prosocial behaviour in great apes was not motivated by concern for others. PMID:24416212

Second-Generation Outcomes of the Great Migration.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, J Trent; Leibbrand, Christine; Massey, Catherine; Tolnay, Stewart

2017-12-01

The mass migration of African Americans out of the South during the first two-thirds of the twentieth century represents one of the most significant internal migration flows in U.S. Those undertaking the Great Migration left the South in search of a better life, and their move transformed the cultural, social, and political dynamics of African American life specifically and U.S. society more generally. Recent research offers conflicting evidence regarding the migrants' success in translating their geographic mobility into economic mobility. Due in part to the lack of a large body of longitudinal data, almost all studies of the Great Migration have focused on the migrants themselves, usually over short periods of their working lives. Using longitudinally linked census data, we take a broader view, investigating the long-term economic and social effects of the Great Migration on the migrants' children. Our results reveal modest but statistically significant advantages in education, income, and poverty status for the African American children of the Great Migration relative to the children of southerners who remained in the South. In contrast, second-generation white migrants experienced few benefits from migrating relative to southern or northern stayers.

What Makes a Great Journal Great in Economics? The Singer Not the Song.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C-L. Chang (Chia-Lin); M.J. McAleer (Michael); L. Oxley (Les)

2010-01-01

textabstractThe paper is concerned with analysing what makes a great journal great in economics, based on quantifiable measures. Alternative Research Assessment Measures (RAM) are discussed, with an emphasis on the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database (hereafter ISI). The various ISI RAM that

Great Basin Experimental Range: Annotated bibliography

Science.gov (United States)

E. Durant McArthur; Bryce A. Richardson; Stanley G. Kitchen

2013-01-01

This annotated bibliography documents the research that has been conducted on the Great Basin Experimental Range (GBER, also known as the Utah Experiment Station, Great Basin Station, the Great Basin Branch Experiment Station, Great Basin Experimental Center, and other similar name variants) over the 102 years of its existence. Entries were drawn from the original...

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

Seismogenic Tectonic Environment of 1976 Great Tangshan Earthquake: Results from Dense Seismic Array Observations

Science.gov (United States)

LIU, Qiyuan; WANG, Jun; CHEN, Jiuhui; LI, Shuncheng; GUO, Biao

On July 28, 1976, the great Tangshan earthquake that shook the whole world took place in the Tangshan area of the Hebei Province, China. A big incomprehensible question is why such a tremendous earthquake took place in the Paleo-craton area in North China? It would be worth considering whether a similar event will reoccur in the Tangshan region. In this study, using the receiver function inversion technique and teleseismic P waveform data recorded at the Capital Circle Seismic network and our movable seismic array, we investigated the 3-D S-wave velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle down to 60 km beneath Tangshan area. Our results manifest that (1) the media beneath the Tangshan block cut by active faults are very different from the adjacent area, and all of the active faults surrounding the Tangshan block was through the whole crust; (2) in the upper and middle crust, there exist obvious heterogeneous low-velocity media beneath the Tangshan earthquake region; the crust-mantle boundary has an obvious block uplift and, in comparison with both sides, the top anomalous uplift of the upper mantle beneath the Tangshan block reaches to 10 km, and the upper mantle beneath has an anomalous heterogeneous structure; (4) beneath the Tangshan earthquake region, there are probably massive intrusions derived from the upper mantle, which form the low-velocity body in the upper and middle crust. Because of our results having much higher resolution than previous results, some new features of the crust and upper mantle velocity structure could be shown in this study; (5) the locations of destructive earthquakes are not random and are related closely to their deep structure of the crust and upper mantle. This provides a possibility of correctly estimating the location of destructive earthquakes. On the basis of our results, we discuss the dynamic genesis of the Tangshan earthquake. We consider that the main dynamic source for the Tangshan earthquake is the vertical

75 FR 6354 - NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project Grants under the Great Lakes Restoration...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-02-09

...-04] RIN 0648-ZC10 NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project Grants under the Great Lakes... Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce. ACTION: Notice of funding availability; Date... on January 19, 2010. That notice announced the NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Program Project...

The Next Great Generation?

Science.gov (United States)

Brownstein, Andrew

2000-01-01

Discusses ideas from a new book, "Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation," (by Neil Howe and William Strauss) suggesting that youth culture is on the cusp of a radical shift with the generation beginning with this year's college freshmen who are typically team oriented, optimistic, and poised for greatness on a global scale. Includes a…

IMPROVING OF ANION EXCHANGERES REGENERATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muzher M. Ibrahim

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Inthis study, Different basis [NaOH and KOH] of variable concentration are usedto reactivate Anion exchangers employing different schemes .The Laboratoryresults showed large improvement in efficiency of these exchangers ( i.eoperating time was increased from 12 to 42 hours .The results of this work showed that the environmentalload (waste water can be reduced greatly when using the proposed regenerationscheme .

Interim Results on Improvement of Melia volkensii

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kariuki, J.G.; Kimondo, J.M; Muchri, D.K

2007-01-01

Melia volkensii is important in some dry lands of Kenya as a high quality timber, for fodder, shade and construction. It is both drought resistant and fast growing and is termite resistant. Demand for the species has led to dysgenic selection, resulting in the selection of superior trees, progressively leading to a pool of poor parent trees remaining in most populations. A genetic improvement strategy and implementation plan was initiated in the year 2005. The main objective was genetic improvement of melia volkensii through selection, breeding and propagation. Specific objectives was to develop new plantations that are superior to their predecessors in one or several key economic traits and to maximize value of logs produced by farmers. The basic material for selection of plus trees were the natural and on farm populations across most of the species' natural range. Selection was carried out in nine transects located in various areas from Isiolo to Voi, through assessment of candidate trees and subsequent comparison with nearest 5 check trees. Site characterization and passport data collection was also carried out. Various selection criteria were used including diameter at breast height (dbh), height, form (straightness and branching habit), resistance to diseases, pests and spiral grain tendency. For establishment of hedges , stressing of root through severing part of the root to produce scions was done, followed by scion selection and grafting. Initial results showed the existence of two main forms in M. volkensii i.e crop and tree ideotypes. Crop ideotypes are shorter, have shorter clear boles with deep large and spreading crowns, mainly found in Mwingi, Nuu, Tseikuru and some parts of Kitui. Tree ideotypes are taller with long clear boles, light branching and sparce crowns mainly found in Voi, Mbeere,Mutha and Embu. Intermediate forms also exist. Because the breeding objective was timber production, the tree ideotypes were favoured in selection. In all nine

Great Basin geologic framework and uranium favorability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larson, L.T.; Beal, L.H.

1978-01-01

Work on this report has been done by a team of seven investigators assisted over the project span by twenty-three undergraduate and graduate students from May 18, 1976 to August 19, 1977. The report is presented in one volume of text, one volume or Folio of Maps, and two volumes of bibliography. The bibliography contains approximately 5300 references on geologic subjects pertinent to the search for uranium in the Great Basin. Volume I of the bibliography lists articles by author alphabetically and Volume II cross-indexes these articles by location and key word. Chapters I through IV of the Text volume and accompanying Folio Map Sets 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, discuss the relationship of uranium to rock and structural environments which dominate the Great Basin. Chapter 5 and Map Sets 6 and 7 provide a geochemical association/metallogenic grouping of mineral occurrences in the Great Basin along with information on rock types hosting uranium. Chapter VI summarizes the results of a court house claim record search for 'new' claiming areas for uranium, and Chapter VII along with Folio Map Set 8 gives all published geochronological data available through April 1, 1977 on rocks of the Great Basin. Chapter VIII provides an introduction to a computer analysis of characteristics of certain major uranium deposits in crystalline rocks (worldwide) and is offered as a suggestion of what might be done with uranium in all geologic environments. We believe such analysis will assist materially in constructing exploration models. Chapter IX summarizes criteria used and conclusions reached as to the favorability of uranium environments which we believe to exist in the Great Basin and concludes with recommendations for both exploration and future research. A general summary conclusion is that there are several geologic environments within the Great Basin which have considerable potential and that few, if any, have been sufficiently tested

The wind forecasting improvement project. Description and results from the Southern study region

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Freedman, Jeffrey [AWS Truepower LLC, Albany, NY (United States); Benjamin, Stan; Wilczak, James [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington, DC and Boulder, CO (United States)] [and others

2012-07-01

The Wind Forecasting Improvement Project (WFIP) is a multi-year U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)/National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sponsored study whose main purpose is to demonstrate the scientific and economic benefits of additional atmospheric observations and model enhancements on wind energy production forecasts. WFIP covers two geographical regions of the U.S.: (1) the upper Great Plains, or Northern Study Area, and (2) most of Texas-the Southern Study Area. The Southern campaign is being led by AWS Truepower LLC, and includes a team of private, government, and academic partners with collective experience and expertise in all facets required to ensure a successful completion of the project. In addition presenting a summary of the state-of-the-art forecasting techniques used and phenomena-based analysis mentioned above, a brief synopsis of how ''lessons learned'' from the WFIP Southern Study Area can be articulated and applied to other wind resource regions will be described. (orig.)

Oil Price Rise and the Great Recession of 2008

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Siamak MONADJEMI

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The financial crises of 2007-2008, caused wide-spread falling output and unemployment, in the affected countries and also globally. The severity of the recession was such that it was called the “Great Recession”. As a result of an increase in demand from China and India, at the same time, oil prices rose significantly. The empirical results from this study show that oil price changes negatively affected global growth rate in the 1970s but not in the 1990s and 2000s. These results suggest that the Great Recession in 2008 that initiated by the financial crises, was independent of a significant rise in oil prices.

Managing for Results in America's Great City Schools. A Report of the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project

Science.gov (United States)

Council of the Great City Schools, 2008

2008-01-01

This report describes statistical indicators developed by the Council of the Great City Schools and its member districts to measure big-city school performance on a range of operational functions in business, finance, human resources and technology. The report also presents data city-by-city on those indicators. This is the second time that…

Continuous resistivity profiling data from Great South Bay, Long Island, New York

Science.gov (United States)

Cross, V.A.; Bratton, J.F.; Kroeger, K.D.; Crusius, John; Worley, C.R.

2013-01-01

An investigation of submarine aquifers adjacent to the Fire Island National Seashore and Long Island, New York was conducted to assess the importance of submarine groundwater discharge as a potential nonpoint source of nitrogen delivery to Great South Bay. Over 200 kilometers of continuous resistivity profiling data were collected to image the fresh-saline groundwater interface in sediments beneath the bay. In addition, groundwater sampling was performed at sites (1) along the north shore of Great South Bay, particularly in Patchogue Bay, that were representative of the developed Long Island shoreline, and (2) at sites on and adjacent to Fire Island, a 50-kilometer-long barrier island on the south side of Great South Bay. Other field activities included sediment coring, stationary electrical resistivity profiling, and surveys of in situ pore water conductivity. Results of continuous resistivity profiling surveys are described in this report. The onshore and offshore shallow hydrostratigraphy of the Great South Bay shorelines, particularly the presence and nature of submarine confining units, appears to exert primary control on the dimensions and chemistry of the submarine groundwater flow and discharge zones. Sediment coring has shown that the confining units commonly consist of drowned and buried peat layers likely deposited in salt marshes. Low-salinity groundwater extends from 10 to 100 meters offshore along much of the north and south shores of Great South Bay based on continuous resistivity profiling data, especially off the mouths of tidal creeks and beneath shallow flats to the north of Fire Island adjacent to modern salt marshes. Human modifications of much of the shoreline and nearshore areas along the north shore of the bay, including filling of salt marshes, construction of bulkheads and piers, and dredging of navigation channels, has substantially altered the natural hydrogeology of the bay's shorelines by truncating confining units and increasing

Great Lakes Environmental Database (GLENDA)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Great Lakes Environmental Database (GLENDA) houses environmental data on a wide variety of constituents in water, biota, sediment, and air in the Great Lakes area.

Some Features of the Functioning of the Northern Branch of the Great Silk Road

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anatoliy S. Skripkin

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The fact of existing economic relations in the north branch of The Great silk route is usually restored according to Claudius Ptolemey. There are some evidences to connect their activation with the establishment of political domination of Alans in the South-East of Europe. The analysis of archaeological material gives the information that not all findings of Chinese artifacts in Sarmatian burial complexes of the first century AD are the result of trade links and most of them have been brought here in the result of nomads’ migrations. The appearance of the Alans in the steppes of South-Eastern Europe refers to the first century AD. This tribal association was formed in Central Asia. Alans subdue the vast steppes from the Aral sea to the Don. In the early historical stage the Lower Don becomes their political center. In burials belonging to the Alanian nobility, a large number of items of Eastern origin were discovered. A great number of them were brought here upon the arrival of the new nomads. Economic relations in this area begin to improve after the establishment of political stability, which was reflected in the composition of Claudius Ptolemy.

Baryon axial charges from chirally improved fermions - first results

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, G.; Gattringer, C.; Glozman, L. Y.; Lang, C. B.; Limmer, M.; Mohler, D.; Schäfer, A.

We present first results from dynamical Chirally Improved (CI) fermion simulations for the axial charge $G_A$ of various hadrons. We work with 16^3x32 lattices of spatial extent 2.4 fm and use the variational method with a suitable basis of Jacobi-smeared interpolators to suppress contaminations from excited states.

33 CFR 100.124 - Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York. 100.124 Section 100.124 Navigation and Navigable... NAVIGABLE WATERS § 100.124 Maggie Fischer Memorial Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim, Great South Bay, New York...

The Great Depression: A Textbook Case of Problems with American History Textbooks.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Steven L.; Rose, Stephen A.

1983-01-01

The 16 US history textbooks reviewed failed to incorporate economists' research on the causes of the Great Depression and consistently presented information that the economics profession has rejected. Strategies that social studies educators might adopt to improve the quality of economic analysis in textbooks is suggested. (Author/RM)

Influence of latitude on the US great plains East-West precipitation gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Precipitation varies greatly from east to west across the US Great Plains as a result of a combination of the rain shadow of the Rocky Mountains and the moisture flow from the Gulf of Mexico. Because of this precipitation gradient, application of research results obtained in one location to other lo...

Great Expectations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dickens, Charles

2005-01-01

One of Dickens's most renowned and enjoyable novels, Great Expectations tells the story of Pip, an orphan boy who wishes to transcend his humble origins and finds himself unexpectedly given the opportunity to live a life of wealth and respectability. Over the course of the tale, in which Pip

The great intimidators.

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, Roderick M

2006-02-01

After Disney's Michael Eisner, Miramax's Harvey Weinstein, and Hewlett-Packard's Carly Fiorina fell from their heights of power, the business media quickly proclaimed thatthe reign of abrasive, intimidating leaders was over. However, it's premature to proclaim their extinction. Many great intimidators have done fine for a long time and continue to thrive. Their modus operandi runs counter to a lot of preconceptions about what it takes to be a good leader. They're rough, loud, and in your face. Their tactics include invading others' personal space, staging tantrums, keeping people guessing, and possessing an indisputable command of facts. But make no mistake--great intimidators are not your typical bullies. They're driven by vision, not by sheer ego or malice. Beneath their tough exteriors and sharp edges are some genuine, deep insights into human motivation and organizational behavior. Indeed, these leaders possess political intelligence, which can make the difference between paralysis and successful--if sometimes wrenching--organizational change. Like socially intelligent leaders, politically intelligent leaders are adept at sizing up others, but they notice different things. Those with social intelligence assess people's strengths and figure out how to leverage them; those with political intelligence exploit people's weaknesses and insecurities. Despite all the obvious drawbacks of working under them, great intimidators often attract the best and brightest. And their appeal goes beyond their ability to inspire high performance. Many accomplished professionals who gravitate toward these leaders want to cultivate a little "inner intimidator" of their own. In the author's research, quite a few individuals reported having positive relationships with intimidating leaders. In fact, some described these relationships as profoundly educational and even transformational. So before we throw out all the great intimidators, the author argues, we should stop to consider what

Stress-inducible expression of AtDREB1A transcription factor greatly improves drought stress tolerance in transgenic indica rice.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravikumar, G; Manimaran, P; Voleti, S R; Subrahmanyam, D; Sundaram, R M; Bansal, K C; Viraktamath, B C; Balachandran, S M

2014-06-01

The cultivation of rice (Oryza sativa L.), a major food crop, requires ample water (30 % of the fresh water available worldwide), and its productivity is greatly affected by drought, the most significant environmental factor. Much research has focussed on identifying quantitative trait loci, stress-regulated genes and transcription factors that will contribute towards the development of climate-resilient/tolerant crop plants in general and rice in particular. The transcription factor DREB1A, identified from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, has been reported to enhance stress tolerance against drought stress. We developed transgenic rice plants with AtDREB1A in the background of indica rice cultivar Samba Mahsuri through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The AtDREB1A gene was stably inherited and expressed in T1 and T2 plants and in subsequent generations, as indicated by the results of PCR, Southern blot and RT-PCR analyses. Expression of AtDREB1A was induced by drought stress in transgenic rice lines, which were highly tolerant to severe water deficit stress in both the vegetative and reproductive stages without affecting their morphological or agronomic traits. The physiological studies revealed that the expression of AtDREB1A was associated with an increased accumulation of the osmotic substance proline, maintenance of chlorophyll, increased relative water content and decreased ion leakage under drought stress. Most of the homozygous lines were highly tolerant to drought stress and showed significantly a higher grain yield and spikelet fertility relative to the nontransgenic control plants under both stressed and unstressed conditions. The improvement in drought stress tolerance in combination with agronomic traits is very essential in high premium indica rice cultivars, such as Samba Mahsuri, so that farmers can benefit in times of seasonal droughts and water scarcity.

The Great Recession and risk for child abuse and neglect.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, William; Waldfogel, Jane; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne

2017-01-01

This paper examines the association between the Great Recession and four measures of the risk for maternal child abuse and neglect: (1) maternal physical aggression; (2) maternal psychological aggression; (3) physical neglect by mothers; and (4) supervisory/exposure neglect by mothers. It draws on rich longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal birth cohort study of families in 20 U.S. cities (N = 3,177; 50% African American, 25% Hispanic; 22% non-Hispanic white; 3% other). The study collected information for the 9-year follow-up survey before, during, and after the Great Recession (2007-2010). Interview dates were linked to two macroeconomic measures of the Great Recession: the national Consumer Sentiment Index and the local unemployment rate. Also included are a wide range of socio-demographic controls, as well as city fixed effects and controls for prior parenting. Results indicate that the Great Recession was associated with increased risk of child abuse but decreased risk of child neglect. Households with social fathers present may have been particularly adversely affected. Results also indicate that economic uncertainty during the Great Recession, as measured by the Consumer Sentiment Index and the unemployment rate, had direct effects on the risk of abuse or neglect, which were not mediated by individual-level measures of economic hardship or poor mental health.

Reprogramming towards totipotency is greatly facilitated by synergistic effects of small molecules

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kei Miyamoto

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Animal cloning has been achieved in many species by transplanting differentiated cell nuclei to unfertilized oocytes. However, the low efficiencies of cloning have remained an unresolved issue. Here we find that the combination of two small molecules, trichostatin A (TSA and vitamin C (VC, under culture condition with bovine serum albumin deionized by ion-exchange resins, dramatically improves the cloning efficiency in mice and 15% of cloned embryos develop to term by means of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT. The improvement was not observed by adding the non-treated, rather than deionized, bovine serum. RNA-seq analyses of SCNT embryos at the two-cell stage revealed that the treatment with TSA and VC resulted in the upregulated expression of previously identified reprogramming-resistant genes. Moreover, the expression of early-embryo-specific retroelements was upregulated by the TSA and VC treatment. The enhanced gene expression was relevant to the VC-mediated reduction of histone H3 lysine 9 methylation in SCNT embryos. Our study thus shows a simply applicable method to greatly improve mouse cloning efficiency, and furthers our understanding of how somatic nuclei acquire totipotency.

Parametric Simulations of the Great Dark Spots of Neptune

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Xiaolong; Le Beau, R.

2006-09-01

Observations by Voyager II and the Hubble Space Telescope of the Great Dark Spots (GDS) of Neptune suggest that large vortices with lifespans of years are not uncommon occurrences in the atmosphere of Neptune. The variability of these features over time, in particular the complex motions of GDS-89, make them challenging candidates to simulate in atmospheric models. Previously, using the Explicit Planetary Isentropic-Coordinate (EPIC) General Circulation Model, LeBeau and Dowling (1998) simulated the GDS-like vortex features. Qualitatively, the drift, oscillation, and tail-like features of GDS-89 were recreated, although precise numerical matches were only achieved for the meridional drift rate. In 2001, Stratman et al. applied EPIC to simulate the formation of bright companion clouds to the Great Dark Spots. In 2006, Dowling et al. presented a new version of EPIC, which includes hybrid vertical coordinate, cloud physics, advanced chemistry, and new turbulence models. With the new version of EPIC, more observation results, and more powerful computers, it is the time to revisit CFD simulations of the Neptune's atmosphere and do more detailed work on GDS-like vortices. In this presentation, we apply the new version of EPIC to simulate GDS-89. We test the influences of different parameters in the EPIC model: potential vorticity gradient, wind profile, initial latitude, vortex shape, and vertical structure. The observed motions, especially the latitudinal drift and oscillations in orientation angle and aspect ratio, are used as diagnostics of these unobserved atmospheric conditions. Increased computing power allows for more refined and longer simulations and greater coverage of the parameter space than previous efforts. Improved quantitative results have been achieved, including voritices with near eight-day oscillations and comparable variations in shape to GDS-89. This research has been supported by Kentucky NASA EPSCoR.

The Ecology of Student Retention: Undergraduate Students and the Great Recession

Science.gov (United States)

Mendoza, Pilar; Malcolm, Zaria; Parish, Nancy

2015-01-01

This study investigated qualitatively how undergraduate students experienced the Great Recession at a flagship university in the South Eastern of United States and how this experience relates to their retention. Results indicate that the Great Recession has significantly impacted students' engagement and commitments. We argue that student…

What great managers do.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckingham, Marcus

2005-03-01

Much has been written about the qualities that make a great manager, but most of the literature overlooks a fundamental question: What does a great manager actually do? While there are countless management styles, one thing underpins the behavior of all great managers. Above all, an exceptional manager comes to know and value the particular quirks and abilities of her employees. She figures out how to capitalize on her staffers' strengths and tweaks her environment to meet her larger goals. Such a specialized approach may seem like a lot of work. But in fact, capitalizing on each person's uniqueness can save time. Rather than encourage employees to conform to strict job descriptions that may include tasks they don't enjoy and aren't good at, a manager who develops positions for his staff members based on their unique abilities will be rewarded with behaviors that are far more efficient and effective than they would be otherwise. This focus on individuals also makes employees more accountable. Because staffers are evaluated on their particular strengths and weaknesses, they are challenged to take responsibility for their abilities and to hone them. Capitalizing on a person's uniqueness also builds a stronger sense of team. By taking the time to understand what makes each employee tick, a great manager shows that he sees his people for who they are. This personal investment not only motivates individuals but also galvanizes the entire team. Finally, this approach shakes up existing hierarchies, which leads to more creative thinking. To take great managing from theory to practice, the author says, you must know three things about a person: her strengths, the triggers that activate those strengths, and how she learns. By asking the right questions, squeezing the right triggers, and becoming aware of your employees' learning styles, you will discover what motivates each person to excel.

A sensor-based energy balance method for the distributed estimation of evaporation over the North American Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Fries, K. J.; Kerkez, B.; Gronewold, A.; Lenters, J. D.

2014-12-01

We introduce a novel energy balance method to estimate evaporation across large lakes using real-time data from moored buoys and mobile, satellite-tracked drifters. Our work is motivated by the need to improve our understanding of the water balance of the Laurentian Great Lakes basin, a complex hydrologic system that comprises 90% of the United States' and 20% of the world's fresh surface water. Recently, the lakes experienced record-setting water level drops despite above-average precipitation, and given that lake surface area comprises nearly one third of the entire basin, evaporation is suspected to be the primary driver behind the decrease in water levels. There has historically been a need to measure evaporation over the Great Lakes, and recent hydrological phenomena (including not only record low levels, but also extreme changes in ice cover and surface water temperatures) underscore the urgency of addressing that need. Our method tracks the energy fluxes of the lake system - namely net radiation, heat storage and advection, and Bowen ratio. By measuring each of these energy budget terms and combining the results with mass-transfer based estimates, we can calculate real-time evaporation rates on sub-hourly timescales. To mitigate the cost prohibitive nature of large-scale, distributed energy flux measurements, we present a novel approach in which we leverage existing investments in seasonal buoys (which, while providing intensive, high quality data, are costly and sparsely distributed across the surface of the Great Lakes) and then integrate data from less costly satellite-tracked drifter data. The result is an unprecedented, hierarchical sensor and modeling architecture that can be used to derive estimates of evaporation in real-time through cloud-based computing. We discuss recent deployments of sensor-equipped buoys and drifters, which are beginning to provide us with some of the first in situ measurements of overlake evaporation from Earth's largest lake

Improved operating scenarios of the DIII-D tokamak as a result of the addition of UNIX computer systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henline, P.A.

1995-10-01

The increased use of UNIX based computer systems for machine control, data handling and analysis has greatly enhanced the operating scenarios and operating efficiency of the DRI-D tokamak. This paper will describe some of these UNIX systems and their specific uses. These include the plasma control system, the electron cyclotron heating control system, the analysis of electron temperature and density measurements and the general data acquisition system (which is collecting over 130 Mbytes of data). The speed and total capability of these systems has dramatically affected the ability to operate DIII-D. The improved operating scenarios include better plasma shape control due to the more thorough MHD calculations done between shots and the new ability to see the time dependence of profile data as it relates across different spatial locations in the tokamak. Other analysis which engenders improved operating abilities will be described

Improved results for vestibular schwannoma radiosurgery

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Flickinger, J C; Kondziolka, D; Pollock, B; Lunsford, L D

1995-07-01

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: Treatment techniques in radiosurgery have changed since 1987. We reviewed patients who received radiosurgery for vestibular schwannoma to identify these changes and to investigate any differences in tumor control and complications. MATERIALS and METHODS: One hundred thirty-eight unilateral vestibular schwannoma patients with a minimum follow-up of two years after treatment with gamma knife radiosurgery between 1987 and 1992 were analyzed. The early treatment group consisted of 55 patients treated between 1987-1989 (median: tumor volume 3.63 cc, Dmin 18.1 Gy, Dmax 35.4 Gy, isocenters 2.3, follow-up 50.4 mos.). The later treatment group consisted of 83 patients treated between 1990-1992 (median: tumor volume 3.81 cc, Dmin 16.0 Gy, Dmax 31.6 Gy, isocenters 4.7, follow-up 35.8 mos.) RESULTS: Clinical tumor recurrence requiring surgical intervention occurred in one patient in each group. The overall actuarial clinical tumor control rate was 98%. Slight increases in tumor size (1 to 2 mm) were identified in five other patients not requiring intervention, because of no further tumor growth (n=4) or shrinkage (n=1). This led to an overall radiologic tumor control rate of 92% (not significantly different in either group). Compared to the early treatment group, the incidence of facial neuropathy (temporary or permanent) decreased in the later group (49% vs. 11%, p < 0.0001), as did trigeminal neuropathy (40% vs. 8%, p < 0.0001). Serviceable hearing preservation improved only slightly in the later group (27% vs. 40%, p = 0.70). CONCLUSION: We document a significant decrease in the morbidity of vestibular schwannoma radiosurgery over this time period with no decrease in the high rate of tumor control. This improvement is attributed to a) better conformal dose-planning with stereotactic MRI rather than CT, b) an increase in the number of isocenters used, and c) a reduction in the average dose administered by 2 Gy.

Chasing the Great American 2017 Total Solar Eclipse: Coronal Results from NASA's WB-57F High-Altitude Research Aircraft

Science.gov (United States)

Caspi, A.; Tsang, C.; DeForest, C. E.; Seaton, D. B.; Bryans, P.; Burkepile, J.; Casey, T. A.; Collier, J.; Darrow, D.; DeLuca, E.; Durda, D. D.; Gallagher, P.; Golub, L.; Judge, P. G.; Laurent, G. T.; Lewis, J.; Mallini, C.; Parent, T.; Propp, T.; Steffl, A.; Tomczyk, S.; Warner, J.; West, M. J.; Wiseman, J.; Zhukov, A.

2017-12-01

Total solar eclipses present rare opportunities to study the complex solar corona, down to altitudes of just a few percent of a solar radius above the surface, using ground-based and airborne observatories that would otherwise be dominated by the intense solar disk and high sky brightness. Studying the corona is critical to gaining a better understanding of physical processes that occur on other stars and astrophysical objects, as well as understanding the dominant driver of space weather that affects human assets at Earth and elsewhere. For example, it is still poorly understood how the corona is heated to temperatures of 1-2 MK globally and up to 5-10 MK above active regions, while the underlying chromosphere is 100 times cooler; numerous theories abound, but are difficult to constrain due to the limited sensitivities and cadences of prior measurements. The origins and stability of coronal fans, and the extent of their reach to the middle and outer corona, are also not well known, limited in large part by sensitivities and fields of view of existing observations. Airborne observations during the eclipse provide unique advantages; by flying in the stratosphere at altitudes of 50 kft or higher, they avoid all weather, the seeing quality is enormously improved, and additional wavelengths such as near- IR also become available due to significantly reduced water absorption. For an eclipse, an airborne observatory can also follow the shadow, increasing the total observing time by 50% or more. We present results of solar coronal measurements from airborne observations of the 2017 Great American Total Solar Eclipse using two of NASA's WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft, each equipped with two 8.7" telescopes feeding high-sensitivity visible (green-line) and medium-wave IR (3-5 μm) cameras operating at high cadence (30 Hz) with 3 arcsec/pixel platescale and ±3 R_sun fields of view. The aircraft flew along the eclipse path, separated by 110 km, to observe a summed 7

Safety improvement and results of commissioning of Mochovce NPP WWER 440/213

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lipar, M.

1998-01-01

Mochovce NPP is the last one of this kind and compared to its predecessors, it is characterized by several modifications which contribute to the improvement of the safety level. In addition based on Nuclear Regulatory Authority requirements and based on documents: - IAEA - Safety Issues and their ranking for NPP WWER 440/213, - IAEA - Safety Improvement of Mochovce NPP Project Review Mission, - Riskaudit - Evaluation of the Mochovce NPP Safety Improvements. Additional safety measures have been implemented before commissioning. The consortium EUCOM (FRAMATOME - SIEMENS), SKODA Praha, ENERGOPROJEKT Praha, Russian organizations and VUJE Trnava Nuclear Power Plants research institute were selected for design and implementation of the safety measures. The papers summarized, safety requirements, safety measures implemented, results of commissioning and results of safety analysis report evaluation. (author)

Nothing Great Is Easy

OpenAIRE

Stansbie, Lisa

2014-01-01

A solo exhibition of 13 pieces of art work.\\ud \\ud Nothing Great is Easy is an exhibition of sculpture, film, drawing and photography that proposes reconstructed narratives using the sport of swimming and in particular the collective interaction and identity of the channel swimmer. The work utilises the processes, rituals/rules, language and the apparatus of sport.\\ud \\ud “Nothing great is easy” are the words on the memorial to Captain Matthew Webb who was the first man to swim the English ch...

Herbicides: A new threat to the Great Barrier Reef

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lewis, Stephen E.; Brodie, Jon E.; Bainbridge, Zoe T.; Rohde, Ken W.; Davis, Aaron M.; Masters, Bronwyn L.; Maughan, Mirjam; Devlin, Michelle J.; Mueller, Jochen F.; Schaffelke, Britta

2009-01-01

The runoff of pesticides (insecticides, herbicides and fungicides) from agricultural lands is a key concern for the health of the iconic Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Relatively low levels of herbicide residues can reduce the productivity of marine plants and corals. However, the risk of these residues to Great Barrier Reef ecosystems has been poorly quantified due to a lack of large-scale datasets. Here we present results of a study tracing pesticide residues from rivers and creeks in three catchment regions to the adjacent marine environment. Several pesticides (mainly herbicides) were detected in both freshwater and coastal marine waters and were attributed to specific land uses in the catchment. Elevated herbicide concentrations were particularly associated with sugar cane cultivation in the adjacent catchment. We demonstrate that herbicides reach the Great Barrier Reef lagoon and may disturb sensitive marine ecosystems already affected by other pressures such as climate change. - Herbicide residues have been detected in Great Barrier Reef catchment waterways and river water plumes which may affect marine ecosystems.

Accounting for inter-annual and seasonal variability in regionalization of hydrologic response in the Great Lakes basin

Science.gov (United States)

Kult, J. M.; Fry, L. M.; Gronewold, A. D.

2012-12-01

Methods for predicting streamflow in areas with limited or nonexistent measures of hydrologic response typically invoke the concept of regionalization, whereby knowledge pertaining to gauged catchments is transferred to ungauged catchments. In this study, we identify watershed physical characteristics acting as primary drivers of hydrologic response throughout the US portion of the Great Lakes basin. Relationships between watershed physical characteristics and hydrologic response are generated from 166 catchments spanning a variety of climate, soil, land cover, and land form regimes through regression tree analysis, leading to a grouping of watersheds exhibiting similar hydrologic response characteristics. These groupings are then used to predict response in ungauged watersheds in an uncertainty framework. Results from this method are assessed alongside one historical regionalization approach which, while simple, has served as a cornerstone of Great Lakes regional hydrologic research for several decades. Our approach expands upon previous research by considering multiple temporal characterizations of hydrologic response. Due to the substantial inter-annual and seasonal variability in hydrologic response observed over the Great Lakes basin, results from the regression tree analysis differ considerably depending on the level of temporal aggregation used to define the response. Specifically, higher levels of temporal aggregation for the response metric (for example, indices derived from long-term means of climate and streamflow observations) lead to improved watershed groupings with lower within-group variance. However, this perceived improvement in model skill occurs at the cost of understated uncertainty when applying the regression to time series simulations or as a basis for model calibration. In such cases, our results indicate that predictions based on long-term characterizations of hydrologic response can produce misleading conclusions when applied at shorter

Improvement of Ultrasonic Distance Measuring System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiang Yu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper mainly introduces a kind of ultrasonic distance measuring system with AT89C51 single chip as the core component. The paper expounds the principle of ultrasonic sensor and ultrasonic ranging, hardware circuit and software program, and the results of experiment and analysis.The hardware circuit based on SCM, the software design adopts the advanced microcontroller programming language.The amplitude of the received signal and the time of ultrasonic propagation are regulated by closed loop control. [1,2]The double closed loop control technology for amplitude and time improves the measuring accuracy of the instrument. The experimental results show that greatly improves the measurement accuracy of the system.

The Great Recession, genetic sensitivity, and maternal harsh parenting.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Dohoon; Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; McLanahan, Sara S; Notterman, Daniel; Garfinkel, Irwin

2013-08-20

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, this study examined the effects of the Great Recession on maternal harsh parenting. We found that changes in macroeconomic conditions, rather than current conditions, affected harsh parenting, that declines in macroeconomic conditions had a stronger impact on harsh parenting than improvements in conditions, and that mothers' responses to adverse economic conditions were moderated by the DRD2 Taq1A genotype. We found no evidence of a moderating effect for two other, less well-studied SNPs from the DRD4 and DAT1 genes.

The study on improvement of radiotherapy for intractable cancers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

This study group was organized to improve the results of radiotherapy in national hospitals. The period of the study is three years from 1986 to 1989. Many national hospitals are the centers of local medical facilities, therefore, it is expected that they should play their role to offer the high technical care, inspite of the great unbalanced finance. This study had been conducted to improve the results of radiotherapy. The fundamental studies including the dose distribution, time dose factor and proper arrangement of radiotherapeutic equipments, and the clinical studies including applied hyperthermia, sensitizer and chemotherapy were performed respectively. Preliminary results were satisfactory. (author)

Der Einfluss von personeller Einkommensverteilung auf die „Great Depression“ und die „Great Recession“

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Trappl

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Der Einfluss gestiegener Einkommensungleichheit auf die „Great Depression“ und die „Great Recession“ wurde mehrfach postuliert (Galbraith 1954/2009; Eccles 1951; Rajan 2010; Stiglitz 2012; Piketty 2014. Konkrete empirische Arbeiten zum Zusammenhang zwischen Einkommensverteilung und dem Entstehen von Wirtschaftskrisen gibt es aber bislang wenige. Kumhof/Ranciere (2010 überprüften die von Rajan (2010 aufgestellte Hypothese, die einen entsprechenden Zusammenhang postuliert, mittels Modellrechnung. Bordo/Meissner (2012 und darauf aufbauend Gu/Huang (2014 verwendeten unterschiedliche Regressionsmodelle in Bezug auf einen entsprechenden Zusammenhang, ohne jedoch eindeutige Ergebnisse zu liefern. Die vorliegende Arbeit schließt an diese Arbeiten an, beschränkt die Untersuchung allerdings auf Staaten, für die Daten für die letzten hundert Jahre verfügbar sind, und untersucht zudem explizit die Zeiträume um die beiden größten Krisen der letzten hundert Jahre, die „Great Depression“ und die „Great Recession“. Die Auswertungen zeigen, dass die personelle Einkommensverteilung ein guter Prädiktor für die Kriseneintrittswahrscheinlichkeit ist.

Evaluate prevailing climate change on Great Lakes water levels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Islam, M.

2009-01-01

'Full text:'In this paper, results of a comprehensive water mass balance modeling for the Great Lakes against prevailing and different anticipated climate change scenarios would be presented. Modeling is done in evaluating the changes in the lake storages and then changes in the lake's water level considering present condition, uncertainty and variability of climate and hydrologic conditions in the future. Inflow-outflow and consequent changes in the five Great Lake's storages are simulated for the last 30 years and then projected to evaluate the changes in the lake storages for the next 50 years. From the predicted changes in the lake storage data, water level is calculated using mass to linear conversion equation. Modeling and analysis results are expected to be helpful in understanding the possible impacts of the climate change on the Great Lakes water environment and preparing strategic plan for the sustainable management of lake's water resources. From the recent past, it is observed that there is a depleting trend in the lakes water level and hence there is a potential threat to lake's water environment and uncertainty of the availability of quality and quantity of water for the future generations, especially against prevailing and anticipated climate changes. For this reason, it is an urgent issue of understanding and quantifying the potential impacts of climate change on the Great Lake's water levels and storages. (author)

Reaching Regional and Local Learners via a Great Lakes MOOC

Science.gov (United States)

Mooney, M. E.; Ackerman, S. A.

2015-12-01

The Cooperative Institute of Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) took a regional approach to climate change education in a 4-week MOOC (Massive Open On-line Course) on the Changing Weather and Climate in the Great Lakes Region launched in February 2015. Featuring a different season each week, this Great Lakes MOOC includes lectures about seasonal weather conditions, observed changes, and societal impacts of regional climate change, as well as actions with co-benefits to slow future climate change. To better connect with learners, CIMSS facilitated 21 discussion groups at public libraries around Wisconsin each week. Participants discussed climate change impacts in their communities as well as strategies to mitigate climate change. Not surprisingly, initial survey results show library participants were more committed, engaged, climate literate, and community minded. This session will share lessons learned and survey results from the Great Lakes MOOC which remains open and accessible on Coursera through February 2016 at https://www.coursera.org/course/greatlakesclimate.

Leveraging Big Data to Improve Health Awareness Campaigns: A Novel Evaluation of the Great American Smokeout.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayers, John W; Westmaas, J Lee; Leas, Eric C; Benton, Adrian; Chen, Yunqi; Dredze, Mark; Althouse, Benjamin M

2016-01-01

Awareness campaigns are ubiquitous, but little is known about their potential effectiveness because traditional evaluations are often unfeasible. For 40 years, the "Great American Smokeout" (GASO) has encouraged media coverage and popular engagement with smoking cessation on the third Thursday of November as the nation's longest running awareness campaign. We proposed a novel evaluation framework for assessing awareness campaigns using the GASO as a case study by observing cessation-related news reports and Twitter postings, and cessation-related help seeking via Google, Wikipedia, and government-sponsored quitlines. Time trends (2009-2014) were analyzed using a quasi-experimental design to isolate spikes during the GASO by comparing observed outcomes on the GASO day with the simulated counterfactual had the GASO not occurred. Cessation-related news typically increased by 61% (95% CI 35-87) and tweets by 13% (95% CI -21 to 48) during the GASO compared with what was expected had the GASO not occurred. Cessation-related Google searches increased by 25% (95% CI 10-40), Wikipedia page visits by 22% (95% CI -26 to 67), and quitline calls by 42% (95% CI 19-64). Cessation-related news media positively coincided with cessation tweets, Internet searches, and Wikipedia visits; for example, a 50% increase in news for any year predicted a 28% (95% CI -2 to 59) increase in tweets for the same year. Increases on the day of the GASO rivaled about two-thirds of a typical New Year's Day-the day that is assumed to see the greatest increases in cessation-related activity. In practical terms, there were about 61,000 more instances of help seeking on Google, Wikipedia, or quitlines on GASO each year than would normally be expected. These findings provide actionable intelligence to improve the GASO and model how to rapidly, cost-effectively, and efficiently evaluate hundreds of awareness campaigns, nearly all for the first time.

Great Lakes Bathymetry

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Bathymetry of Lakes Michigan, Erie, Saint Clair, Ontario and Huron has been compiled as a component of a NOAA project to rescue Great Lakes lake floor geological and...

Assessment of biomass cogeneration in the Great Lakes region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burnham, M.; Easterly, J.L.

1994-01-01

Many biomass cogeneration facilities have successfully entered into power sales agreements with utilities across the country, often after overcoming various difficulties or barriers. Under a project sponsored by the Great Lakes Regional Biomass Energy Program of the U.S. Department of Energy, DynCorp sm-bullet Meridian has conducted a survey of biomass facilities in the seven Great Lakes states, selecting 10 facilities for case studies with at least one facility in each of the seven states. The purpose of the case studies was to address obstacles that biomass processors face in adding power production to their process heat systems, and to provide examples of successful strategies for entering into power sales agreements with utilities. The case studies showed that the primary incentives for investing in cogeneration and power sales are to reduce operating costs through improved biomass waste management and lower energy expenditures. Common barriers to cogeneration and power sales were high utility stand-by charges for unplanned outages and low utility avoided cost payments due to excess utility generation capacity

What Caused the Great Depression?

Science.gov (United States)

Caldwell, Jean; O'Driscoll, Timothy G.

2007-01-01

Economists and historians have struggled for almost 80 years to account for the American Great Depression, which began in 1929 and lasted until the early years of World War II. In this article, the authors discuss three major schools of thought on the causes of the Great Depression and the long failure of the American economy to return to full…

The Sixth Great Mass Extinction

Science.gov (United States)

Wagler, Ron

2012-01-01

Five past great mass extinctions have occurred during Earth's history. Humanity is currently in the midst of a sixth, human-induced great mass extinction of plant and animal life (e.g., Alroy 2008; Jackson 2008; Lewis 2006; McDaniel and Borton 2002; Rockstrom et al. 2009; Rohr et al. 2008; Steffen, Crutzen, and McNeill 2007; Thomas et al. 2004;…

A Study about the 3S-based Great Ruins Monitoring and Early-warning System

Science.gov (United States)

Xuefeng, W.; Zhongyuan, H.; Gongli, L.; Li, Z.

2015-08-01

Large-scale urbanization construction and new countryside construction, frequent natural disasters, and natural corrosion pose severe threat to the great ruins. It is not uncommon that the cultural relics are damaged and great ruins are occupied. Now the ruins monitoring mainly adopt general monitoring data processing system which can not effectively exert management, display, excavation analysis and data sharing of the relics monitoring data. Meanwhile those general software systems require layout of large number of devices or apparatuses, but they are applied to small-scope relics monitoring only. Therefore, this paper proposes a method to make use of the stereoscopic cartographic satellite technology to improve and supplement the great ruins monitoring index system and combine GIS and GPS to establish a highly automatic, real-time and intelligent great ruins monitoring and early-warning system in order to realize collection, processing, updating, spatial visualization, analysis, distribution and sharing of the monitoring data, and provide scientific and effective data for the relics protection, scientific planning, reasonable development and sustainable utilization.

The Slogan Great Wall from the SDSS Data Release 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Xin-Fa; He Ji-Zhou; Luo Cheng-Hong; Wu Ping; Tang Xiao-Xun; He Cong-Gen

2007-01-01

Using the MAIN galaxy data from the SDSS Data Release 4 (SDSS4), we further study the Sloan Great Wall by three-dimensional cluster analysis. Because the basic properties of Main galaxies change with redshift, we select 50942 Main galaxies having the same redshift region (0.07 ≤ z ≤ 0.09) as the Sloan Great Wall from the Main galaxy sample, and construct our SubMain sample. From the SubMain sample, 2013 isolated galaxies are identified at dimensionless radius r = 1.4. We perform the comparative studies of galaxy properties among the Sloan Great Wall, isolated galaxies and the SubMain sample in different redshift bins. It turns out that the statistical properties of luminosities and sizes of galaxies for the Sloan Great Wall, isolated galaxies and the SubMain sample are almost the same, the proportion of early-type isolated galaxies is relatively low. We also d that mean color of member galaxies of the Sloan Great Wall is redder than that of isolated galaxies. These results indicate that some properties of galaxies may be closely correlated with the environment or clustering. (author)

What killed Alexander the Great?

Science.gov (United States)

Battersby, Cameron

2007-01-01

The cause of the death of the Macedonian King, Alexander the Great, at Babylon in 323 BC has excited interest and conjecture throughout the ages. The information available in the surviving ancient sources, none of which is contemporaneous, has been reviewed and compared with modern knowledge as set out in several well-known recent surgical texts. The ancient sources record epic drinking by the Macedonian nobility since at least the time of Phillip II, Alexander's father. Alexander's sudden illness and death is likely to have resulted from a surgical complication of acute alcoholic excess.

Great magnetic storms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsurutani, B.T.; Yen Te Lee; Tang, F.; Gonzalez, W.D.

1992-01-01

The five largest magnetic storms that occurred between 1971 and 1986 are studied to determine their solar and interplanetary causes. All of the events are found to be associated with high speed solar wind streams led by collisionless shocks. The high speed streams are clearly related to identifiable solar flares. It is found that (1) it is the extreme values of the southward interplanetary magnetic fields rather than solar wind speeds that are the primary causes of great magnetic storms, (2) shocked and draped sheath fields preceding the driver gas (magnetic cloud) are at least as effective in causing the onset of great magnetic storms (3 of 5 events ) as the strong fields within the driver gas itself, and (3) precursor southward fields ahead of the high speed streams allow the shock compression mechanism (item 2) to be particularly geoeffective

Economic Conditions of Young Adults Before and After the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Sironi, Maria

2018-01-01

Transition to adulthood has undoubtedly changed in the last few decades. For youth today, an important marker of adulthood is self-actualization in their professional career, and, consequently, also the achievement of stable financial conditions. Economic conditions of youth are greatly subject to fluctuations in the economy, and the subsequent governmental response. Using the Luxembourg Income Study, this work investigates the trends in income from work of young adults before and after the Great Recession of 2008 in five countries-US, UK, Norway, Germany, and Spain. The findings showed deterioration in economic conditions of young men, but with differences across countries. Young women suffered less from the crisis, and in some countries, their economic situation improved. The general negative trend was especially pronounced for those with high education, which is primarily because they stayed in education longer.

'Great Power Style' in China's Economic Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jiang, Yang

2011-01-01

China’s ascendance attracts concern, even though Beijing claims to be a responsible great power and tries to demonstrate its ‘great power style’ in economic diplomacy. This article therefore discusses the following questions: to what extent does the current notion and practice of Chinese ‘great...... power style’ in economic diplomacy comply with, or differ from, the criteria of benign hegemony; and what are the major constraining factors? Conceptually, China’s ‘great power style’ is rooted in ancient Chinese political philosophy and institution, but it highly resembles the Western notion of benign...

Study of electrical power facilities and measures for planned outages in Japanese hemodialysis clinics after the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishida, Kai; Sawa, Manami; Fujiwara, Kousaku; Hirose, Minoru; Tsuruta, Harukazu; Takeuchi, Akihiro; Ikeda, Noriaki

2013-02-01

The Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011 caused major damage in northeastern Japan. The Kanto region experienced a massive electrical power shortage in the summer of 2011. A questionnaire was submitted to 354 hemodialysis clinics in Kanagawa prefecture and the Tokyo metropolitan area, excluding isolated islands, and 176 responses were analyzed (49.7%). The questions included evaluation of the availability of a private electricity generator, countermeasures in case of a planned outage, awareness of saving electricity, and improvement of safety of medical devices or electrical facilities after the earthquake. Only 12% of the clinics had private electricity generators and many clinics had no plans to introduce this facility. However, 96% of the clinics had established countermeasures to deal with a planned outage. Many clinics planned to provide dialysis on a different day or at a different time. All clinics had tried hard to establish procedures to save electricity in the summer of 2011, and 84% of the clinics had reconsidered and improved the safety of medical devices or electricity facilities after the earthquake. These results show that the awareness of crisis management was greatly improved in the wake of the earthquake. © 2012 The Authors. Therapeutic Apheresis and Dialysis © 2012 International Society for Apheresis.

Improving Employees' Safety Awareness in Healthcare Organizations Using the DMAIC Quality Improvement Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Momani, Amer; Hirzallah, Muʼath; Mumani, Ahmad

Occupational injuries and illnesses in healthcare can cause great human suffering, incur high cost, and have an adverse impact on the quality of patient care. One of the most effective solutions for addressing health and safety issues and improving decisions at the point of care rests in raising employees' safety awareness to recognize, avoid, or respond to potential problems before they arise. In this article, the DMAIC Six Sigma model (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) is used as a systematic program to measure, improve, and sustain employees' safety awareness in healthcare organizations. We report on a case study using the model, which was implemented and validated at a local hospital. First, the occupational health and safety knowledge that each job requires was identified. Next, the degree of competence of jobholders to meet these requirements was assessed. Based on the assessment, different awareness-raising efforts were proposed and implemented. The results showed significant improvement in the overall safety awareness compliance assessed: from 74.2% to 84.4% (p < .001) after the intervention. The proposed model ensures that the organization's awareness-raising efforts serve its actual needs and produce optimized and sustained results that eventually lead to safer healthcare service.

The way of Christian perfection according to the teaching of Gregory the Great

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleksandr Kashchuk

2008-06-01

Full Text Available The main purpose of the article is to look at the doctrine of Gregory the Great and explore his teaching on the means, through which a Christian can advance spiritually, i.e. achieve a spiritual unity with God. According to the teaching of Gregory the Great, a hu- man being in his/her nature constantly pursues God. To realize human natural longing, the human needs the assistance of God’s grace. The human should consent to the cooperation with God’s grace. First of all, one should discover and wake up in one’s self the longing for God, which is the force d’être of every spiritual development. This longing for God is a state of the introductory unity with God. To improve and solidify this longing human’s should purify it from the earthly devotion, then spiritually improve one’s self in the reading of the Holy Scripture, model one’s self after the life of just people, pray, make use of sacramental grace, observe the commandments of God, and do good deeds.

Environmental Conditions Associated with Elevated Vibrio parahaemolyticus Concentrations in Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erin A Urquhart

Full Text Available Reports from state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the annual number of reported human vibriosis cases in New England has increased in the past decade. Concurrently, there has been a shift in both the spatial distribution and seasonal detection of Vibrio spp. throughout the region based on limited monitoring data. To determine environmental factors that may underlie these emerging conditions, this study focuses on a long-term database of Vibrio parahaemolyticus concentrations in oyster samples generated from data collected from the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire over a period of seven consecutive years. Oyster samples from two distinct sites were analyzed for V. parahaemolyticus abundance, noting significant relationships with various biotic and abiotic factors measured during the same period of study. We developed a predictive modeling tool capable of estimating the likelihood of V. parahaemolyticus presence in coastal New Hampshire oysters. Results show that the inclusion of chlorophyll a concentration to an empirical model otherwise employing only temperature and salinity variables, offers improved predictive capability for modeling the likelihood of V. parahaemolyticus in the Great Bay Estuary.

Medical image segmentation using improved FCM

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHANG XiaoFeng; ZHANG CaiMing; TANG WenJing; WEI ZhenWen

2012-01-01

Image segmentation is one of the most important problems in medical image processing,and the existence of partial volume effect and other phenomena makes the problem much more complex. Fuzzy Cmeans,as an effective tool to deal with PVE,however,is faced with great challenges in efficiency.Aiming at this,this paper proposes one improved FCM algorithm based on the histogram of the given image,which will be denoted as HisFCM and divided into two phases.The first phase will retrieve several intervals on which to compute cluster centroids,and the second one will perform image segmentation based on improved FCM algorithm.Compared with FCM and other improved algorithms,HisFCM is of much higher efficiency with satisfying results.Experiments on medical images show that HisFCM can achieve good segmentation results in less than 0.1 second,and can satisfy real-time requirements of medical image processing.

Managing for Results in America's Great City Schools. A Report of the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project, Spring 2008

Science.gov (United States)

Council of the Great City Schools, 2008

2008-01-01

This report describes statistical indicators developed by the Council of the Great City Schools and its member districts to measure big-city school performance on a range of operational functions in business, finance, human resources and technology. The report also presents data city-by-city on those indicators. This is the second time that…

Studying The Great Russian Revolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Torkunov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The article revises an established view of Russian Revolution as two separate events - February Revolution and October Revolution. The author supports the concept of the «Great Russian Revolution», which unites these two events in a single process of revolutionary development. The author draws attention to the following advantages of the concept under consideration. First, it conceptualizes the revolution as a process contingent of a local and global historical context. In this sense, the revolution is presented as the transition of society to the modern stage of development, meaning the transition to modernity. Second, revolutionary events in Russia are considered from the point of view of the evolution of the spatial and socioeconomic distribution and rearrangement of key social groups: peasantry, elites, national and ethnic minorities. Third, it takes into account the personal factor in the revolutionary events, the influence of individual personalities on escalation or the reduction of socio-political tensions. Fourth, it draws attention to the fact that revolutions imply the use of various forms of political violence. Each revolution is characterized by a unique correlation of forms and intensity of political violence. Finally, it gives a normative assessment of the Revolution, encouraging a national discussion on the results and consequences of this great event.

Geology of photo linear elements, Great Divide Basin, Wyoming

Science.gov (United States)

Blackstone, D. L., Jr.

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Ground examination of photo linear elements in the Great Divide Basin, Wyoming indicates little if any tectonic control. Aeolian aspects are more widespread and pervasive than previously considered.

Corrected transposition of the great arteries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Choi, Young Hi; Park, Jae Hyung; Han, Man Chung [Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

1981-12-15

The corrected transposition of the great arteries is an usual congenital cardiac malformation, which consists of transposition of great arteries and ventricular inversion, and which is caused by abnormal development of conotruncus and ventricular looping. High frequency of associated cardiac malformations makes it difficult to get accurate morphologic diagnosis. A total of 18 cases of corrected transposition of the great arteries is presented, in which cardiac catheterization and angiocardiography were done at the Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital between September 1976 and June 1981. The clinical, radiographic, and operative findings with the emphasis on the angiocardiographic findings were analyzed. The results are as follows: 1. Among 18 cases, 13 cases have normal cardiac position, 2 cases have dextrocardia with situs solitus, 2 cases have dextrocardia with situs inversus and 1 case has levocardia with situs inversus. 2. Segmental sets are (S, L, L) in 15 cases, and (I, D,D) in 3 cases and there is no exception to loop rule. 3. Side by side interrelationships of both ventricles and both semilunar valves are noticed in 10 and 12 cases respectively. 4. Subaortic type conus is noted in all 18 cases. 5. Associated cardic malformations are VSD in 14 cases, PS in 11, PDA in 3, PFO in 3, ASD in 2, right aortic arch in 2, tricuspid insufficiency, mitral prolapse, persistent left SVC and persistent right SVC in 1 case respectively. 6. For accurate diagnosis of corrected TGA, selective biventriculography using biplane cineradiography is an essential procedure.

Corrected transposition of the great arteries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Young Hi; Park, Jae Hyung; Han, Man Chung

1981-01-01

The corrected transposition of the great arteries is an usual congenital cardiac malformation, which consists of transposition of great arteries and ventricular inversion, and which is caused by abnormal development of conotruncus and ventricular looping. High frequency of associated cardiac malformations makes it difficult to get accurate morphologic diagnosis. A total of 18 cases of corrected transposition of the great arteries is presented, in which cardiac catheterization and angiocardiography were done at the Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital between September 1976 and June 1981. The clinical, radiographic, and operative findings with the emphasis on the angiocardiographic findings were analyzed. The results are as follows: 1. Among 18 cases, 13 cases have normal cardiac position, 2 cases have dextrocardia with situs solitus, 2 cases have dextrocardia with situs inversus and 1 case has levocardia with situs inversus. 2. Segmental sets are (S, L, L) in 15 cases, and (I, D,D) in 3 cases and there is no exception to loop rule. 3. Side by side interrelationships of both ventricles and both semilunar valves are noticed in 10 and 12 cases respectively. 4. Subaortic type conus is noted in all 18 cases. 5. Associated cardic malformations are VSD in 14 cases, PS in 11, PDA in 3, PFO in 3, ASD in 2, right aortic arch in 2, tricuspid insufficiency, mitral prolapse, persistent left SVC and persistent right SVC in 1 case respectively. 6. For accurate diagnosis of corrected TGA, selective biventriculography using biplane cineradiography is an essential procedure

Recensie "The Great Reset" : Richard Florida

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roy van Dalm

2010-01-01

Like the Great Depression and the Long Depression before it, experts have viewed prolonged economic downturns as crises. In The Great Reset , bestselling author Richard Florida argues that we should instead see the recent recession as an opportunity to create entirely new ways of working and living

Thirty years of great ape gestures.

Science.gov (United States)

Tomasello, Michael; Call, Josep

2018-02-21

We and our colleagues have been doing studies of great ape gestural communication for more than 30 years. Here we attempt to spell out what we have learned. Some aspects of the process have been reliably established by multiple researchers, for example, its intentional structure and its sensitivity to the attentional state of the recipient. Other aspects are more controversial. We argue here that it is a mistake to assimilate great ape gestures to the species-typical displays of other mammals by claiming that they are fixed action patterns, as there are many differences, including the use of attention-getters. It is also a mistake, we argue, to assimilate great ape gestures to human gestures by claiming that they are used referentially and declaratively in a human-like manner, as apes' "pointing" gesture has many limitations and they do not gesture iconically. Great ape gestures constitute a unique form of primate communication with their own unique qualities.

Pacific salmonines in the Great Lakes Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Claramunt, Randall M.; Madenjian, Charles P.; Clapp, David; Taylor, William W.; Lynch, Abigail J.; Léonard, Nancy J.

2012-01-01

Pacific salmon (genus Oncorhynchus) are a valuable resource, both within their native range in the North Pacific rim and in the Great Lakes basin. Understanding their value from a biological and economic perspective in the Great Lakes, however, requires an understanding of changes in the ecosystem and of management actions that have been taken to promote system stability, integrity, and sustainable fisheries. Pacific salmonine introductions to the Great Lakes are comprised mainly of Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead and have accounted for 421, 177, and 247 million fish, respectively, stocked during 1966-2007. Stocking of Pacific salmonines has been effective in substantially reducing exotic prey fish abundances in several of the Great Lakes (e.g., lakes Michigan, Huron, and Ontario). The goal of our evaluation was to highlight differences in management strategies and perspectives across the basin, and to evaluate policies for Pacific salmonine management in the Great Lakes. Currently, a potential conflict exists between Pacific salmonine management and native fish rehabilitation goals because of the desire to sustain recreational fisheries and to develop self-sustaining populations of stocked Pacific salmonines in the Great Lakes. We provide evidence that suggests Pacific salmonines have not only become naturalized to the food webs of the Great Lakes, but that their populations (specifically Chinook salmon) may be fluctuating in concert with specific prey (i.e., alewives) whose populations are changing relative to environmental conditions and ecosystem disturbances. Remaining questions, however, are whether or not “natural” fluctuations in predator and prey provide enough “stability” in the Great Lakes food webs, and even more importantly, would a choice by managers to attempt to reduce the severity of predator-prey oscillations be antagonistic to native fish restoration efforts. We argue that, on each of the Great Lakes, managers are pursuing

The Great Firewall of China: A Critical Analysis

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Whiting, Michael D

2008-01-01

Censorship has a great impact on society as we enter the cyber environment. The Chinese "Great Firewall", as it is commonly called, brings great attention to China as they enter into the global economy...

Moral reasoning about great apes in research

Science.gov (United States)

Okamoto, Carol Midori

2006-04-01

This study explored how individuals (biomedical scientists, Great Ape Project activists, lay adults, undergraduate biology and environmental studies students, and Grade 12 and 9 biology students) morally judge and reason about using great apes in biomedical and language research. How these groups perceived great apes' mental capacities (e.g., pain, logical thinking) and how these perceptions related to their judgments were investigated through two scenarios. In addition, the kinds of informational statements (e.g., biology, economics) that may affect individuals' scenario judgments were investigated. A negative correlation was found between mental attributions and scenario judgments while no clear pattern occurred for the informational statements. For the biomedical scenario, all groups significantly differed in mean judgment ratings except for the biomedical scientists, GAP activists and Grade 9 students. For the language scenario, all groups differed except for the GAP activists, and undergraduate environmental studies and Grade 9 students. An in-depth qualitative analysis showed that although the biomedical scientists, GAP activists and Grade 9 students had similar judgments, they produced different mean percentages of justifications under four moral frameworks (virtue, utilitarianism, deontology, and welfare). The GAP activists used more virtue reasoning while the biomedical scientists and Grade 9 students used more utilitarian and welfare reasoning, respectively. The results are discussed in terms of developing environmental/humane education curricula.

The 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake and tsunamis: a modern perspective and enduring legacies

Science.gov (United States)

Brocher, Thomas M.; Filson, John R.; Fuis, Gary S.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Holzer, Thomas L.; Plafker, George; Blair, J. Luke

2014-01-01

The magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake that struck south-central Alaska at 5:36 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 1964, is the largest recorded earthquake in U.S. history and the second-largest earthquake recorded with modern instruments. The earthquake was felt throughout most of mainland Alaska, as far west as Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands some 480 miles away, and at Seattle, Washington, more than 1,200 miles to the southeast of the fault rupture, where the Space Needle swayed perceptibly. The earthquake caused rivers, lakes, and other waterways to slosh as far away as the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. Water-level recorders in 47 states—the entire Nation except for Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island— registered the earthquake. It was so large that it caused the entire Earth to ring like a bell: vibrations that were among the first of their kind ever recorded by modern instruments. The Great Alaska Earthquake spawned thousands of lesser aftershocks and hundreds of damaging landslides, submarine slumps, and other ground failures. Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, located west of the fault rupture, sustained heavy property damage. Tsunamis produced by the earthquake resulted in deaths and damage as far away as Oregon and California. Altogether the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis caused 129 fatalities and an estimated $2.3 billion in property losses (in 2013 dollars). Most of the population of Alaska and its major transportation routes, ports, and infrastructure lie near the eastern segment of the Aleutian Trench that ruptured in the 1964 earthquake. Although the Great Alaska Earthquake was tragic because of the loss of life and property, it provided a wealth of data about subductionzone earthquakes and the hazards they pose. The leap in scientific understanding that followed the 1964 earthquake has led to major breakthroughs in earth science research worldwide over the past half century. This fact sheet commemorates Great Alaska Earthquake and

Great Lakes rivermouths: a primer for managers

Science.gov (United States)

Pebbles, Victoria; Larson, James; Seelbach, Paul; Pebbles, Victoria; Larson, James; Seelbach, Paul

2013-01-01

Between the North American Great Lakes and their tributaries are the places where the confluence of river and lake waters creates a distinct ecosystem: the rivermouth ecosystem. Human development has often centered around these rivermouths, in part, because they provide a rich array of ecosystem services. Not surprisingly, centuries of intense human activity have led to substantial pressures on, and alterations to, these ecosystems, often diminishing or degrading their ecological functions and associated ecological services. Many Great Lakes rivermouths are the focus of intense restoration efforts. For example, 36 of the active Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) are rivermouths or areas that include one or more rivermouths. Historically, research of rivermouth ecosystems has been piecemeal, focused on the Great Lakes proper or on the upper reaches of tributaries, with little direct study of the rivermouth itself. Researchers have been divided among disciplines, agencies and institutions; and they often work independently and use disparate venues to communicate their work. Management has also been fragmented with a focus on smaller, localized, sub-habitat units and socio-political or economic elements, rather than system-level consideration. This Primer presents the case for a more holistic approach to rivermouth science and management that can enable restoration of ecosystem services with multiple benefits to humans and the Great Lakes ecosystem. A conceptual model is presented with supporting text that describes the structures and processes common to all rivermouths, substantiating the case for treating these ecosystems as an identifiable class.1 Ecological services provided by rivermouths and changes in how humans value those services over time are illustrated through case studies of two Great Lakes rivermouths—the St. Louis River and the Maumee River. Specific ecosystem services are identified in italics throughout this Primer and follow definitions described

The Great Lakes Spill Co-op and how it works

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Usher, D.

1994-01-01

A major program was launched by spill control professionals and industry in 1990 when it created the Great Lakes Spill Cooperative (GLSCOOP). The major objective of this cooperative is to provide a network to facilitate quick response in crises situations in the Great Lakes region. Specifically, the Great Lakes Spill Cooperative will: (1) coordinate environmental response activities in connection with emergency conditions as a result of spills of petroleum and hazardous substances in the Great Lakes; (2) apply state-of-the-art management, training and equipment technology during emergency environmental response operations, consistent with local, state and federal regulations; and (3) promote cooperation with its members, governmental agencies as well as allied trade and professional associations, consistent with the existing laws, in mobilizing equipment and expertise in controlling or mitigating pollution incidents in the Great Lakes. In this presentation the author discusses how the cooperative was formed, how it will operate, the members of the group and their individual roles as well as the organization's partnership with government--local, state and federal. He also discusses his involvement in the formation of the Mamne Response Alliance (MRA). This co-op was utilized recently by one of its members to provide 100 personnel who were Haz-Woper trained for the recent Tampa Bay Spill in August of last year

Potential future impacts of climatic change on the Great Plains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smit, B.

1991-01-01

A synopsis is provided of approaches to impact studies in the Great Plains, findings from studies of future impacts are summarized, and opportunities for enhancing understanding of future impacts are discussed. Potential impacts of climate change on agriculture, water resources, forestry, recreation/tourism, and energy are summarized. Impact analyses need to look more rigorously at variability in climate, the probabilities of various climatic conditions, and the sensitivity of social and economic activities to climatic variability. Most economic impact studies have assumed no adaptive behavior on the part of economic decision makers. Credible impact assessments require an improved understanding of the sensitivity and adaptability of sectors to climatic conditions, particularly variability. The energy sector in the Great Plains region is likely to be more sensitive to political developments in the Middle East than to climatic variability and change. Speculation and analysis of climate impacts have focused on supply conditions and demands, yet the sector is more keenly sensitive to policy implications of climatic change, such as the potential for fossil fuel taxes or other legislative or pricing constraints. 28 refs

Incorrect results in software engineering experiments: How to improve research practices

OpenAIRE

Jørgensen, Magne; Dybå, Tore; Liestøl, Knut; Sjøberg, Dag

2016-01-01

Context The trustworthiness of research results is a growing concern in many empirical disciplines. Aim The goals of this paper are to assess how much the trustworthiness of results reported in software engineering experiments is affected by researcher and publication bias, given typical statistical power and significance levels, and to suggest improved research practices. Method First, we conducted a small-scale survey to document the presence of researcher and publication biases in software...

Cardiac and great vessel injuries after chest trauma: our 10-year experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Onan, Burak; Demirhan, Recep; Öz, Kürşad; Onan, Ismihan Selen

2011-09-01

Cardiovascular injuries after trauma present with high mortality. The aim of the study was to present our experience in cardiac and great vessel injuries after chest trauma. During the 10-year period, 104 patients with cardiac (n=94) and great vessel (n=10) injuries presented to our hospital. The demographic data, mechanism of injury, location of injury, other associated injuries, timing of surgical intervention, surgical approach, and clinical outcome were reviewed. Eighty-eight (84.6%) males presented after chest trauma. The mean age of the patients was 32.5±8.2 years (range: 12-76). Penetrating injuries (62.5%) were the most common cause of trauma. Computed tomography was performed in most cases and echocardiography was used in some stable cases. Cardiac injuries mostly included the right ventricle (58.5%). Great vessel injuries involved the subclavian vein in 6, innominate vein in 1, vena cava in 1, and descending aorta in 2 patients. Early operations after admission to the emergency were performed in 75.9% of the patients. Thoracotomy was performed in 89.5% of the patients. Operative mortality was significantly high in penetrating injuries (p=0.01). Clinicians should suspect cardiac and great vessel trauma in every patient presenting to the emergency unit after chest trauma. Computed tomography and echocardiography are beneficial in the management of chest trauma. Operative timing depends on hemodynamic status, and a multidisciplinary team approach improves the patient's prognosis.

Experimental results on performance improvement of doped carbon-base materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Zengyu

2002-01-01

Carbon-base materials is one of candidate plasma facing materials and have been widely used in current tokamak facilities in the world. But some defect properties are presented on high yield of chemical sputtering , high yield of radiation enhancement sublimate (RES), cracking after heat flux and so on. It can be improved by doped some little other elements into the carbon-base materials, such as boron, silicon, titanium and so on. Experimental results indicate that it is feasible and successful to improve thermo-physics and chemical properties of carbon-base materials by multi-element doped. Doped 12 % silicon can strained RES and chemical sputtering yield do not changed. It is the same level of chemical sputtering yield for B 4 C from 3 % to 10 % , but their resistance thermal shock properties ability increases with B 4 C increases

Ecological risk of methylmercury to piscivorous fish of the Great Lakes region.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandheinrich, Mark B; Bhavsar, Satyendra P; Bodaly, R A; Drevnick, Paul E; Paul, Eric A

2011-10-01

Contamination of fish populations with methylmercury is common in the region of the Laurentian Great Lakes as a result of atmospheric deposition and methylation of inorganic mercury. Using fish mercury monitoring data from natural resource agencies and information on tissue concentrations injurious to fish, we conducted a screening-level risk assessment of mercury to sexually mature female walleye (Sander vitreus), northern pike (Esox lucius), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) in the Great Lakes and in interior lakes, impoundments, and rivers of the Great Lakes region. The assessment included more than 43,000 measurements of mercury in fish from more than 2000 locations. Sexually mature female fish that exceeded threshold-effect tissue concentrations of 0.20 μg g(-1) wet weight in the whole body occurred at 8% (largemouth bass) to 43% (walleye) of sites. Fish at 3% to 18% of sites were at risk of injury and exceeded 0.30 μg g(-1) where an alteration in reproduction or survival is predicted to occur. Most fish at increased risk were from interior lakes and impoundments. In the Great Lakes, no sites had sexually mature fish that exceeded threshold-effect concentrations. Results of this screening-level assessment indicate that fish at a substantive number of locations within the Great Lakes region are potentially at risk from methylmercury contamination and would benefit from reduction in mercury concentrations.

Structure with improved self-imaging in its graded-index multimode interference region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yin Rui; Jiang Xiaoqing; Yang Jianyi; Wang Minghua

2002-01-01

Propagation constant errors (PCEs) of guided modes in regions of multimode interference in optical networks were analyzed. Results show that a graded-index waveguide can effectively decrease the PCEs. An example based on an exponential function is presented. Numerical results show that addition of a graded-index waveguide greatly improves device performance in this structure

Famous puzzles of great mathematicians

CERN Document Server

Petković, Miodrag S

2009-01-01

This entertaining book presents a collection of 180 famous mathematical puzzles and intriguing elementary problems that great mathematicians have posed, discussed, and/or solved. The selected problems do not require advanced mathematics, making this book accessible to a variety of readers. Mathematical recreations offer a rich playground for both amateur and professional mathematicians. Believing that creative stimuli and aesthetic considerations are closely related, great mathematicians from ancient times to the present have always taken an interest in puzzles and diversions. The goal of this

The Great London Smog of 1952.

Science.gov (United States)

Polivka, Barbara J

2018-04-01

: The Great London Smog of December 1952 lasted five days and killed up to 12,000 people. The smog developed primarily because of extensive burning of high-sulfur coal. The health effects were both immediate and long lasting, with a recent study revealing an increased likelihood of childhood asthma development in those exposed to the Great Smog while in utero or during their first year of life. Subsequent pollution legislation-including the U.S. Clean Air Act and its amendments-have demonstrably reduced air pollution and positively impacted health outcomes. With poor air quality events like the Great Smog continuing to occur today, nurses need to be aware of the impact such environmental disasters can have on human health.

Oxygen uptake rate (OUR) control strategy for improving avermectin B

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Glucose metabolism plays a crucial role in the process of avermectin B1a biosynthesis. Controlling glucose feeding based on oxygen uptake rate (OUR) was established to improve the efficiency of avermectin B1a production. The result showed that avermectin B1a production was greatly enhanced by OUR control strategy.

Keeping the ‘Great’ in the Great Barrier Reef: large-scale governance of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Louisa S. Evans

2014-08-01

Full Text Available As part of an international collaboration to compare large-scale commons, we used the Social-Ecological Systems Meta-Analysis Database (SESMAD to systematically map out attributes of and changes in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP in Australia. We focus on eight design principles from common-pool resource (CPR theory and other key social-ecological systems governance variables, and explore to what extent they help explain the social and ecological outcomes of park management through time. Our analysis showed that commercial fisheries management and the re-zoning of the GBRMP in 2004 led to improvements in ecological condition of the reef, particularly fisheries. These boundary and rights changes were supported by effective monitoring, sanctioning and conflict resolution. Moderate biophysical connectivity was also important for improved outcomes. However, our analysis also highlighted that continued challenges to improved ecological health in terms of coral cover and biodiversity can be explained by fuzzy boundaries between land and sea, and the significance of external drivers to even large-scale social-ecological systems (SES. While ecological and institutional fit in the marine SES was high, this was not the case when considering the coastal SES. Nested governance arrangements become even more important at this larger scale. To our knowledge, our paper provides the first analysis linking the re-zoning of the GBRMP to CPR and SES theory. We discuss important challenges to coding large-scale systems for meta-analysis.

Great Expectations for Middle School Counselors

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Robert J.

2012-01-01

During the Great Recession, 2008 to 2010, school systems scrambled to balance budgets, and the ratio of counselors to students became even larger. To make matters worse, the Great Recession had a major impact on cuts in educational funding. Budget cutbacks tend to occur where the public will be least likely to notice. The loss of teachers and the…

Effectiveness of an Intervention Program for Improving School Atmosphere: Some Results

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez, A. M.; Rivas, M. T.; Trianes, M. V.

2006-01-01

This work describes the results of the "Programa de Desarrollo Social y Afectivo" [Social and Affective Development Program] (Trianes & Munoz, 1994; Trianes, 1996), under way during four years at a public school in a disadvantaged area Malaga, earmarked for special educational resources. The intervention is meant to improve classroom…

The Younger Dryas phase of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Oviatt, Charles G.; Miller, D.M.; McGeehin, J.P.; Zachary, C.; Mahan, S.

2005-01-01

Field investigations at the Public Shooting Grounds (a wildlife-management area on the northeastern shore of Great Salt Lake) and radiocarbon dating show that the Great Salt Lake rose to the Gilbert shoreline sometime between 12.9 and 11.2 cal ka. We interpret a ripple-laminated sand unit exposed at the Public Shooting Grounds, and dated to this time interval, as the nearshore sediments of Great Salt Lake deposited during the formation of the Gilbert shoreline. The ripple-laminated sand is overlain by channel-fill deposits that overlap in age (11.9-11.2 cal ka) with the sand, and by wetland deposits (11.1 to 10.5 cal ka). Consistent accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon ages were obtained from samples of plant fragments, including those of emergent aquatic plants, but mollusk shells from spring and marsh deposits yielded anomalously old ages, probably because of a variable radiocarbon reservoir effect. The Bonneville basin was effectively wet during at least part of the Younger Dryas global-cooling interval, however, conflicting results from some Great Basin locations and proxy records indicate that the regional effects of Younger Dryas cooling are still not well understood. ?? 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Great Indoors Awards 2007

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

2007-01-01

Hollandis Maastrichtis jagati 17. XI esimest korda rahvusvahelist auhinda The Great Indoors Award. Aasta sisekujundusfirmaks valiti Masamichi Katayama asutatud Wonderwall. Auhinna said veel Zaha Hadid, Heatherwick Studio, Ryui Nakamura Architects ja Item Idem

Energy and water in the Great Lakes.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tidwell, Vincent Carroll

2011-11-01

The nexus between thermoelectric power production and water use is not uniform across the U.S., but rather differs according to regional physiography, demography, power plant fleet composition, and the transmission network. That is, in some regions water demand for thermoelectric production is relatively small while in other regions it represents the dominate use. The later is the case for the Great Lakes region, which has important implications for the water resources and aquatic ecology of the Great Lakes watershed. This is today, but what about the future? Projected demographic trends, shifting lifestyles, and economic growth coupled with the threat of global climate change and mounting pressure for greater U.S. energy security could have profound effects on the region's energy future. Planning for such an uncertain future is further complicated by the fact that energy and environmental planning and regulatory decisionmaking is largely bifurcated in the region, with environmental and water resource concerns generally taken into account after new energy facilities and technologies have been proposed, or practices are already in place. Based on these confounding needs, the objective of this effort is to develop Great Lakes-specific methods and tools to integrate energy and water resource planning and thereby support the dual goals of smarter energy planning and development, and protection of Great Lakes water resources. Guiding policies for this planning are the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact and the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The desired outcome of integrated energy-water-aquatic resource planning is a more sustainable regional energy mix for the Great Lakes basin ecosystem.

The Impact of the Great Recession on Monetary and Fiscal Policy in Developed Market Economies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šehović Damir

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Background: With the occurrence of the crisis in 2007, which caused the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression in the thirties, it has become evident that the previous understanding of strategies, effects and roles of monetary and fiscal policy should be redefined. Objectives: The aim of this paper is to illustrate a possible expected change in monetary and fiscal policy in developed market economies that could occur as a consequence of the Great Recession. Methods/Approach: The paper provides a comparative analysis of various primary economic variables related to the developed OECD countries, as well as the empirical testing of the selected theoretical assumptions. Results: The changes in monetary policy refer to the question of raising target inflation, considering a possible use of aggregate price level targeting and paying attention to the role of central banks in suppressing the formation of an asset bubble. The success of fiscal policy in attaining stabilization depends on the size of possible fiscal measures and creation of automatic stabilizers. Conclusions: For the most part, monetary and fiscal policies will still stay unchanged, although some segments of these policies need to be improved.

Improved FTA methodology and application to subsea pipeline reliability design.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Jing; Yuan, Yongbo; Zhang, Mingyuan

2014-01-01

An innovative logic tree, Failure Expansion Tree (FET), is proposed in this paper, which improves on traditional Fault Tree Analysis (FTA). It describes a different thinking approach for risk factor identification and reliability risk assessment. By providing a more comprehensive and objective methodology, the rather subjective nature of FTA node discovery is significantly reduced and the resulting mathematical calculations for quantitative analysis are greatly simplified. Applied to the Useful Life phase of a subsea pipeline engineering project, the approach provides a more structured analysis by constructing a tree following the laws of physics and geometry. Resulting improvements are summarized in comparison table form.

Cladophora in the Great Lakes: impacts on beach water quality and human health.

Science.gov (United States)

Verhougstraete, M P; Byappanahalli, M N; Rose, J B; Whitman, R L

2010-01-01

Cladophora in the Great Lakes grows rapidly during the warm summer months, detaches, and becomes free-floating mats as a result of environmental conditions, eventually becoming stranded on recreational beaches. Cladophora provides protection and nutrients, which allow enteric bacteria such as Escherichia coli, enterococci, Shigella, Campylobacter, and Salmonella to persist and potentially regrow in the presence of the algae. As a result of wind and wave action, these microorganisms can detach and be released to surrounding waters and can influence water quality. Enteric bacterial pathogens have been detected in Cladophora mats; E. coli and enterococci may populate to become part of the naturalized microbiota in Cladophora; the high densities of these bacteria may affect water quality, resulting in unnecessary beach closures. The continued use of traditional fecal indicators at beaches with Cladophora presence is inadequate at accurately predicting the presence of fecal contamination. This paper offers a substantial review of available literature to improve the knowledge of Cladophora impacts on water quality, recreational water monitoring, fecal indicator bacteria and microorganisms, and public health and policy.

Explaining variation in perceived team effectiveness: results from eleven quality improvement collaboratives.

Science.gov (United States)

Strating, Mathilde M H; Nieboer, Anna P

2013-06-01

Explore effectiveness of 11 collaboratives focusing on 11 different topics, as perceived by local improvement teams and to explore associations with collaborative-, organisational- and team-level factors. Evidence underlying the effectiveness of quality improvement collaboratives is inconclusive and few studies investigated determinants of implementation success. Moreover, most evaluation studies on quality improvement collaboratives are based on one specific topic or quality problem, making it hard to compare across collaboratives addressing different topics. A multiple-case cross-sectional study. Quality improvement teams in 11 quality improvement collaboratives focusing on 11 different topics. Team members received a postal questionnaire at the end of each collaborative. Of the 283 improvement teams, 151 project leaders and 362 team members returned the questionnaire. Analysis of variance revealed that teams varied widely on perceived effectiveness. Especially, members in the Prevention of Malnutrition and Prevention of Medication Errors collaboratives perceived a higher effectiveness than other groups. Multilevel regression analyses showed that educational level of professionals, innovation attributes, organisational support, innovative culture and commitment to change were all significant predictors of perceived effectiveness. In total, 27·9% of the individual-level variance, 57·6% of the team-level variance and 80% of the collaborative-level variance could be explained. The innovation's attributes, organisational support, an innovative team culture and professionals' commitment to change are instrumental to perceived effectiveness. The results support the notion that a layered approach is necessary to achieve improvements in quality of care and provides further insight in the determinants of success of quality improvement collaboratives. Understanding which factors enhance the impact of quality improvement initiatives can help professionals to achieve

Complete exon sequencing of all known Usher syndrome genes greatly improves molecular diagnosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lacombe Didier

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Usher syndrome (USH combines sensorineural deafness with blindness. It is inherited in an autosomal recessive mode. Early diagnosis is critical for adapted educational and patient management choices, and for genetic counseling. To date, nine causative genes have been identified for the three clinical subtypes (USH1, USH2 and USH3. Current diagnostic strategies make use of a genotyping microarray that is based on the previously reported mutations. The purpose of this study was to design a more accurate molecular diagnosis tool. Methods We sequenced the 366 coding exons and flanking regions of the nine known USH genes, in 54 USH patients (27 USH1, 21 USH2 and 6 USH3. Results Biallelic mutations were detected in 39 patients (72% and monoallelic mutations in an additional 10 patients (18.5%. In addition to biallelic mutations in one of the USH genes, presumably pathogenic mutations in another USH gene were detected in seven patients (13%, and another patient carried monoallelic mutations in three different USH genes. Notably, none of the USH3 patients carried detectable mutations in the only known USH3 gene, whereas they all carried mutations in USH2 genes. Most importantly, the currently used microarray would have detected only 30 of the 81 different mutations that we found, of which 39 (48% were novel. Conclusions Based on these results, complete exon sequencing of the currently known USH genes stands as a definite improvement for molecular diagnosis of this disease, which is of utmost importance in the perspective of gene therapy.

Preventing falls in assisted living: Results of a quality improvement pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Sheryl; Greene, Angela; Sloane, Philip D; Mitchell, Madeline; Giuliani, Carol; Nyrop, Kirsten; Walsh, Edith

Residents of assisted living (AL) communities are at high risk for falls, which result in negative outcomes and high health care costs. Adapting effective falls prevention programs for AL quality improvement (QI) has the potential to reduce falls, improve resident quality of life, and reduce costs. This project tested the feasibility and outcomes of an evidence-based multi-component QI program, the Assisted Living Falls Prevention and Monitoring Program (AL-FPMP). Resident posture and gait improved, likely due to exercise and/or physical therapy. Effective falls prevention QI programs can be implemented in AL, and are advised to (1) establish and maintain a falls team to create a culture focused on the reduction of falls risk; (2) teach staff to assess residents using the Morse Falls Scale to increase their awareness of residents' falls risk and improvement; and (3) modify existing exercise programs to address balance and lower body strength. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Waste Minimization Improvements Achieved Through Six Sigma Analysis Result In Significant Cost Savings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mousseau, Jeffrey D.; Jansen, John R.; Janke, David H.; Plowman, Catherine M.

2003-01-01

Improved waste minimization practices at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) are leading to a 15% reduction in the generation of hazardous and radioactive waste. Bechtel, BWXT Idaho, LLC (BBWI), the prime management and operations contractor at the INEEL, applied the Six Sigma improvement process to the INEEL Waste Minimization Program to review existing processes and define opportunities for improvement. Our Six Sigma analysis team: composed of an executive champion, process owner, a black belt and yellow belt, and technical and business team members used this statistical based process approach to analyze work processes and produced ten recommendations for improvement. Recommendations ranged from waste generator financial accountability for newly generated waste to enhanced employee recognition programs for waste minimization efforts. These improvements have now been implemented to reduce waste generation rates and are producing positive results

Kinds of damage that could result from a great earthquake in the central United States

Science.gov (United States)

Hooper, M.G.; Algermissen, S.T.

1985-01-01

In the winter of 1811-12 a series of three great earthquakes occurred in the New Madrid, Missouri seismic zone in the central United States. In addition to the three principal shocks, at least 15 other earthquakes of intensity VIII or more occurred within a year of the first large earthquake on December 16, 1811. The three main shocks were felt over the entire eastern United States. They were strong enough to cause minor damage cause minor damage as far away as Indiana and Ohio on the north, the Carolinas on the east, and southern Mississippi to the south. They were strong enough to cause severe or structural damage in parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. A later section in this article describes what happened in the epicentral region. Fortunately, few people lived in the severely shaken area in 1811; that is not the case today. What would happen if a series of earthquakes as large and numerous as the "New Madrid" earthquakes were to occur in the New Madrid seismic zone today?

Did technology shocks drive the great depression? Explaining cyclical productivity movements in US manufacturing, 1919-1939

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Inklaar, Robert; de Jong, Herman; Gouma, Reitze

2011-01-01

Technology shocks and declining productivity have been advanced as important factors driving the Great Depression in the United States, based on real business cycle theory. We estimate an improved measure of technology for interwar manufacturing, using data from the U.S. census reports. There is

Improved Motion Estimation Using Early Zero-Block Detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Lin

2008-07-01

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

Alterations in physique among young children after the Great East Japan Earthquake: Results from a nationwide survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Kikuya, Masahiro; Matsubara, Hiroko; Ishikuro, Mami; Sato, Yuki; Obara, Taku; Metoki, Hirohito; Isojima, Tsuyoshi; Yokoya, Susumu; Kato, Noriko; Tanaka, Toshiaki; Chida, Shoichi; Ono, Atsushi; Hosoya, Mitsuaki; Yokomichi, Hiroshi; Yamagata, Zentaro; Tanaka, Soichiro; Kure, Shigeo; Kuriyama, Shinichi

2017-10-01

Data for earthquake-related alterations in physique among young children in developed countries is lacking. The Great East Japan Earthquake caused severe damage in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima Prefectures in northeastern Japan. We retrospectively obtained anthropometric measurements in nursery school from 40,046 (cohort 1, historical control) and 53,492 (cohort 2) children aged 3.5-4.5 years without overweight in October 2008, and in October 2010, respectively. At the time of the earthquake in March, 2011, children in cohort 1 had already graduated from nursery school; however, children in cohort 2 were still enrolled in nursery school at this time. We compared the onset of overweight at 1 year after the baseline between children enrolled in their school located in one of the three target prefectures versus those in other prefectures using a logistic regression model, with adjustment for sex, age, history of disease, and obesity index at baseline. Overweight was defined as an obesity index of >+15%, which was calculated as (weight minus sex- and height-specific standard weight)/sex- and height-specific standard weight. The odds ratio (OR) for the onset of overweight in the three target prefectures was significant in cohort 2 (OR 1.25; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.55) but not in cohort 1. When the two cohort were pooled (n = 93,538), the OR of the interaction term for school location × cohort was significant (OR 1.56; 95% CI, 1.09-2.23). Incident overweight in young children was significantly more common in the three prefectures affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake than in other prefectures after the disaster. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

An improved anti-leech mechanism based on session identifier

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jianbiao; Zhu, Tong; Zhang, Han; Lin, Li

2012-01-01

With the rapid development of information technology and extensive requirement of network resource sharing, plenty of resource hotlinking phenomenons appear on the internet. The hotlinking problem not only harms the interests of legal websites but also leads to a great affection to fair internet environment. The anti-leech technique based on session identifier is highly secure, but the transmission of session identifier in plaintext form causes some security flaws. In this paper, a proxy hotlinking technique based on session identifier is introduced firstly to illustrate these security flaws; next, this paper proposes an improved anti-leech mechanism based on session identifier, the mechanism takes the random factor as the core and detects hotlinking request using a map table that contains random factor, user's information and time stamp; at last the paper analyzes the security of mechanism in theory. The result reveals that the improved mechanism has the merits of simple realization, high security and great flexibility.

[Strategies for improving care of oncologic patients: SHARE Project results].

Science.gov (United States)

Reñones Crego, María de la Concepción; Fernández Pérez, Dolores; Vena Fernández, Carmen; Zamudio Sánchez, Antonio

2016-01-01

Cancer treatment is a major burden for the patient and its family that requires an individualized management by healthcare professionals. Nurses are in charge of coordinating care and are the closest healthcare professionals to patient and family; however, in Spain, there are not standard protocols yet for the management of oncology patients. The Spanish Oncology Nursing Society developed between 2012 and 2014 the SHARE project, with the aim of establishing strategies to improve quality of life and nursing care in oncology patients. It was developed in 3 phases. First, a literature search and review was performed to identify nursing strategies, interventions and tools to improve cancer patients' care. At the second stage, these interventions were agreed within a group of oncology nursing experts; and at the third phase, a different group of experts in oncology care categorized the interventions to identify the ones with highest priority and most feasible to be implemented. As a result, 3 strategic actions were identified to improve nursing care during cancer treatment: To provide a named nurse to carry out the follow up process by attending to the clinic or telephonic consultation, develop therapeutic education with adapted protocols for each tumor type and treatment and ensure specific training for nurses on the management of the cancer patients. Strategic actions proposed in this paper aim to improve cancer patients' healthcare and quality of life through the development of advanced nursing roles based on a higher level of autonomy, situating nurses as care coordinators to assure an holistic care in oncology patients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The Great War and German Memory

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leese, Peter

2012-01-01

Review essay on Jason Crouthamel, The Great War and German Memory. Society, Politics and Psychological Trauma, 1914-18 (2009) and Anton Kaes, Shell Shock Cinema: Weimar Culture and the Wounds of War (2009)......Review essay on Jason Crouthamel, The Great War and German Memory. Society, Politics and Psychological Trauma, 1914-18 (2009) and Anton Kaes, Shell Shock Cinema: Weimar Culture and the Wounds of War (2009)...

Real-time water quality monitoring at a Great Lakes National Park

Science.gov (United States)

Byappanahalli, Muruleedhara; Nevers, Meredith; Shively, Dawn; Spoljaric, Ashley; Otto, Christopher

2018-01-01

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used by the USEPA to establish new recreational water quality criteria in 2012 using the indicator bacteria enterococci. The application of this method has been limited, but resource managers are interested in more timely monitoring results. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of qPCR as a rapid, alternative method to the time-consuming membrane filtration (MF) method for monitoring water at select beaches and rivers of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in Empire, MI. Water samples were collected from four locations (Esch Road Beach, Otter Creek, Platte Point Bay, and Platte River outlet) in 2014 and analyzed for culture-based (MF) and non-culture-based (i.e., qPCR) endpoints using Escherichia coli and enterococci bacteria. The MF and qPCR enterococci results were significantly, positively correlated overall (r = 0.686, p Water quality standard exceedances based on enterococci levels by qPCR were lower than by MF method: 3 and 16, respectively. Based on our findings, we conclude that qPCR may be a viable alternative to the culture-based method for monitoring water quality on public lands. Rapid, same-day results are achievable by the qPCR method, which greatly improves protection of the public from water-related illnesses.

Does Investment Treaty Affect the Improvement on FDI?

OpenAIRE

Eunsook Seo

2008-01-01

The paper analyzes how investment treaty affects investment creation. Analysis results show that investment treaty could not directly affect the increase in investment with the form of investment agreement contradicting and the opening of investment treaty countries have increased a great deal of investment. Contracting the investment agreement means to ultimately improve the investment environment such as policy transparency, simplification of administration, and the simplification or the cl...

Great ape genetic diversity and population history

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prado-Martinez, Javier; Sudmant, Peter H; Kidd, Jeffrey M

2013-01-01

Most great ape genetic variation remains uncharacterized; however, its study is critical for understanding population history, recombination, selection and susceptibility to disease. Here we sequence to high coverage a total of 79 wild- and captive-born individuals representing all six great ape...

40 CFR Appendix E to Part 132 - Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative Antidegradation Policy

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... most cost effective pollution prevention and treatment techniques available, and minimizes the... shall adopt an antidegradation standard applicable to all waters of the Great Lakes System and identify... result in an increased loading of BCCs to surface waters of the Great Lakes System and for which...

Determining Wind Erosion in the Great Plains

OpenAIRE

Elwin G. Smith; Burton C. English

1982-01-01

Wind erosion is defined as the movement of soil particles resulting from strong turbulent winds. The movement of soil particles can be categorized as suspension, saltation, or surface creep. Fine soil particles can be suspended in the atmosphere and carried for great distances. Particles too large to be suspended move in a jumping action along the soil surface, known as saltation. Heavier particles have a rolling movement along the surface and this type of erosion is surface creep.

Improving quality of service in the internet

OpenAIRE

Flückiger, François

2000-01-01

The Internet transport technology was designed to be robust, resilient to link or node outages, and with no single point of failure. The resulting connectionless system supports what is called a "best effort datagram delivery service", the perfo rmance of which is often greatly unpredictable. To improve the predictability of IP-based networks, several Quality of Service technologies have been designed over the past decade. The first one, RSVP, based on reservation of resources, is operational...

Formal quality improvement curriculum and DMAIC method results in interdisciplinary collaboration and process improvement in renal transplant patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Leaphart, Cynthia L; Gonwa, Thomas A; Mai, Martin L; Prendergast, Mary B; Wadei, Hani M; Tepas, Joseph J; Taner, C Burcin

2012-09-01

Broad-based formal quality improvement curriculum emphasizing Six Sigma and the DMAIC approach developed by our institution is required for physicians in training. DMAIC methods evaluated the common outcome of postoperative hyponatremia, thus resulting in collaboration to prevent hyponatremia in the renal transplant population. To define postoperative hyponatremia in renal transplant recipients, a project charter outlined project aims. To measure postoperative hyponatremia, serum sodium at admission and immediately postoperative were recorded by retrospective review of renal transplant recipient charts from June 29, 2010 to December 31, 2011. An Ishikawa diagram was generated to analyze potential causative factors. Interdisciplinary collaboration and hospital policy assessment determined necessary improvements to prevent hyponatremia. Continuous monitoring in control phase was performed by establishing the goal of DMAIC approach and formal quality curriculum for trainees addresses core competencies by providing a framework for problem solving, interdisciplinary collaboration, and process improvement. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Attribute amnesia is greatly reduced with novel stimuli

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weijia Chen

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Attribute amnesia is the counterintuitive phenomenon where observers are unable to report a salient aspect of a stimulus (e.g., its colour or its identity immediately after the stimulus was presented, despite both attending to and processing the stimulus. Almost all previous attribute amnesia studies used highly familiar stimuli. Our study investigated whether attribute amnesia would also occur for unfamiliar stimuli. We conducted four experiments using stimuli that were highly familiar (colours or repeated animal images or that were unfamiliar to the observers (unique animal images. Our results revealed that attribute amnesia was present for both sets of familiar stimuli, colour (p < .001 and repeated animals (p = .001; but was greatly attenuated, and possibly eliminated, when the stimuli were unique animals (p = .02. Our data shows that attribute amnesia is greatly reduced for novel stimuli.

Sources of plutonium to the great Miami River

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartelt, G.E.; Kennedy, C.W.; Bobula, C.M. III.

1978-01-01

Progress is reported in the study of 238 Pu, in the Great Miami River watershed the contribution of various sources to the total 238 Pu transported by the river. Periodic discharges of industrial wastewater from Mound Laboratory from 1973 to 1975 have released approximately 20 mCi of 238 Pu each year to the Great Miami River. Changes in the wastewater treatment system in 1976 have reduced the annual discharge to less than 3 mCi/year. However, despite this sevenfold reduction of plutonium in the wastewater discharge, the annual flux of 238 Pu down the river has remained relatively constant and is approximately 10 times greater than can be accounted for by the reported effluent discharges. Therefore, other sources of the 238 Pu in the Great Miami River exist. A second possible source of plutonium is the resuspension of sediments enriched by earlier waste water releases and deposited in the river. However, since there appear to be few areas where large accumulations of sediment could occur, it seems improbable that resuspension of earlier sediment deposits would continue to be a significant contributor to the annual flux of plutonium. A much more likely source is the continuing erosion of soil from a canal and stream system contaminated with approx. 5 Ci of 238 Pu, 7 which connects directly to the river 6.9 km upstream from Franklin. Results from samples analyzed in 1978 show the average concentration of 238 Pu in suspended sediments from the canal to be approximately 10 3 times greater than suspended sediment concentrations in the river and waste water effluent.Thus the main contributor to the total amount of plutonium transported by the Great Miami River appears to be highly enriched sediment from the canal, which is eroded into the river where it is then diluted by uncontaminated sediments

Uncertainty and risk management after the Great Moderation: the role of risk (mis)management by financial institutions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blommestein, H.J.; Hoogduin, L.H.; Peeters, J.J.W.

2009-01-01

Since the early eighties volatility of GDP and inflation has been declining steadily in many countries. Financial innovation has been identified as one of the key factors driving this „Great Moderation‟. Financial innovation was considered to have improved significantly the allocation and sharing of

Modelling of tracer-kinetic results using xylene isomerization as an example

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bauer, F.J.; Dermietzel, J.; Roesseler, M.; Koch, H.

1976-01-01

The analysis of results from differential or/and integral reactor experiments often admits the interpretation of a chemical reaction in several ways. In addition, the use of mathematical methods for the model selection and planning of experiments is rendered more difficult by great confidence intervals of the ascertained model parameters. The application of radioactively labelled molecules results in improving the knowledge of reaction mechanisms as well as the assessment of parameters obtained. This is shown on the basis of modelling the isomerization of xylene. (author)

Improved precision and speed of thermal ionisation mass spectrometry with a multicollector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, P.J.; Cantle, J.E.; Haines, R.C.

1984-01-01

The analytical accuracy of uranium analysis is limited by fractionation occuring before and during the data acquisition period. With peak jumping methods, increasing the data measuring period beyond 15 to 20 minutes can result in a deteriorating, internal precision because the ratio being measured is changing significantly. In addition the operator often has the choice of taking poor data when the beam is unstable or decaying rapidly or waiting for beam stability and measuring a more fractionated ratio to higher precision. Either way measurement accuracy is reduced. Simultaneous measurement of the ion beams using a multicollector greatly eases these difficulties. Multicollector analysis offers the following advantages for uranium analysis: (1) greatly reduced analysis time; (2) improved internal errors duing data acquisition allowing: (a) smaller samples to be measured, (b) greater dynamic ratios to be measured before internal errors become comparable to the external errors; (3) short data acquisition time giving better results on rapidly fractionating samples; (4) great tolerance to unstable and rapidly decaying beams resulting in fewer ''unsatisfactory'' analyses. 4 figs

Rapid ascent: Rocky Mountain National Park in the Great Acceleration, 1945-present

Science.gov (United States)

Boxell, Mark

After the Second World War's conclusion, Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) experienced a massive rise in visitation. Mobilized by an affluent economy and a growing, auto-centric infrastructure, Americans rushed to RMNP in droves, setting off new concerns over the need for infrastructure improvements in the park. National parks across the country experienced similar explosions in visitation, inspiring utilities- and road-building campaigns throughout the park units administered by the National Park Service. The quasi-urbanization of parks like RMNP implicated the United States' public lands in a process of global change, whereby wartime technologies, cheap fossil fuels, and a culture of techno-optimism--epitomized by the Mission 66 development program--helped foster a "Great Acceleration" of human alterations of Earth's natural systems. This transformation culminated in worldwide turns toward mass-urbanization, industrial agriculture, and globalized markets. The Great Acceleration, part of the Anthropocene--a new geologic epoch we have likely entered, which proposes that humans have become a force of geologic change--is used as a conceptual tool for understanding the connections between local and global changes which shaped the park after World War II. The Great Acceleration and its array of novel technologies and hydrocarbon-powered infrastructures produced specific cultures of tourism and management techniques within RMNP. After World War II, the park increasingly became the product and distillation of a fossil fuel-dependent society.

Great Expectations, Mixed Results: Standards and Performance in Denver's New Public Schools, 2007-2011

Science.gov (United States)

Ooms, Alexander

2012-01-01

In conjunction with the Denver Plan instituted in 2005, Denver Public Schools (DPS) has embarked upon a consistent strategy of opening new schools in an effort to improve overall academic performance. DPS has pursued this strategy under several different paths: an annual request for proposals from charter school applicants; allowing current…

Alien invasive species and biological pollution of the Great Lakes Basin ecosystem[Great Lakes Water Quality Board : Report to the International Joint Commission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-05-01

The displacement of important native species in the Great Lakes is a result of an invasion by a succession of non indigenous aquatic species. These invasion also resulted in interference with the proper human water uses and cost billions of dollars. The problem was considered serious enough that the International Joint Commission asked the Great Lakes Water Quality Board in 1999 to review the regulations in place and make recommendations, if necessary, for the implementation of additional measures that could be considered to keep control over the introduction of alien invasive species. Escapes from aquaria, aquaculture, research and educational facilities, canal and diversion water flows, and release of live bait are all sources of this invasion. The effectiveness of alternative technologies to control the invasion was to be examined by the Board. Other efforts taking place to address the situation in the basin are being complemented by the publication of this report. It is considered that the most important source of alien invasive species (AIS) to the Great Lakes is the discharge of ballast water from shipping vessels coming from outside the United States and Canada. A major concern is the role played by vessels reporting no ballast on board (NOBOB) upon entering the basin. A number of recommendations were made concerning: (1) implementation and enforcement of the ballast water discharge standards agreed upon by both countries, (2) the evaluation of the effectiveness of alternative technologies to achieve ballast water discharge standards over the long term, combined with the use of chemical treatment while the evaluation is being performed, (3) the implementation of optimal management practices to control sediments in shipping vessels, (4) modifications to the design of shipping vessels, and (5) the monitoring and contingency plans in the event of a repeat scenario in the future. Composed of an equal number representatives from the United States and Canada, at

Libraries Achieving Greatness: Technology at the Helm

Science.gov (United States)

Muir, Scott P.

2009-01-01

Libraries have been around for thousands of years. Many of them are considered great because of their magnificent architecture or because of the size of their collections. This paper offers ten case studies of libraries that have used technology to achieve greatness. Because almost any library can implement technology, a library does not have to…

Mechanics of biting in great white and sandtiger sharks.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrara, T L; Clausen, P; Huber, D R; McHenry, C R; Peddemors, V; Wroe, S

2011-02-03

Although a strong correlation between jaw mechanics and prey selection has been demonstrated in bony fishes (Osteichthyes), how jaw mechanics influence feeding performance in cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes) remains unknown. Hence, tooth shape has been regarded as a primary predictor of feeding behavior in sharks. Here we apply Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to examine form and function in the jaws of two threatened shark species, the great white (Carcharodon carcharias) and the sandtiger (Carcharias taurus). These species possess characteristic tooth shapes believed to reflect dietary preferences. We show that the jaws of sandtigers and great whites are adapted for rapid closure and generation of maximum bite force, respectively, and that these functional differences are consistent with diet and dentition. Our results suggest that in both taxa, insertion of jaw adductor muscles on a central tendon functions to straighten and sustain muscle fibers to nearly orthogonal insertion angles as the mouth opens. We argue that this jaw muscle arrangement allows high bite forces to be maintained across a wider range of gape angles than observed in mammalian models. Finally, our data suggest that the jaws of sub-adult great whites are mechanically vulnerable when handling large prey. In addition to ontogenetic changes in dentition, further mineralization of the jaws may be required to effectively feed on marine mammals. Our study is the first comparative FEA of the jaws for any fish species. Results highlight the potential of FEA for testing previously intractable questions regarding feeding mechanisms in sharks and other vertebrates. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Long-term Agroecosystem Research in the Northern Great Plains.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmer, M.; Sanderson, M.; Liebig, M. A.; Wienhold, B.; Awada, T.; Papiernik, S.; Osborne, S.; Kemp, W.; Okalebo, J. A.; Riedall, W.

2015-12-01

The Northern Great Plains is the bread basket of the United States, accounting for a substantial portion of U.S. agricultural production. This region faces critical challenges regarding balancing food needs, resource conservation (e.g Ogallala aquifer), environmental concerns, and rural economy development. Developing transformative, multifunctional systems will require equally imaginative and efficient tools to help farmers manage complex agroecosystems in a rapidly changing climate. The Northern Plains long-term agroecosystem research (LTAR) site at Mandan, ND and the Platte River High Plains LTAR (ARS/University of Nebraska-Lincoln) at Lincoln, NE in collaboration with USDA-ARS research units in Brookings, SD and Fargo, ND are collaborating to address the grand challenge of providing and sustaining multiple service provisions from Northern Great Plains agroecosystems. We propose to attain these goals through sustainable intensification based on the adoption of conservation agriculture principles including reduced soil disturbance, livestock integration, and greater complexity and diversity in the cropping system. Here, we summarize new concepts these locations have pioneered in dynamic cropping systems, resource use efficiency, and agricultural management technologies. As part of the LTAR network, we will conduct long-term cross-site research to design and assess new agricultural practices and systems aimed at improving our understanding of decision making processes and outcomes across an array of agricultural systems.

3 Steps to Great Coaching: A Simple but Powerful Instructional Coaching Cycle Nets Results

Science.gov (United States)

Knight, Jim; Elford, Marti; Hock, Michael; Dunekack, Devona; Bradley, Barbara; Deshler, Donald D.; Knight, David

2015-01-01

In this article the authors describe a three-step instructional coaching cycle that can helps coaches become more effective. The article provides the steps and related components to: (1) Identify; (2) Learn; and (3) Improve. While the instructional coaching cycle is only one effective coaching program, coaches also need professional learning that…

Extended great deluge algorithm for the imperfect preventive maintenance optimization of multi-state systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nahas, Nabil; Khatab, Abdelhakim; Ait-Kadi, Daoud; Nourelfath, Mustapha

2008-01-01

This paper deals with preventive maintenance optimization problem for multi-state systems (MSS). This problem was initially addressed and solved by Levitin and Lisnianski [Optimization of imperfect preventive maintenance for multi-state systems. Reliab Eng Syst Saf 2000;67:193-203]. It consists on finding an optimal sequence of maintenance actions which minimizes maintenance cost while providing the desired system reliability level. This paper proposes an approach which improves the results obtained by genetic algorithm (GENITOR) in Levitin and Lisnianski [Optimization of imperfect preventive maintenance for multi-state systems. Reliab Eng Syst Saf 2000;67:193-203]. The considered MSS have a range of performance levels and their reliability is defined to be the ability to meet a given demand. This reliability is evaluated by using the universal generating function technique. An optimization method based on the extended great deluge algorithm is proposed. This method has the advantage over other methods to be simple and requires less effort for its implementation. The developed algorithm is compared to than in Levitin and Lisnianski [Optimization of imperfect preventive maintenance for multi-state systems. Reliab Eng Syst Saf 2000;67:193-203] by using a reference example and two newly generated examples. This comparison shows that the extended great deluge gives the best solutions (i.e. those with minimal costs) for 8 instances among 10

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP): watch the great toes!

Science.gov (United States)

Kartal-Kaess, Mutlu; Shore, Eileen M; Xu, Meiqi; Schwering, Ludwig; Uhl, Markus; Korinthenberg, Rudolf; Niemeyer, Charlotte; Kaplan, Frederick S; Lauten, Melchior

2010-11-01

Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare genetic disorder and the most disabling condition of heterotopic (extraskeletal) ossification in humans. Extraskeletal bone formation associated with inflammation preceding the osseous conversion usually begins in the first decade, predominantly in the head, neck, and shoulders. All patients have malformed great toes. Most patients have a spontaneous mutation of the ACVR1 gene. We report a 17-year-old girl with malformed great toes who had her first episode of heterotopic ossification and impaired mobility of the left hip at the age of 13 years. No inflammatory fibroproliferative masses preceded the onset of heterotopic ossification. Radiographic studies demonstrated myositis ossificans, but failure to associate the great toe malformation with heterotopic ossification led to a failure to diagnose FOP. She underwent repeated and unnecessary operative procedures to remove a recurrent lesion. FOP was finally suspected when the great toe malformation was correlated with the trauma-induced heterotopic ossification. Genetic analysis confirmed the presence of the classic FOP mutation (ACVR1 c.617G>A; R206H). This case highlights the importance of examining the great toes in anyone with heterotopic ossification. The association of malformations of the great toe with heterotopic ossification in all cases of classic FOP will lead to prompt clinical diagnosis and the prevention of iatrogenic harm.

Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — NOAA-GLERL and its partners conduct innovative research on the dynamic environments and ecosystems of the Great Lakes and coastal regions to provide information for...

The Great Mathematician Project

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, Sabrina R.

2013-01-01

The Great Mathematician Project (GMP) introduces both mathematically sophisticated and struggling students to the history of mathematics. The rationale for the GMP is twofold: first, mathematics is a uniquely people-centered discipline that is used to make sense of the world; and second, students often express curiosity about the history of…

Great Lakes CoastWatch Node

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — CoastWatch is a nationwide National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) program within which the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL)...

Business intelligence: using insight to improve the value and performance of your practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Coan, Tim

2007-01-01

Using information to improve the value of your practice can be a great way to create leverage and improve the performance of your practice. Business intelligence (BI) is the result of a complete system that produces meaningful insights by providing the information necessary to make business decisions. Changes made from these insights improve both the performance and value of your practice. It is important to identify the key elements required of a good BI system and the areas within a practice that can directly benefit from an effective BI system.

A Pragmatic Smoothing Method for Improving the Quality of the Results in Atomic Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Bennun, Leonardo

2017-07-01

A new smoothing method for the improvement on the identification and quantification of spectral functions based on the previous knowledge of the signals that are expected to be quantified, is presented. These signals are used as weighted coefficients in the smoothing algorithm. This smoothing method was conceived to be applied in atomic and nuclear spectroscopies preferably to these techniques where net counts are proportional to acquisition time, such as particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and other X-ray fluorescence spectroscopic methods, etc. This algorithm, when properly applied, does not distort the form nor the intensity of the signal, so it is well suited for all kind of spectroscopic techniques. This method is extremely effective at reducing high-frequency noise in the signal much more efficient than a single rectangular smooth of the same width. As all of smoothing techniques, the proposed method improves the precision of the results, but in this case we found also a systematic improvement on the accuracy of the results. We still have to evaluate the improvement on the quality of the results when this method is applied over real experimental results. We expect better characterization of the net area quantification of the peaks, and smaller Detection and Quantification Limits. We have applied this method to signals that obey Poisson statistics, but with the same ideas and criteria, it could be applied to time series. In a general case, when this algorithm is applied over experimental results, also it would be required that the sought characteristic functions, required for this weighted smoothing method, should be obtained from a system with strong stability. If the sought signals are not perfectly clean, this method should be carefully applied

Snake Model Based on Improved Genetic Algorithm in Fingerprint Image Segmentation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingying Zhang

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Automatic fingerprint identification technology is a quite mature research field in biometric identification technology. As the preprocessing step in fingerprint identification, fingerprint segmentation can improve the accuracy of fingerprint feature extraction, and also reduce the time of fingerprint preprocessing, which has a great significance in improving the performance of the whole system. Based on the analysis of the commonly used methods of fingerprint segmentation, the existing segmentation algorithm is improved in this paper. The snake model is used to segment the fingerprint image. Additionally, it is improved by using the global optimization of the improved genetic algorithm. Experimental results show that the algorithm has obvious advantages both in the speed of image segmentation and in the segmentation effect.

Frontline health care can be improved by bringing research into the clinic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Steinhausen, Kirsten; Berghmans, Stephane; Højgaard, Liselotte

2011-01-01

Progress in clinical research has played a huge role in the great improvements in frontline health care achieved over the last 50 years, both in general practice and in hospitals.......Progress in clinical research has played a huge role in the great improvements in frontline health care achieved over the last 50 years, both in general practice and in hospitals....

Improved measurement results for the Avogadro constant using a 28Si-enriched crystal

Science.gov (United States)

Azuma, Y.; Barat, P.; Bartl, G.; Bettin, H.; Borys, M.; Busch, I.; Cibik, L.; D'Agostino, G.; Fujii, K.; Fujimoto, H.; Hioki, A.; Krumrey, M.; Kuetgens, U.; Kuramoto, N.; Mana, G.; Massa, E.; Meeß, R.; Mizushima, S.; Narukawa, T.; Nicolaus, A.; Pramann, A.; Rabb, S. A.; Rienitz, O.; Sasso, C.; Stock, M.; Vocke, R. D., Jr.; Waseda, A.; Wundrack, S.; Zakel, S.

2015-04-01

New results are reported from an ongoing international research effort to accurately determine the Avogadro constant by counting the atoms in an isotopically enriched silicon crystal. The surfaces of two 28Si-enriched spheres were decontaminated and reworked in order to produce an outer surface without metal contamination and improved sphericity. New measurements were then made on these two reconditioned spheres using improved methods and apparatuses. When combined with other recently refined parameter measurements, the Avogadro constant derived from these new results has a value of NA = 6.022 140 76(12) × 1023 mol-1. The x-ray crystal density method has thus achieved the target relative standard uncertainty of 2.0  ×  10-8 necessary for the realization of the definition of the new kilogram.

Great Lakes Research Review, 1982. Appendices.

Science.gov (United States)

1982-11-01

7D-i53 28 GREAT LAKES RESEARCH REVIEW 1982 PPENDICES (U) / PETROLEUM REFINERY PO INT SOURCE TASK FORCE WINDSOR (ONTARIO) NOV 82UNCLASSIFIED F/G 8...C7 U. 3 X 7 45 1 2 0. ODm C of. C.’ WC.’ L. LI 7 R-Ri53 62B GREAT LKES RESEARCH REVIEW 1982 PPENDICES (U) 2/3 PETROLEUM REFINERY POINT SOURCE TASK...NUMBER ORGANIZATION* TITLE OF PROJECT 001 A** 0300 ERL-D Acute and Early Life Stage Toxicity Testing of Priority Pollutant Chemicals 002 A 0302 ERL-D

Recent improvements in the calculation of prompt fission neutron spectra: Preliminary results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madland, D.G.; LaBauve, R.J.; Nix, J.R.

1989-01-01

We consider three topics in the refinement and improvement of our original calculations of prompt fission neutron spectra. These are an improved calculation of the prompt fission neutron spectrum N(E) from the spontaneous fission of 252 Cf, a complete calculation of the prompt fission neutron spectrum matrix N(E,E n ) from the neutron-induced fission of 235 U, at incident neutron energies ranging from 0 to 15 MeV, and an assessment of the scission neutron component of the prompt fission neutron spectrum. Preliminary results will be presented and compared with experimental measurements and an evaluation. A suggestion is made for new integral cross section measurements. (author). 45 refs, 12 figs, 1 tab

Prenatal Diagnosis of Dextrotransposition of the Great Arteries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeng-Hsiu Hung

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Dextrotransposition of the great arteries (DTGA is a common cardiac cause of cyanosis in newborn infants that can cause acidosis and death within a short period of time unless there is a large atrial-level shunt or a patent ductus arteriosus. Here, we report a case of prenatal diagnosis of DTGA at 24+1 gestational weeks. In a tilted 4-chamber view, the pulmonary trunk branched to the left and the right pulmonary, with its root connected to the left ventricle outflow tract. In the short-axis view, the pulmonary trunk was shown to be parallel with the ascending aortic root. Cesarean section was performed due to the nonreassuring fetal status at 38+5 gestational weeks. The male neonate appeared to have mild cyanotic symptoms and weighed 3,108 g. Apgar scores were 8 and 9 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively. Neonatal echocardiography was performed immediately after birth and the findings confirmed DTGA associated with atrial septal defect secundum. Postnatally, angiography confirmed the echocardiographic diagnosis of DTGA with a large atrial septal defect secundum and a large patent ductus arteriosus. Jatene arterial switch operation and atrial septal defect closure with Gore-Tex patch were performed. The neonate withstood the operation well and was discharged 27 days after birth weighing 2,950 g and in a stable condition. Prenatal diagnosis of DTGA can greatly aid to prepare the patient's family and the surgeon and significantly improve the outcome of complex heart disease in the neonatal period.

46 CFR 30.10-33 - Great Lakes-TB/L.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Great Lakes-TB/L. 30.10-33 Section 30.10-33 Shipping COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY TANK VESSELS GENERAL PROVISIONS Definitions § 30.10-33 Great Lakes—TB/L. Under this designation shall be included all tank vessels navigating the Great Lakes. ...

Environmental assessment for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program: Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Policastro, A.J.; Pfingston, J.M.; Maloney, D.M.; Wasmer, F.; Pentecost, E.D.

1992-03-01

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program is aimed at supplying improved predictive capability of climate change, particularly the prediction of cloud-climate feedback. The objective will be achieved by measuring the atmospheric radiation and physical and meteorological quantities that control solar radiation in the earth's atmosphere and using this information to test global climate and related models. The proposed action is to construct and operate a Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) research site in the southern Great Plains as part of the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program whose objective is to develop an improved predictive capability of global climate change. The purpose of this CART research site in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma would be to collect meteorological and other scientific information to better characterize the processes controlling radiation transfer on a global scale. Impacts which could result from this facility are described

Environmental assessment for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program: Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Policastro, A.J.; Pfingston, J.M.; Maloney, D.M.; Wasmer, F.; Pentecost, E.D.

1992-03-01

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program is aimed at supplying improved predictive capability of climate change, particularly the prediction of cloud-climate feedback. The objective will be achieved by measuring the atmospheric radiation and physical and meteorological quantities that control solar radiation in the earth`s atmosphere and using this information to test global climate and related models. The proposed action is to construct and operate a Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) research site in the southern Great Plains as part of the Department of Energy`s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program whose objective is to develop an improved predictive capability of global climate change. The purpose of this CART research site in southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma would be to collect meteorological and other scientific information to better characterize the processes controlling radiation transfer on a global scale. Impacts which could result from this facility are described.

Symptomatic improvement reported after receiving Reiki at a cancer infusion center.

Science.gov (United States)

Marcus, Dawn A; Blazek-O'Neill, Betsy; Kopar, Jennifer L

2013-03-01

To evaluate patient-perceived benefits from receiving Reiki at a cancer infusion center. During a 6-month period, adults at a university hospital receiving Reiki through volunteer services were invited to complete a survey asking about perceived changes after Reiki. Changes in pain, mood, distress, sleep, and appetite were rated on a 5-point scale from no benefit to great benefit. Surveys were distributed after completing treatment and were returned in postage-paid envelops. A total of 145 surveys were completed (34.5% response rate), with 47 participants seen in the cancer infusion center and 98 in other areas of the hospital. Reiki was rated as a positive experience by 94% at the cancer center and 93% of others, with 92% at the cancer center and 86% of others interested in receiving additional Reiki sessions. Symptomatic improvement was similar for people at the cancer center and others, respectively, with much to great improvement for 89% and 86% for relaxation, 75% and 75% for anxiety/worry, 81% and 78% for improved mood, 43% and 35% for improved sleep, 45% and 49% for reduced pain, 38% and 43% for reduced isolation/loneliness, 75% and 63% for improved attitude, and 30% and 30% for improved appetite. Response was unaffected by previous exposure to Reiki, massage, or other touch therapy. Reiki results in a broad range of symptomatic benefits, including improvements in common cancer-related symptoms.

New pulsating casing collar to improve cementing quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, P. [Southwest Petroleum Inst., Nanchong, Sichuan (China); He, K. [JiangHan Petroleum Administration Bureau, Qianjiang, Hubei (China); Wu, J. [Chevron Petroleum Tech. Co., Houston, TX (United States)

1998-12-31

This paper presents the design and test results of a new pulsating casing collar which improves cementing quality. The new pulsating casing collar (PCC) is designed according to the Helmholtz oscillator to generate a pulsating jet flow by self-excitation in the cementing process. By placing this new pulsating casing collar at the bottom of casing string, the generated pulsating jet flow transmits vibrating pressure waves up through the annulus and helps remove drilling mud in the annulus. It can therefore improve cementing quality, especially when eccentric annulus exists due to casing eccentricity where the mud is difficult to remove. The new pulsating casing collar consists of a top nozzle, a resonant chamber, and a bottom nozzle. It can be manufactured easily and is easy to use in the field. It has been tested in Jianghan oil-field, P.R. China. The field-test results support the theoretical analysis and laboratory test, and the cementing quality is shown greatly improved by using the new pulsating casing collar.

Emergency operating procedure upgrade program and audit results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Graham, P.D.

1989-01-01

This paper describes the method and results of upgrading the River Bend station boiling water reactor 6 emergency operating procedures (EOPs). The upgrade program replaced difficult-to-implement narrative procedures with well-developed flowcharts. The flowcharts eliminate a number of human factors problems, are user friendly, provide for easy implementation, and provide technical information in a clear, concise format. Positive results were seen immediately. The operating crews found the flowcharts to be clear, understandable, and usable. Simulator training and EOP implementation became something that the operators no longer dreaded, and their confidence in their ability to control emergency situations was greatly improved. The paper provides a summary of the EOP upgrade program

Professor Witold Nowicki - a greatly spirited pathologist.

Science.gov (United States)

Wincewicz, A; Szepietowska, A; Sulkowski, S

2016-06-01

This paper presents a complete overview of the scientific, professional and social activity of a great Polish pathologist, Witold Nowicki (1878-1941), from mainly Polish-written, original sources with a major impact on mostly his own publications. The biographical commemoration of this eminent professor is not only due to the fact that he provided a profound microscopic characterization of pneumatosis cystoides in 1909 and 1924. Nowicki greatly influenced the development of anatomical pathology in Poland, having authored over 82 publications, with special reference to tuberculosis, lung cancer, sarcomatous carcinomas, scleroma and others. However, the first of all his merits for the readership of Polish pathologists was his textbook titled Anatomical Pathology, which was a basic pathology manual in pre-war Poland. Witold Nowicki - as the head of the academic pathological anatomy department and former dean of the medical faculty - was shot with other professors by Nazi Germans in the Wuleckie hills in Lvov during World War Two. Professor Nowicki was described as being "small in size but great in spirit" by one of his associates, and remains an outstanding example of a meticulous pathologist, a patient tutor and a great social activist to follow.

Wind Regimes in Complex Terrain of the Great Valley of Eastern Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Birdwell, Kevin R. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2011-05-01

This research was designed to provide an understanding of physical wind mechanisms within the complex terrain of the Great Valley of Eastern Tennessee to assess the impacts of regional air flow with regard to synoptic and mesoscale weather changes, wind direction shifts, and air quality. Meteorological data from 2008 2009 were analyzed from 13 meteorological sites along with associated upper level data. Up to 15 ancillary sites were used for reference. Two-step complete linkage and K-means cluster analyses, synoptic weather studies, and ambient meteorological comparisons were performed to generate hourly wind classifications. These wind regimes revealed seasonal variations of underlying physical wind mechanisms (forced channeled, vertically coupled, pressure-driven, and thermally-driven winds). Synoptic and ambient meteorological analysis (mixing depth, pressure gradient, pressure gradient ratio, atmospheric and surface stability) suggested up to 93% accuracy for the clustered results. Probabilistic prediction schemes of wind flow and wind class change were developed through characterization of flow change data and wind class succession. Data analysis revealed that wind flow in the Great Valley was dominated by forced channeled winds (45 67%) and vertically coupled flow (22 38%). Down-valley pressure-driven and thermally-driven winds also played significant roles (0 17% and 2 20%, respectively), usually accompanied by convergent wind patterns (15 20%) and large wind direction shifts, especially in the Central/Upper Great Valley. The behavior of most wind regimes was associated with detectable pressure differences between the Lower and Upper Great Valley. Mixing depth and synoptic pressure gradients were significant contributors to wind pattern behavior. Up to 15 wind classes and 10 sub-classes were identified in the Central Great Valley with 67 joined classes for the Great Valley at-large. Two-thirds of Great Valley at-large flow was defined by 12 classes. Winds

Online Student Evaluation Improves Course Experience Questionnaire Results in a Physiotherapy Program

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Beatrice; Jones, Sue; Straker, Leon

2008-01-01

This paper reports the use of an online student evaluation system, Course Experience on the Web (CEW), in a physiotherapy program to improve their Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) results. CEW comprises a course survey instrument modeled on the CEQ and a tailored unit survey instrument. Closure of the feedback loop is integral in the CEW…

Three-year follow-up and quality of life of endovenous radiofrequency ablation of the great saphenous vein with the ClosureFast™ procedure: Influence of BMI and CEAP class.

Science.gov (United States)

Casana, Renato; Tolva, Valerio Stefano; Odero, Andrea; Malloggi, Chiara; Parati, Gianfranco

2018-01-01

Purpose Endovascular ablation of the great saphenous vein has been proposed as a less invasive alternative to conventional ligation and stripping of varicose veins. Outcomes of patients treated with the radiofrequency ablation ClosureFast™ system over an eight-year period from a single-center were evaluated. Methods Three-year follow-up data included duplex ultrasound scan, complication rate, and questionnaires to assess patients' QOL, level of pain, and days off work. Results A total of 1080 consecutive patients (49.5 ± 18.6 years, 72% female, mean body mass index: 25.44 ± 4.1 kg m -2 ) underwent radiofrequency ablation for incompetent saphenous veins in a single institution. Occlusion of the great saphenous vein was obtained in 98.6% and 93.8% cases at the end of the procedures and within 36 months, respectively. Only three deep venous thromboses and minor complications occurred in this series throughout the first week from the procedure. A decrease of the external vein diameter, equal to 72.7% and 31.1% of the pretreatment diameter, was observed at 1 week and 36 months, respectively. The average Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire score improved from 18.06 ± 9.47 before treatment to 11.56 ± 10.23 at 12 months, with no significant differences in the subsequent follow-up. SF-36 QOL scores significantly improved after the procedure in all domains, while there were no changes over time. Patients reported a prompt return to normal daily activities (1.5 ± 0.7 days) and work (3.1 ± 1.9 days). Body mass index influenced QOL scores, while it did not affect great saphenous vein diameter reduction during the follow-up. On the contrary, Clinical Etiologic Anatomic Pathophysiologic class significantly influenced both great saphenous vein diameter reduction after the treatment and QOL scores within 36 months. Conclusion Results of this retrospective monocentric, large patients study suggest that radiofrequency ablation of the great

Survival and health in liveborn infants with transposition of great arteries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garne, Ester; Loane, Maria A; Nelen, Vera

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To describe treatment, survival, and morbidity for liveborn infants with isolated transposition of great arteries (TGA). DESIGN: Population-based data from 7 European registries of congenital malformations (EUROCAT). RESULTS: Ninety-seven infants were diagnosed with isolated TGA...

Improving the Combat Edge Through Outsourcing

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kaminski, Paul

1996-01-01

It's a great pleasure to be with you and share my views on how the Department of Defense plans to take advantage of outsourcing and competition to improve readiness, generate savings for modernization...

78 FR 5474 - Great Lakes Pilotage Advisory Committee

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-25

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Coast Guard [USCG-2013-0029] Great Lakes Pilotage Advisory... Meeting. SUMMARY: The Great Lakes Pilotage Advisory Committee (GLPAC) will meet on February 11, 2013, in..., 2013, after the committee completes its work on the agenda given under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION...

Early Results from NICER Observations of Accreting Neutron Stars

Science.gov (United States)

Chakrabarty, Deepto; Ozel, Feryal; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Gendreau, Keith C.; Bult, Peter; Cackett, Ed; Chenevez, Jerome; Fabian, Andy; Guillot, Sebastien; Guver, Tolga; Homan, Jeroen; Keek, Laurens; Lamb, Frederick; Ludlam, Renee; Mahmoodifar, Simin; Markwardt, Craig B.; Miller, Jon M.; Psaltis, Dimitrios; Strohmayer, Tod E.; Wilson-Hodge, Colleen A.; Wolff, Michael T.

2018-01-01

The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) offers significant new capabilities for the study of accreting neuton stars relative to previous X-ray missions including large effective area, low background, and greatly improved low-energy response. The NICER Burst and Accretion Working Group has designed a 2 Ms observation program to study a number of phenomena in accreting neutron stars including type-I X-ray bursts, superbursts, accretion-powered pulsations, quasi-periodic oscillations, and accretion disk reflection spectra. We present some early results from the first six months of the NICER mission.

Symptomatic improvement in uterine myomas after MRgFUS: 4 year follow up

Science.gov (United States)

Funaki, Kaoru; Fukunishi, Hidenobu

2011-09-01

Objective: To assess the long-term improvement in symptoms after magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) for uterine myomas. Methods: Japanese women with symptomatic myomas underwent MRgFUS using the ExAblate 2000 system. The symptom severity score (SSS) was examined before and after the treatment at 3, 6, 12, 24, and 48 months. Simultaneously, we asked the patients' satisfaction level regarding the overall change of subjective symptoms: symptom free, improved a great deal, improved to some extent, no change, or worsened. The myoma volumes were measured at 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 months after MRgFUS. Results: No severe adverse event occurred with any of the patients. The mean SSS value before treatment was 38.3±21.5 (n = 106), which diminished significantly during follow-up for 3-48 months after treatment. Patients' satisfaction level was favorable, although the response rate was low. Over 80% of the patients replied that their symptoms were improved to at least some extent, and over 50% of the patients replied that their symptoms were improved a great deal. This trend continued throughout this follow up period. The mean myoma volume was also decreased from the pretreatment volume in this follow up period. Conclusion: MRgFUS is an effective and safe method for treating symptomatic uterine myomas. Long-term symptomatic improvement is promising.

Compilation of watershed models for tributaries to the Great Lakes, United States, as of 2010, and identification of watersheds for future modeling for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Coon, William F.; Murphy, Elizabeth A.; Soong, David T.; Sharpe, Jennifer B.

2011-01-01

developed by the National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. During 2010, the USGS used the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS) to create a hydrologic model for the Lake Michigan Basin to assess the probable effects of climate change on future groundwater and surface-water resources. The Water Availability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) model and the Analysis of Flows In Networks of CHannels (AFINCH) program also were used to support USGS GLRI projects that required estimates of streamflows throughout the Great Lakes Basin. This information on existing watershed models, along with an assessment of geologic, soils, and land-use data across the Great Lakes Basin and the identification of problems that exist in selected tributary watersheds that could be addressed by a watershed model, was used to identify three watersheds in the Great Lakes Basin for future modeling by the USGS. These watersheds are the Kalamazoo River Basin in Michigan, the Tonawanda Creek Basin in New York, and the Bad River Basin in Wisconsin. These candidate watersheds have hydrogeologic, land-type, and soil characteristics that make them distinct from each other, but that are representative of other tributary watersheds within the Great Lakes Basin. These similarities in the characteristics among nearby watersheds will enhance the usefulness of a model by improving the likelihood that parameter values from a previously modeled watershed could reliably be used in the creation of a model of another watershed in the same region. The software program Hydrological Simulation Program–Fortran (HSPF) was selected to simulate the hydrologic, sedimentary, and water-quality processes in these selected watersheds. HSPF is a versatile, process-based, continuous-simulation model that has been used extensively by the scientific community, has the ongoing technical support of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and USGS, and provides a means to evaluate the

The superomedial thigh flap in scrotal reconstruction: Technical steps to improve cosmetic results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayat Allah Oufkir

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The superomedial thigh flap is a reliable and easy method for scrotal reconstruction described in 1980 and infrequently reported in the literature since its description. We used it for four patients presenting scrotal defects after Fournier′s gangrene with some technical modifications to improve the esthetic results and to facilitate the closure of the donor area. We describe the technical steps and the results.

Arthroscopy of the great toe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Frey, C.; van Dijk, C. N.

1999-01-01

The few available reports of arthroscopic treatment of the first MTP joint in the literature indicate favorable outcome. However, arthroscopy of the great toe is an advanced technique and should only be undertaken by experienced surgeons

Wetland Plants of Great Salt Lake, A Guide to Identification, Communities, & Bird Habitat

OpenAIRE

Downard, Rebekah; Frank, Maureen; Perkins, Jennifer; Kettenring, Karin; Larese-Casanova, Mark

2017-01-01

Wetland Plants of Great Salt Lake: a guide to identification, communities, & bird habitat is a wetland plant identification guide, resulting from collaborative research efforts about Great Salt Lake (GSL) wetland conditions and bird habitat. Dr. Rebekah Downard collected dissertation field data from GSL wetlands during 2012–2015, the majority of which informed this work. Dr. Maureen Frank contributed her guide to GSL wetland vegetation and how to manage native plants as high-quality habitat f...

Improvement of Parallel Algorithm for MATRA Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Seong-Jin; Seo, Kyong-Won; Kwon, Hyouk; Hwang, Dae-Hyun

2014-01-01

The feasibility study to parallelize the MATRA code was conducted in KAERI early this year. As a result, a parallel algorithm for the MATRA code has been developed to decrease a considerably required computing time to solve a bigsize problem such as a whole core pin-by-pin problem of a general PWR reactor and to improve an overall performance of the multi-physics coupling calculations. It was shown that the performance of the MATRA code was greatly improved by implementing the parallel algorithm using MPI communication. For problems of a 1/8 core and whole core for SMART reactor, a speedup was evaluated as about 10 when the numbers of used processor were 25. However, it was also shown that the performance deteriorated as the axial node number increased. In this paper, the procedure of a communication between processors is optimized to improve the previous parallel algorithm.. To improve the performance deterioration of the parallelized MATRA code, the communication algorithm between processors was newly presented. It was shown that the speedup was improved and stable regardless of the axial node number

Improved Power System of the Future

OpenAIRE

Rabinowitz, Mario

2003-01-01

This paper is intended to provide an insight into physics and engineering that can modernize electric power systems. Topics covered are Flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS), Custom Power, Greatly improved Capacitors, Electrical Insulation, Distribution Cables, Improved Polymeric Insulation, Underground Vault Explosions, Fault Location, Smart Cables, Neutral and Ground, Corrosion and Protection, Conventional Transformers, Compact Transformers, Ferroresonance, and Solid State Transformers.

Improved Method of Detection Falsification Results the Digital Image in Conditions of Attacks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kobozeva A.A.

2016-08-01

Full Text Available The modern level of information technologies development has led to unheard ease embodiments hitherto unauthorized modifications of digital content. At the moment, very important question is the effective expert examination of authenticity of digital images, video, audio, development of the methods for identification and localization of violations of their integrity using these contents for purposes other than entertainment. Present paper deals with the improvement of the detection method of the cloning results in digital images - one of the most frequently used in the software tools falsification realized in all modern graphics editors. The method is intended for clone detection areas and pre-image in terms of additional disturbing influences in the image after the cloning operation for "masking" of the results, which complicates the search process. The improvement is aimed at reducing the number of "false alarms", when the area of the clone / pre-image detected in the original image or the localization of the identified areas do not correspond to the real clone and pre-image. The proposed improvement, based on analysis of different sizes per-pixel image blocks with the least difference from each other, has made it possible efficient functioning of the method, regardless of the specificity of the analyzed digital image.

The Great California ShakeOut: Science-Based Preparedness Advocacy

Science.gov (United States)

Benthien, M. L.

2009-12-01

The Great Southern California ShakeOut in November 2008 was the largest earthquake drill in U.S. history, involving over 5 million southern Californians through a broad-based outreach program, media partnerships, and public advocacy by hundreds of partners. The basis of the drill was a comprehensive scenario for a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the southern San Andreas fault, which would cause broad devastation. In early 2009 the decision was made to hold the drill statewide on the third Thursday of October each year (October 15 in 2009). Results of the 2008 and 2009 drills will be shared in this session. In addition, prospects of early warning systems will be described, that will one day provide the needed seconds before strong shaking arrives in which critical systems and be shut down, and people can do what they've been practicing in the ShakeOut drills: drop, cover, and hold on. A key aspect of the ShakeOut is the integration of a comprehensive earthquake scenario (incorporating earth science, engineering, policy, economics, public health, and other disciplines) and the lessons learned from decades of social science research about why people get prepared. The result is a “teachable moment” on par with having an actual earthquake (often followed by increased interest in getting ready for earthquakes). ShakeOut creates the sense of urgency that is needed for people, organizations, and communities to get prepared, to practice what to do to be safe, and to learn what plans need to be improved.

The Great Kanto earthquake and F. Scott Fitzgerald

Science.gov (United States)

Kawakatsu, Hitoshi; Bina, Craig R.

How many recall the following striking sentence from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which appears on the second page of the novel, where Fitzgerald first introduces Gatsby? “If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away.”This line may have failed to focus our attention when we first read the book in our younger days. Now, however, as a Japanese seismologist and an American geophysicist (and student of Japanese culture), we would be greatly remiss for failing to take greater note of this statement. Indeed, as The Great Gatsby was published in 1925, it occurred to us that the earthquake Fitzgerald might have been thinking of was the Great Kanto earthquake, which occurred on September 1, 1923 and devastated the Tokyo metropolitan area.

What Caused the Great Recession?

OpenAIRE

Homburg, Stefan

2014-01-01

This paper examines five possible explanations for the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009, using data for the United States and the eurozone. Of these five hypotheses, four are not supported by the data, while the fifth appears reasonable.

River basin management and estuarine needs: the Great Brak case study

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Huizinga, P

1995-01-01

Full Text Available The study of the effect of the Wolwedans Dam on the Great Brak Estuary and the development of the management plan to maintain a healthy environment yielded many interesting results. The general conclusion is that developments in a catchment...

An Innovative Approach to Effective Climate Science Application through Stakeholder Participation in Great Plains Grasslands

Science.gov (United States)

Athearn, N.; Broska, J.

2015-12-01

For natural resource managers and other Great Plains stakeholders, climate uncertainties further confound decision-making on a highly altered landscape. Partner organizations comprising the Great Plains Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GPLCC) acknowledge climate change as a high-priority threat to grasslands and associated habitats, affecting water availability, species composition, and other factors. Despite its importance, incorporation of climate change impacts into planning is hindered by high uncertainty and lack of translation to a tangible outcome: effects on species and their habitats. In 2014, the GPLCC initiated a Landscape Conservation Design (LCD) process to ultimately improve the size and connectivity of grasslands - informing land managers of the landscape-scale impacts of local decisions about where to restore, enhance, protect, and develop lands. Defining this goal helped stakeholders envision a tangible product. High resolution land cover data recently completed for Texas and Oklahoma represent current grassland locations. By focusing climate change models to project changes in these land cover datasets, resulting land cover projections can be directly incorporated into LCD-based models to focus restoration where future climates will support grasslands. Broad organizational cooperation has been critical for this USGS-led project, which uses downscaled climate data and other support from the South Central Climate Science Center Consortium and builds on existing work including LCD efforts of the Playa Lakes Joint Venture and the Bureau of Land Management's Southern Great Plains Rapid Ecological Assessment. Ongoing stakeholder guidance through an advisory team ensures effective application of a product that will be both relevant to and understood by decision makers, for whom the primary role of research is to reduce uncertainties and clear the path for more efficient decision-making in the face of climatic uncertainty.

Fuel improvement and WWER-1000 FA main operational results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rozhkov, V.; Enin, A.; Bezborodov, Y.; Petrov, V.

2003-01-01

The JSC NCCP experience of WWER-1000 Fuel Assemblies (FAs) fabrication and operation confirms the adequate feasibility and efficiency of fuel operation in 3-4-x fuel cycles, high operating reliability and competitive capacity as compared with foreign analogues. The work on fuel improvement is aimed at an improvement of the operating reliability and an enhancement of the fuel use efficiency in WWER-1000 advanced FAs

Complete exon sequencing of all known Usher syndrome genes greatly improves molecular diagnosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonnet, Crystel; Grati, M'hamed; Marlin, Sandrine; Levilliers, Jacqueline; Hardelin, Jean-Pierre; Parodi, Marine; Niasme-Grare, Magali; Zelenika, Diana; Délépine, Marc; Feldmann, Delphine; Jonard, Laurence; El-Amraoui, Aziz; Weil, Dominique; Delobel, Bruno; Vincent, Christophe; Dollfus, Hélène; Eliot, Marie-Madeleine; David, Albert; Calais, Catherine; Vigneron, Jacqueline; Montaut-Verient, Bettina; Bonneau, Dominique; Dubin, Jacques; Thauvin, Christel; Duvillard, Alain; Francannet, Christine; Mom, Thierry; Lacombe, Didier; Duriez, Françoise; Drouin-Garraud, Valérie; Thuillier-Obstoy, Marie-Françoise; Sigaudy, Sabine; Frances, Anne-Marie; Collignon, Patrick; Challe, Georges; Couderc, Rémy; Lathrop, Mark; Sahel, José-Alain; Weissenbach, Jean; Petit, Christine; Denoyelle, Françoise

2011-05-11

Usher syndrome (USH) combines sensorineural deafness with blindness. It is inherited in an autosomal recessive mode. Early diagnosis is critical for adapted educational and patient management choices, and for genetic counseling. To date, nine causative genes have been identified for the three clinical subtypes (USH1, USH2 and USH3). Current diagnostic strategies make use of a genotyping microarray that is based on the previously reported mutations. The purpose of this study was to design a more accurate molecular diagnosis tool. We sequenced the 366 coding exons and flanking regions of the nine known USH genes, in 54 USH patients (27 USH1, 21 USH2 and 6 USH3). Biallelic mutations were detected in 39 patients (72%) and monoallelic mutations in an additional 10 patients (18.5%). In addition to biallelic mutations in one of the USH genes, presumably pathogenic mutations in another USH gene were detected in seven patients (13%), and another patient carried monoallelic mutations in three different USH genes. Notably, none of the USH3 patients carried detectable mutations in the only known USH3 gene, whereas they all carried mutations in USH2 genes. Most importantly, the currently used microarray would have detected only 30 of the 81 different mutations that we found, of which 39 (48%) were novel. Based on these results, complete exon sequencing of the currently known USH genes stands as a definite improvement for molecular diagnosis of this disease, which is of utmost importance in the perspective of gene therapy.

Ambient Response Analysis of the Great Belt Bridge

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brincker, Rune; Frandsen, Jeanette B.; Andersen, Palle

2000-01-01

In this paper an ambient response analysis of the Great Belt Bridge is presented. The Great Belt Bridge is one of the largest suspension bridges in the world, and the analysis was carried out in order to investigate the possibilities of estimating reliable damping values from the ambient response...

Adaptation to electricity crisis: Businesses in the 2011 Great East Japan triple disaster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fujimi, Toshio; Chang, Stephanie E.

2014-01-01

Electricity crises can spur improvements in electricity conservation that would be unachievable under normal circumstances. This paper investigates how businesses adapted to electricity shortages following the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. In summer 2011, mandatory and voluntary electricity conservation measures affected nearly all of Japan, and peak hour electricity consumption was reduced by a remarkable 18% in the Tokyo region. Using statistical data from 14 business surveys conducted in 2011 and 2012, this paper identifies patterns with regard to type of adaptation, conservation requirements, economic sector, and timeframe. Results indicate that behavioral adaptations (e.g., reduction of illumination or air conditioning) were much more common than schedule adaptations (e.g., shifting production times) or hardware adaptations (e.g., installing energy-efficient devices or private generators). Adaptation patterns were very similar between mandatory and voluntary conservation areas. Manufacturing companies were more likely to implement schedule adaptations than other companies. Certain types of adaptations persisted into 2012, especially reduction of illumination and air conditioning, and installation of energy-efficient devices. These insights may be useful for informing electricity conservation policies in non-crisis contexts. - Highlights: • The electricity crisis due to the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake led the private sector to curtail electricity use substantially. • Behavioral adaptations such as reducing illumination and air conditioning were by far the most common responses. • Manufacturing companies were more likely to implement schedule adaptations than other companies. • Certain types of adaptations persisted for over a year, especially illumination and air-conditioning reduction, and energy-efficient device installation

Feeding and energetics of the great scallop, Pecten maximus, through a DEB model

Science.gov (United States)

Lavaud, Romain; Flye-Sainte-Marie, Jonathan; Jean, Fred; Emmery, Antoine; Strand, Øivind; Kooijman, Sebastiaan A. L. M.

2014-11-01

We developed a full life-cycle bioenergetic model for the great scallop Pecten maximus relying on the concepts of the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory. The covariation method was implemented to estimate the parameters of a standard DEB model. Such models are able to predict various metabolic processes from a food availability marker and temperature in the environment. However, suspension-feeders are likely to feed on various trophic sources, from microalgae cells to detritus. They are also able to sort and select food particles very efficiently, depending on their size, energetic value or quality. The present model includes a mechanistic description of the feeding processes, based on Kooijman's Synthesizing Unit principle which allows to deal with several food sources. Moreover we tested the hypothesis of a differential selectivity between two potential substrates (phytoplankton cell and the remaining particulate organic matter). Simulations of shell length, daily shell growth rate, dry weight and gonado-somatic index (GSI) variations were realized and compared to field data from a monitoring conducted in the Bay of Brest (Brittany, France) for six years. The model shows its capacity to efficiently reproduce all life history traits of the wild great scallops. Predicted length data were estimated to the nearest millimeter. The fit of simulated weights to observed data was very satisfactory. GSI predictions were also in accordance with observations but improvements are required to better capture the sharp increase of gametogenesis at the beginning of the year. Finally, results bring evidences that P. maximus is actually preferentially feed on living algae cells rather than on the rest of organic particles.

A historical perspective of the effect of the great recession on hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Shortt, Janet

2014-08-01

At 18 months, the Great Recession of December 2007 to June 2009 is the longest recession since World War II. The recession led to soaring unemployment, resulting in loss of employment-based health insurance for millions of people. In addition to seeing increases in uninsured patients, hospitals experienced losses in their investment portfolios, which in turn increased bad debt, charity care, and uncompensated care nationwide. Hospital executives began to devise cost-cutting strategies to balance the rising debt, such as standardizing medical equipment, cutting staff positions, and delaying construction projects and capital expenditures as well as implementing value analysis strategies. The recession is officially over, and, although economic recovery has been slow and unemployment continues to be an issue, hospitals' net revenue started improving as of 2009 and hospital construction started increasing in 2010. Still, caution is warranted in the postrecession climate, because it is unknown what effects will be seen when the Baby Boomer generation begins using Medicare. Copyright © 2014 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Using an energy management strategy to drive improved business results and improve manufacturing operations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leroux, Marc

2010-09-15

Energy typically represents the single largest controllable cost in manufacturing, and is under constant scrutiny by all levels of management. In this paper we will examine the role and components of an energy management strategy, and focus on the benefits of looking at the strategy from a business perspective. We will then examine the role that an effective program, either existing or new, can play in a collaborative manufacturing environment, and how these improvements can reduce energy requirements while maintaining, or improving productivity.

ECG movement artefacts can be greatly reduced with the aid of a movement absorbing device

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrison, Adrian Paul; Wandall, Kirsten; Thorball, Jørgen

2007-01-01

Accurate ECG signal analysis can be confounded by electric lead, and/or electrode movements varying in origin from, for example, hiccups, tremor or patient restlessness. ECG signals recorded using either a conventional electrode holder or with the aid of an electrode holder capable of absorbing...... movement artefacts, were measured on a healthy human subject. Results show a greatly improved stability of the ECG signal recorded using an electrode holder capable of absorbing movement artefacts during periods of lead disturbance, and highlight the movement artefacts that develop when the recording lead...... of a conventional ECG electrode holder is tugged or pulled during theperiod of monitoring. It is concluded that the new design of ECG electrode holder will not only enable clearer signal recordings for clinical assessment, but will reduce the ECG artefacts associated with the transportation of patients, and may...

The Great Plains IDEA Gerontology Program: An Online, Interinstitutional Graduate Degree

Science.gov (United States)

Sanders, Gregory F.

2011-01-01

The Great-Plains IDEA Gerontology Program is a graduate program developed and implemented by the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance (Great Plains IDEA). The Great Plains IDEA (Alliance) originated as a consortium of Colleges of Human Sciences ranging across the central United States. This Alliance's accomplishments have included…

The Great Depression: An ERIC/ChESS Sample.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulczak, Carrie

2001-01-01

Provides citations with abstracts from the ERIC database focusing on the Great Depression. Includes both background information and teaching materials on such topics as an overview of the New Deal, the arts and the Great Depression, and information on the Civilian Conservation Corps. Offers directions for accessing the materials. (CMK)

Encapsulation of β-carotene within ferritin nanocages greatly increases its water-solubility and thermal stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Lingli; Bai, Guangling; Yang, Rui; Zang, Jiachen; Zhou, Ting; Zhao, Guanghua

2014-04-15

Carotenoids may play a number of potential health benefits for human. However, their use in food industry is limited mostly because of their poor water-solubility and low thermal stability. Ferritins are widely distributed in nature with a shell-like structure which offers a great opportunity to improve the water-solubility and thermal stability of the carotenoids by encapsulation. In this work, recombinant human H-chain ferritin (rHuHF) was prepared and used to encapsulate β-carotene, a typical compound among carotenoids, by taking advantage of the reversible dissociation and reassembly characteristic of apoferritin in different pH environments. Results from high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), UV/Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope (TEM) indicated that β-carotene molecules were successfully encapsulated within protein cages with a β-carotene/protein molar ratio of 12.4-1. Upon such encapsulation, these β-carotene-containing apoferritin nanocomposites were water-soluble. Interestingly, the thermal stability of the β-carotene encapsulated within apoferritin nanocages was markedly improved as compared to free β-carotene. These new properties might be favourable to the utilisation of β-carotene in food industry. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Qinshan CANDU NPP outage performance improvement through benchmarking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang Fuming

2005-01-01

With the increasingly fierce competition in the deregulated Energy Market, the optimization of outage duration has become one of the focal points for the Nuclear Power Plant owners around the world. People are seeking various ways to shorten the outage duration of NPP. Great efforts have been made in the Light Water Reactor (LWR) family with the concept of benchmarking and evaluation, which great reduced the outage duration and improved outage performance. The average capacity factor of LWRs has been greatly improved over the last three decades, which now is close to 90%. CANDU (Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor) stations, with its unique feature of on power refueling, of nuclear fuel remaining in the reactor all through the planned outage, have given raise to more stringent safety requirements during planned outage. In addition, the above feature gives more variations to the critical path of planned outage in different station. In order to benchmarking again the best practices in the CANDU stations, Third Qinshan Nuclear Power Company (TQNPC) have initiated the benchmarking program among the CANDU stations aiming to standardize the outage maintenance windows and optimize the outage duration. The initial benchmarking has resulted the optimization of outage duration in Qinshan CANDU NPP and the formulation of its first long-term outage plan. This paper describes the benchmarking works that have been proven to be useful for optimizing outage duration in Qinshan CANDU NPP, and the vision of further optimize the duration with joint effort from the CANDU community. (authors)

Understanding Great Earthquakes in Japan's Kanto Region

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Reiji; Curewitz, Daniel

2008-10-01

Third International Workshop on the Kanto Asperity Project; Chiba, Japan, 16-19 February 2008; The 1703 (Genroku) and 1923 (Taisho) earthquakes in Japan's Kanto region (M 8.2 and M 7.9, respectively) caused severe damage in the Tokyo metropolitan area. These great earthquakes occurred along the Sagami Trough, where the Philippine Sea slab is subducting beneath Japan. Historical records, paleoseismological research, and geophysical/geodetic monitoring in the region indicate that such great earthquakes will repeat in the future.

Venetian Diplomacy and the Great Horde in the 1470’s.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V.P. Gulevich

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate Republic of San Marco’s attempts to engage the Great Horde Tatars in war against the Ottoman Empire and find out their consequences. Research materials: The research based on archive documents published in Venice, the Annals of Jan Długosz, the chronicles of the Northeast Russia, as well as Turkish-Horde diplomatic correspondence materials. Results and scientific novelty: After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the trading posts of Venice, in the Black and Azov seas were under the greatest threat. They had not enough forces in Venice for the war with the Ottomans. The Venetian Senate was constantly searching for allies to create an anti-Ottoman coalition. In addition to European countries, Venice saw the Ak-Koyunlu and the Great Horde among them. Drawing the Polish Kingdom into the war failed, and the Ak-Koynulu was defeated by the Turks. In this connection, the Venetian Senate paid particular attention to the Great Horde. But many objective factors prevented the successful implementation of Venetian plans, such as: the distance from the Great Horde to Venice and the Balkans, the reluctance of the Polish king Casimir IV giving a way to the Great Horde Tatars through his land, suspicion of the Moscow ruler Ivan III, and the Venetians erroneous assessment of Ahmad Khan’s desires and possibilities. The situation was complicated for the Venetians by the rapidly changing setting in the northern Black Sea region due to the Ottoman wars in the mid–1470’s against the Moldavian principality, their seizure of southern coast of the Crimea and the subordination of the Crimean Khanate. Ahmad Khan’s ambassadors’ arrival in Venice was unable to accelerate the implementation of the Venetian Senate plans. Furthermore, in the 1470’s, Ottoman diplomacy did not leave without attention the northern Black Sea region and after a long break regained embassies exchange with the Great Horde. Venetian diplomats’ reinforced

A QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT APPLICATION IN IMPROVING LIBRARY SERVISES: THE CASE OF DUZCE UNIVERSITY CENTRAL LIBRARY

OpenAIRE

ÜNAL, Aslıhan; YILDIZ, Mehmet Selami

2017-01-01

University libraries have a great importance in accessing information fortheir intermediary role. In today’s world, developments in various areas leadsto new user needs and expectations. Libraries are obliged to improve currentservices and to adapt new developments. The purpose of this research is tocontribute to the improvement of the library services of Duzce University -astate university, was founded in 2006- by following Quality Function Deploymentmethodology. As a result of the research ...

Using Music to Teach about the Great Depression

Science.gov (United States)

Stevens, Robert L.; Fogel, Jared A.

2007-01-01

The Great Depression is typically taught through history textbooks, but the music of this time allows students to learn about this era through different perspectives. The Great Depression witnessed many musical styles--from the light heartedness of popular music to the sadness of the blues, gospel, which offered inspiration, to the tension between…

Regional Personality Differences in Great Britain

Science.gov (United States)

Rentfrow, Peter J.; Jokela, Markus; Lamb, Michael E.

2015-01-01

Recent investigations indicate that personality traits are unevenly distributed geographically, with some traits being more prevalent in certain places than in others. The geographical distributions of personality traits are associated with a range of important political, economic, social, and health outcomes. The majority of research on this subject has focused on the geographical distributions and macro-level correlates of personality across nations or regions of the United States. The aim of the present investigation was to replicate and extend that past work by examining regional personality differences in Great Britain. Using a sample of nearly 400,000 British residents, we mapped the geographical distributions of the Big Five Personality traits across 380 Local Authority Districts and examined the associations with important political, economic, social, and health outcomes. The results revealed distinct geographical clusters, with neighboring regions displaying similar personality characteristics, and robust associations with the macro-level outcome variables. Overall, the patterns of results were similar to findings from past research. PMID:25803819

Child Poverty and the Great Recession in the United States

OpenAIRE

Marianne Bitler; Hilary Hoynes; Elira Kuka

2014-01-01

In the midst of the Great Recession, median real household income fell from $61,597 in 2007 to $57,025 in 2010 and $51,007 in 2012. Given that the effects of the Great Recession on unemployment were greater for less skilled workers the authors expect the effects of the Great Recession on household incomes to be larger in relative terms for individuals in the lower end of the income distribution. To explore this issue, in this paper, they comprehensively examine the effects of the Great Recess...

Leiomyosarcoma of the great saphenous vein

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandre Campos Moraes Amato

2015-06-01

Full Text Available A 56-year-old male patient presented with a complaint of two painful, hard, palpable nodules in the right lower limb. A Doppler ultrasound scan revealed the presence of nodules, likely to be neoplastic. Computed angiography showed two solid hypervascular nodules in the right great saphenous vein, fed by branches of the posterior tibial artery. Embolization of the nodules using surgical cyanoacrylate was performed, followed by an excisional biopsy. Anatomical pathology and immunohistochemical analysis identified the nodule as a high-grade leiomyosarcoma, characterized by ten mitotic figures per ten high-power fields, necrosis and cell pleomorphism. Immunohistochemical analysis results were positive for caldesmon and desmin labeling. A second surgical procedure was performed to enlarge the free margins.

Rapeseed is an efficient energy crop which can still improve

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flenet Francis

2007-11-01

Full Text Available The ability of biofuels to contribute efficiently to the replacement of fossil energy and to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions has been a matter of debate. Hence, there is a need to assess accurately the energy balance of biofuels and their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, in order to evaluate and to improve the benefit for society. In rapeseed, the energy ratio (energy produced per unit of non-renewable energy input is well above 2 whatever the method of calculation. In order to investigate the variability of energy ratios and to identify ways of improvement, a study was conducted in France in 2005 and 2006. The method of mass allocation of input energy was used for calculations, instead of the substitution method, because with this method the results do not depend on the utilization of co-products. Hence, this method is better adapted to follow improvements. A great variability in the energy ratio was observed in 2005 and 2006. Seed yields and energy cost of fertilizer N explained most of this variability. Hence, improvements should focus on increasing yield with little increase in energy cost, and on decreasing wasting of N fertilizer. However the farmer incomes, and the net production of energy per hectare, must also be a matter of concern. The inventories of greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels are still uncertain because of the great variability of soil emissions, due to environmental and management factors. Hence, in order to assess the effect of rapeseed on greenhouse gas emissions, methods based on process-oriented models accounting for these factors must be used. Such models give promising results, but further testing is still needed.

Improving quality of reproductive health care in Senegal through formative supervision: results from four districts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moreira Philippe

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In Senegal, traditional supervision often focuses more on collection of service statistics than on evaluation of service quality. This approach yields limited information on quality of care and does little to improve providers' competence. In response to this challenge, Management Sciences for Health (MSH has implemented a program of formative supervision. This multifaceted, problem-solving approach collects data on quality of care, improves technical competence, and engages the community in improving reproductive health care. Methods This study evaluated changes in service quality and community involvement after two rounds of supervision in 45 health facilities in four districts of Senegal. We used checklists to assess quality in four areas of service delivery: infrastructure, staff and services management, record-keeping, and technical competence. We also measured community involvement in improving service quality using the completion rates of action plans. Results The most notable improvement across regions was in infection prevention. Management of staff, services, and logistics also consistently improved across the four districts. Record-keeping skills showed variable but lower improvement by region. The completion rates of action plans suggest that communities are engaged in improving service quality in all four districts. Conclusion Formative supervision can improve the quality of reproductive health services, especially in areas where there is on-site skill building and refresher training. This approach can also mobilize communities to participate in improving service quality.

Does improved access to diagnostic imaging results reduce hospital length of stay? A retrospective study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hurlen Petter

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background One year after the introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT to support diagnostic imaging at our hospital, clinicians had faster and better access to radiology reports and images; direct access to Computed Tomography (CT reports in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR was particularly popular. The objective of this study was to determine whether improvements in radiology reporting and clinical access to diagnostic imaging information one year after the ICT introduction were associated with a reduction in the length of patients' hospital stays (LOS. Methods Data describing hospital stays and diagnostic imaging were collected retrospectively from the EMR during periods of equal duration before and one year after the introduction of ICT. The post-ICT period was chosen because of the documented improvement in clinical access to radiology results during that period. The data set was randomly split into an exploratory part used to establish the hypotheses, and a confirmatory part. The data was used to compare the pre-ICT and post-ICT status, but also to compare differences between groups. Results There was no general reduction in LOS one year after ICT introduction. However, there was a 25% reduction for one group - patients with CT scans. This group was heterogeneous, covering 445 different primary discharge diagnoses. Analyses of subgroups were performed to reduce the impact of this divergence. Conclusion Our results did not indicate that improved access to radiology results reduced the patients' LOS. There was, however, a significant reduction in LOS for patients undergoing CT scans. Given the clinicians' interest in CT reports and the results of the subgroup analyses, it is likely that improved access to CT reports contributed to this reduction.

2010 Great Lakes Human Health Fish Tissue Study Fish Tissue Data Dictionary

Science.gov (United States)

The Office of Science and Technology (OST) is providing the fish tissue results from the 2010 Great Lakes Human Health Fish Tissue Study (GLHHFTS). This document includes the “data dictionary” for Mercury, PFC, PBDE and PCBs.

Improving Writing through Stages

Science.gov (United States)

Rivera Barreto, Adriana Maritza

2011-01-01

Writing as a means of communication is one of the basic skills students must master at the university level. Although it is not an easy task because students are usually reluctant to correct, teachers have great responsibility at the time of guiding a writing process. For that reason, this study aimed at improving the writing process in fourth…

Use of Fish Telemetry in Rehabilitation Planning, Management, and Monitoring in Areas of Concern in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, J. L.; Boston, C.; Doka, S.; Gorsky, D.; Gustavson, K.; Hondorp, D.; Isermann, D.; Midwood, J. D.; Pratt, T. C.; Rous, A. M.; Withers, J. L.; Krueger, C. C.; Cooke, S. J.

2017-12-01

Freshwater ecosystems provide many ecosystem services; however, they are often degraded as a result of human activity. To address ecosystem degradation in the Laurentian Great Lakes, Canada and the United States of America established the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). In 1987, 43 highly polluted and impacted areas were identified under the GLWQA as having one or more of 14 Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) to the physical and chemical habitat for fish, wildlife and humans, and were designated as Areas of Concern (AOC). Subnational jurisdictions combined with local stakeholders, with support from federal governments, developed plans to remediate and restore these sites. Biotelemetry (the tracking of animals using electronic tags) provides information on the spatial ecology of fish in the wild relevant to habitat management and stock assessment. Here, seven case studies are presented where biotelemetry data were directly incorporated within the AOC Remedial Action Plan (RAP) process. Specific applications include determining seasonal fish-habitat associations to inform habitat restoration plans, identifying the distribution of pollutant-indicator species to identify exposure risk to contamination sources, informing the development of fish passage facilities to enable fish to access fragmented upstream habitats, and assessing fish use of created or restored habitats. With growing capacity for fish biotelemetry research in the Great Lakes, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of incorporating biotelemetry into AOC RAP processes to improve the science and practice of restoration and to facilitate the delisting of AOCs.

Use of fish telemetry in rehabilitation planning, management, and monitoring in Areas of Concern in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks, J.L.; Boston, C.; Doka, Susan E.; Gorsky, Dimitry; Gustavson, K.; Hondorp, Darryl W.; Isermann, Daniel A.; Midwood, Jonathan D.; Pratt, T.C.; Rous, Andrew M.; Withers, J. L.; Krueger, C.C.; Cooke, S.J.

2017-01-01

Freshwater ecosystems provide many ecosystem services; however, they are often degraded as a result of human activity. To address ecosystem degradation in the Laurentian Great Lakes, Canada and the United States of America established the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA). In 1987, 43 highly polluted and impacted areas were identified under the GLWQA as having one or more of 14 Beneficial Use Impairments (BUIs) to the physical and chemical habitat for fish, wildlife and humans, and were designated as Areas of Concern (AOC). Subnational jurisdictions combined with local stakeholders, with support from federal governments, developed plans to remediate and restore these sites. Biotelemetry (the tracking of animals using electronic tags) provides information on the spatial ecology of fish in the wild relevant to habitat management and stock assessment. Here, seven case studies are presented where biotelemetry data were directly incorporated within the AOC Remedial Action Plan (RAP) process. Specific applications include determining seasonal fish–habitat associations to inform habitat restoration plans, identifying the distribution of pollutant-indicator species to identify exposure risk to contamination sources, informing the development of fish passage facilities to enable fish to access fragmented upstream habitats, and assessing fish use of created or restored habitats. With growing capacity for fish biotelemetry research in the Great Lakes, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of incorporating biotelemetry into AOC RAP processes to improve the science and practice of restoration and to facilitate the delisting of AOCs.

Assessing potential impacts of climate change and variability on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin: A binational approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quinn, F.H.; Mortsch, L.D.

1997-01-01

The potential impacts of climate change and variability on the Great Lakes environment are serious and complex. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin is home to 42.5 million US and Canadian citizens and is the industrial and commercial heartland of both nations. The region is rich in human and natural resources, with diverse economic activities and substantial infrastructure which would be affected by major shifts in climate. For example, water level changes could affect wetland distribution and functioning; reductions in streamflow would alter assimilative capacities while warmer water temperatures would influence spring and fall turnover and incidence of anoxia. A binational program has been initiated to conduct interdisciplinary, integrated impact assessments for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin. The goal of this program is to undertake interdisciplinary, integrated studies to improve the understanding of the complex interactions between climate, the environment, and socioeconomic systems in order to develop informed regional adaptation responses

The Great Books and Economics.

Science.gov (United States)

Hartley, James E.

2001-01-01

Describes an introductory economics course in which all of the reading material is drawn from the Great Books of Western Civilization. Explains the rationale and mechanics of the course. Includes an annotated course syllabus that details how the reading material relates to the lecture material. (RLH)

Water Availability and Use Pilot-A multiscale assessment in the U.S. Great Lakes Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Reeves, Howard W.

2011-01-01

Beginning in 2005, water availability and use were assessed for the U.S. part of the Great Lakes Basin through the Great Lakes Basin Pilot of a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) national assessment of water availability and use. The goals of a national assessment of water availability and use are to clarify our understanding of water-availability status and trends and improve our ability to forecast the balance between water supply and demand for future economic and environmental uses. This report outlines possible approaches for full-scale implementation of such an assessment. As such, the focus of this study was on collecting, compiling, and analyzing a wide variety of data to define the storage and dynamics of water resources and quantify the human demands on water in the Great Lakes region. The study focused on multiple spatial and temporal scales to highlight not only the abundant regional availability of water but also the potential for local shortages or conflicts over water. Regional studies provided a framework for understanding water resources in the basin. Subregional studies directed attention to varied aspects of the water-resources system that would have been difficult to assess for the whole region because of either data limitations or time limitations for the project. The study of local issues and concerns was motivated by regional discussions that led to recent legislative action between the Great Lakes States and regional cooperation with the Canadian Great Lakes Provinces. The multiscale nature of the study findings challenges water-resource managers and the public to think about regional water resources in an integrated way and to understand how future changes to the system-driven by human uses, climate variability, or land-use change-may be accommodated by informed water-resources management.

Policies and practices of beach monitoring in the Great Lakes, USA: a critical review

Science.gov (United States)

Nevers, Meredith B.; Whitman, Richard L.

2010-01-01

Beaches throughout the Great Lakes are monitored for fecal indicator bacteria (typically Escherichia coli) in order to protect the public from potential sewage contamination. Currently, there is no universal standard for sample collection and analysis or results interpretation. Monitoring policies are developed by individual beach management jurisdictions, and applications are highly variable across and within lakes, states, and provinces. Extensive research has demonstrated that sampling decisions for time, depth, number of replicates, frequency of sampling, and laboratory analysis all influence the results outcome, as well as calculations of the mean and interpretation of the results in policy decisions. Additional shortcomings to current monitoring approaches include appropriateness and reliability of currently used indicator bacteria and the overall goal of these monitoring programs. Current research is attempting to circumvent these complex issues by developing new tools and methods for beach monitoring. In this review, we highlight the variety of sampling routines used across the Great Lakes and the extensive body of research that challenges comparisons among beaches. We also assess the future of Great Lakes monitoring and the advantages and disadvantages of establishing standards that are evenly applied across all beaches.

Improvements of RGD3 TLD reader

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Jianxing; Wang Jiaqi; Li Yuanfang; Wu Furong; Xiao Wuyun

1999-01-01

The author summarized the main features of the improved RGD3 TLD reader. Through a large number of experiments some persuasive data are obtained, which show that an remarkable improvement has been achieved, especially in its stability to the standard illuminates, data dispersivity, and effectiveness to glow curves analysis. Working with the newly developed data processing software, the comprehensive performance of the whole system will be enhanced greatly

Great Expectations: The Persistent Effect of Institutions on Culture

OpenAIRE

Litina, Anastasia

2014-01-01

This research exploits the event of immigration to establish that institutions have a persistent effect on culture. It is argued that immigrants coming from corrupt countries, tend to overtrust the institutions at the host country. This inflated trust of immigrants is documented as the Great Expectations effect. This result is interesting and intriguing for several reasons. First, it highlights the persistent effect of institutions (at the origin coun- try) on the cultural attitudes of immigr...

Capacity to improve fine motor skills in Williams syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Berencsi, A; Gombos, F; Kovács, I

2016-10-01

Individuals with Williams syndrome (WS) are known to have difficulties in carrying out fine motor movements; however, a detailed behavioural profile of WS in this domain is still missing. It is also unknown how great the capacity to improve these skills with focused and extensive practice is. We studied initial performance and learning capacity in a sequential finger tapping (FT) task in WS and in typical development. Improvement in the FT task has been shown to be sleep dependent. WS subjects participating in the current study have also participated in earlier polysomnography studies, although not directly related to learning. WS participants presented with great individual variability. In addition to generally poor initial performance, learning capacity was also greatly limited in WS. We found indications that reduced sleep efficiency might contribute to this limitation. Estimating motor learning capacity and the depth of sleep disorder in a larger sample of WS individuals might reveal important relationships between sleep and learning, and contribute to efficient intervention methods improving skill acquisition in WS. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research published by MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Phase 1, Background study results under the Council of Great Lake Governors program to perform stack sampling and analysis of emissions from densified refuse derived fuels (d-RDF)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1989-04-07

This report covers the results of the first part of the study. Chapter 2 contains a summary of the d-RDF literature which was surveyed. Chapter 3 contains a compilation of existing and proposed regulation information from the seven participating Great Lakes States. Chapter 4 includes identification of pellet producers in the region. Chapter 5 contains a description of the pellet producers and test burn facilities selected for the experimental work to be undertaken in the second part of the program study. Chapter 6 contains a list of references. 27 refs., 7 figs., 6 tabs.

The great scientific revolutions of the 20. century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parrochia, D.

1997-01-01

Three great physical revolutions are studied here: the theory of relativity (general and restricted); the quantum mechanics (and its different interpretations); the theory of the determinist chaos (its pre-history as its applications). These three theories contribute to modify the answers that it is possible to bring to great metaphysical questions and to give a hint of a new philosophical landscape. (N.C.)

Factors to Consider in Selecting an Organisational Improvement Initiative: Survey Results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Musli

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Organisations should select the appropriate improvement initiative that will fit with the context of organisation and provide value to the organisation. This paper presents 18 factors to be considered when selecting an organisational improvement initiative. Organisational improvement initiatives are approaches, management systems, tools and/or techniques that can be used for managing and improving organisations, such as Lean, ISO9001, Six Sigma and Improvement Team. A survey was conducted to identify the level of importance of these 18 factors as criteria for selecting an improvement initiative. Purposive sampling was used for this survey involving practitioners, managers, engineers, executives, consultants and/or academicians, who have been involved in the selection and/or implementation of organisational improvement initiatives in Malaysia. Two factors were rated as ‘very high importance’, which involve: (1 The ability to gain top management commitment and support to introduce and implement the initiative successfully, and (2 The initiative is aligned to the vision, mission and/or purpose of the organisation. All these factors can be adopted by the organisations as decision criteria to assist in the selection of the most appropriate improvement initiative based on rational decision making.

Types of damage that could result from a great earthquake in the New Madrid, Missouri, seismic zone

Science.gov (United States)

Hopper, M.G.; Algermissen, S.T.

1984-01-01

In the winter of 1811–1812 a series of three great earthquakes occurred in the New Madrid seismic zone. In addition to the three principal shocks, at least 15 other earthquakes, Io ≥ VIII, occurred within a year of the first large earthquake on December 16, 1811. The three main shocks were felt over the entire eastern United States. They were strong enough to cause minor damage as far away as Indiana and Ohio on the north, the Carolinas on the east, and southern Mississippi on the south. They were strong enough to cause severe or structural damage in parts of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. The section of this poster titled "Seismic history of the New Madrid region" describes what happened in the epicentral region. Fortunately, few people lived in the severely shaken area in 1811; that is not the case today. What would happen if a series of earthquakes as large and numerous as the "New Madrid" earthquakes were to occur in the New Madrid seismic zone today?

Improving perceptions of healthy food affordability: results from a pilot intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Lauren K; Abbott, Gavin; Thornton, Lukar E; Worsley, Anthony; Ball, Kylie; Crawford, David

2014-03-10

Despite strong empirical support for the association between perceived food affordability and dietary intake amongst families with a lower socioeconomic position (SEP), there is limited evidence of the most effective strategies for promoting more positive perceptions of healthy food affordability among this group. This paper reports findings from a pilot intervention that aimed to improve perceptions of healthy food affordability amongst mothers. Participants were 66 mothers who were the parents of children recruited from primary schools located in socioeconomically disadvantaged suburbs. Intervention group participants viewed a slideshow focussed on healthy snack food affordability that illustrated cheaper healthier alternatives to common snack foods as well as food budgeting tips and price comparison education. A mixed between-within ANCOVA was conducted to examine group differences in perceived affordability of healthy food across three time points. Results revealed no difference in perceived affordability of healthy food between the two groups at baseline whereas at post-intervention and follow-up, mothers in the intervention group perceived healthy food as more affordable than the control group. Focussing on education-based interventions to improve perceptions of healthy food affordability may be a promising approach that complements existing nutrition promotion strategies.

Unemployment of Non-western Immigrants in the Great Recession

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cervený, J.; van Ours, J.C.

2013-01-01

Abstract: This paper examines whether unemployment of non-western immigrant workers in the Netherlands was disproportionally affected by the Great Recession. We analyze unemployment data covering the period November 2007 to February 2013 finding that the Great Recession affected unemployment rates

Multilevel eEmpirical Bayes modeling for improved estimation of toxicant formulations tosuppress parasitic sea lamprey in the Upper Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Hatfield, Laura A.; Gutreuter, Steve; Boogaard, Michael A.; Carlin, Bradley P.

2011-01-01

Estimation of extreme quantal-response statistics, such as the concentration required to kill 99.9% of test subjects (LC99.9), remains a challenge in the presence of multiple covariates and complex study designs. Accurate and precise estimates of the LC99.9 for mixtures of toxicants are critical to ongoing control of a parasitic invasive species, the sea lamprey, in the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America. The toxicity of those chemicals is affected by local and temporal variations in water chemistry, which must be incorporated into the modeling. We develop multilevel empirical Bayes models for data from multiple laboratory studies. Our approach yields more accurate and precise estimation of the LC99.9 compared to alternative models considered. This study demonstrates that properly incorporating hierarchical structure in laboratory data yields better estimates of LC99.9 stream treatment values that are critical to larvae control in the field. In addition, out-of-sample prediction of the results of in situ tests reveals the presence of a latent seasonal effect not manifest in the laboratory studies, suggesting avenues for future study and illustrating the importance of dual consideration of both experimental and observational data.

Current strategies for improving food bacteria

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuipers, O P; Buist, Girbe; Kok, Jan

2000-01-01

Novel concepts and methodologies are emerging that hold great promise for the directed improvement of food-related bacteria, specifically lactic acid bacteria. Also, the battle against food spoilage and pathogenic bacteria can now be fought more effectively. Here we describe recent advances in

Great tit hatchling sex ratios

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lessells, C.M.; Mateman, A.C.; Visser, J.

1996-01-01

The sex of Great Tit Parus major nestlings was determined using PCR RAPDs. Because this technique requires minute amounts of DNA, chicks could be sampled soon (0-2d) after hatching, before any nestling mortality occurred. The proportion of males among 752 chicks hatching in 102 broods (98.9% of

Communications and Integration Enhancements to Improve Homeland Security

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Sando, Terrance W

2007-01-01

.... Homeland Security responses. These technology enhancements and processes combined with the force capabilities that the National Guard has recently created, when integrated with other national capabilities, will greatly improve...

Locating the Great Red Spot: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Science.gov (United States)

Lesniak, Michael V.; Stapleton, J. C.

2014-01-01

The Great Red Spot, a persistent storm in Jupiter's atmosphere, is the most prominent feature of that planet's disk as viewed from Earth. Combined with the fact that Jupiter is a gas giant planet and has no visible surface with discernible landmarks, this means that following the passage of the Great Red Spot is the primary method of observing the planet's rotation. Therefore, it is paramount for any program which generates synthetic images of the planet to accurately place the feature. The U.S. Naval Observatory's "Apparent Disk of a Solar System Object" online web service (http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/diskmap.php) is such a program. The Great Red Spot's planetary latitude is locked between two of Jupiter's striated atmospheric layers at 22 °S. However, its planetary longitude is not constant; over time it migrates east and west along the atmospheric layer boundary it is trapped within. Observing and recording its longitude is made difficult because Jupiter's atmosphere is subject to differential rotation and the Great Red Spot slowly migrates with respect to the surrounding atmospheric layers. Furthermore, the Great Red Spot does not move at a uniform rate. Currently its relative motion is approximately 0°.051 per day. Since its first recorded observation in 1831, the Great Red Spot has made almost three complete laps around the planet at the 22nd parallel. "Apparent Disk of a Solar System Object" operates over any requested date between 1700 and 2100 A.D. Therefore, our treatment of the Great Red Spot needs to take into account both historical positions and future predicted motion. Based on researching past observations of the spot's position on the disk, we find that its behavior prior to 2009 is best represented by a 10-part piecewise function. Each component of the piecewise function is a 2nd order polynomial. Observations from 2009-present are better fit with a linear function; this function is used for future years by extrapolation. Using these fits

Unemployment of non-western immigrants in the Great Recession

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cervený, J.; van Ours, J.C.

2013-01-01

This paper examines whether unemployment of non-western immigrant workers in the Netherlands was disproportionally affected by the Great Recession. We analyze unemployment data covering the period November 2007–February 2013 finding that the Great Recession affected unemployment rates of non-western

The Making of a Great Captain

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Weibel, Theodore G

2006-01-01

... judgement. This paper examines the hypothesis that Great Captains are a product of their families, are highly educated from an early age, possess the qualities of a genius, encounter grand life experiences...

EXERCISE IMPROVES SEXUAL FUNCTION IN WOMEN TAKING ANTIDEPRESSANTS: RESULTS FROM A RANDOMIZED CROSSOVER TRIAL

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenz, Tierney Ahrold; Meston, Cindy May

2014-01-01

Background In laboratory studies, exercise immediately before sexual stimuli improved sexual arousal of women taking antidepressants [1]. We evaluated if exercise improves sexual desire, orgasm, and global sexual functioning in women experiencing antidepressant-induced sexual side effects. Methods Fifty-two women who were reporting antidepressant sexual side effects were followed for 3 weeks of sexual activity only. They were randomized to complete either three weeks of exercise immediately before sexual activity (3×/week) or 3 weeks of exercise separate from sexual activity (3×/week). At the end of the first exercise arm, participants crossed to the other. We measured sexual functioning, sexual satisfaction, depression, and physical health. Results Exercise immediately prior to sexual activity significantly improved sexual desire and, for women with sexual dysfunction at baseline, global sexual function. Scheduling regular sexual activity significantly improved orgasm function; exercise did not increase this benefit. Neither regular sexual activity nor exercise significantly changed sexual satisfaction. Conclusions Scheduling regular sexual activity and exercise may be an effective tool for the behavioral management of sexual side effects of antidepressants. PMID:24754044

Understanding Biophysical Interactions In The Great Barrier Reef Catchments: Better Landscape Management For Water Quality Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Bui, E. N.; Wilkinson, S. N.; Bartley, R.

2014-12-01

Sediment input to the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon has had deleterious impacts on seagrass and coral ecosystems. The response of the Australian government has been to develop policies to: (i) reverse the impact of threats from sediments and nutrients, and improve water quality and aquatic health of the GBR lagoon; and (ii) to facilitate the uptake of sustainable farming and land management practices that deliver improved ecosystem services, by at least 30 per cent of farmers. The Reef2050 Long term sustainability plan aims to identify priority locations for on-ground investment of remediation options that will result in a reduction of constituent loads to the GBR. Recent sediment tracing studies indicate that subsoil from erosion features such as gullies and channel banks are the dominant contributors of sediment in the GBR catchments. Better control of gully and streambank erosion and restoration of riparian habitats are therefore necessary. Here we review the evidence for bank erosion in the GBR catchments and how scientific evidence on feedback relationships between climate- geochemistry-vegetation-landforms can be used to develop better guidelines for streambank and gully re-vegetation.

Great Lakes Energy Institute

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alexander, J. Iwan [Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH (United States)

2012-11-18

The vision of the Great Lakes Energy Institute is to enable the transition to advanced, sustainable energy generation, storage, distribution and utilization through coordinated research, development, and education. The Institute will place emphasis on translating leading edge research into next generation energy technology. The Institute’s research thrusts focus on coordinated research in decentralized power generation devices (e.g. fuel cells, wind turbines, solar photovoltaic devices), management of electrical power transmission and distribution, energy storage, and energy efficiency.

Great Basin wildlife disease concerns

Science.gov (United States)

Russ Mason

2008-01-01

In the Great Basin, wildlife diseases have always represented a significant challenge to wildlife managers, agricultural production, and human health and safety. One of the first priorities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Fish and Wildlife Services was Congressionally directed action to eradicate vectors for zoonotic disease, particularly rabies, in...

Leukocyte depletion results in improved lung function and reduced inflammatory response after cardiac surgery

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gu, YJ; Boonstra, PW; vanOeveren, W

Leukocyte depletion during cardiopulmonary bypass has been demonstrated in animal experiments to improve pulmonary function, Conflicting results have been reported, however, with clinical depletion by arterial line filter of leukocytes at the beginning of cardiopulmonary bypass. In this study, we

Improvement Science Meets Improvement Scholarship: Reframing Research for Better Healthcare.

Science.gov (United States)

Cribb, Alan

2018-06-01

In this editorial essay I explore the possibilities of 'improvement scholarship' in order to set the scene for the theme of, and the other papers in, this issue. I contrast a narrow conception of quality improvement (QI) research with a much broader and more inclusive conception, arguing that we should greatly extend the existing dialogue between 'problem-solving' and 'critical' currents in improvement research. I have in mind the potential for building a much larger conversation between those people in 'improvement science' who are expressly concerned with tackling the problems facing healthcare and the wider group of colleagues who are engaged in health-related scholarship but who do not see themselves as particularly interested in quality improvement, indeed who may be critical of the language or concerns of QI. As one contribution to that conversation I suggest that that the increasing emphasis on theory and rigour in improvement research should include more focus on normative theory and rigour. The remaining papers in the issue are introduced including the various ways in which they handle the 'implicit normativity' of QI research and practice, and the linked theme of combining relatively 'tidy' and potentially 'unruly' forms of knowledge.

Water balance and fertigation for crop improvement in West Asia. Results of a technical co-operation project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

Mediterranean countries have a severe shortage of water resources for agricultural, municipal and industrial purposes. This situation is aggravated daily due to the rapidly increasing population in the area. Agriculture is the biggest consumer of water with about 80% of the renewable resource used for irrigation. Traditional irrigation methods are highly inefficient: only about one-third of the applied water is actually transpired by the crops. Clearly, there is great scope for improved irrigation management. Intensification of agricultural production to meet growing market demand requires the simultaneous application of irrigation water and fertilizers. Application of fertilizer in drip irrigation (fertigation) is an effective way to promote efficient use of these scarce and expensive resources. There is widespread interest in Mediterranean countries in fertigation. Nevertheless, information on the form and concentration of the nutrients required for different crops is presently inadequate. Moreover, the low fertilizer recoveries due to extensive fertilization practiced during the last few decades have created serious agricultural and environmental problems. High nitrate concentrations in groundwater and deterioration of some important quality parameters of agricultural products are the main concerns. Recognizing the potential role of nuclear techniques in identifying improved water and fertilizer management practices, the IAEA implemented two regional technical co-operation projects during the period 1995-2000 with eight participating countries from the West Asia region: The Islamic Republic of Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the Syria Arab Republic, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. The main objective was to establish water balance and fertigation practices using nuclear techniques, with a view to improving crop production in arid and semi-arid zones. The projects aimed to compare the following parameters under conventional fertilizer and water

Financial Strain and Mental Health Among Older Adults During the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilkinson, Lindsay R

2016-07-01

The economic recession has garnered the interest of many scholars, with much attention being drawn to how the recession has affected labor force participation, household wealth, and even retirement decisions. Certainly, the Great Recession has influenced the financial well-being of older adults, but has it had discernible effects on mental health? This study draws on 5,366 respondents from the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2010) to examine objective and subjective measures of financial well-being in the period surrounding the Great Recession. Guided by cumulative inequality theory, this research investigates whether the economic downturn contributed to worsening anxiety and depressive symptoms over a 4-year period. Results from linear fixed effects models reveal that decreases in objective financial resources were associated with increased financial strain during the Great Recession. Unlike the objective indicators, however, financial strain was a strong and robust predictor of worsening mental health between 2006 and 2010. Building on prior research, this study elucidates the factors that shape financial strain and provides evidence that the Great Recession not only affected the financial well-being of older adults but also had adverse effects on mental health. © 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.

Estimating Spring Condensation on the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, A.; Welp, L.

2017-12-01

The Laurentian Great Lakes region provides opportunities for shipping, recreation, and consumptive water use to a large part of the United States and Canada. Water levels in the lakes fluctuate yearly, but attempts to model the system are inadequate because the water and energy budgets are still not fully understood. For example, water levels in the Great Lakes experienced a 15-year low period ending in 2013, the recovery of which has been attributed partially to decreased evaporation and increased precipitation and runoff. Unlike precipitation, the exchange of water vapor between the lake and the atmosphere through evaporation or condensation is difficult to measure directly. However, estimates have been constructed using off-shore eddy covariance direct measurements of latent heat fluxes, remote sensing observations, and a small network of monitoring buoys. When the lake surface temperature is colder than air temperature as it is in spring, condensation is larger than evaporation. This is a relatively small component of the net annual water budget of the lakes, but the total amount of condensation may be important for seasonal energy fluxes and atmospheric deposition of pollutants and nutrients to the lakes. Seasonal energy fluxes determine, and are influenced by, ice cover, water and air temperatures, and evaporation in the Great Lakes. We aim to quantify the amount of spring condensation on the Great Lakes using the National Center for Atmospheric Prediction North American Regional Reanalysis (NCEP NARR) Data for Winter 2013 to Spring 2017 and compare the condensation values of spring seasons following high volume, high duration and low volume, low duration ice cover.

Great Lakes waters: radiation dose commitments, potential health effects, and cost-benefit considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ainsworth, E.J.

1977-07-01

In 1972, a Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement was signed by the United States and Canadian Governments. It was stipulated that the operation and effectiveness of the agreement were to be reviewed comprehensively in 1977. Aspects of the agreement concern nondegradation of Great Lakes waters and maintenance of levels of radioactivity or other potential pollutants at levels considered as low as practicable. A refined radioactivity objective of one millirem is proposed in the Water Quality Agreement. The implications of adoption of this objective are not known fully. The Division of Environmental Impact Studies was commissioned by ERDA's Division of Technology Overview to summarize the information available on the current levels of radioactivity in Great Lakes waters, compute radiation-dose commitment (integrated dose over 50 years after consumption of 2.2 liters of water of one year), and to comment on the feasibility and cost-benefit considerations associated with the refined one-millirem objective. Current levels of radioactivity in the waters of Lakes Michigan, Ontario, Erie, and Huron result in dose commitments in excess of 1 mrem for whole body and 6 mrem for bone. Future projections of isotope concentrations in Great lakes water indicate similar dose commitments for drinking water in the year 2050. Reduction of the levels of radioactivity in Great Lakes waters is not feasible, but cost-benefit considerations support removal of 226 Ra and 90 Sr through interceptive technology before water consumption. Adoption of the one-millirem objective is not propitious

Using Scenario Development to Encourage Tourism Business Resilience in the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, N.; Day, J.; Sydnor, S.; Cherkauer, K. A.

2015-12-01

Tourism is an economic sector anticipated to be greatly affected by climate change, but the potential impacts of climate change on tourism have rarely been examined in detail in existing research. Past research has shown, however, that the small and medium businesses that dominate the tourism sector could be greatly impacted by climate change. We have presented global climate and hydrologic model research results to pre-selected coastal tourism business owners in the Great Lakes region to determine the best methods for delivering user-friendly future climate scenarios, given that existing research suggests that climate change adaptive behaviors and resilience increase with information (message) clarity. Model output analyses completed for this work have focused on temperature, precipitation, and extreme weather events due to their economic impact on tourism activities. We have also experimented with the development and use of infographics because of their ability to present information quickly and clearly. Initial findings of this work will be presented as well as lessons learned from stakeholder interactions. Two main results include that (1) extreme weather events may have more meaning to tourism business owners than general trends in climate and (2) long-term planning for climate is extremely difficult for tourism business owners because they operate on a much shorter planning timeline than those generally used for climate change analyses.

Comparative Analysis of the Representations of the Great Patriotic War: Generational Aspects (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Владимир Михайлович Филиппов

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian peoples` (who has been considered fraternal for a long time representations of the modern world currently due to many factors are subjected to complex processes of transformation. So the importance of the historical period of the Great Patriotic War in the life of all three peoples, the memory of which has an important means of confrontation western propaganda, is certainly true. The article presents the results of the study of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian students’ and their parents’ representations of the Great Patriotic War. The study was being held in Peoples’ friendship University of Russia, immediately after the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory.

Transposition of the great arteries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Castela Eduardo

2008-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Transposition of the great arteries (TGA, also referred to as complete transposition, is a congenital cardiac malformation characterised by atrioventricular concordance and ventriculoarterial (VA discordance. The incidence is estimated at 1 in 3,500–5,000 live births, with a male-to-female ratio 1.5 to 3.2:1. In 50% of cases, the VA discordance is an isolated finding. In 10% of cases, TGA is associated with noncardiac malformations. The association with other cardiac malformations such as ventricular septal defect (VSD and left ventricular outflow tract obstruction is frequent and dictates timing and clinical presentation, which consists of cyanosis with or without congestive heart failure. The onset and severity depend on anatomical and functional variants that influence the degree of mixing between the two circulations. If no obstructive lesions are present and there is a large VSD, cyanosis may go undetected and only be perceived during episodes of crying or agitation. In these cases, signs of congestive heart failure prevail. The exact aetiology remains unknown. Some associated risk factors (gestational diabetes mellitus, maternal exposure to rodenticides and herbicides, maternal use of antiepileptic drugs have been postulated. Mutations in growth differentiation factor-1 gene, the thyroid hormone receptor-associated protein-2 gene and the gene encoding the cryptic protein have been shown implicated in discordant VA connections, but they explain only a small minority of TGA cases. The diagnosis is confirmed by echocardiography, which also provides the morphological details required for future surgical management. Prenatal diagnosis by foetal echocardiography is possible and desirable, as it may improve the early neonatal management and reduce morbidity and mortality. Differential diagnosis includes other causes of central neonatal cyanosis. Palliative treatment with prostaglandin E1 and balloon atrial septostomy are usually

Improvement in PWR flexibility the french program 1975-1995

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gautier, A.; Miossec, C.

1985-12-01

Between 1975 and 1985, a substantial effort was launched in France to greatly improve PWR's flexibility, resulting in the current situation where both frequency control and load follow are now routinely performed on most plants in operation. Based on rapidly accumulating operational experience and on all expertise acquired in the past decade, a second-generation core control strategy is now being finalized for application on all future 1400 MW plants (with commercial operation scheduled in 1992 for first unit). This 20-year program is discussed

Great Basin paleoenvironmental studies project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

Project goals, project tasks, progress on tasks, and problems encountered are described and discussed for each of the studies that make up the Great Basin Paleoenvironmental Studies Project for Yucca Mountain. These studies are: Paleobotany, Paleofauna, Geomorphology, and Transportation. Budget summaries are also given for each of the studies and for the overall project

The power mix in Great-Britain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trebuchet, Charlotte

2012-11-01

This study addresses a new reform of the electric power sector in Great Britain: RIIO (Revenue = Incentives + Innovations + Outputs). The author discusses aspects related to market organisation and aspects related to the grid. First, she gives an overview of the situation of the electricity sector in Great-Britain by describing its evolution from the start of the liberalisation policy until our days, and by presenting the regulation of the electric power transport network. In a second part, she analyses which changes will be introduced by RIIO. She comments the general principles of this reform and discusses its implications for the sector. Appendices describe the LCN Fund (Low carbon network Fund) mechanism which is a specific bidding and selection process, and briefly indicate the projects selected by this fund in 2010 and 2011

Alexander the Great's relationship with alcohol.

Science.gov (United States)

Liappas, J A; Lascaratos, J; Fafouti, S; Christodoulou, G N

2003-05-01

This study sought to clarify if Alexander the Great indulged pathologically in alcohol and whether it contributed to his death. The texts of the historians Diodorus of Sicily, Plutarch, Arrian, Curtius Rufus, Athenaeus, Aelian and Justin were studied, with their information concerning wine consumption by Macedonians, and especially Alexander, and were evaluated. The surviving historical texts, all later than Alexander's epoch, are based on a series of contemporary histories and especially on the 'Royal Journals', an official diary written in the imperial court. Alexander consumed large quantities of undiluted wine periodically, reaching pathological intoxication. However, the existing data do not provide convincing evidence that Alexander the Great manifested abuse of or dependence on alcohol according to DSM-IV or ICD-10 criteria and it seems unlikely that alcohol was involved in his untimely death.

The Social Construction of the Great Belt Fixed Link

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Munch, Birgitte

1994-01-01

Working paper in Technology Management. Actor Network theory (ANT) used upon the process of negotiating legislation and constructing the Great Belt fixed link.......Working paper in Technology Management. Actor Network theory (ANT) used upon the process of negotiating legislation and constructing the Great Belt fixed link....

30-day mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting and valve surgery has greatly improved over the last decade, but the 1-year mortality remains constant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Sommer Hansen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: European system for cardiac operative risk evaluation (EuroSCORE is a valuable tool in control of the quality of cardiac surgery. However, the validity of the risk score for the individual patient may be questioned. The present study was carried out to investigate whether the continued fall in short-term mortality reflects an actual improvement in late mortality, and subsequently, to investigate EuroSCORE as predictor of 1-year mortality. Methods: A population-based cohort study of 25,602 patients from a 12-year period from three public university hospitals undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG or valve surgery. Analysis was carried out based on EuroSCORE, age and co-morbidity factors (residual EuroSCORE. Results: During the period the average age increased from 65.1 ± 10.0 years to 68.9 ± 10.7 years (P < 0.001, one-way ANOVA, and the number of females increased from 26.0% to 28.2% (P = 0.0012, Chi-square test. The total EuroSCORE increased from 4.67 to 5.68 while the residual EuroSCORE decreased from 2.64 to 1.83. Thirty-day mortality decreased from 4.07% in 1999-2000 to 2.44% in 2011-2012 (P = 0.0056; Chi-square test, while 1-year mortality was unchanged (6.50% in 1999-2000 vs. 6.25% in 2011-2012 [P = 0.8086; Chi-square test]. Discussion: The study demonstrates that both co-morbidity and age has a great impact on 30-day mortality. However, with time the impact of co-morbidity seems less. Thus, age is more important than co-morbidity in late mortality. The various developments in short and long-term mortality are not readily explained. Conclusion: Although 30-day mortality of CABG and valve surgery patients has decreased during the 12-year period, the 1-year mortality remains the same.

Great Importance Attached to Intangible Cultural Heritage

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2005-01-01

@@ Intangible Cultural Heritage on Verge of Extinction? With the acceleration of globalization and modernization, dramatic changes have taken place in China's cultural ecology: intangible cultural heritage is confronted with great challenges and a lot of orally and behaviorally transmitted cultural heritage disappear one after another; a great deal of traditional craftsmanship is on the verge of extinction; a large number of precious objects and materials of historical and cultural values are destroyed,deserted or lost in foreign countries; arbitrary misuse and excessive exploitation of intangible cultural heritage occur from time to time. Therefore, the protection of intangible cultural heritage brooks no delay.

Research reactor management. Safety improvement activities in HANARO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jong-Sup; Jung, Hoan-Sung; Hong, Sung Taek; Ahn, Guk-Hoon

2012-01-01

Safety activities in HANARO have been continuously conducted to enhance its safe operation. Great effort has been placed on a normalization and improvement of the safety attitude of the regular staff and other employees working at the reactor and other experimental facilities. This paper introduces the activities on safety improvement that were performed over the last few years. (author)

Rating impacts in a multi-stressor world: a quantitative assessment of 50 stressors affecting the Great Lakes.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Sigrid D P; Mcintyre, Peter B; Halpern, Benjamin S; Cooke, Roger M; Marino, Adrienne L; Boyer, Gregory L; Buchsbaum, Andy; Burton, G A; Campbell, Linda M; Ciborowski, Jan J H; Doran, Patrick J; Infante, Dana M; Johnson, Lucinda B; Read, Jennifer G; Rose, Joan B; Rutherford, Edward S; Steinman, Alan D; Allan, J David

2015-04-01

Ecosystems often experience multiple environmental stressors simultaneously that can differ widely in their pathways and strengths of impact. Differences in the relative impact of environmental stressors can guide restoration and management prioritization, but few studies have empirically assessed a comprehensive suite of stressors acting on a given ecosystem. To fill this gap in the Laurentian Great Lakes, where considerable restoration investments are currently underway, we used expert elicitation via a detailed online survey to develop ratings of the relative impacts of 50 potential stressors. Highlighting the multiplicity of stressors in this system, experts assessed all 50 stressors as having some impact on ecosystem condition, but ratings differed greatly among stressors. Individual stressors related to invasive and nuisance species (e.g., dreissenid mussels and ballast invasion risk) and climate change were assessed as having the greatest potential impacts. These results mark a shift away from the longstanding emphasis on nonpoint phosphorus and persistent bioaccumulative toxic substances in the Great Lakes. Differences in impact ratings among lakes and ecosystem zones were weak, and experts exhibited surprisingly high levels of agreement on the relative impacts of most stressors. Our results provide a basin-wide, quantitative summary of expert opinion on the present-day influence of all major Great Lakes stressors. The resulting ratings can facilitate prioritizing stressors to achieve management objectives in a given location, as well as providing a baseline for future stressor impact assessments in the Great Lakes and elsewhere.

Improvement of the accuracy of phase observation by modification of phase-shifting electron holography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Takahiro; Aizawa, Shinji; Tanigaki, Toshiaki; Ota, Keishin; Matsuda, Tsuyoshi; Tonomura, Akira

2012-01-01

We found that the accuracy of the phase observation in phase-shifting electron holography is strongly restricted by time variations of mean intensity and contrast of the holograms. A modified method was developed for correcting these variations. Experimental results demonstrated that the modification enabled us to acquire a large number of holograms, and as a result, the accuracy of the phase observation has been improved by a factor of 5. -- Highlights: ► A modified phase-shifting electron holography was proposed. ► The time variation of mean intensity and contrast of holograms were corrected. ► These corrections lead to a great improvement of the resultant phase accuracy. ► A phase accuracy of about 1/4000 rad was achieved from experimental results.

An improved multi-value cellular automata model for heterogeneous bicycle traffic flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jin, Sheng [College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 China (China); Qu, Xiaobo [Griffith School of Engineering, Griffith University, Gold Coast, 4222 Australia (Australia); Xu, Cheng [Department of Transportation Management Engineering, Zhejiang Police College, Hangzhou, 310053 China (China); College of Transportation, Jilin University, Changchun, 130022 China (China); Ma, Dongfang, E-mail: mdf2004@zju.edu.cn [Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 China (China); Wang, Dianhai [College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058 China (China)

2015-10-16

This letter develops an improved multi-value cellular automata model for heterogeneous bicycle traffic flow taking the higher maximum speed of electric bicycles into consideration. The update rules of both regular and electric bicycles are improved, with maximum speeds of two and three cells per second respectively. Numerical simulation results for deterministic and stochastic cases are obtained. The fundamental diagrams and multiple states effects under different model parameters are analyzed and discussed. Field observations were made to calibrate the slowdown probabilities. The results imply that the improved extended Burgers cellular automata (IEBCA) model is more consistent with the field observations than previous models and greatly enhances the realism of the bicycle traffic model. - Highlights: • We proposed an improved multi-value CA model with higher maximum speed. • Update rules are introduced for heterogeneous bicycle traffic with maximum speed 2 and 3 cells/s. • Simulation results of the proposed model are consistent with field bicycle data. • Slowdown probabilities of both regular and electric bicycles are calibrated.

An improved multi-value cellular automata model for heterogeneous bicycle traffic flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jin, Sheng; Qu, Xiaobo; Xu, Cheng; Ma, Dongfang; Wang, Dianhai

2015-01-01

This letter develops an improved multi-value cellular automata model for heterogeneous bicycle traffic flow taking the higher maximum speed of electric bicycles into consideration. The update rules of both regular and electric bicycles are improved, with maximum speeds of two and three cells per second respectively. Numerical simulation results for deterministic and stochastic cases are obtained. The fundamental diagrams and multiple states effects under different model parameters are analyzed and discussed. Field observations were made to calibrate the slowdown probabilities. The results imply that the improved extended Burgers cellular automata (IEBCA) model is more consistent with the field observations than previous models and greatly enhances the realism of the bicycle traffic model. - Highlights: • We proposed an improved multi-value CA model with higher maximum speed. • Update rules are introduced for heterogeneous bicycle traffic with maximum speed 2 and 3 cells/s. • Simulation results of the proposed model are consistent with field bicycle data. • Slowdown probabilities of both regular and electric bicycles are calibrated

Theodosius Dohzhansky: A Great Inspirer 1

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

the direct personal influence of some of these great scientists on their peers and successors is re~atively small. A very small number of scientists ... studying the evolutionary genetics of speciation in Drosophila. --------~--------43. RESONANCE I ...

An ecosystem approach to the health effects of mercury in the Great Lakes basin ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilbertson, Michael; Carpenter, D.O.

2004-01-01

New concerns about the global presence and human health significance of mercury have arisen as a result of recent epidemiological data demonstrating subtle neurological effects from consumption of mercury-contaminated fish. In the Great Lakes Basin, the complexity of the diverse sources, pools, and sinks of mercury and of the pathways of distribution, fate, and biotransformation requires an ecosystem approach to the assessment of exposures of Great Lakes' human populations. Further epidemiological research is needed to verify preliminary indications of harmful effects in people living near the Great Lakes. Great Lakes fish are valuable resources for subsistence nutrition, recreation, and commerce, but the benefits of fish consumption must be balanced by concern for the hazards from the contaminants that they may contain. The efficacy of fish consumption advisories in reducing exposures should continue to be evaluated while planning continues for remedial actions on contaminated sediments from historic industrial activities and for regulatory action to control sources

Making a Great First Impression

Science.gov (United States)

Evenson, Renee

2007-01-01

Managers and business owners often base hiring decisions on first impressions. That is why it is so important to teach students to make a great first impression--before they go on that first job interview. Managers do not have unrealistic expectations, they just want to hire people who they believe can develop into valuable employees. A nice…

The Great Gatsby. [Lesson Plan].

Science.gov (United States)

Zelasko, Ken

Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel "The Great Gatsby," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that adapting part of a novel into a dramatic reading makes students more intimate with the author's intentions and craft; and that a part of a novel may lend itself to various oral interpretations. The main activity…

Technology Innovations to Improve Biomass Cookstoves to Meet Tier 4 Standards

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Still, Dean K [Aprovecho Research Center, Cottage Grove, OR (United States); Hatfield, Micheal S [Aprovecho Research Center, Cottage Grove, OR (United States)

2015-12-15

Technology Innovations to Improve Biomass Cookstoves to Meet Tier 4 Standards. Protecting public health has become a major motivation for investigating how improved cook stoves might function as a viable intervention. Currently, the great majority of cookstoves for sale in the developing world were not designed for this purpose but instead success was based on criteria such as reduced fuel use, affordability, and ease of use. With DOE funding Aprovecho Research Center spent three years creating stoves using an iterative development and modeling approach resulting in four stoves that in lab tests met the World Health Organization (2014) intermediate rate vented targets for PM2.5 and for CO.

Study of Nano Powder for Improvement the Mechanical Properties of Armor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raid Salih Jawad

2016-03-01

Full Text Available During this research nano alumina particles are used as reinforce material to improve characterization of armor. The work involves use of polyester resin as matrix. The properties obtained of resulted samples showed clearly improvement. Where values show linear increases in hardness from low value 77.3 gf/mm of pure polyester to high value 81.6 of polystyrene - 30 wt % nano alumina. Values of thermal conductivity greatly influenced by amount of porosity and so on the density of the sample, where pure polyester has low value 0.0661 W/mk of thermal conductivity and polyester – 30 wt % nano aluminapossess conductivity 0.3411 W/mk.

THE GREAT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA SHAKEOUT: Earthquake Science for 22 Million People

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, L.; Cox, D.; Perry, S.; Hudnut, K.; Benthien, M.; Bwarie, J.; Vinci, M.; Buchanan, M.; Long, K.; Sinha, S.; Collins, L.

2008-12-01

Earthquake science is being communicated to and used by the 22 million residents of southern California to improve resiliency to future earthquakes through the Great Southern California ShakeOut. The ShakeOut began when the USGS partnered with the California Geological Survey, Southern California Earthquake Center and many other organizations to bring 300 scientists and engineers together to formulate a comprehensive description of a plausible major earthquake, released in May 2008, as the ShakeOut Scenario, a description of the impacts and consequences of a M7.8 earthquake on the Southern San Andreas Fault (USGS OFR2008-1150). The Great Southern California ShakeOut was a week of special events featuring the largest earthquake drill in United States history. The ShakeOut drill occurred in houses, businesses, and public spaces throughout southern California at 10AM on November 13, 2008, when southern Californians were asked to pretend that the M7.8 scenario earthquake had occurred and to practice actions that could reduce the impact on their lives. Residents, organizations, schools and businesses registered to participate in the drill through www.shakeout.org where they could get accessible information about the scenario earthquake and share ideas for better reparation. As of September 8, 2008, over 2.7 million confirmed participants had been registered. The primary message of the ShakeOut is that what we do now, before a big earthquake, will determine what our lives will be like after. The goal of the ShakeOut has been to change the culture of earthquake preparedness in southern California, making earthquakes a reality that are regularly discussed. This implements the sociological finding that 'milling,' discussing a problem with loved ones, is a prerequisite to taking action. ShakeOut milling is taking place at all levels from individuals and families, to corporations and governments. Actions taken as a result of the ShakeOut include the adoption of earthquake

Nationwide quality improvement of cholecystectomy: results from a national database

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harboe, Kirstine M; Bardram, Linda

2011-01-01

To evaluate whether quality improvements in the performance of cholecystectomy have been achieved in Denmark since 2006, after revision of the Danish National Guidelines for treatment of gallstones.......To evaluate whether quality improvements in the performance of cholecystectomy have been achieved in Denmark since 2006, after revision of the Danish National Guidelines for treatment of gallstones....

Terahertz hot electron bolometer waveguide mixers for GREAT

OpenAIRE

Pütz, P.; Honingh, C. E.; Jacobs, K.; Justen, M.; Schultz, M.; Stutzki, J.

2012-01-01

Supplementing the publications based on the first-light observations with the German Receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz frequencies (GREAT) on SOFIA, we present background information on the underlying heterodyne detector technology. We describe the superconducting hot electron bolometer (HEB) detectors that are used as frequency mixers in the L1 (1400 GHz), L2 (1900 GHz), and M (2500 GHz) channels of GREAT. Measured performance of the detectors is presented and background information on the...

The Great Moderation and the U.S. External Imbalance

OpenAIRE

Alessandra Fogli; Fabrizio Perri

2006-01-01

The early 1980s marked the onset of two striking features of the current world macroeconomy: the fall in U.S. business cycle volatility (the ggreat moderation h) and the large and persistent U.S. external imbalance. In this paper, we argue that an external imbalance is a natural consequence of the great moderation. If a country experiences a fall in volatility greater than that of its partners, its incentives to accumulate precautionary savings fall and this results in a permanent deteriorati...

A method to add richness to the National Landslide Database of Great Britain

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Faith; Freeborough, Katy; Malamud, Bruce; Demeritt, David

2014-05-01

Landslides in Great Britain (GB) pose a risk to infrastructure, property and livelihoods. Our understanding of where landslide hazard and impact will be greatest is based on our knowledge of past events. Here, we present a method to supplement existing records of landslides in GB by searching electronic archives of local and regional newspapers. In Great Britain, the British Geological Survey (BGS) are responsible for updating and maintaining records of GB landslide events and their impacts in the National Landslide Database (NLD). The NLD contains records of approximately 16,500 landslide events in Great Britain. Data sources for the NLD include field surveys, academic articles, grey literature, news, public reports and, since 2012, social media. Here we aim to supplement the richness of the NLD by (i) identifying additional landslide events and (ii) adding more detail to existing database entries. This is done by systematically searching the LexisNexis digital archive of 568 local and regional newspapers published in the UK. The first step in the methodology was to construct Boolean search criteria that optimised the balance between minimising the number of irrelevant articles (e.g. "a landslide victory") and maximising those referring to landslide events. This keyword search was then applied to the LexisNexis archive of newspapers for all articles published between 1 January and 31 December 2012, resulting in 1,668 articles. These articles were assessed to determine whether they related to a landslide event. Of the 1,668 articles, approximately 30% (~700) referred to landslide events, with others referring to landslides more generally or themes unrelated to landslides. Examples of information obtained from newspaper articles included: date/time of landslide occurrence, spatial location, size, impact, landslide type and triggering mechanism, although the amount of detail and precision attainable from individual articles was variable. Of the 700 articles found for

Improving blood sample logistics using simulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Pelle Morten Thomas; Jacobsen, Peter

2012-01-01

Using simulation as an approach to display and improve internal logistics and handling at hospitals has great potential. This research will show how a simulation model can be used to evaluate changes made to two different cases of transportation of blood samples at a hospital, by evaluating...

Leveraging finances for public health system improvement: results from the Turning Point initiative.

Science.gov (United States)

Bekemeier, Betty; Riley, Catharine M; Berkowitz, Bobbie

2007-01-01

Reforming the public health infrastructure requires substantial system changes at the state level; state health agencies, however, often lack the resources and support for strategic planning and systemwide improvement. The Turning Point Initiative provided support for states to focus on large-scale system changes that resulted in increased funding for public health capacity and infrastructure development. Turning Point provides a test case for obtaining financial and institutional resources focused on systems change and infrastructure development-areas for which it has been historically difficult to obtain long-term support. The purpose of this exploratory, descriptive survey research was to enumerate the actual resources leveraged toward public health system improvement through the partnerships, planning, and implementation activities funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as a part of the Turning Point Initiative.

"Most brilliant in judgment": Alexander the Great and Aristotle.

Science.gov (United States)

Lainas, Panagiotis; Panutsopulos, Dimitrios; Skandalakis, Panagiotis N; Zoras, Odysseas; Skandalakis, John E

2005-03-01

From historical sources, it is evident that Alexander the Great was indebted to one of his teachers, Aristotle of Stagira. It was the teaching of Aristotle that evoked all the nascent talents of young Alexander and turned him into a great man. Alexander was extremely interested in the secrets of medicine and considered it an art. The medical knowledge he acquired from Aristotle may have saved his life and the lives of his troops on many occasions. If Alexander did not possess medical knowledge and if his everyday life had not been so greatly influenced by medicine, he might never have been able to create his empire.

Pyometra in a Great Dane: A Clinical Case Report

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malik Abu Rafee

2015-04-01

Full Text Available A 4-year-old Great Dane was admitted with continuous sanguino-purulent vaginal discharge, distended abdomen, and cachexia. The dog was clinically diagnosed with pyometra and successfully cured by ovario-hysterectomy. This is the first case report of pyometra seen in as Great Dane in Bareilly, India.

Cerebral oximetry monitoring in the management of severe hypoxaemia associated with transposition of the great arteries with balloon atrial septostomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez Moreno, J C; Nájera Losada, D C; Sanabria Carretero, P; Paredes Lacave, Á; Benito Bartolomé, F

2018-05-01

Transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA) is one of the most common congenital heart diseases requiring neonatal surgical intervention. In the desperately ill neonate with TGA and the resultant hypoxaemia, acidemia, and congestive heart failure, improvement is often obtained with balloon atrial septostomy (BAS). Current methods employed to evaluate oxygen delivery and tissue consumption are frequently nonspecific. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) allows a continuous non-invasive measurement of tissue oxygenation which reflects perfusion status in real time. Because little is known about the direct effect of BAS on the neonatal brain and on cerebral oxygenation, we measured the effectiveness of BAS in two patients with D-TGA using NIRS before and after BAS. We concluded BAS improves cerebral oxygen saturation in neonates with D-TGA. Copyright © 2017 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Improvement of nuclear power plant operation and maintenance in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kazushige Hamazaki

1987-01-01

Following the inauguration of commercial nuclear power generation in Japan in 1966, capacity factors were held in the relatively low level until around 1975 due to initial-period troubles. With subsequent improvement, however, capacity factors have climbed steadily and recently been sustaining more than 70%. To obtain this successful result, a various kind of improvement have been made not only for the operation management area but also for the maintenance management area in conjunction with the successive effort to reflect the operating experiences to the early stage design. Nowadays nuclear generation has assumed increasing importance for Japan's electrical power needs, and is making a great contribution to stabilizing power supply costs. (author)

Improved multi-objective clustering algorithm using particle swarm optimization.

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Congcong; Chen, Haisong; He, Weixiong; Zhang, Zhanliang

2017-01-01

Multi-objective clustering has received widespread attention recently, as it can obtain more accurate and reasonable solution. In this paper, an improved multi-objective clustering framework using particle swarm optimization (IMCPSO) is proposed. Firstly, a novel particle representation for clustering problem is designed to help PSO search clustering solutions in continuous space. Secondly, the distribution of Pareto set is analyzed. The analysis results are applied to the leader selection strategy, and make algorithm avoid trapping in local optimum. Moreover, a clustering solution-improved method is proposed, which can increase the efficiency in searching clustering solution greatly. In the experiments, 28 datasets are used and nine state-of-the-art clustering algorithms are compared, the proposed method is superior to other approaches in the evaluation index ARI.

An Overview of the Smart Grid in Great Britain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nick Jenkins

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an overview of the current status of the development of the smart grid in Great Britain (GB. The definition, policy and technical drivers, incentive mechanisms, technological focus, and the industry's progress in developing the smart grid are described. In particular, the Low Carbon Networks Fund and Electricity Network Innovation Competition projects, together with the rollout of smart metering, are detailed. A more observable, controllable, automated, and integrated electricity network will be supported by these investments in conjunction with smart meter installation. It is found that the focus has mainly been on distribution networks as well as on real-time flows of information and interaction between suppliers and consumers facilitated by improved information and communications technology, active power flow management, demand management, and energy storage. The learning from the GB smart grid initiatives will provide valuable guidelines for future smart grid development in GB and other countries.

Birds of a Great Basin Sagebrush Habitat in East-Central Nevada

OpenAIRE

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service

1992-01-01

Breeding bird populations ranged from 3.35 to 3.48 individuals/ha over a 3-year study conducted from 1981 to 1983. Brewer's sparrows, sage sparrows, sage thrashers, and black-throated sparrows were numerically dominant. Horned larks and western meadowlarks were less common. Results are compared with bird populations in Great Basin sagebrush habitats elsewhere in the United States.

Haematological status of wintering great tits (Parus major) along a metal pollution gradient

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geens, Ann, E-mail: ann.geens@ua.ac.be [Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Ethology, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp (Belgium); Dauwe, Tom [Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Ethology, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp (Belgium); VITO, Boeretang 200, B-2400 Mol (Belgium); Bervoets, Lieven; Blust, Ronny [Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Ecophysiology, Biochemistry and Toxicology, Groenenborgerlaan 171, B-2020 Antwerp (Belgium); Eens, Marcel [Department of Biology, University of Antwerp, Ethology, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Antwerp (Belgium)

2010-02-01

In the long-term biomonitoring of wild populations inhabiting polluted areas, the use of non-destructive biomarkers as markers of condition is very important. We examined the possible effects of metal pollution on the haematological status of adult great tits (Parus major) along a well-established pollution gradient near a non-ferrous smelter in Belgium. We measured blood and feather metal concentrations and assessed the haematological status (amount of red blood cells, haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin) of adult great tits during winter at four study sites. Metal concentrations in blood and feathers indicated that cadmium and lead were the most important metals in the pollution gradient under study. Measurements of haematological parameters revealed that haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin were lower in great tits from the more polluted sites. These parameters were significantly negatively correlated with blood lead concentration. The amount of red blood cells, however, did not significantly differ among study sites. Our results indicate that the haematological status of great tits is negatively affected by metal pollution and may therefore be used as a successful biomarker for monitoring the negative impact of metal exposure in the wild.

The Rule of Saint Basil the Great

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr Pietrow

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The rules of monasticism were collected and published in a single work entitled Asketikon by Saint Basil the Great. It is arranged in the form of questions and answers to create one coherent work. It has two different publications.The first publication named The Small Asketikon dates to 370-370. It is the fruit of the Saint’s work among Pontic communities and consists of 203 questions and answers. The orignial Greek manuscript has not survived and it is available only in two translations: the Latin Rufin and fragments in Syrian language. The second publication named The Great Asketikon appeard in about 377 and presents the most mature step of cenobitic monasticismin Basil’s elaboration. The Great Asketikon was created by adding new questions to The Small Asketikon and consists of two parts called the The Longer Rules and The Shorter Rules. The Longer Rules are primarily a set of questions and answers. It includes a wide range of rules and norms of the overall life in community. It refers to the fundamental rules of spirituality, such as love, sacrifice, obedience and rudimental problems connected withcommunity organization, cenobitic monasticism and the role of the superior, work and prayer. The second part of The Great Asketikon consists of shorter rules. Two publications are known: the first one originated in Pont andincludes 286 questions and answers and second arose in Cezarei and includes 318 questions and answers. In this work, the Hierarch explains in detail issues regarding community life and solves difficult problems connected with conscience. He writes about behavior towards brothers and explains the significance of weaknesses and virtues.

Using kaizen to improve employee well-being: Results from two organizational intervention studies

Science.gov (United States)

von Thiele Schwarz, Ulrica; Nielsen, Karina M; Stenfors-Hayes, Terese; Hasson, Henna

2016-01-01

Participatory intervention approaches that are embedded in existing organizational structures may improve the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational interventions, but concrete tools are lacking. In the present article, we use a realist evaluation approach to explore the role of kaizen, a lean tool for participatory continuous improvement, in improving employee well-being in two cluster-randomized, controlled participatory intervention studies. Case 1 is from the Danish Postal Service, where kaizen boards were used to implement action plans. The results of multi-group structural equation modeling showed that kaizen served as a mechanism that increased the level of awareness of and capacity to manage psychosocial issues, which, in turn, predicted increased job satisfaction and mental health. Case 2 is from a regional hospital in Sweden that integrated occupational health processes with a pre-existing kaizen system. Multi-group structural equation modeling revealed that, in the intervention group, kaizen work predicted better integration of organizational and employee objectives after 12 months, which, in turn, predicted increased job satisfaction and decreased discomfort at 24 months. The findings suggest that participatory and structured problem-solving approaches that are familiar and visual to employees can facilitate organizational interventions. PMID:28736455

Using kaizen to improve employee well-being: Results from two organizational intervention studies.

Science.gov (United States)

von Thiele Schwarz, Ulrica; Nielsen, Karina M; Stenfors-Hayes, Terese; Hasson, Henna

2017-08-01

Participatory intervention approaches that are embedded in existing organizational structures may improve the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational interventions, but concrete tools are lacking. In the present article, we use a realist evaluation approach to explore the role of kaizen, a lean tool for participatory continuous improvement, in improving employee well-being in two cluster-randomized, controlled participatory intervention studies. Case 1 is from the Danish Postal Service, where kaizen boards were used to implement action plans. The results of multi-group structural equation modeling showed that kaizen served as a mechanism that increased the level of awareness of and capacity to manage psychosocial issues, which, in turn, predicted increased job satisfaction and mental health. Case 2 is from a regional hospital in Sweden that integrated occupational health processes with a pre-existing kaizen system. Multi-group structural equation modeling revealed that, in the intervention group, kaizen work predicted better integration of organizational and employee objectives after 12 months, which, in turn, predicted increased job satisfaction and decreased discomfort at 24 months. The findings suggest that participatory and structured problem-solving approaches that are familiar and visual to employees can facilitate organizational interventions.

A case study of the Great Plains low-level jet using wind profiler network data and a high resolution mesoscale model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhong, S.; Fast, J.D.; Bian, X.; Stage, S. [Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)] [and others

1996-04-01

The Great Plains low-level jet (LLJ) has important effects on the life cycle of clouds and on radiative and surface heat and moisture fluxes at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) site. This diurnal phenomenon governs the transport and convergence of low-level moisture into the region and often leads to the development of clouds and precipitation. A full understanding of the life cycle of clouds at the SGP CART site and their proper representation in single column and global climate models cannot be obtained without an improved understanding of this important phenomenon.

"As I deeply understand the importance and greatly admire the poetry of experiment..." (on the eve of P N Lebedev's anniversary)

Science.gov (United States)

Shcherbakov, R. N.

2016-02-01

Whatever we think of the eminent Russian physicist P N Lebedev, whatever our understanding of how his work was affected by circumstances in and outside of Russia, whatever value is placed on the basic elements of his twenty-year career and personal life and of his great successes and, happily, not so great failures, and whatever the stories of his happy times and his countless misfortunes, one thing remains clear — P N Lebedev's skill and talent served well to foster the development of global science and to improve the reputation of Russia as a scientific nation.

Great auricular neuropraxia with beach chair position

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joshi M

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Minal Joshi,1 Ruth Cheng,2 Hattiyangadi Kamath,1 Joel Yarmush1 1Department of Anesthesiology, New York Methodist Hospital, New York, NY, USA; 2School of Medicine, St. George’s University, Grenada, West Indies Abstract: Shoulder arthroscopy has been shown to be the procedure of choice for many diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Neuropraxia of the great auricular nerve (GAN is an uncommon complication of shoulder surgery, with the patient in the beach chair position. We report a case of great auricular neuropraxia associated with direct compression by a horseshoe headrest, used in routine positioning for uncomplicated shoulder surgery. In this case, an arthroscopic approach was taken, under regional anesthesia with sedation in the beach chair position. The GAN, a superficial branch of the cervical plexus, is vulnerable to neuropraxia due to its superficial anatomical location. We recommend that for the procedures of the beach chair position, the auricle be protected and covered with cotton and gauze to avoid direct compression and the position of the head and neck be checked and corrected frequently. Keywords: neuropraxia, anesthesia, arthroscopy, great auricular nerve

Improve the Efficiency of the Service Process as a Result of the Muda Ideology

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenc, Augustyn; Przyłuski, Krzysztof

2018-06-01

The aim of the paper was to improve service processes carried out by Knorr-Bremse Systemy Kolejowe Polska sp. z o.o. Particularly, emphasise unnecessary movements and physical efforts of employees. The indirect goal was to find a solution in the simplest possible way using the Muda ideology. In order to improve the service process at the beginning was executed the process mapping for the devices to be repaired, ie. brake callipers, electro-hydraulic units and auxiliary release units. The processes were assessed and shown as Pareto-Lorenz analysis. In order to determine the most time consuming process. Based on the obtained results use of a column crane with articulated arm was proposed to facilitate the transfer of heavy components between areas. The final step was to assess the effectiveness of the proposed solution in terms of time saving. From the company perspective results of the analysis are important. The proposed solution not only reduces total service time but also contributes to crew's work comfort.

[Genetic improvement of cotton varieties in Huang-Huai region in China since 1950's. III. Improvement on agronomy properties, disease resistance and stability].

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, B G; Kong, F L; Zhang, Q Y; Yang, F X; Jiang, R Q

2000-01-01

Data from a set of 5-location and 2-year experiments on 10 representative historical cotton varieties and the data of Huang-Huai Regional Cotton Trials from 1973 to 1996 were analyzed to estimate the effects of genetic improvement in agronomy properties, disease resistance and stability of cotton in Huang-Huai Region in China. The results indicated that a great genetic progress of earliness and disease resistance had been achieved by breeding programs since 1950's. The maturity was shortened 3-5 days; The rate of preforst yield was increased about 7 percentages. The problem of resistance to Fususium wilt has been solved and the resistance to Verticillum wilt was improving. Some progress in stability of cotton varieties also has been achieved by breeding programs since 1950.

Highly improved ethanol gas-sensing performance of mesoporous nickel oxides nanowires with the stannum donor doping

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Junqi; Li, Xiaoqing; Han, Yanbing; Xu, Jingcai; Jin, Hongxiao; Jin, Dingfeng; Peng, Xiaoling; Hong, Bo; Li, Jing; Yang, Yanting; Ge, Hongliang; Wang, Xinqing

2018-06-01

Mesoporous nickel oxides (NiO) and stannum(Sn)-doped NiO nanowires (NWs) were synthesized by using SBA-15 templates with the nanocasting method. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometry, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm and UV–vis spectrum were used to characterize the phase structure, components and microstructure of the as-prepared samples. The gas-sensing analysis indicated that the Sn-doping could greatly improve the ethanol sensitivity for mesoporous NiO NWs. With the increasing Sn content, the ethanol sensitivity increased from 2.16 for NiO NWs up to the maximum of 15.60 for Ni0.962Sn0.038O1.038, and then decreased to 12.24 for Ni0.946Sn0.054O1.054 to 100 ppm ethanol gas at 340 °C. The high surface area from the Sn-doping improved the adsorption of oxygen on the surface of NiO NWs, resulting in the smaller surface resistance in air. Furthermore, owing to the recombination of the holes in hole-accumulation lay with the electrons from the donor impurity level and the increasing the body defects for Sn-doping, the total resistance in ethanol gas enhanced greatly. It was concluded that the sensitivity of Sn-doped NiO NWs based sensor could be greatly improved by the higher surface area and high-valence donor substitution from Sn-doping.

Earthdata Search Client: Usability Review Process, Results, and Implemented Changes, Using Earthdata Search Client as a Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Siarto, Jeff; Reese, Mark; Shum, Dana; Baynes, Katie

2016-01-01

User experience and visual design are greatly improved when usability testing is performed on a periodic basis. Design decisions should be tested by real users so that application owners can understand the effectiveness of each decision and identify areas for improvement. It is important that applications be tested not just once, but as a part of a continuing process that looks to build upon previous tests. NASA's Earthdata Search Client has undergone a usability study to ensure its users' needs are being met and that users understand how to use the tool efficiently and effectively. This poster will highlight the process followed for usability study, the results of the study, and what has been implemented in light of the results to improve the application's interface.

A New Keynesian Perspective on the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Peter N. Ireland

2010-01-01

With an estimated New Keynesian model, this paper compares the "Great Recession" of 2007-09 to its two immediate predecessors in 1990-91 and 2001. The model attributes all three downturns to a similar mix of aggregate demand and supply disturbances. The most recent series of adverse shocks lasted longer and became more severe, however, prolonging and deepening the Great Recession. In addition, the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate prevented monetary policy from stabilizing the US ...

Possibilities for using plant extracts added to ruminant feed aimed at improving production results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grdović Svetlana

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The use of plant extracts with the objective of improving production results and the quality of food articles of animal origin is an area which is acquiring increasing scientific importance. Numerous investigations carried out so far on ruminants and other species of domestic animals have been aimed at examining specific bioactive matter of plants. The results of these investigations have demonstrated a positive influence on the production results. A large number of data indicate that plant extracts added to animal feed contribute to increasing overall productivity. Furthermore, plant extracts as additives in animal feed have a positive effect also on the health condition of the animals. A large number of plants have characteristics which potentially improve consumption, digestibility and conversion of food, and also growth. Examinations have been performed of the effects of different plant extracts on food consumption, wool growth, growth and composition of the trunk, milk production, reproductive parameters, agents for wool shearing, preventing bloat, methane production, as well as the influence of plants on curbing nematode infestations of ruminants. This work presents a review of scientific investigations of different plant species and their effects on the production characteristics of ruminants. .

Dreissenid mussels from the Great Lakes contain elevated thiaminase activity

Science.gov (United States)

Tillitt, D.E.; Riley, S.C.; Evans, A.N.; Nichols, S.J.; Zajicek, J.L.; Rinchard, J.; Richter, C.A.; Krueger, C.C.

2009-01-01

We examined thiaminase activity in dreissenid mussels collected at different depths and seasons, and from various locations in Lakes Michigan, Ontario, and Huron. Here we present evidence that two dreissenid mussel species (Dreissena bugensis and D. polymorpha) contain thiaminase activity that is 5-100 fold greater than observed in Great Lakes fishes. Thiaminase activity in zebra mussels ranged from 10,600 to 47,900??pmol g- 1??min- 1 and activities in quagga mussels ranged from 19,500 to 223,800??pmol g- 1??min- 1. Activity in the mussels was greatest in spring, less in summer, and least in fall. Additionally, we observed greater thiaminase activity in dreissenid mussels collected at shallow depths compared to mussels collected at deeper depths. Dreissenids constitute a significant and previously unknown pool of thiaminase in the Great Lakes food web compared to other known sources of this thiamine (vitamin B1)-degrading enzyme. Thiaminase in forage fish of the Great Lakes has been causally linked to thiamine deficiency in salmonines. We currently do not know whether linkages exist between thiaminase activities observed in dreissenids and the thiaminase activities in higher trophic levels of the Great Lakes food web. However, the extreme thiaminase activities observed in dreissenids from the Great Lakes may represent a serious unanticipated negative effect of these exotic species on Great Lakes ecosystems.

Did Alexander the Great die of acute pancreatitis?

Science.gov (United States)

Sbarounis, C N

1997-06-01

I propose that Alexander the Great died of acute pancreatitis secondary to heavy alcohol consumption and a very rich meal. The cause of death of prominent historic or artistic figures attracts considerable interest of historians and researchers. This is especially the case for Alexander the Great. More than 20,000 publications, books, or monographs on the life and work of Alexander the Great have been published. There are several theories and hypotheses regarding the cause of his death, that are based on historic descriptions, diaries, notations, and interpretations of events. It is inevitable that history and myth intermingle in any investigative approach, no matter how scholarly. In this article, on the basis of several historic sources. I have made an effort to reconstruct the final 14 days of his life and record the course of medical events that preceded his death with the formulation of a plausible diagnosis.

Recent TCV results. Innovative plasma shaping to improve plasma properties and insight

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pochelon, Antoine; Angelino, Paolo; Behn, Roland

2012-01-01

The TCV tokamak facility is used to study the effect of innovative plasma shapes on core and edge confinement properties. In low collisionality L-mode plasmas with electron cyclotron heating (ECH) confinement increases with increasing negative triangularity δ. The confinement improvement correlates with a decrease of the inner core electron heat transport, even though triangularity vanishes to the core, pointing to the effect of nonlocal transport properties. TCV has recently started the study of the effects of negative triangularity in H-mode plasmas. H-mode confinement is known to improve towards positive triangularity, due to the increase of pedestal height, though plagued by increasingly large edge localised modes (ELMs). An optimum triangularity could thus be sought between steep edge barriers (δ > 0) with large ELMs, and improved core confinement (δ < 0) with small ELMs. This opens the possibility for a reactor of having H-mode-level confinement within an L-mode edge, or at least with mitigated ELMs. In TCV, ELMy H-modes with upper triangularity δ top < 0 are explored, showing a reduction of ELM peak energy losses compared to δ top > 0. Alternative shapes are proposed on the basis of ideal MHD stability calculations. Shaping has the potential to bring at the same time key solutions to confinement, stability and wall loading issues and, from the comparison of experimental and simulation results, to give deeper insight in transport and stability. (author)

Imaging features of primary Sarcomas of the great vessels in CT, MRI and PET/CT: a single-center experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Falck, Christian von; Meyer, Bernhard; Fegbeutel, Christine; Länger, Florian; Bengel, Frank; Wacker, Frank; Rodt, Thomas

2013-01-01

To investigate the imaging features of primary sarcomas of the great vessels in CT, MRI and 18 F-FDG PET/CT. Thirteen patients with a primary sarcoma of the great vessels were retrospectively evaluated. All available images studies including F-18 FDG PET(/CT) (n = 4), MDCT (n = 12) and MRI (n = 6) were evaluated and indicative image features of this rare tumor entity were identified. The median interval between the first imaging study and the final diagnosis was 11 weeks (0–12 weeks). The most frequently observed imaging findings suggestive of malignant disease in patients with sarcomas of the pulmonary arteries were a large filling defect with vascular distension, unilaterality and a lack of improvement despite effective anticoagulation. In patients with aortic sarcomas we most frequently observed a pedunculated appearance and an atypical location of the filling defect. The F-18 FDG PET(/CT) examinations demonstrated an unequivocal hypermetabolism of the lesion in all cases (4/4). MRI proved lesion vascularization in 5/6 cases. Intravascular unilateral or atypically located filling defects of the great vessels with vascular distension, a pedunculated shape and lack of improvement despite effective anticoagulation are suspicious for primary sarcoma on MDCT or MRI. MR perfusion techniques can add information on the nature of the lesion but the findings may be subtle and equivocal. F-18 FDG PET/CT may have a potential role in these patients and may be considered as part of the imaging workup

Results-driven approach to improving quality and productivity

Science.gov (United States)

John Dramm

2000-01-01

Quality control (QC) programs do not often realize their full potential. Elaborate and expensive QC programs can easily get side tracked by the process of building a program with promises of “Someday, this will all pay off.” Training employees in QC methods is no guarantee that quality will improve. Several documented cases show that such activity-centered efforts...

Multilevel Empirical Bayes Modeling for Improved Estimation of Toxicant Formulations to Suppress Parasitic Sea Lamprey in the Upper Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Hatfield, L.A.; Gutreuter, S.; Boogaard, M.A.; Carlin, B.P.

2011-01-01

Estimation of extreme quantal-response statistics, such as the concentration required to kill 99.9% of test subjects (LC99.9), remains a challenge in the presence of multiple covariates and complex study designs. Accurate and precise estimates of the LC99.9 for mixtures of toxicants are critical to ongoing control of a parasitic invasive species, the sea lamprey, in the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America. The toxicity of those chemicals is affected by local and temporal variations in water chemistry, which must be incorporated into the modeling. We develop multilevel empirical Bayes models for data from multiple laboratory studies. Our approach yields more accurate and precise estimation of the LC99.9 compared to alternative models considered. This study demonstrates that properly incorporating hierarchical structure in laboratory data yields better estimates of LC99.9 stream treatment values that are critical to larvae control in the field. In addition, out-of-sample prediction of the results of in situ tests reveals the presence of a latent seasonal effect not manifest in the laboratory studies, suggesting avenues for future study and illustrating the importance of dual consideration of both experimental and observational data. ?? 2011, The International Biometric Society.

Montana Advanced Biofuels Great Falls Approval

Science.gov (United States)

This November 20, 2015 letter from EPA approves the petition from Montana Advanced Biofuels, LLC, Great Falls facility, regarding ethanol produced through a dry mill process, qualifying under the Clean Air Act for advanced biofuel (D-code 5) and renewable

Ecosystem services in the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

A comprehensive inventory of ecosystem services across the entire Great Lakes basin is currently lacking and is needed to make informed management decisions. A greater appreciation and understanding of ecosystem services, including both use and non-use services, may have avoided ...

Dilemmas of downsizing during the great recession: crisis strategies of European employers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dalen, H.P.; Henkens, K.

2013-01-01

The present paper analyzes the choices faced by European employers when threatened with the prospect of the mass lay-off of their employees as a result of the Great Recession. By means of a representative survey among employers in Italy, Germany, Denmark, Poland, theNetherlands and Sweden in 2009,

Dilemmas Of Downsizing During the Great Recession : Crisis Strategies of European Employers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dalen, H.P.; Henkens, K.

2013-01-01

Summary The present paper analyzes the choices faced by European employers when threatened with the prospect of the mass lay-off of their employees as a result of the Great Recession. By means of a representative survey among employers in Italy, Germany, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden

Dilemmas of downsizing during the Great Recession : Crisis strategies of European employers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dalen, H.P.; Henkens, C.J.I.M.

2013-01-01

The present paper analyzes the choices faced by European employers when threatened with the prospect of the mass lay-off of their employees as a result of the Great Recession. By means of a representative survey among employers in Italy, Germany, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden in 2009,

Dilemmas of downsizing during the great recession: crisis strategies of European employers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dalen, H.P.; Henkens, K.

2013-01-01

The present paper analyzes the choices faced by European employers when threatened with the prospect of the mass lay-off of their employees as a result of the Great Recession. By means of a representative survey among employers in Italy, Germany, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden in 2009,

Improving cattle nutrition on the Great Plains with shrubs and fecal seeding of fourwing saltbush

Science.gov (United States)

Two in vitro trials were conducted for estimates of dietary percentage of fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens; FS) or winterfat (Krascheninnikovia lanata; WF) to improve diet digestibility when cattle graze mature cool-season grass. Three in vitro trials were conducted to estimate the percentage ...

Stenting is improving and stabilizing anatomical results of coiled intracranial aneurysms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lubicz, Boris; Bandeira, Alexandra; Baleriaux, Danielle; Bruneau, Michael; Witte, Olivier de; Dewindt, Aloys

2009-01-01

Stent-assisted coiling (SAC) is an alternative to surgical clipping for the treatment of wide-necked intracranial aneurysms (IA). However, little information is available concerning the long-term results of this treatment. The aim of this study was to report the long-term clinical and anatomical findings in 32 patients with 34 wide-necked IA treated by SAC. A retrospective review of our prospectively maintained database identified all patients followed up for wide-necked IA treated by SAC. The clinical charts, procedural data, and angiographic results were reviewed. Thirty-two patients with 34 IA were identified including 25 asymptomatic patients, four with cranial nerve palsies, two with a subarachnoid hemorrhage, and one with transient ischemic attacks. Mean aneurysm size was 10.2 mm (range 3.5 to 26 mm). Embolization was successful in all patients and no procedure-related neurological morbidity or mortality was observed. Immediate anatomical results included nine complete occlusions (26.5%), two neck remnants (6%), and 23 incomplete occlusions (67.5%). Mean imaging follow-up of 20 months showed 18 further thrombosis (53%) and 16 stable results (47%). Finally, 27 aneurysms were completely occluded (79%), three had a neck remnant (9%), and four were incompletely occluded (12%). Asymptomatic and nonsignificant in-stent stenosis occurred in seven patients (22%). SAC is safe and effective for the treatment of wide-necked IA. Despite unsatisfying immediate aneurysm occlusion, the adjunctive effect of the stent is stabilizing or significantly improving long-term anatomical results. (orig.)

Evaluating the effect of a year-long film focused environmental education program on Ugandan student knowledge of and attitudes toward great apes.

Science.gov (United States)

Leeds, Austin; Lukas, Kristen E; Kendall, Corinne J; Slavin, Michelle A; Ross, Elizabeth A; Robbins, Martha M; van Weeghel, Dagmar; Bergl, Richard A

2017-08-01

Films, as part of a larger environmental education program, have the potential to influence the knowledge and attitudes of viewers. However, to date, no evaluations have been published reporting the effectiveness of films, when used within primate range countries as part of a conservation themed program. The Great Ape Education Project was a year-long environmental education program implemented in Uganda for primary school students living adjacent to Kibale National Park (KNP) and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP). Students viewed a trilogy of conservation films about great apes, produced specifically for this audience, and participated in complementary extra-curricular activities. The knowledge and attitudes of students participating in the program from KNP, but not BINP were assessed using questionnaires prior to (N = 1271) and following (N = 872) the completion of the program. Following the program, students demonstrated a significant increase in their knowledge of threats to great apes and an increase in their knowledge of ways that villagers and students can help conserve great apes. Additionally, student attitudes toward great apes improved following the program. For example, students showed an increase in agreement with liking great apes and viewing them as important to the environment. These data provide evidence that conservation films made specifically to address regional threats and using local actors and settings can positively influence knowledge of and attitudes toward great apes among students living in a primate range country. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Chiropractic manipulative therapy of the thoracic spine in combination with stretch and strengthening exercises, in improving postural kyphosis in woman

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Castello Branco

2016-12-01

Conclusion: The study showed that all three treatment protocols for Groups 1, 2, and 3 were effective. However, Group 1 had not shown a great improvement in their postural kyphosis, Group 3 had shown a relatively good improvement in their posture, while Group 2 had shown the best results with regards to improvement of the participants' posture. Therefore, in conclusion, Groups 2 and 3 treatment protocols can be used effectively to treat postural kyphosis but Group 2's treatment protocol, consisting of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy to the thoracic spine in combination with stretch and strengthening exercises, will yield the best results.

GLERL Great Lakes Air Temperature/Degree Day Climatology, 1897-1983

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Daily maximum and minimum temperatures for 25 stations around the Great Lakes, 1897 to 1983, were given to NSIDC by the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research...

Exporters and wage inequality during the Great Recession: Evidence from Germany

OpenAIRE

Dauth, Wolfgang; Schmerer, Hans-Joerg; Winkler, Erwin

2015-01-01

We analyze the evolution of the exporter wage premium (EWP) during the Great Recession and the resulting impact on wage inequality in Germany. Our results show that the EWP declined sharply between 2007 and 2008 and stagnated afterwards. This pattern is due to exporters starting to adjust their wage-setting one year earlier than non-exporters, likely due to the sharp decrease of foreign orders starting in late 2007. Finally, our decomposition shows that the fall of the EWP had a notable negat...

Making Psychotherapy Great Again?

Science.gov (United States)

Plakun, Eric M

2017-05-01

Psychotherapy never stopped being as "great" as other treatments. This column explores the evidence base for both psychotherapy and medications, using depression as a specific example. The limitations are comparable for psychotherapy and medication, with much of the evidence based on small degrees of "statistically significant" rather than "clinically meaningful" change. Our field's biomedical emphasis leads to a false assumption that most patients present with single disorders, when comorbidity is the rule rather than the exception. This false assumption contributes to limitations in the evidence base and in our ability to treat patients optimally.

An improved machine learning protocol for the identification of correct Sequest search results

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lu Hui

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Mass spectrometry has become a standard method by which the proteomic profile of cell or tissue samples is characterized. To fully take advantage of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS techniques in large scale protein characterization studies robust and consistent data analysis procedures are crucial. In this work we present a machine learning based protocol for the identification of correct peptide-spectrum matches from Sequest database search results, improving on previously published protocols. Results The developed model improves on published machine learning classification procedures by 6% as measured by the area under the ROC curve. Further, we show how the developed model can be presented as an interpretable tree of additive rules, thereby effectively removing the 'black-box' notion often associated with machine learning classifiers, allowing for comparison with expert rule-of-thumb. Finally, a method for extending the developed peptide identification protocol to give probabilistic estimates of the presence of a given protein is proposed and tested. Conclusions We demonstrate the construction of a high accuracy classification model for Sequest search results from MS/MS spectra obtained by using the MALDI ionization. The developed model performs well in identifying correct peptide-spectrum matches and is easily extendable to the protein identification problem. The relative ease with which additional experimental parameters can be incorporated into the classification framework, to give additional discriminatory power, allows for future tailoring of the model to take advantage of information from specific instrument set-ups.

A new approach for monitoring ebolavirus in wild great apes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia E Reed

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Central Africa is a "hotspot" for emerging infectious diseases (EIDs of global and local importance, and a current outbreak of ebolavirus is affecting multiple countries simultaneously. Ebolavirus is suspected to have caused recent declines in resident great apes. While ebolavirus vaccines have been proposed as an intervention to protect apes, their effectiveness would be improved if we could diagnostically confirm Ebola virus disease (EVD as the cause of die-offs, establish ebolavirus geographical distribution, identify immunologically naïve populations, and determine whether apes survive virus exposure.Here we report the first successful noninvasive detection of antibodies against Ebola virus (EBOV from wild ape feces. Using this method, we have been able to identify gorillas with antibodies to EBOV with an overall prevalence rate reaching 10% on average, demonstrating that EBOV exposure or infection is not uniformly lethal in this species. Furthermore, evidence of antibodies was identified in gorillas thought previously to be unexposed to EBOV (protected from exposure by rivers as topological barriers of transmission.Our new approach will contribute to a strategy to protect apes from future EBOV infections by early detection of increased incidence of exposure, by identifying immunologically naïve at-risk populations as potential targets for vaccination, and by providing a means to track vaccine efficacy if such intervention is deemed appropriate. Finally, since human EVD is linked to contact with infected wildlife carcasses, efforts aimed at identifying great ape outbreaks could have a profound impact on public health in local communities, where EBOV causes case-fatality rates of up to 88%.

Utilization of a Marketing Strategy at Naval Regional Medical Center Great Lakes, Great Lakes, Illinois

Science.gov (United States)

1983-06-01

22 Analysis of the Mare.....................22 Development of the Marketing Mix .. .......... 29 A Marketing Mix --Recommendations...problem. Marketing strategy, marketing mix and ultimately the marketing orientation will allow hospitals to persevere and possibly thrive in a somewhat...market are currently being met at Naval Regional Medical Center Great Lakes. The fourth objective is to demonstrate an appropriate marketing mix for

Standardization of Primary Education in Great Britain

Science.gov (United States)

Yarovaya, Yelena B.

2015-01-01

The article examines the standardization of primary education as one of the development trends of the British school at the present moment in the context of improving its efficiency and quality. It analyses the positive results of the standard-based reforms (modernization of primary education content, improvement of younger students' outcomes,…

Design improvements in TRIGA reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batch, John M.

1970-01-01

There have been many design improvements to TRIGA reactor hardware in the past twelve years. One of the more important and most obvious improvements has been in the area of reactor instrumentation. The low profile, completely transistorized Mark III console was a great step forward in a low maintenance, high reliability instrumentation system. Other design improvements include the lazy susan specimen pickup assembly; the specimen container; an empty stainless steel fuel element which can be filled with samples and can be located anywhere in the core; the flexible fuel handling tool; a new fuel measuring tool design; the shock absorber on the adjustable transient rod drive; new testing and evaluation procedures on the thermocouples and other

Breast and cervical screening by race/ethnicity: comparative analyses before and during the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

King, Christopher J; Chen, Jie; Garza, Mary A; Thomas, Stephen B

2014-04-01

Traditionally, economic recessions have resulted in decreased utilization of preventive health services. To explore racial and ethnic differences in breast and cervical cancer screening rates before and during the Great Recession. The Medical Expenditure Panel was the source for identifying 10,894 women, ages 50-74 for breast screening and 19,957 women, ages 21-65 for cervical screening. Survey years included 2004-2005 and 2009-2010. Dependent variables were as follows: 1) receipt of mammogram within the past 2 years; and 2) receipt of a Pap smear within the past 3 years. The interaction of the recession and the likelihood of screening between whites and minorities was analyzed. Multivariate regressions were applied to estimate the likelihood of screening for the two time periods while controlling for a recession variable. Nationally, breast and cervical cancer screening rates dropped during the recession period; white women contributed most to the decline. However, there were significant improvements in timely screening for both cancers among Hispanics during the recession period. After controlling for the recession, African American women were more likely to have timely screenings compared to white women. Screening rates during the recession were lowest in the South, Midwest and West. There was a national reduction in the percentages of women who obtained timely breast and cervical screenings during the Great Recession. Outreach efforts are needed to ensure that women who were not screened during the recession are screened. Widespread education about the Affordable Care Act may be helpful. Copyright © 2014 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Great Recession, unemployment and suicide.

Science.gov (United States)

Norström, Thor; Grönqvist, Hans

2015-02-01

How have suicide rates responded to the marked increase in unemployment spurred by the Great Recession? Our paper puts this issue into a wider perspective by assessing (1) whether the unemployment-suicide link is modified by the degree of unemployment protection, and (2) whether the effect on suicide of the present crisis differs from the effects of previous economic downturns. We analysed the unemployment-suicide link using time-series data for 30 countries spanning the period 1960-2012. Separate fixed-effects models were estimated for each of five welfare state regimes with different levels of unemployment protection (Eastern, Southern, Anglo-Saxon, Bismarckian and Scandinavian). We included an interaction term to capture the possible excess effect of unemployment during the Great Recession. The largest unemployment increases occurred in the welfare state regimes with the least generous unemployment protection. The unemployment effect on male suicides was statistically significant in all welfare regimes, except the Scandinavian one. The effect on female suicides was significant only in the eastern European country group. There was a significant gradient in the effects, being stronger the less generous the unemployment protection. The interaction term capturing the possible excess effect of unemployment during the financial crisis was not significant. Our findings suggest that the more generous the unemployment protection the weaker the detrimental impact on suicide of the increasing unemployment during the Great Recession. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Improvement of the accuracy of phase observation by modification of phase-shifting electron holography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suzuki, Takahiro; Aizawa, Shinji; Tanigaki, Toshiaki [Advanced Science Institute, RIKEN, Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Ota, Keishin, E-mail: ota@microphase.co.jp [Microphase Co., Ltd., Onigakubo 1147-9, Tsukuba, Ibaragi 300-2651 (Japan); Matsuda, Tsuyoshi [Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi-shi, Saitama 332-0012 (Japan); Tonomura, Akira [Advanced Science Institute, RIKEN, Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Graduate University, Kunigami, Okinawa 904-0495 (Japan); Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd., Hatoyama, Saitama 350-0395 (Japan)

2012-07-15

We found that the accuracy of the phase observation in phase-shifting electron holography is strongly restricted by time variations of mean intensity and contrast of the holograms. A modified method was developed for correcting these variations. Experimental results demonstrated that the modification enabled us to acquire a large number of holograms, and as a result, the accuracy of the phase observation has been improved by a factor of 5. -- Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A modified phase-shifting electron holography was proposed. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The time variation of mean intensity and contrast of holograms were corrected. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer These corrections lead to a great improvement of the resultant phase accuracy. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A phase accuracy of about 1/4000 rad was achieved from experimental results.

Canada's Response to the Recommendations in the Tenth Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality of the International Joint Commission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-07-01

The Government of Canada and Ontario are currently renegotiating the Canada-Ontario Agreement Respecting the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem (COA). They are committed to restoring and maintaining the basin's chemical, physical and biological integrity and ensuring that it has a healthy, sustainable future. The COA has established a strategic framework for coordinated federal-provincial responsibilities regarding the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. This document presents responses to the recommendations of the International Joint Commission's (IJC) Tenth Biennial Report on how to improve the performance and effectiveness of government programs such as the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. According to the IJC, there are many challenges ahead, including: cleanup of Canadian Areas of Concern; controlling and preventing the further introduction of exotic species; mitigating the impact of rapid urban growth on environmental conditions throughout the basin; and reducing contaminants transported in the atmosphere over long distances to the Great Lakes. This document presented the government's responses to each of the following IJC recommendations regarding remedial action plans, threats to human health with respect to consumption of fish, contaminated sediment, airborne toxic substances, Great Lakes binational toxics strategy, land use, alien invasive species, and information and data management. IJC also recommended that indicators should be reported regarding whether the Great Lakes surface waters are suitable for drinking, swimming and whether fish are edible.

Greatly reduced emission of greenhouse gases from the wood-processing industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

The strong support for biomass energy in the Norwegian wood-processing industry during the last 10-15 years has contributed greatly to a considerable reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases. The potential for further reductions is primarily linked with the use of oil and involves only a few works. Oil can be replaced by other fuels, and process-technical improvements can reduce the emissions. According to prognoses, emissions will go on decreasing until 2007, when the total emission of greenhouse gases from the wood-processing industry will be about 13 per cent less than in 1998. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) amounts to 90 per cent of the total emission, the remaining parts being methane (CH 4 ) from landfills and dumps, and small amounts of N 2 O

Computed tomography of the heart and great vessels: present and future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brundage, B.H.; Rich, S.; Spigos, D.

1984-01-01

Computed tomography (CT) has emerged as a new imaging method for the diagnosis and evaluation of cardiovascular disease. With CT body scanners and contrast enhancement, evaluation of aortic dissections and aneurysms, coronary bypass graft patency, cardiovascular thrombus, cardiac tumors, and pericardial disease is possible. On occasion, this technique provides clinically useful information that is not available with other imaging methods. Electrocardiographic gating retrospectively or prospectively improves the image resolution of CT scans, but a new ultrafast CT scanner with a scan time of 30 to 50 milliseconds offers the greatest promise for expanding the application of the technology for cardiovascular diagnosis. Accurate measurement of cardiac chamber volume, mass, wall motion, and wall thickening will be feasible. Ultrafast CT scanning also shows great promise for the measurement of myocardial infarct size and regional myocardial blood flow

CT of the heart and great vessels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masuda, Yoshiaki; Inagaki, Yoshiaki

1982-01-01

Diseases of the heart and great vessels were diagnosed by CT through comparison of the pictures with that of control. Indications for CT included pericardiac diseases such as pericardial effusion, pericardiac cyst, pericardiac defect, pericardiac fat pad, and dilated or hypertrophic ventriculus. Of coronary artery diseases, myocardial infarction is the best indication for CT; and coronary artery calcification and coronary artery bypass graft for checking up the patency were also indications for this method. CT was useful for diagnosis of valvular diseases, especially mitral valve diseases, congenital heart diseases with structural abnormalities, abnormalities of the aorta and great veins, and of the pulmonary arteries and veins, and for follow-up of pulmonary congestion. (Ueda, J.)

Good to great: using 360-degree feedback to improve physician emotional intelligence.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammerly, Milton E; Harmon, Larry; Schwaitzberg, Steven D

2014-01-01

The past decade has seen intense interest and dramatic change in how hospitals and physician organizations review physician behaviors. The characteristics of successful physicians extend past their technical and cognitive skills. Two of the six core clinical competencies (professionalism and interpersonal/communication skills) endorsed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the American Board of Medical Specialties, and The Joint Commission require physicians to succeed in measures associated with emotional intelligence (EI). Using 360-degree anonymous feedback surveys to screen for improvement opportunities in these two core competencies enables organizations to selectively offer education to further develop physician EI. Incorporating routine use of these tools and interventions into ongoing professional practice evaluation and focused professional practice evaluation processes may be a cost-effective strategy for preventing disruptive behaviors and increasing the likelihood of success when transitioning to an employed practice model. On the basis of a literature review, we determined that physician EI plays a key role in leadership; teamwork; and clinical, financial, and organizational outcomes. This finding has significant implications for healthcare executives seeking to enhance physician alignment and transition to a team-based delivery model.

Financial fragility in the Great Moderation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bezemer, Dirk; Grydaki, Maria

2014-01-01

A nascent literature explores the measurement of financial fragility. This paper considers evidence for rising financial fragility during the 1984-2007 Great Moderation in the U.S. The literature suggests that macroeconomic stability combined with strong growth of credit to asset markets, in asset

The GREAT-ER model in China: Evaluating the risk of both treated and untreated wastewater discharges and a consideration to the future.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Benjamin; Jones, Kevin; Sweetman, Andrew

2016-04-01

As a result of rapid economic development, the production and usage of chemicals in China has risen significantly. This has resulted in China's environment becoming degraded. The Chinese government has attempted to ease these problems with significant investment towards upgrading the wastewater network. These efforts have initially focused upon large cities; progressing towards smaller populations within the most recent 5 year plan. However rural populations were largely overlooked, ~90% of rural settlements do not have treatment facilities for their wastewater. The next (13th) five year plan is a great opportunity to improve upon wastewater infrastructure. This transition is particularly important and it is essential for the government to prioritise settlements to provide treatment facilities and to improve water quality in receiving waters. This study focuses upon the use of a catchment model in order make progress towards this goal. A reliable model which can capture the complexity of the catchment is needed, but one without complexity in itself, in order for it to be developed and validated without an excessive requirement for data. The Geo-referenced Regional Exposure Assessment Tool for European Rivers (GREAT-ER) model is a catchment-scale stochastic-deterministic GIS model. It is primarily used for higher-tier chemical risk assessment. Emissions are from point source only and are calculated based upon population and calculated emission rates per capita. Dilution and transportation are determined using low-flow statistics within each stretch; calculated based upon catchment soil and topographic properties. Removal of the contaminant can occur prior to emission and in-stream. The lowest tier methodology applies a simple 1st-order removal rate and a flat percentage removal for in-stream and sewage treatment work removal respectively. The data requirements are relatively low, although still challenging for many situations. Many authors have reported reasonable

The great silence science and philosophy of Fermi's paradox

CERN Document Server

Cirkovic, Milan M

2018-01-01

The Great Silence explores the multifaceted problem named after the great Italian physicist Enrico Fermi and his legendary 1950 lunchtime question "Where is everybody?" In many respects, Fermi's paradox is the richest and the most challenging problem for the entire field of astrobiology and the Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (SETI) studies. This book shows how Fermi's paradox is intricately connected with many fields of learning, technology, arts, and even everyday life. It aims to establish the strongest possible version of the problem, to dispel many related confusions, obfuscations, and prejudices, as well as to offer a novel point of entry to the many solutions proposed in existing literature. Cirkovic argues that any evolutionary worldview cannot avoid resolving the Great Silence problem in one guise or another.

The maturing of the quality improvement paradigm in the SEL

Science.gov (United States)

Basili, Victor R.

1993-01-01

The Software Engineering Laboratory uses a paradigm for improving the software process and product, called the quality improvement paradigm. This paradigm has evolved over the past 18 years, along with our software development processes and product. Since 1976, when we first began the SEL, we have learned a great deal about improving the software process and product, making a great many mistakes along the way. Quality improvement paradigm, as it is currently defined, can be broken up into six steps: characterize the current project and its environment with respect to the appropriate models and metrics; set the quantifiable goals for successful project performance and improvement; choose the appropriate process model and supporting methods and tools for this project; execute the processes, construct the products, and collect, validate, and analyze the data to provide real-time feedback for corrective action; analyze the data to evaluate the current practices, determine problems, record findings, and make recommendations for future project improvements; and package the experience gained in the form of updated and refined models and other forms of structured knowledge gained from this and prior projects and save it in an experience base to be reused on future projects.

Early emergence of anthropogenically forced heat waves in the western United States and Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Lopez, Hosmay; West, Robert; Dong, Shenfu; Goni, Gustavo; Kirtman, Ben; Lee, Sang-Ki; Atlas, Robert

2018-05-01

Climate projections for the twenty-first century suggest an increase in the occurrence of heat waves. However, the time at which externally forced signals of anthropogenic climate change (ACC) emerge against background natural variability (time of emergence (ToE)) has been challenging to quantify, which makes future heat-wave projections uncertain. Here we combine observations and model simulations under present and future forcing to assess how internal variability and ACC modulate US heat waves. We show that ACC dominates heat-wave occurrence over the western United States and Great Lakes regions, with ToE that occurred as early as the 2020s and 2030s, respectively. In contrast, internal variability governs heat waves in the northern and southern Great Plains, where ToE occurs in the 2050s and 2070s; this later ToE is believed to be a result of a projected increase in circulation variability, namely the Great Plain low-level jet. Thus, greater mitigation and adaptation efforts are needed in the Great Lakes and western United States regions.

Monitoring outcomes with relational databases: does it improve quality of care?

Science.gov (United States)

Clemmer, Terry P

2004-12-01

There are 3 key ingredients in improving quality of medial care: 1) using a scientific process of improvement, 2) executing the process at the lowest possible level in the organization, and 3) measuring the results of any change reliably. Relational databases when used within these guidelines are of great value in these efforts if they contain reliable information that is pertinent to the project and used in a scientific process of quality improvement by a front line team. Unfortunately, the data are frequently unreliable and/or not pertinent to the local process and is used by persons at very high levels in the organization without a scientific process and without reliable measurement of the outcome. Under these circumstances the effectiveness of relational databases in improving care is marginal at best, frequently wasteful and has the potential to be harmful. This article explores examples of these concepts.

Common Visual Preference for Curved Contours in Humans and Great Apes.

Science.gov (United States)

Munar, Enric; Gómez-Puerto, Gerardo; Call, Josep; Nadal, Marcos

2015-01-01

Among the visual preferences that guide many everyday activities and decisions, from consumer choices to social judgment, preference for curved over sharp-angled contours is commonly thought to have played an adaptive role throughout human evolution, favoring the avoidance of potentially harmful objects. However, because nonhuman primates also exhibit preferences for certain visual qualities, it is conceivable that humans' preference for curved contours is grounded on perceptual and cognitive mechanisms shared with extant nonhuman primate species. Here we aimed to determine whether nonhuman great apes and humans share a visual preference for curved over sharp-angled contours using a 2-alternative forced choice experimental paradigm under comparable conditions. Our results revealed that the human group and the great ape group indeed share a common preference for curved over sharp-angled contours, but that they differ in the manner and magnitude with which this preference is expressed behaviorally. These results suggest that humans' visual preference for curved objects evolved from earlier primate species' visual preferences, and that during this process it became stronger, but also more susceptible to the influence of higher cognitive processes and preference for other visual features.

The Role of Motivation and Creativity in Sustaining Volunteerism of Citizenship for Positive Youth Development after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Oie, Mayumi

2017-01-01

This paper examined how the interdisciplinary field of volunteer motivation and creativity research helps improve our understanding of social issues. This research focused on the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011, and discussed how volunteer motivations support volunteer activities, positive youth…

The 2009 Samoa-Tonga great earthquake triggered doublet

Science.gov (United States)

Lay, T.; Ammon, C.J.; Kanamori, H.; Rivera, L.; Koper, K.D.; Hutko, Alexander R.

2010-01-01

Great earthquakes (having seismic magnitudes of at least 8) usually involve abrupt sliding of rock masses at a boundary between tectonic plates. Such interplate ruptures produce dynamic and static stress changes that can activate nearby intraplate aftershocks, as is commonly observed in the trench-slope region seaward of a great subduction zone thrust event1-4. The earthquake sequence addressed here involves a rare instance in which a great trench-slope intraplate earthquake triggered extensive interplate faulting, reversing the typical pattern and broadly expanding the seismic and tsunami hazard. On 29 September 2009, within two minutes of the initiation of a normal faulting event with moment magnitude 8.1 in the outer trench-slope at the northern end of the Tonga subduction zone, two major interplate underthrusting subevents (both with moment magnitude 7.8), with total moment equal to a second great earthquake of moment magnitude 8.0, ruptured the nearby subduction zone megathrust. The collective faulting produced tsunami waves with localized regions of about 12metres run-up that claimed 192 lives in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga. Overlap of the seismic signals obscured the fact that distinct faults separated by more than 50km had ruptured with different geometries, with the triggered thrust faulting only being revealed by detailed seismic wave analyses. Extensive interplate and intraplate aftershock activity was activated over a large region of the northern Tonga subduction zone. ?? 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Wildlife in the Upper Great Lakes Region: a community profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Janine M. Benyus; Richard R. Buech; Mark D. Nelson

1992-01-01

Wildlife habitat data from seven Great Lakes National Forests were combined into a wildlife-habitat matrix named NORTHWOODS. The composite NORTHWOODS data base is summarized. Multiple queries of NORTHWOODS were used to profile the wildlife community of the Upper Great Lakes region.

Latest results from Daya Bay

Science.gov (United States)

Vorobel, Vit; Daya Bay Collaboration

2017-07-01

The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment was designed to measure θ 13, the smallest mixing angle in the three-neutrino mixing framework, with unprecedented precision. The experiment consists of eight functionally identical detectors placed underground at different baselines from three pairs of nuclear reactors in South China. Since Dec. 2011, the experiment has been running stably for more than 4 years, and has collected the largest reactor anti-neutrino sample to date. Daya Bay is able to greatly improve the precision on θ 13 and to make an independent measurement of the effective mass splitting in the electron antineutrino disappearance channel. Daya Bay can also perform a number of other precise measurements, such as a high-statistics determination of the absolute reactor antineutrino flux and spectrum, as well as a search for sterile neutrino mixing, among others. The most recent results from Daya Bay are discussed in this paper, as well as the current status and future prospects of the experiment.

Improving the Specificity of EEG for Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

François-B. Vialatte

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. EEG has great potential as a cost-effective screening tool for Alzheimer's disease (AD. However, the specificity of EEG is not yet sufficient to be used in clinical practice. In an earlier study, we presented preliminary results suggesting improved specificity of EEG to early stages of Alzheimer's disease. The key to this improvement is a new method for extracting sparse oscillatory events from EEG signals in the time-frequency domain. Here we provide a more detailed analysis, demonstrating improved EEG specificity for clinical screening of MCI (mild cognitive impairment patients. Methods. EEG data was recorded of MCI patients and age-matched control subjects, in rest condition with eyes closed. EEG frequency bands of interest were θ (3.5–7.5 Hz, α1 (7.5–9.5 Hz, α2 (9.5–12.5 Hz, and β (12.5–25 Hz. The EEG signals were transformed in the time-frequency domain using complex Morlet wavelets; the resulting time-frequency maps are represented by sparse bump models. Results. Enhanced EEG power in the θ range is more easily detected through sparse bump modeling; this phenomenon explains the improved EEG specificity obtained in our previous studies. Conclusions. Sparse bump modeling yields informative features in EEG signal. These features increase the specificity of EEG for diagnosing AD.

Improving sexually transmitted infection results notification via mobile phone technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, Jennifer L; Huppert, Jill S; Taylor, Regina G; Gillespie, Gordon L; Byczkowski, Terri L; Kahn, Jessica A; Alessandrini, Evaline A

2014-11-01

To improve adolescent notification of positive sexually transmitted infection (STI) tests using mobile phone technology and STI information cards. A randomized intervention among 14- to 21-year olds in a pediatric emergency department (PED). A 2 × 3 factorial design with replication was used to evaluate the effectiveness of six combinations of two factors on the proportion of STI-positive adolescents notified within 7 days of testing. Independent factors included method of notification (call, text message, or call + text message) and provision of an STI information card with or without a phone number to obtain results. Covariates for logistic regression included age, empiric STI treatment, days until first attempted notification, and documentation of confidential phone number. Approximately half of the 383 females and 201 males enrolled were ≥18 years of age. Texting only or type of card was not significantly associated with patient notification rates, and there was no significant interaction between card and notification method. For females, successful notification was significantly greater for call + text message (odds ratio, 3.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.4-6.9), and documenting a confidential phone number was independently associated with successful notification (odds ratio, 3.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.7-7.5). We found no significant predictors of successful notification for males. Of patients with a documented confidential phone number who received a call + text message, 94% of females and 83% of males were successfully notified. Obtaining a confidential phone number and using call + text message improved STI notification rates among female but not male adolescents in a pediatric emergency department. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.

Achievements and trends of using induced mutations in crop improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nichterlein, K.; Maluszynski, M.; ); Bohlmann, H.; Nielen, S.; )

2000-01-01

Mutation techniques have been employed for the genetic improvement of crops and ornamentals leading to the official release of more than 2200 improved varieties. Some of them have made a major impact on crop productivity and achieved great economic success. Induced mutations play an important role in plant genome research to understand the function of genes aiming to improve food security and diversity. (author)

Trends in fishery management of the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Stanford H.

1970-01-01

Some hope is returning for recovery of the fish stocks of the Great Lakes, which have been outstanding examples of abuse although they are the world's largest and most valuable freshwater fishery resource. The lakes and the fish in them have been under complete jurisdiction of sovereign nations and their subdivisions almost since the settlement of north-central North America, but ironically this control has not prevented their decadence. For the first time in the long history of the Great Lakes fishery, management measures have been taken to meliorate conditions that contributed to earlier difficulties.

Spatial distribution and ecological environment analysis of great gerbil in Xinjiang Plague epidemic foci based on remote sensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao, Mengxu; Wang, Juanle; Li, Qun; Cao, Chunxiang

2014-01-01

Yersinia pestis (Plague bacterium) from great gerbil was isolated in 2005 in Xinjiang Dzungarian Basin, which confirmed the presence of the plague epidemic foci. This study analysed the spatial distribution and suitable habitat of great gerbil based on the monitoring data of great gerbil from Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the ecological environment elements obtained from remote sensing products. The results showed that: (1) 88.5% (277/313) of great gerbil distributed in the area of elevation between 200 and 600 meters. (2) All the positive points located in the area with a slope of 0–3 degree, and the sunny tendency on aspect was not obvious. (3) All 313 positive points of great gerbil distributed in the area with an average annual temperature from 5 to 11 °C, and 165 points with an average annual temperature from 7 to 9 °C. (4) 72.8% (228/313) of great gerbil survived in the area with an annual precipitation of 120–200mm. (5) The positive points of great gerbil increased correspondingly with the increasing of NDVI value, but there is no positive point when NDVI is higher than 0.521, indicating the suitability of vegetation for great gerbil. This study explored a broad and important application for the monitoring and prevention of plague using remote sensing and geographic information system

Improved multi-objective clustering algorithm using particle swarm optimization.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Congcong Gong

Full Text Available Multi-objective clustering has received widespread attention recently, as it can obtain more accurate and reasonable solution. In this paper, an improved multi-objective clustering framework using particle swarm optimization (IMCPSO is proposed. Firstly, a novel particle representation for clustering problem is designed to help PSO search clustering solutions in continuous space. Secondly, the distribution of Pareto set is analyzed. The analysis results are applied to the leader selection strategy, and make algorithm avoid trapping in local optimum. Moreover, a clustering solution-improved method is proposed, which can increase the efficiency in searching clustering solution greatly. In the experiments, 28 datasets are used and nine state-of-the-art clustering algorithms are compared, the proposed method is superior to other approaches in the evaluation index ARI.

Microinjection molding of microsystem components: new aspects in improving performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Can; Yin, Xiao-Hong; Cheng, Guang-Ming

2013-01-01

Microinjection molding (µIM) is considered to be one of the most flexible, reliable and cost effective manufacturing routes to form plastic micro-components for microsystems. The molding machine, mold tool fabrication, material selection and process controlling in this specific field have been greatly developed over the past decades. This review aims to present the new trends towards improving micro-component performance by reviewing the latest developments in this area and by considering potential directions. The key concerns in product and mold designing, essential factors in simulation, and micro-morphology and resultant properties are evaluated and discussed. In addition, the applications, variant processes and outlook for µIM are presented. Throughout this review, decisive considerations in seeking improved performance for microsystem components are highlighted. (topical review)

Anfis Approach for Sssc Controller Design for the Improvement of Transient Stability Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Khuntia, Swasti R.; Panda, Sidhartha

2011-06-01

In this paper, Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) method based on the Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is applied to design a Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC)-based controller for improvement of transient stability. The proposed ANFIS controller combines the advantages of fuzzy controller and quick response and adaptability nature of ANN. The ANFIS structures were trained using the generated database by fuzzy controller of SSSC. It is observed that the proposed SSSC controller improves greatly the voltage profile of the system under severe disturbances. The results prove that the proposed SSSC-based ANFIS controller is found to be robust to fault location and change in operating conditions. Further, the results obtained are compared with the conventional lead-lag controllers for SSSC.

Improving Timely Resident Follow-Up and Communication of Results in Ambulatory Clinics Utilizing a Web-Based Audit and Feedback Module.

Science.gov (United States)

Boggan, Joel C; Swaminathan, Aparna; Thomas, Samantha; Simel, David L; Zaas, Aimee K; Bae, Jonathan G

2017-04-01

Failure to follow up and communicate test results to patients in outpatient settings may lead to diagnostic and therapeutic delays. Residents are less likely than attending physicians to report results to patients, and may face additional barriers to reporting, given competing clinical responsibilities. This study aimed to improve the rates of communicating test results to patients in resident ambulatory clinics. We performed an internal medicine, residency-wide, pre- and postintervention, quality improvement project using audit and feedback. Residents performed audits of ambulatory patients requiring laboratory or radiologic testing by means of a shared online interface. The intervention consisted of an educational module viewed with initial audits, development of a personalized improvement plan after Phase 1, and repeated real-time feedback of individual relative performance compared at clinic and program levels. Outcomes included results communicated within 14 days and prespecified "significant" results communicated within 72 hours. A total of 76 of 86 eligible residents (88%) reviewed 1713 individual ambulatory patients' charts in Phase 1, and 73 residents (85%) reviewed 1509 charts in Phase 2. Follow-up rates were higher in Phase 2 than Phase 1 for communicating results within 14 days and significant results within 72 hours (85% versus 78%, P  Communication of "significant" results was more likely to occur via telephone, compared with communication of nonsignificant results. Participation in a shared audit and feedback quality improvement project can improve rates of resident follow-up and communication of results, although communication gaps remained.

Idiopathic great saphenous phlebosclerosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmadreza Jodati

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Arterial sclerosis has been extensively described but reports on venous sclerosis are very sparse. Phlebosclerosis refers to the thickening and hardening of the venous wall. Despite its morphological similarities with arteriosclerosis and potential morbid consequences, phlebosclerosis has gained only little attention. We report a 72 year old male with paralysis and atrophy of the right leg due to childhood poliomyelitis who was referred for coronary artery bypass surgery. The great saphenous vein, harvested from the left leg, showed a hardened cord-like obliterated vein. Surprisingly, harvested veins from the atrophic limb were normal and successfully used for grafting.

The Great Recession and confidence in homeownership

OpenAIRE

Anat Bracha; Julian Jamison

2013-01-01

Confidence in homeownership shifts for those who personally experienced real estate loss during the Great Recession. Older Americans are confident in the value of homeownership. Younger Americans are less confident.

Capabilities of gravitational surgery for improvement of treatment results in patients with diabetic foot syndrome

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M B Akhmedov

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Aim. Improvement of complex treatment results in patients with diabetic foot syndrome by introducing methods of gravitational surgery and α-lipoic acid. Methods. The results of treatment were analyzed for 558 patients with diabetic foot syndrome treated in Scientific Centre of Surgery named after M.A. Topchubashov (Baku, Azerbaijan from 1988 to 2015. The age varied from 28 to 83 years. The patients included 416 men and 142 women. The control group included 90 patients who at the perioperative period underwent basic therapy including antibiotics, anticoagulants, antiaggregants, dextrans, angioprotectors, spasmolytics, corticosteroids, narcotic and non-narcotic analgesics. The study group included 468 patients, along with traditional therapy receiving efferent methods (plasmapheresis, ultraviolet blood irradiation, ozone therapy and α-lipoic acid. 282 patients of the study group received outpatient treatment and 186 - complex inpatient surgical treatment. A comparative evaluation of the results was performed separately in three groups: angiopathy, neuropathy, angioneuropathy. The results were evaluated by clinical and instrumental examinations before and after treatment (6, 12, 60 months and more. Results. In the study group a satisfactory result of treatment was registered in 85.5% of patients, in the control group - in 62.2%, unsatisfactory in 14.5 and 37.8% of patients, respectively (p=0.046. Conclusion. The use of efferent methods and α-lipoic acid provided prompt elimination of numerous pathogenetic disorders observed in diabetes mellitus, decrease of amputation frequency and improvement of complex surgical treatment results in patients with diabetic foot syndrome.

An initiative to improve the management of clinically significant test results in a large health care network.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Christopher L; Rothschild, Jeffrey M; Dighe, Anand S; Schiff, Gordon D; Graydon-Baker, Erin; Lenoci-Edwards, Jennifer; Dwyer, Cheryl; Khorasani, Ramin; Gandhi, Tejal K

2013-11-01

The failure of providers to communicate and follow up clinically significant test results (CSTR) is an important threat to patient safety. The Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors has endorsed the creation of systems to ensure that results can be received and acknowledged. In 2008 a task force was convened that represented clinicians, laboratories, radiology, patient safety, risk management, and information systems in a large health care network with the goals of providing recommendations and a road map for improvement in the management of CSTR and of implementing this improvement plan during the sub-force sequent five years. In drafting its charter, the task broadened the scope from "critical" results to "clinically significant" ones; clinically significant was defined as any result that requires further clinical action to avoid morbidity or mortality, regardless of the urgency of that action. The task force recommended four key areas for improvement--(1) standardization of policies and definitions, (2) robust identification of the patient's care team, (3) enhanced results management/tracking systems, and (4) centralized quality reporting and metrics. The task force faced many challenges in implementing these recommendations, including disagreements on definitions of CSTR and on who should have responsibility for CSTR, changes to established work flows, limitations of resources and of existing information systems, and definition of metrics. This large-scale effort to improve the communication and follow-up of CSTR in a health care network continues with ongoing work to address implementation challenges, refine policies, prepare for a new clinical information system platform, and identify new ways to measure the extent of this important safety problem.

Sustainable production. The ultimate result of a continuous improvement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ron, de A.J.

1998-01-01

To fulfil market requirements, companies have introduced cost awareness, quality programs and techniques to become flexible. These items should be handled as a continuous process of improvement. The cost awareness implies that e.g. material waste is avoided during production, the quality programs

[The health care of children in Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War].

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

The article deals with the task solutions on life and health preservation of children during the Great patriotic war and Leningrad blockade. The examples are presented illustrating the measures undertaken by the state and public health service concerning the evacuation, nutrition of children in conditions of strict deficiency of all food products, organization of medical care (including the development and implementation of new system of polyclinic care), the activities on health improvement of children, etc. The long-term qualitative and quantitative starvation of children adversely impacted the physical development, contributed to increased morbidity and mortality. The characteristic of children morbidity is given? Infectious morbidity included. The role of researchers from Leningrad pediatric medical institute in preservation of children's life is demonstrated.

Visual Input Enhancement via Essay Coding Results in Deaf Learners' Long-Term Retention of Improved English Grammatical Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Berent, Gerald P.; Kelly, Ronald R.; Schmitz, Kathryn L.; Kenney, Patricia

2009-01-01

This study explored the efficacy of visual input enhancement, specifically "essay enhancement", for facilitating deaf college students' improvement in English grammatical knowledge. Results documented students' significant improvement immediately after a 10-week instructional intervention, a replication of recent research. Additionally, the…

Southern Great Plains Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Site

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Southern Great Plains Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Site (SGP-ARM) is the oldest and largest of DOE's Arm sites. It was established in 1992. It consists of...

Driving through the Great Recession: Why does motor vehicle fatality decrease when the economy slows down?

Science.gov (United States)

He, Monica M

2016-04-01

The relationship between short-term macroeconomic growth and temporary mortality increases remains strongest for motor vehicle (MV) crashes. In this paper, I investigate the mechanisms that explain falling MV fatality rates during the recent Great Recession. Using U.S. state-level panel data from 2003 to 2013, I first estimate the relationship between unemployment and MV fatality rate and then decompose it into risk and exposure factors for different types of MV crashes. Results reveal a significant 2.9 percent decrease in MV fatality rate for each percentage point increase in unemployment rate. This relationship is almost entirely explained by changes in the risk of driving rather than exposure to the amount of driving and is particularly robust for crashes involving large commercial trucks, multiple vehicles, and speeding cars. These findings provide evidence suggesting traffic patterns directly related to economic activity lead to higher risk of MV fatality rates when the economy improves. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Saline lakes of the glaciated Northern Great Plains

Science.gov (United States)

Mushet, David M.

2011-01-01

Unless you have flown over the region or seen aerial photographs, it is hard to grasp the scale of the millions of lakes and wetlands that dot the prairie landscape of the glaciated Northern Great Plains (Figure 1). This region of abundant aquatic habitats within a grassland matrix provides for the needs of a wide diversity of wildlife species and has appropriately been deemed the "duck factory of North America." While the sheer number of lakes and wetlands within this area of the Northern Great Plains can be truly awe-inspiring, their diversity in terms of the chemical composition of their water adds an equally important component supporting biotic diversity and productivity. Water within these lakes and wetlands can range from extremely fresh with salinities approaching that of rainwater to hypersaline with salinity ten times greater than that of seawater. Additionally, while variation in salinity among these water bodies can be great, the ionic composition of lakes and wetlands with similar salinities can vary markedly, influencing the overall spatial and temporal diversity of the region's biota.

Optical vector network analyzer with improved accuracy based on polarization modulation and polarization pulling.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wei; Liu, Jian Guo; Zhu, Ning Hua

2015-04-15

We report a novel optical vector network analyzer (OVNA) with improved accuracy based on polarization modulation and stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) assisted polarization pulling. The beating between adjacent higher-order optical sidebands which are generated because of the nonlinearity of an electro-optic modulator (EOM) introduces considerable error to the OVNA. In our scheme, the measurement error is significantly reduced by removing the even-order optical sidebands using polarization discrimination. The proposed approach is theoretically analyzed and experimentally verified. The experimental results show that the accuracy of the OVNA is greatly improved compared to a conventional OVNA.

The Great War and Its Significance for Law, Legal Thinking and Jurisprudence

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boom, van W.H.

2014-01-01

This year marks the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War, the First World War. The remembrance events, museum exhibitions, TV-programs and numerous publications rightly draw attention to the Great War. Obviously, in the past century much scholarly work has been dedicated to the Great War, its

Improvements in the construction of nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

This paper outlines activities to minimize the amount of work at a construction site by employing installation method with large size blocks and shop-assembled units, improvement in facilities such as mechanization of welding and huge roof cover which enables work in all weather conditions, and administration systems using computer for the work activity control as well as quality and progress control for construction work. These improvements are only achieved when supported by related system improvements at the design and fabrication stage, and these improvements contributed a great deal to the quality assurance and the shorter construction period. (author)

Climatology analysis of cirrus cloud in ARM site: South Great Plain

Science.gov (United States)

Olayinka, K.

2017-12-01

Cirrus cloud play an important role in the atmospheric energy balance and hence in the earth's climate system. The properties of optically thin clouds can be determined from measurements of transmission of the direct solar beam. The accuracy of cloud optical properties determined in this way is compromised by contamination of the direct transmission by light that is scattered into the sensors field of view. With the forward scattering correction method developed by Min et al., (2004), the accuracy of thin cloud retrievals from MFRSR has been improved. Our result shows over 30% of cirrus cloud present in the atmosphere are within optical depth between (1-2). In this study, we do statistics studies on cirrus clouds properties based on multi-years cirrus cloud measurements from MFRSR at ARM site from the South Great Plain (SGP) site due to its relatively easy accessibility, wide variability of climate cloud types and surface flux properties, large seasonal variation in temperature and specific humidity. Through the statistic studies, temporal and spatial variations of cirrus clouds are investigated. Since the presence of cirrus cloud increases the effect of greenhouse gases, we will retrieve the aerosol optical depth in all the cirrus cloud regions using a radiative transfer model for atmospheric correction. Calculate thin clouds optical depth (COD), and aerosol optical depth (AOD) using a radiative transfer model algorithm, e.g.: MODTRAN (MODerate resolution atmospheric TRANsmission)

The Last Great American Picture Show

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Elsaesser, Thomas; King, Noel; Horwath, Alexander

2004-01-01

The Last Great American Picture Show brings together essays by scholars and writers who chart the changing evaluations of the American cinema of the 1970s, sometimes referred to as the decade of the lost generation, but now more and more recognized as the first New Hollywood, without which the

Mapping marginal croplands suitable for cellulosic feedstock crops in the Great Plains, United States

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Yingxin; Wylie, Bruce K.

2016-01-01

Growing cellulosic feedstock crops (e.g., switchgrass) for biofuel is more environmentally sustainable than corn-based ethanol. Specifically, this practice can reduce soil erosion and water quality impairment from pesticides and fertilizer, improve ecosystem services and sustainability (e.g., serve as carbon sinks), and minimize impacts on global food supplies. The main goal of this study was to identify high-risk marginal croplands that are potentially suitable for growing cellulosic feedstock crops (e.g., switchgrass) in the US Great Plains (GP). Satellite-derived growing season Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, a switchgrass biomass productivity map obtained from a previous study, US Geological Survey (USGS) irrigation and crop masks, and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) crop indemnity maps for the GP were used in this study. Our hypothesis was that croplands with relatively low crop yield but high productivity potential for switchgrass may be suitable for converting to switchgrass. Areas with relatively low crop indemnity (crop indemnity marginal croplands in the GP are potentially suitable for switchgrass development. The total estimated switchgrass biomass productivity gain from these suitable areas is about 5.9 million metric tons. Switchgrass can be cultivated in either lowland or upland regions in the GP depending on the local soil and environmental conditions. This study improves our understanding of ecosystem services and the sustainability of cropland systems in the GP. Results from this study provide useful information to land managers for making informed decisions regarding switchgrass development in the GP.

Democratic leadership for school improvement in challenging contexts

OpenAIRE

Harris, A.; Chapman, C.

2002-01-01

There is a great deal of contemporary interest in improving schools in challenging contexts. However, there are relatively few research studies that have focused exclusively upon successful leadership practices in such schools. This article outlines the findings from a research study funded by the National College for School Leadership in England that explored successful leadership practices and school improvement strategies in a group of secondary schools in challenging circumstances.

The Cultural Heritage of the Great Prespa Region

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ema Muslli

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The Great Prespa region is situated in the Balkan Peninsula and is divided between Albania, Macedonia and Greece. It includes the Great Prespa Lake and the surrounding beach and meadow, areas designated for agricultural use and the towns of Pusteci (formerly known as Liqenas and Resen. This region is now part of the Trans-Boundary Biosphere Reserve ‘Ohrid-Prespa Watershed. Great and Small Prespa lakes plus Ohrid Lake are included in this newly-approved UNESCO world Heritage Site, but for this paper, we are looking only at the area surrounding the Great Prespa Lake. It is critical for this area to be protected immediately, because of the overuse it has undergone in recent years. While current levels of fauna are dangerously declining due to recent over-harvesting, this area has been known historically for its diverse natural and cultural features. Thus it is important to take drastic measures to reclaim the natural beauty immediately, including those areas currently covered by Prespa National Parks in Albania and Greece and Galichica and Pelisteri National Parks in Macedonia. Due to many wars over the centuries, it exists a mixture of Albanian and Macedonian culture. The historical and architectural remaining, religious structures and artifacts testify the richness and uniqueness of the communities of Pustec and Resen have. The cultural heritage is now a key element designated for the development of the region’s sustainable tourism development. This study was enhanced via the Geographic Info System (GIS digital presentation showing the opportunities for natural and cultural tourism in both countries (Albania and Macedonia.

Soil salinity and alkalinity in the Great Konya Basin, Turkey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Driessen, P.M.

1970-01-01

In the summers of 1964 to 1968 a study was made of soil salinity and alkalinity in the Great Konya Basin, under the auspices of the Konya Project, a research and training programme of the Department of Tropical Soil Science of the Agricultural University, Wageningen.

The Great

An improved wave rotor refrigerator using an outside gas flow for recycling the expansion work

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, J.; Hu, D.

2017-03-01

To overcome the bottleneck of traditional gas wave refrigeration, an improved wave rotor refrigerator (WRR) cycle has been proposed, in which the expansion work was recycled during the process of refrigeration. Thermodynamic analysis of the two cycles shows that the refrigeration efficiency of the improved WRR cycle has been greatly increased compared with the traditional WRR. The performance of an improved WRR was investigated by adjusting the major operational parameters, such as the rotational speed of the wave rotor, port size, and inflow overpressure. The experimental results show that pressure loss can be reduced by nearly 40 % in this improved refrigeration system. Meanwhile, a two-dimensional numerical simulation was performed to understand the wave interactions that take place inside the rotor channels.

Improving the Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineering Requirements (SABER) Delivery Order Award Process: Results of a Process Improvement Plan

Science.gov (United States)

1991-09-01

putting all tasks directed towsrds achieving an outcome in aequence. The tasks can be viewed as steps in the process (39:2.3). Using this...improvement opportunity is investigated. A plan is developed, root causes are identified, and solutions are tested and implemented. The process is... solutions , check for actual improvement, and integrate the successful improvements into the process. ?UP 7. Check Improvement Performance. Finally, the

The great chemical residue detection debate: dog versus machine

Science.gov (United States)

Tripp, Alan C.; Walker, James C.

2003-09-01

Many engineering groups desire to construct instrumentation to replace dog-handler teams in identifying and localizing chemical mixtures. This goal requires performance specifications for an "artificial dog-handler team". Progress toward generating such specifications from laboratory tests of dog-handler teams has been made recently at the Sensory Research Institute, and the method employed is amenable to the measurement of tasks representative of the decision-making that must go on when such teams solve problems in actual (and therefore informationally messy) situations. As progressively more quantitative data are obtained on progressively more complex odor tasks, the boundary conditions of dog-handler performance will be understood in great detail. From experiments leading to this knowledge, one ca develop, as we do in this paper, a taxonomy of test conditions that contain various subsets of the variables encountered in "real world settings". These tests provide the basis for the rigorous testing that will provide an improved basis for deciding when biological sensing approaches (e.g. dog-handler teams) are best and when "artificial noses" are most valuable.

Great earthquakes along the Western United States continental margin: implications for hazards, stratigraphy and turbidite lithology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. H. Nelson

2012-11-01

cause seismic strengthening of the sediment, which results in a margin stratigraphy of minor MTDs compared to the turbidite-system deposits. In contrast, the MTDs and turbidites are equally intermixed on basin floors along passive margins with a mud-rich continental slope, such as the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Great earthquakes also result in characteristic seismo-turbidite lithology. Along the Cascadia margin, the number and character of multiple coarse pulses for correlative individual turbidites generally remain constant both upstream and downstream in different channel systems for 600 km along the margin. This suggests that the earthquake shaking or aftershock signature is normally preserved, for the stronger (M_w ≥ 9 Cascadia earthquakes. In contrast, the generally weaker (M_w = or <8 California earthquakes result in upstream simple fining-up turbidites in single tributary canyons and channels; however, downstream mainly stacked turbidites result from synchronously triggered multiple turbidity currents that deposit in channels below confluences of the tributaries. Consequently, both downstream channel confluences and the strongest (M_w ≥ 9 great earthquakes contribute to multi-pulsed and stacked turbidites that are typical for seismo-turbidites generated by a single great earthquake. Earthquake triggering and multi-pulsed or stacked turbidites also become an alternative explanation for amalgamated turbidite beds in active tectonic margins, in addition to other classic explanations. The sedimentologic characteristics of turbidites triggered by great earthquakes along the Cascadia and northern California margins provide criteria to help distinguish seismo-turbidites in other active tectonic margins.

Organizational potentialities of photofluorography improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Astrakhantsev, F.A.; Chikirdin, Eh.G.

1993-01-01

The necessity for fluorography application is connected with the possibility of identifying voluminus and deformable changes in lungs, mediastinum in a great number of patients within a short period of time. It is advisable to improve clinical and economical efficiency of fluorography. The fluorography efficiency is higher in groups with higher disease risk. The proposed fluorography quesionnaire for six groups of risk may be completed by computer

Improved particle swarm optimization combined with chaos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Bo; Wang Ling; Jin Yihui; Tang Fang; Huang Dexian

2005-01-01

As a novel optimization technique, chaos has gained much attention and some applications during the past decade. For a given energy or cost function, by following chaotic ergodic orbits, a chaotic dynamic system may eventually reach the global optimum or its good approximation with high probability. To enhance the performance of particle swarm optimization (PSO), which is an evolutionary computation technique through individual improvement plus population cooperation and competition, hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm is proposed by incorporating chaos. Firstly, adaptive inertia weight factor (AIWF) is introduced in PSO to efficiently balance the exploration and exploitation abilities. Secondly, PSO with AIWF and chaos are hybridized to form a chaotic PSO (CPSO), which reasonably combines the population-based evolutionary searching ability of PSO and chaotic searching behavior. Simulation results and comparisons with the standard PSO and several meta-heuristics show that the CPSO can effectively enhance the searching efficiency and greatly improve the searching quality

Improving Environmental Health Literacy and Justice through Environmental Exposure Results Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica D. Ramirez-Andreotta

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Understanding the short- and long-term impacts of a biomonitoring and exposure project and reporting personal results back to study participants is critical for guiding future efforts, especially in the context of environmental justice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate learning outcomes from environmental communication efforts and whether environmental health literacy goals were met in an environmental justice community. We conducted 14 interviews with parents who had participated in the University of Arizona’s Metals Exposure Study in Homes and analyzed their responses using NVivo, a qualitative data management and analysis program. Key findings were that participants used the data to cope with their challenging circumstances, the majority of participants described changing their families’ household behaviors, and participants reported specific interventions to reduce family exposures. The strength of this study is that it provides insight into what people learn and gain from such results communication efforts, what participants want to know, and what type of additional information participants need to advance their environmental health literacy. This information can help improve future report back efforts and advance environmental health and justice.

Revisiting the Seeming Unanimous Verdict on the Great Debate on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The great debate on African Philosophy refers to the debate as to whether African Philosophy does exist or not. The debate aroused great interest among Philosophy scholars who were predominantly polarized into two opposing positions - those who denied the existence of African Philosophy and those who insisted on the ...

Improving the distinguishable cluster results: spin-component scaling

Science.gov (United States)

Kats, Daniel

2018-06-01

The spin-component scaling is employed in the energy evaluation to improve the distinguishable cluster approach. SCS-DCSD reaction energies reproduce reference values with a root-mean-squared deviation well below 1 kcal/mol, the interaction energies are three to five times more accurate than DCSD, and molecular systems with a large amount of static electron correlation are still described reasonably well. SCS-DCSD represents a pragmatic approach to achieve chemical accuracy with a simple method without triples, which can also be applied to multi-configurational molecular systems.

Alfanet Worked Example: What is Greatness?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

dr. Pierre Gorissen

2004-01-01

This document consists of an example of a Learning Design based on the What is Greatness example originally created by James Dalziel from WebMCQ using LAMS. Note: The example has been created in parallel with the actual development of the Alfanet system. So no claims can be made that the example

A great potential for market power

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trong, Maj Dang

2003-01-01

In a report the competition authorities of Norway, Sweden and Denmark conclude that there is a great potential for exerting market power in the Nordic countries. Bottlenecks in the transmission grid divide the Nordic market in shifting constellations of geographic markets and the market concentration in each market may therefore become very high

A new metric method-improved structural holes researches on software networks

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bo; Zhao, Hai; Cai, Wei; Li, Dazhou; Li, Hui

2013-03-01

The scale software systems quickly increase with the rapid development of software technologies. Hence, how to understand, measure, manage and control software structure is a great challenge for software engineering. there are also many researches on software networks metrics: C&K, MOOD, McCabe and etc, the aim of this paper is to propose a new and better method to metric software networks. The metric method structural holes are firstly introduced to in this paper, which can not directly be applied as a result of modular characteristics on software network. Hence, structural holes is redefined in this paper and improved, calculation process and results are described in detail. The results shows that the new method can better reflect bridge role of vertexes on software network and there is a significant correlation between degree and improved structural holes. At last, a hydropower simulation system is taken as an example to show validity of the new metric method.

Unemployment of Non-western Immigrants in the Great Recession

OpenAIRE

Cerveny, J.; Ours, J.C. van

2013-01-01

Abstract: This paper examines whether unemployment of non-western immigrant workers in the Netherlands was disproportionally affected by the Great Recession. We analyze unemployment data covering the period November 2007 to February 2013 finding that the Great Recession affected unemployment rates of non-western immigrant workers in absolute terms more than unemployment rates of native workers. However, in relative terms there is not much of a difference. We also find that the sensitivity of ...

Soil Erosion Research Based on USLE in Great Khinggan

OpenAIRE

Wei Li; Wenyi Fan; Xuegang Mao

2014-01-01

Based on the amended model of USLE universal soil loss equation and GIS technology, combined with the natural geographical features of Great Khinggan area, it has conducted quantitative analysis of the factor in Soil loss equation. Uses 2011 years TM/ETM images classification are land uses/cover type figure, combination Great Khinggan area Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and soil type distribution figure and research regional rainfall information, we gets all factors values of space distributio...

Peer pressure and public reporting within healthcare setting: improving accountability and health care quality in hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Specchia, Maria Lucia; Veneziano, Maria Assunta; Cadeddu, Chiara; Ferriero, Anna Maria; Capizzi, Silvio; Ricciardi, Walter

2012-01-01

In the last few years, the need of public reporting of health outcomes has acquired a great importance. The public release of performance results could be a tool for improving health care quality and many attempts have been made in order to introduce public reporting programs within the health care context at different levels. It would be necessary to promote the introduction of a standardized set of outcome and performance measures in order to improve quality of health care services and to make health care providers aware of the importance of transparency and accountability.

SIFT Based Vein Recognition Models: Analysis and Improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guoqing Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT is being investigated more and more to realize a less-constrained hand vein recognition system. Contrast enhancement (CE, compensating for deficient dynamic range aspects, is a must for SIFT based framework to improve the performance. However, evidence of negative influence on SIFT matching brought by CE is analysed by our experiments. We bring evidence that the number of extracted keypoints resulting by gradient based detectors increases greatly with different CE methods, while on the other hand the matching result of extracted invariant descriptors is negatively influenced in terms of Precision-Recall (PR and Equal Error Rate (EER. Rigorous experiments with state-of-the-art and other CE adopted in published SIFT based hand vein recognition system demonstrate the influence. What is more, an improved SIFT model by importing the kernel of RootSIFT and Mirror Match Strategy into a unified framework is proposed to make use of the positive keypoints change and make up for the negative influence brought by CE.

Great red spot dependence on solar activity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schatten, K.H.

1979-01-01

A new inquiry has been made into the question of whether Jupiter's Great Red Spot shows a solar activity dependence. From 1892 to 1947 a clear correlation was present. A dearth of sightings in the seventeenth century, along with the Maunder Minimum, further supports the relation. An anticorrelation, however, from l948 to l967 removed support for such an effect. The old observations have reexamined and recent observations have also been studied. The author reexamines this difficult question and suggests a possible physical mechanism for a Sun-Jovian weather relation. Prinn and Lewis' conversion reaction of Phosphine gas to triclinic red phosphorous crystals is a reaction dependent upon solar radiation. It may explain the dependence found, as well as the striking appearance of the Great Red Spot in the UV

Geoarchaeology of water management at Great Zimbabwe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sulas, Federica; Pikirayi, Innocent; Sagiya, Munyaradzi Elton

In Africa, research on water management in urban contexts has often focussed rainfall, and the occurrence floods and droughts, whereas small-scale catchment systems and soil moisture regimes have received far less attention. This paper sets out to re-address the issue by examining the occurrence......, distribution and use of multiple water resources at the ancient urban landscape of Great Zimbabwe. Here, the rise and demise of the urban site have been linked to changing rainfall in the 1st mill. AD. Accordingly, rainfall shortages and consequent droughts eventually leading to the decline and abandonment...... of Great Zimbabwe at around 1550 AD. However, new research findings suggest a different scenario. Combining geoarchaeolological investigations, soil micromorphology and geochemistry with the study of historical sources and ethnographic records, new datasets indicate prolonged availability and diversified...

Southern Great Plains Safety Orientation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schatz, John

2014-05-01

Welcome to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. This U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) site is managed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). It is very important that all visitors comply with all DOE and ANL safety requirements, as well as those of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Fire Protection Association, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and with other requirements as applicable.

Improving crop nutrient efficiency through root architecture modifications.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xinxin; Zeng, Rensen; Liao, Hong

2016-03-01

Improving crop nutrient efficiency becomes an essential consideration for environmentally friendly and sustainable agriculture. Plant growth and development is dependent on 17 essential nutrient elements, among them, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are the two most important mineral nutrients. Hence it is not surprising that low N and/or low P availability in soils severely constrains crop growth and productivity, and thereby have become high priority targets for improving nutrient efficiency in crops. Root exploration largely determines the ability of plants to acquire mineral nutrients from soils. Therefore, root architecture, the 3-dimensional configuration of the plant's root system in the soil, is of great importance for improving crop nutrient efficiency. Furthermore, the symbiotic associations between host plants and arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi/rhizobial bacteria, are additional important strategies to enhance nutrient acquisition. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in the current understanding of crop species control of root architecture alterations in response to nutrient availability and root/microbe symbioses, through gene or QTL regulation, which results in enhanced nutrient acquisition. © 2015 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The Great Deluge Algorithm applied to a nuclear reactor core design optimization problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sacco, Wagner F.; Oliveira, Cassiano R.E. de

2005-01-01

The Great Deluge Algorithm (GDA) is a local search algorithm introduced by Dueck. It is an analogy with a flood: the 'water level' rises continuously and the proposed solution must lie above the 'surface' in order to survive. The crucial parameter is the 'rain speed', which controls convergence of the algorithm similarly to Simulated Annealing's annealing schedule. This algorithm is applied to the reactor core design optimization problem, which consists in adjusting several reactor cell parameters, such as dimensions, enrichment and materials, in order to minimize the average peak-factor in a 3-enrichment-zone reactor, considering restrictions on the average thermal flux, criticality and sub-moderation. This problem was previously attacked by the canonical genetic algorithm (GA) and by a Niching Genetic Algorithm (NGA). NGAs were designed to force the genetic algorithm to maintain a heterogeneous population throughout the evolutionary process, avoiding the phenomenon known as genetic drift, where all the individuals converge to a single solution. The results obtained by the Great Deluge Algorithm are compared to those obtained by both algorithms mentioned above. The three algorithms are submitted to the same computational effort and GDA reaches the best results, showing its potential for other applications in the nuclear engineering field as, for instance, the nuclear core reload optimization problem. One of the great advantages of this algorithm over the GA is that it does not require special operators for discrete optimization. (author)

Nevada, the Great Recession, and Education

Science.gov (United States)

Verstegen, Deborah A.

2013-01-01

The impact of the Great Recession and its aftermath has been devastating in Nevada, especially for public education. This article discusses the budget shortfalls and the impact of the economic crisis in Nevada using case study methodology. It provides a review of documents, including Governor Gibbon's proposals for the public K-12 education system…

A GIS-based tool for bioaccumulation risk analysis and its application to study polychlorinated biphenyls in the Great Lakes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernanda P. Maciel

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a GIS-based tool named Arc-BEST (Bioaccumulation Evaluation Screening Tool to perform spatially distributed bioaccumulation risk analyses. Estimating bioaccumulation risk is important to help predict potentially adverse effects from contaminants on ecosystems and human health, which are key factors in the development of sound public policy. Arc-BEST is based on the BEST model in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers BRAMS (Bioaccumulation Risk Assessment Modeling System software, released in 2012. It predicts concentration of concern contaminants in predators’ tissues from concentrations in organisms at the bottom of the food chain, and corresponding bioaccumulation factors. Additionally, it estimates carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks for humans that consume those species. The greatest contribution of Arc-BEST is that it enables the automated use of digital spatial data sets, which improves model creation speed, analysis and visualization of results, and comparison and cross-referencing with other geographic datasets. Furthermore, the model was improved to consider up to four trophic levels. The code is written in Python and is open-source. In this work Arc-BEST is used as part of a screening-level risk assessment process in order to identify hot spots where further studies and monitoring should be performed to ensure humans and ecosystems health. The tool is successfully applied to a case study in the Laurentian Great Lakes, where long-term effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs is performed, based on measured concentrations in zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha, and local bioaccumulation factors from previous studies. Zebra mussels have a great filtration capacity and high bioconcentration rates, increasing the bioavailability of contaminants for predator species. PCBs concentrations in different-level predators are predicted. Furthermore, health risks for humans that consume sport fish are estimated for various

46 CFR 11.430 - Endorsements for the Great Lakes and inland waters.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Endorsements for the Great Lakes and inland waters. 11... Endorsements for the Great Lakes and inland waters. Any license or MMC endorsement issued for service on the Great Lakes and inland waters is valid on all of the inland waters of the United States as defined in...

A study on the improvement of microbiological quality of bromelain by gamma-irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prachasitthisak, Yuthapong; Pringsulaka, Vachira

2000-01-01

Sixty bromelain samples produced from Great Food ( Biochem) company and Hong Mao Biochemical company were investigated for microbiological quality. It was found that bromelain quality of both companies did not meet the microbiological standard of the buyers. The total viable microbial counts found in bromelain samples were higher than 5,000 cells per gram. Besides, microorganisms used as hygenic indicator of foods such as coliforms and Escherichia coli were found in some samples. The irradiation effect at the doses of 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 kGy on microbiological quality and enzyme activity of bromelain were also studied. It was found that irradiation with 4-6 kGy resulted in 1-4 log cycles and 2-5 log cycles reduction of the total viable microbial counts of Great Food and Hong Mao samples, respectively. No coliforms, E. coli. Salmonella and staph. aureus were found in any irradiated sample at the dose of 6 kGy. In addition, irradiation with 6 kGy resulted in average percentage lost of enzyme activity of Great Food and Hong Mao samples were 10.4 and 6.2, respectively. It could be concluded that irradiation with 6 kGy appeared to sufficient for the improvement of microbiological quality of bromelain

Financialisation, oil and the Great Recession

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gkanoutas-Leventis, Angelos; Nesvetailova, Anastasia

2015-01-01

This article addresses the role of world oil price hike of 2007–08 in serving to transform the financial and banking crisis into what is commonly referred to the Great Recession. Existing literature on the global crisis of 2007–09 tends to view it as a financial or banking phenomenon, with analyses focusing mainly on state policies, governance mechanisms and market dynamics in transforming the banking crisis of 2007–08 into the economic recession of 2008-12/13 Although often attributing the global meltdown to wider phenomenon of financialisation, rarely do existing perspectives delve into the role of the commodity sector in the global credit crunch. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap, by inquiring into the role played by oil as a financial asset class in the political economy of the global crisis. - Highlights: • We study the oil price and its effects on the Great Recession. • We approach oil as a financial asset class. • We observe the transformation of oil through deregulation.

Figuring Somepin 'bout the Great Depression. Learning Page Lesson Plan.

Science.gov (United States)

McElroy, Amy; Pietsch, Chris

These 10th and 11th grade lessons plans related to the Great Depression and the novel "The Grapes of Wrath" help students to: develop research skills and strategies, such as keyword searches, for finding information; recognize and use the different voices of migrants; and understand the politics of migration and the Great Depression. By…

Survey of preventable disaster death at medical institutions in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake: a retrospective preliminary investigation of medical institutions in Miyagi Prefecture.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamanouchi, Satoshi; Sasaki, Hiroyuki; Tsuruwa, Miho; Ueki, Yuzuru; Kohayagawa, Yoshitaka; Kondo, Hisayoshi; Otomo, Yasuhiro; Koido, Yuichi; Kushimoto, Shigeki

2015-04-01

The 2011, magnitude (M) 9, Great East Japan Earthquake and massive tsunami caused widespread devastation and left approximately 18,500 people dead or missing. The incidence of preventable disaster death (PDD) during the Great East Japan Earthquake remains to be clarified; the present study investigated PDD at medical institutions in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake in order to improve disaster medical systems. A total of 25 hospitals in Miyagi Prefecture (Japan) that were disaster base hospitals (DBHs), or had at least 20 patient deaths between March 11, 2011 and April 1, 2011, were selected to participate based on the results of a previous study. A database was created using the medical records of all patient deaths (n=868), and PDD was determined from discussion with 10 disaster health care professionals. A total of 102 cases of PDD were identified at the participating hospitals. The rate of PDD was higher at coastal hospitals compared to inland hospitals (62/327, 19.0% vs 40/541, 7.4%; Pdeath at medical institutions in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred mainly at coastal hospitals. Insufficient resources (at GHs), environmental factors (at coastal hospitals), and delayed medical intervention (at all hospitals) constituted the major potential contributing factors. Further investigation of all medical institutions in Miyagi Prefecture, including those with fewer than 20 patient deaths, is required in order to obtain a complete picture of the details of PDD at medical institutions in the disaster area.

The Great Recession and the risk for child maltreatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne; Schneider, William; Waldfogel, Jane

2013-10-01

This study draws on the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N=2,032), a birth cohort study of families with children from 20 U.S. cities. Interviews occurred between August 2007, and February 2010, when the children were approximately 9 years old. Macro-economic indicators of the Great Recession such as the Consumer Sentiment Index and unemployment and home foreclosure rates were matched to the data to estimate the links between different measures of the Great Recession and high frequency maternal spanking. We find that the large decline in consumer confidence during the Great Recession, as measured by the Consumer Sentiment Index, was associated with worse parenting behavior. In particular, lower levels of consumer confidence were associated with increased levels of high frequency spanking, a parenting behavior that is associated with greater likelihood of being contacted by child protective services. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Childhood leukaemia in Great Britain and fallout from nuclear weapons testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haynes, R.; Bentham, G.

1995-01-01

The possible effects of radiation from fallout on childhood leukaemia mortality from 1950 to 1987 and registrations from 1963 to 1987 were assessed using a division of Great Britain into regions with higher rainfall and a consequently higher fallout radiation dose in the 1960s and regions with lower rainfall and a lower radiation dose. Childhood leukaemia mortality rates declined and registration rates increased throughout the period. For ages 0-14 years, the differences between rates in wet regions and dry regions were small and appeared unrelated to periods of low, medium and high radiation exposure based on dose equivalent to the red bone marrow after birth. For the 0-4 years age group the highest ratios of leukaemia death rates and registration rates in the wet compared with the dry part of Great Britain occurred in the period of highest radiation exposure after birth. The death rate ratio was significantly raised in the period of high exposure compared with the surrounding medium exposure periods, but the difference in registration rate ratios between the high exposure period and the medium exposure period following was not statistically significant. The results might be explained by survival and registration changes, or chance in the case of registrations, but do not exclude the possibility that low doses of radiation from fallout were responsible for an increased risk of leukaemia in young children in Great Britain. (author)

The Great Recession and Workers' Health Benefits.

Science.gov (United States)

Koh, Kanghyock

2018-03-01

During a recession, cost-sharing of employer-sponsored health benefits could increase to reduce labor costs in the U.S. Using a variation in the severity of recession shocks across industries, I find evidence that the enrollment rate of high deductible health plans (HDHPs) among workers covered by employer-sponsored health benefits increased more among firms in industries that experienced severe recession shocks. As potential mechanisms, I study employer-side and worker-side mechanisms. I find that employers changed health benefit offerings to force or incentivize workers to enroll in HDHPs. But I find little evidence of an increase in workers' demand for HDHPs due to a reduction in income. These results suggest that the HDHP enrollment rate increased during the Great Recession, as employers tried to save costs of offering health benefits. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Novel surveillance of psychological distress during the great recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayers, John W; Althouse, Benjamin M; Allem, Jon-Patrick; Childers, Matthew A; Zafar, Waleed; Latkin, Carl; Ribisl, Kurt M; Brownstein, John S

2012-12-15

Economic stressors have been retrospectively associated with net population increases in nonspecific psychological distress (PD). However, no sentinels exist to evaluate contemporaneous associations. Aggregate Internet search query surveillance was used to monitor population changes in PD around the United States' Great Recession. Monthly PD query trends were compared with unemployment, underemployment, homes in delinquency and foreclosure, median home value or sale prices, and S&P 500 trends for 2004-2010. Time series analyses, where economic indicators predicted PD one to seven months into the future, were performed in 2011. PD queries surpassed 1,000,000 per month, of which 300,000 may be attributable to the Great Recession. A one percentage point increase in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures was associated with a 16% (95%CI, 9-24) increase in PD queries one-month, and 11% (95%CI, 3-18) four months later, in reference to a pre-Great Recession mean. Unemployment and underemployment had similar associations half and one-quarter the intensity. "Anxiety disorder", "what is depression", "signs of depression", "depression symptoms", and "symptoms of depression" were the queries exhibiting the strongest associations with mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, unemployment or underemployment. Housing prices and S&P 500 trends were not associated with PD queries. A non-traditional measure of PD was used. It is unclear if actual clinically significant depression or anxiety increased during the Great Recession. Alternative explanations for strong associations between the Great Recession and PD queries, such as media, were explored and rejected. Because the economy is constantly changing, this work not only provides a snapshot of recent associations between the economy and PD queries but also a framework and toolkit for real-time surveillance going forward. Health resources, clinician screening patterns, and policy debate may be informed by changes in PD query

Results from the Tokamak Fontenay-aux-Roses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ginot, P.

1975-01-01

It became clear in 1969 that confinement and heating in Tokomaks offered great possibilities and the Fontenay-aux-Roses Tokamak (TFR) was built for research on their improved efficiency. A plasma of mean density 4.5.10 13 cm -3 and of maximum electron and ion temperatures 2.5 and 1 keV respectively was obtained. The current induced in the gas reached 0.4MA and discharges were maintained for more than 0.5s. The ion assembly seems to behave according to the mechanism predicted by theory, that of electrons suffers an abnormal energy loss. These results confirm and add to those obtained earlier. The machine is now being used for the detailed study of an energy balance and of the most plausible loss mechanisms (turbulence, impurities) and for the development of new heating methods [fr

Performances and improvement of copper-hydrazine complexation deoxidising resin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Fenfen; Zhang Hao; Sun Haijun; Liu Xiaojie

2012-01-01

Copper-hydrazine complexation deoxidising resin is tested to examine its performances including effluent water quality and capacity of deoxidisation. By the means of changing the resin type and regeneration, the deoxidising capacity of the resin can be improved to 13 times more than before. At the same time, physical performances of the resin are also greatly improved while maintaining its velocity of deoxidisation and effluent quality. (authors)

GreatSchools.org Finds Its Niche

Science.gov (United States)

Samuels, Christina A.

2012-01-01

GreatSchools.org neatly ranks more than 136,000 traditional public, private, and charter schools nationwide on a scale of 1 to 10, based on state test scores. But what often draws readers are the gossipy insider comments posted by parents, students, and teachers, and the star ratings those commenters contribute. The growth of online school rating…

Great Depression a Timely Class Topic

Science.gov (United States)

Zehr, Mary Ann

2009-01-01

This article reports that a number of history and social studies teachers have found that because of the parallels they're able to draw between the current economic crisis and the Great Depression, their students are seeing that history is relevant. They're engaging more deeply in history lessons than they have in previous years. The teachers say…

Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) parasite-host interactions in the Great Lakes

Science.gov (United States)

Bence, James R.; Bergstedt, Roger A.; Christie, Gavin C.; Cochran, Phillip A.; Ebener, Mark P.; Koonce, Joseph F.; Rutter, Michael A.; Swink, William D.

2003-01-01

Prediction of how host mortality responds to efforts to control sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) is central to the integrated management strategy for sea lamprey (IMSL) in the Great Lakes. A parasite-host submodel is used as part of this strategy, and this includes a type-2 multi-species functional response, a developmental response, but no numerical response. General patterns of host species and size selection are consistent with the model assumptions, but some observations appear to diverge. For example, some patterns in sea lamprey marking on hosts suggest increases in selectivity for less preferred hosts and lower host survival when preferred hosts are scarce. Nevertheless, many of the IMSL assumptions may be adequate under conditions targeted by fish community objectives. Of great concern is the possibility that the survival of young parasites (parasitic-phase sea lampreys) varies substantially among lakes or over time. Joint analysis of abundance estimates for parasites being produced in streams and returning spawners could address this. Data on sea lamprey marks is a critical source of information on sea lamprey activity and potential effects. Theory connecting observed marks to sea lamprey feeding activity and host mortality is reviewed. Uncertainties regarding healing and attachment times, the probability of hosts surviving attacks, and problems in consistent classification of marks have led to widely divergent estimates of damages caused by sea lamprey. Laboratory and field studies are recommended to provide a firmer linkage between host blood loss, host mortality, and observed marks on surviving hosts, so as to improve estimates of damage.

Methods for improving mechanical properties of partially stabilized zirconia and the resulting product

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aronov, V.A.

1987-01-01

A method for improving mechanical surface properties of a rigid body comprising partially stabilized zirconia as a constituent is described comprising the following steps: (i) providing a rigid body having an exposed surface and an interior volume; (ii) subjecting the exposed surface region of partially stabilized zirconia to external heating to heat the exposed surface region to 1100 0 C-1600 0 C without heating the interior volume above 500 0 C-800 0 C; and (iii) cooling the rigid body to a temperature of less than 500 0 C to cause a portion of the exposed surface region to transform from the tetragonal lattice modification to the monoclinic lattice modification, thereby creating a compressive stress field in the exposed surface region and improving the mechanical surface properties of the exposed surface region. In a ceramic body comprising a first exposed region of a partially stabilized zirconia, and a second region of a partially stabilized zirconia at an interior portion of the ceramic body, the improvement is described comprising the ceramic body having in the first, exposed region a greater percentage of the monoclinic lattice modification than in the second region; having in the first, exposed region 5 percent to 100 percent in the monoclinic lattice modification; and having a molded surface finish in the first, exposed region; the first, exposed region being subjected to a compressive field resulting from the greater percentage of the monoclinic lattice modification

Improvement of aluminum drilling efficiency and precision by shaped femtosecond laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qi, Ying; Qi, Hongxia; Chen, Anmin; Hu, Zhan

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The ablation accuracy can be improved by the shaped femtosecond laser pulse. • The ablation rate can be improved by the shaped femtosecond laser pulse with higher laser fluence. • The results can be used to optimize femtosecond micromachining metal. - Abstract: Shaped femtosecond laser pulses with the plain phase (transform-limited pulse) and sine phase (A = 1.2566, T = 30, T = 10, and T = 5) were used to drill Al sheet in vacuum. Using different phase, the number of pulses required to drill through the sheet was different. With lower laser pulse energy, the ablation rate was the highest when plain phase (corresponding to transform limited pulse) was used. With higher laser energy, the optimized ablation rate can be achieved by increasing the time separation between the subpulses of pulse train produced from the sine phase function. And, with the shaped femtosecond laser, the diameter of ablation holes produced was smaller, the ablation precision was also improved. The results showed that shaped femtosecond laser pulse has great advantages in the context of femtosecond laser drilling

33 CFR 117.753 - Ship Channel, Great Egg Harbor Bay.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Ship Channel, Great Egg Harbor Bay. 117.753 Section 117.753 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY BRIDGES DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements New Jersey § 117.753 Ship Channel, Great Egg Harbor Bay. The draw of the S52 (Ship...

Assessment of and Improvement Strategies for the Housing of Healthy Elderly: Improving Quality of Life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I-Ming Feng

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Global population is aging, particularly in developed countries and cities. Through the “Friendly Elderly Cities” and “Aging in Place” initiatives, various countries are making great efforts to improve the welfare and quality of life of the elderly, with the aim of catering to the physical and spiritual health as well as social welfare of the elderly. In this regard, the improvement of the housing environment of the elderly is one of the key factors in their quality of life and health. This study aims to effectively assess and improve the housing environment of the elderly in order to enhance their quality of life; it also aims to contribute the knowledge about improving elderly housing by applying an assessment framework using expert interviews and data collected from relevant literature. Using a mixed Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis model, a combination of the DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory-based ANP (Analytic Network Process (DANP and the modified VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR methods, and the investigations and assessments in the case study, this study proposes strategies and directions for improving elderly housing. The study results indicate that, as distinct from using traditional methodologies where the hypothesis criteria are mutually independent, the proposed hybrid model (examining real-life problems by considering the mutual influences of factors identifies a priority sequence wherein emphasis is placed on improving ventilation and air quality rather than adjustment of temperature. The systemic way of thinking shifts the focus from the most apparent problems to the root cause of the problems. Doing so avoids any mismatch of resource allocation in decision-making and thus maximizes the efficiency and sustainability of the improvement.

Chapter 16. Conservation status of great gray owls in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory D. Hayward

1994-01-01

Previous chapters outlined the biology and ecology of great gray owls as well as the ecology of this species in the western United States. That technical review provides the basis to assess the current conservation status of great gray owls in the United States. Are populations of great gray owls in the United States currently threatened? Are current land management...

ECONOMICS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (15 vols + 4 cdroms) by Gregory Zorzos

OpenAIRE

Gregory Zorzos

2002-01-01

Research contains many ancient texts (Ancient Greek, Hebrews, Hieroglyphs, Assyrian, Sumerian, Babylonian, Latin, etc.). 1. (MICRO-MACRO ECONOMICS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (5 vols + cdrom). Microeconomics and macroeconomics of Alexander the Great. Economic theories, feasibilities, economic plannings, general description of the campaign's business plan etc. 2. BANKS OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT (2 vols + cdrom) Describes banking system, economists, financiers, investors, accountants, bookkeepers, etc,...

Great Lakes rivermouth ecosystems: scientific synthesis and management implications

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, James H.; Trebitz, Anett S.; Steinman, Alan D.; Wiley, Michael J.; Carlson Mazur, Martha; Pebbles, Victoria; Braun, Heather A.; Seelbach, Paul W.

2013-01-01

At the interface of the Great Lakes and their tributary rivers lies the rivermouths, a class of aquatic ecosystem where lake and lotic processes mix and distinct features emerge. Many rivermouths are the focal point of both human interaction with the Great Lakes and human impacts to the lakes; many cities, ports, and beaches are located in rivermouth ecosystems, and these human pressures often degrade key ecological functions that rivermouths provide. Despite their ecological uniqueness and apparent economic importance, there has been relatively little research on these ecosystems as a class relative to studies on upstream rivers or the open-lake waters. Here we present a synthesis of current knowledge about ecosystem structure and function in Great Lakes rivermouths based on studies in both Laurentian rivermouths, coastal wetlands, and marine estuarine systems. A conceptual model is presented that establishes a common semantic framework for discussing the characteristic spatial features of rivermouths. This model then is used to conceptually link ecosystem structure and function to ecological services provided by rivermouths. This synthesis helps identify the critical gaps in understanding rivermouth ecology. Specifically, additional information is needed on how rivermouths collectively influence the Great Lakes ecosystem, how human alterations influence rivermouth functions, and how ecosystem services provided by rivermouths can be managed to benefit the surrounding socioeconomic networks.

Improving designer productivity. [artificial intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Gary C.

1992-01-01

Designer and design team productivity improves with skill, experience, and the tools available. The design process involves numerous trials and errors, analyses, refinements, and addition of details. Computerized tools have greatly speeded the analysis, and now new theories and methods, emerging under the label Artificial Intelligence (AI), are being used to automate skill and experience. These tools improve designer productivity by capturing experience, emulating recognized skillful designers, and making the essence of complex programs easier to grasp. This paper outlines the aircraft design process in today's technology and business climate, presenting some of the challenges ahead and some of the promising AI methods for meeting these challenges.

Greatly improved cache update times for conditions data with Frontier/Squid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dykstra, Dave; Lueking, Lee

2009-01-01

The CMS detector project loads copies of conditions data to over 100,000 computer cores worldwide by using a software subsystem called Frontier. This subsystem translates database queries into HTTP, looks up the results in a central database at CERN, and caches the results in an industry-standard HTTP proxy/caching server called Squid. One of the most challenging aspects of any cache system is coherency, that is, ensuring that changes made to the underlying data get propagated out to all clients in a timely manner. Recently, the Frontier system was enhanced to drastically reduce the time for changes to be propagated everywhere without heavily loading servers. The propagation time is now as low as 15 minutes for some kinds of data and no more than 60 minutes for the rest of the data. This was accomplished by taking advantage of an HTTP and Squid feature called If-Modified-Since. In order to use this feature, the Frontier server sends a Last-Modified timestamp, but since modification times are not normally tracked by Oracle databases, a PL/SQL program was developed to track the modification times of database tables. We discuss the details of this caching scheme and the obstacles overcome including database and Squid bugs.

Greatly improved cache update times for conditions data with Frontier/Squid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dykstra, Dave; Lueking, Lee, E-mail: dwd@fnal.go [Computing Division, Fermilab, Batavia, IL (United States)

2010-04-01

The CMS detector project loads copies of conditions data to over 100,000 computer cores worldwide by using a software subsystem called Frontier. This subsystem translates database queries into HTTP, looks up the results in a central database at CERN, and caches the results in an industry-standard HTTP proxy/caching server called Squid. One of the most challenging aspects of any cache system is coherency, that is, ensuring that changes made to the underlying data get propagated out to all clients in a timely manner. Recently, the Frontier system was enhanced to drastically reduce the time for changes to be propagated everywhere without heavily loading servers. The propagation time is now as low as 15 minutes for some kinds of data and no more than 60 minutes for the rest of the data. This was accomplished by taking advantage of an HTTP and Squid feature called If-Modified-Since. In order to use this feature, the Frontier server sends a Last-Modified timestamp, but since modification times are not normally tracked by Oracle databases, a PL/SQL program was developed to track the modification times of database tables. We discuss the details of this caching scheme and the obstacles overcome including database and Squid bugs.

Tsunami Numerical Simulation for Hypothetical Giant or Great Earthquakes along the Izu-Bonin Trench

Science.gov (United States)

Harada, T.; Ishibashi, K.; Satake, K.

2013-12-01

We performed tsunami numerical simulations from various giant/great fault models along the Izu-Bonin trench in order to see the behavior of tsunamis originated in this region and to examine the recurrence pattern of great interplate earthquakes along the Nankai trough off southwest Japan. As a result, large tsunami heights are expected in the Ryukyu Islands and on the Pacific coasts of Kyushu, Shikoku and western Honshu. The computed large tsunami heights support the hypothesis that the 1605 Keicho Nankai earthquake was not a tsunami earthquake along the Nankai trough but a giant or great earthquake along the Izu-Bonin trench (Ishibashi and Harada, 2013, SSJ Fall Meeting abstract). The Izu-Bonin subduction zone has been regarded as so-called 'Mariana-type subduction zone' where M>7 interplate earthquakes do not occur inherently. However, since several M>7 outer-rise earthquakes have occurred in this region and the largest slip of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake (M9.0) took place on the shallow plate interface where the strain accumulation had considered to be a little, a possibility of M>8.5 earthquakes in this region may not be negligible. The latest M 7.4 outer-rise earthquake off the Bonin Islands on Dec. 22, 2010 produced small tsunamis on the Pacific coast of Japan except for the Tohoku and Hokkaido districts and a zone of abnormal seismic intensity in the Kanto and Tohoku districts. Ishibashi and Harada (2013) proposed a working hypothesis that the 1605 Keicho earthquake which is considered a great tsunami earthquake along the Nankai trough was a giant/great earthquake along the Izu-Bonin trench based on the similarity of the distributions of ground shaking and tsunami of this event and the 2010 Bonin earthquake. In this study, in order to examine the behavior of tsunamis from giant/great earthquakes along the Izu-Bonin trench and check the Ishibashi and Harada's hypothesis, we performed tsunami numerical simulations from fault models along the Izu-Bonin trench

Learning and the Great Moderation

OpenAIRE

Bullard, James B.; Singh, Aarti

2009-01-01

We study a stylized theory of the volatility reduction in the U.S. after 1984 - the Great Moderation - which attributes part of the stabilization to less volatile shocks and another part to more difficult inference on the part of Bayesian households attempting to learn the latent state of the economy. We use a standard equilibrium business cycle model with technology following an unobserved regime-switching process. After 1984, according to Kim and Nelson (1999a), the variance of U.S. macroec...

Improving Reliability of a Residency Interview Process

Science.gov (United States)

Serres, Michelle L.; Gundrum, Todd E.

2013-01-01

Objective. To improve the reliability and discrimination of a pharmacy resident interview evaluation form, and thereby improve the reliability of the interview process. Methods. In phase 1 of the study, authors used a Many-Facet Rasch Measurement model to optimize an existing evaluation form for reliability and discrimination. In phase 2, interviewer pairs used the modified evaluation form within 4 separate interview stations. In phase 3, 8 interviewers individually-evaluated each candidate in one-on-one interviews. Results. In phase 1, the evaluation form had a reliability of 0.98 with person separation of 6.56; reproducibly, the form separated applicants into 6 distinct groups. Using that form in phase 2 and 3, our largest variation source was candidates, while content specificity was the next largest variation source. The phase 2 g-coefficient was 0.787, while confirmatory phase 3 was 0.922. Process reliability improved with more stations despite fewer interviewers per station—impact of content specificity was greatly reduced with more interview stations. Conclusion. A more reliable, discriminating evaluation form was developed to evaluate candidates during resident interviews, and a process was designed that reduced the impact from content specificity. PMID:24159209

226Ra, 232Th and 40K analysis in sand samples from some beaches of Great Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil: preliminary results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aquino, Reginaldo R.; Pecequilo, Brigitte R.S.

2009-01-01

The natural radioactivity in superficial beach sand samples of 7 beaches of Great Vitoria, metropolitan region of the State of Espirito Santo, southeast Brazil, was determined from the 226 Ra, 232 Th and 4 0 K contents. The assessed beaches were Manguinhos, Camburi, Praia do Canto, Curva da Jurema, Itapua, Setibao and Areia Preta. Three samples of each beach were sealed in standard 100 mL polyethylene flasks and stored in order to obtain secular equilibrium in the 238 U and 232 Th series. All samples were measured by high resolution gamma spectrometry and the spectra were analyzed with the WinnerGamma software. The 232 Th concentration was determined from the average concentrations of 228 Ac, 212 Pb and 212 Bi and the 226 Ra concentration was determined from the average concentrations of 214 Pb and 214 Bi. Preliminary results show concentrations varying from 9 Bq.kg -1 to 6035 Bq.kg -1 for 232 Th, from 4 Bq.kg -1 to 575 Bq.kg -1 for 226 Ra and from 13 Bq.kg -1 to 142 Bq.kg -1 for 40 K. Areia Preta beach shows the highest values for 232 Th, while the highest value for 226 Ra was observed for Camburi beach. High values of 40 K were observed for Curva da Jurema beach. (author)

Analysis of book colections Great picture book for preschoolers

OpenAIRE

Cunk, Tina

2013-01-01

Thesis entitled ˝Analysis of book collections Great picture book for preschoolers˝ is based on theoretical approach and empirical study. In the theoretical part I focused on the development of youth literature and the definition of the latter, furthermore I described Great picture book and definition of picture book, I presented four versions of picture books in the Slovenian area, described types of picture books and wrote translation of Maria Nikolaeva´s picture book and her point of view...

78 FR 21937 - Proposed Agency Information Collection Request: Comment Request; Great Lakes Accountability...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-12

... Collection Request: Comment Request; Great Lakes Accountability System (Renewal) AGENCY: Environmental... an information collection request (ICR), ``Great Lakes Accountability System'' (EPA ICR No. 2379.02... using www.regulations.gov (our preferred method) or by mail to: Great Lakes Accountability System, Attn...

75 FR 34448 - Proposed CERCLA Administrative Cost Recovery Settlement; Great Lakes Container Corporation...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-06-17

... Settlement; Great Lakes Container Corporation Superfund Site, Coventry Rhode Island AGENCY: Environmental... and future response costs concerning the Great Lakes Container Corporation Superfund Site, located in...), Boston, MA 02109-3912, (617) 918-1216. Comments should reference the Great Lakes Container Corporation...

The role of great auricular-facial nerve neurorrhaphy in facial nerve damage.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yan; Liu, Limei; Han, Yuechen; Xu, Lei; Zhang, Daogong; Wang, Haibo

2015-01-01

Facial nerve is easy to be damaged, and there are many reconstructive methods for facial nerve reconstructive, such as facial nerve end to end anastomosis, the great auricular nerve graft, the sural nerve graft, or hypoglossal-facial nerve anastomosis. However, there is still little study about great auricular-facial nerve neurorrhaphy. The aim of the present study was to identify the role of great auricular-facial nerve neurorrhaphy and the mechanism. Rat models of facial nerve cut (FC), facial nerve end to end anastomosis (FF), facial-great auricular neurorrhaphy (FG), and control (Ctrl) were established. Apex nasi amesiality observation, electrophysiology and immunofluorescence assays were employed to investigate the function and mechanism. In apex nasi amesiality observation, it was found apex nasi amesiality of FG group was partly recovered. Additionally, electrophysiology and immunofluorescence assays revealed that facial-great auricular neurorrhaphy could transfer nerve impulse and express AChR which was better than facial nerve cut and worse than facial nerve end to end anastomosis. The present study indicated that great auricular-facial nerve neurorrhaphy is a substantial solution for facial lesion repair, as it is efficiently preventing facial muscles atrophy by generating neurotransmitter like ACh.

Urbanization Is Associated with Divergence in Pace-of-Life in Great Tits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Charmantier

2017-05-01

Full Text Available As an extension of the classic life history theory, the recently highlighted pace-of-life syndrome hypothesis predicts the coevolution of behavioral, physiological and life-history traits. For instance, bolder and shyer individuals do not only differ in personality profiles, but also in neuro-endocrinology and breeding patterns. While theory predicts that bolder (i.e., proactive, more aggressive individuals should colonize more rapidly urbanized habitats than shyer (i.e., reactive, less aggressive individuals, it is also predicted that across generations, adaptive selection processes could favor shyer individuals that are more sensitive to novel environmental cues. Here we compared two personality traits (handling aggression, exploration score in a novel environment, one physiological trait related to stress response (breath rate and four breeding traits (lay date, clutch size, hatching success and fledging success in a rural and an urban study population of Mediterranean great tits Parus major. Mixed models revealed strong phenotypic divergence between forest and city in most traits explored, in particular in personality, whereby urban great tits were more reactive to stress and faster explorers compared to rural birds (yet not more aggressive. Urban birds also laid smaller broods earlier in spring compared to their rural conspecifics, and city broods resulted in lower hatching success yet interestingly fledging success was similar. Nest-box centered measures of anthropogenic (artificial light, pedestrians, and cars perturbation and resource abundance allowed us to go beyond the classical forest/city comparison by exploring the phenotypic variation across an urbanization gradient. This revealed that high urbanization in nest-box surroundings was associated overall with earlier breeding and smaller clutches, but also with faster breath rate, although these trends showed strong annual variation. Ongoing rapid urbanization and non-random gene flow

Oxygenation as a driver of the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Cole T.; Saltzman, Matthew R.; Royer, Dana L.; Fike, David A.

2017-12-01

The largest radiation of Phanerozoic marine animal life quadrupled genus-level diversity towards the end of the Ordovician Period about 450 million years ago. A leading hypothesis for this Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event is that cooling of the Ordovician climate lowered sea surface temperatures into the thermal tolerance window of many animal groups, such as corals. A complementary role for oxygenation of subsurface environments has been inferred based on the increasing abundance of skeletal carbonate, but direct constraints on atmospheric O2 levels remain elusive. Here, we use high-resolution paired bulk carbonate and organic carbon isotope records to determine the changes in isotopic fractionation between these phases throughout the Ordovician radiation. These results can be used to reconstruct atmospheric O2 levels based on the O2-dependent fractionation of carbon isotopes by photosynthesis. We find a strong temporal link between the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event and rising O2 concentrations, a pattern that is corroborated by O2 models that use traditional carbon-sulfur mass balance. We conclude that that oxygen levels probably played an important role in regulating early Palaeozoic biodiversity levels, even after the Cambrian Explosion.

The Classical Plotline of "The Great Gatsby"

Science.gov (United States)

Slattery, Dennis P.

1975-01-01

Argues that an understanding of the craft of fiction is furthered by a return to the original creation, concluding that "The Great Gatsby" is one of the best examples of Aristotle's description of tragedy as set forth in "The Poetics." (RB)

The Great Recession: a comparison of recession magnitudes in Europe, USA and Japan

OpenAIRE

Mazurek, Jiří

2013-01-01

In this article recession magnitudes in Europe, the USA and Japan during the Great Recession are compared. The strongest recessions (of severe category) occurred in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, while recessions in Japan and the USA were significantly weaker. Even the strongest recession (in Latvia) was found smaller in its magnitude than the Great Depression 1929-1933 in the USA. Hence, comparisons of the Great Recession to the Great Depression in the literature are somewhat exaggerated.

The Indian Stock Market and the Great Recession

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arindam MANDAL

2012-03-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes the impact of the outbreak of the Great Recession of 2007 on the behavior of the Indian stock market. The SENSEX index of the Bombay Stock Exchange is analyzed for the prerecession period of January 2002 – November 2007 and the postrecession outbreak period of December 2007 – July 2010. Substantial increase in SENSEX return volatility observed during the post-recession outbreak period, whereas no substantial difference in returns between two periods is found. Also strong co-movements in returns and volatility are observed between the SENSEX and other major stock indexes during the post-recession period. Our results establish the dominance of global factors in influencing Indian stock market behavior during periods of economic turmoil.

Evidence for early hunters beneath the Great Lakes.

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O'Shea, John M; Meadows, Guy A

2009-06-23

Scholars have hypothesized that the poorly understood and rarely encountered archaeological sites from the terminal Paleoindian and Archaic periods associated with the Lake Stanley low water stage (10,000-7,500 BP) are lost beneath the modern Great Lakes. Acoustic and video survey on the Alpena-Amberley ridge, a feature that would have been a dry land corridor crossing the Lake Huron basin during this time period, reveals the presence of a series of stone features that match, in form and location, structures used for caribou hunting in both prehistoric and ethnographic times. These results present evidence for early hunters on the Alpena-Amberley corridor, and raise the possibility that intact settlements and ancient landscapes are preserved beneath Lake Huron.

Lessons Learned and Unlearned from the 2004 Great Sumatran Tsunami.

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Synolakis, C.; Kanoglu, U.

2014-12-01

Huppert & Sparks (2006 Phil Trans Math Phys Eng Sci) wrote It is likely that in the future, we will experience several disasters per year that kill more than 10,000 people. The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake Disaster alone resulted in more than 20,000 casualties. Synolakis & Bernard (2006 Phil Trans Math Phys Eng Sci) concluded that Before the next Sumatra-type tsunami strikes, we must resolve to create a world that can coexist with the tsunami hazard. The 2011 Japan tsunami dramatically showed that we are not there yet. Despite substantial advances after the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, substantial challenges remain for improving tsunami hazard mitigation. If the tsunami community appeared at first perplexed in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, it was not due to the failure of recognized hydrodynamic paradigms, much as certain geophysical ones and scaling laws failed, but at the worst surprise, the lack of preparedness and education. Synolakis et al. (2008 Pure Appl Geophys) presented standards for tsunami modeling; for both warnings and inundation maps (IMs). Although at least one forecasting methodology has gone through extensive testing, and is now officially in use by the warning centers (WCs), standards need urgently to be formalized for warnings. In Europe, several WCs have been established, but none has yet to issue an operational warning for a hazardous event. If it happens, there might be confusion with possibly contradictory/competing warnings. Never again should there be a repeat of the TEPCO analysis for the safety of the Fukushima NPP. This was primarily due to lacks of familiarity with the context of numerical predictions and experience with real tsunami. The accident was the result of a cascade of stupid errors, almost impossible to ignore by anyone in the field (Synolakis, 26.03.2011 The New York Times). Current practices in tsunami studies for US NPPs and for IMs do not provide us with optimism that the Fukushima lessons have been absorbed and that

The great downside dilemma for risky emerging technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baum, Seth D

2014-01-01

Some emerging technologies promise to significantly improve the human condition, but come with a risk of failure so catastrophic that human civilization may not survive. This article discusses the great downside dilemma posed by the decision of whether or not to use these technologies. The dilemma is: use the technology, and risk the downside of catastrophic failure, or do not use the technology, and suffer through life without it. Historical precedents include the first nuclear weapon test and messaging to extraterrestrial intelligence. Contemporary examples include stratospheric geoengineering, a technology under development in response to global warming, and artificial general intelligence, a technology that could even take over the world. How the dilemma should be resolved depends on the details of each technology’s downside risk and on what the human condition would otherwise be. Meanwhile, other technologies do not pose this dilemma, including sustainable design technologies, nuclear fusion power, and space colonization. Decisions on all of these technologies should be made with the long-term interests of human civilization in mind. This paper is part of a series of papers based on presentations at the Emerging Technologies and the Future of Humanity event held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 17 March 2014. (invited comment)

The Oligochaeta (Annelida, Clitellata) of the St. Lawrence Great Lakes region: An update

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Spencer, Douglas R.; Hudson, Patrick L.

2003-01-01

An updated oligochaete species list for the Great Lakes region is provided. The list was developed through the reexamination of the taxa reported in a previous report in 1980, addition of new taxa or records collected from the region since 1980, and an update of taxonomy commensurate with systematic and nomenclatural changes over the intervening years since the last review. The authors found 74 papers mentioning Great Lakes oligochaete species. The majority of these papers were published in the 1980s. The literature review and additional collections resulted in 15 species being added to the previous list. Nine taxa were removed from the previous list due to misidentification, synonymies, level of identification, or inability to confirm the identity. Based on this review, 101 species of Oligochaeta are now known from the St. Lawrence Great Lakes watershed. Of these, 95 species are known from the St. Lawrence Great Lakes proper, with an additional 6 species recorded from the inland waters of the watershed. The greatest diversity of oligochaete species was found in the inland waters of the region (81) followed by Lake Huron (72), Lake Ontario (65), Lake Erie (64), Lake Superior (63), Lake Michigan (62), St. Marys River (60), Niagara River (49), Saginaw Bay (44), St. Clair River (37), Lake St. Clair (36), St. Lawrence River (27), and the Detroit River (21). Three species are suspected of being introduced, Branchiura sowerbyi, Gianius aquaedulcisand Ripistes parasita, and two are believed to be endemic, Thalassodrilus hallae andTeneridrilus flexus.

Psychosocial stressors in the lives of great jazz musicians.

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Patalano, F

1997-02-01

Brief biographical information on four great jazz tenor saxophone players of the past is presented to illustrate the similar psychosocial stressors these men seemed to experience, namely, severe substance abuse, haphazard working conditions, lack of acceptance of their art form in the United States, marital and family discord, and a vagabond life style. Ages at death of 80 great jazz musicians may indicate that the stressful life style of jazz musicians may be reflected in a shortened life span, but a control group is needed.

The work of Jules Horowitz. The great Cea actors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnaudet, L.; Deloche, R.; Procope, L.

1999-01-01

Jules Horowitz contributed to the heart calculation of the first french reactor Zoe. He developed the first experimental reactors, invested himself in the reactors physics and helped with EDF to the realisation of the French electronuclear programme. His work is marked out the building of great research devices: The Laue-Langevin Institute (ILL), The European Source of Synchrotron radiation (ESRF), the great national heavy ions accelerator (GANIL) the superconductor tokamak TORE SUPRA) the Leon Brillouin Laboratory (LLB), the Frederic Joliot hospital service (SHFJ). (N.C.)

Improved ruminant genetics: Implementation guidance for policymakers and investors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haas, de Y.; Davis, S.; Reisinger, A.; Richards, M.; Difford, Gareth; Lassen, Jan

2016-01-01

Genetics makes use of natural variation among animals. Selecting preferred animals as parents can yield permanent and cumulative improvements in the population. More efficient animals can greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and feed costs. Breeding, including cross-breeding between indigenous

Evolution of tolerance by magpies to brood parasitism by great spotted cuckoos.

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Soler, J J; Martín-Gálvez, D; Martínez, J G; Soler, M; Canestrari, D; Abad-Gómez, J M; Møller, A P

2011-07-07

Hosts may use two different strategies to ameliorate negative effects of a given parasite burden: resistance or tolerance. Although both resistance and tolerance of parasitism should evolve as a consequence of selection pressures owing to parasitism, the study of evolutionary patterns of tolerance has traditionally been neglected by animal biologists. Here, we explore geographical covariation between tolerance of magpies (Pica pica) and brood parasitism by the great spotted cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) in nine different sympatric populations. We estimated tolerance as the slope of the regression of number of magpie fledglings (i.e. host fitness) on number of cuckoo eggs laid in non-depredated nests (which broadly equals parasite burden). We also estimated prevalence of parasitism and level of host resistance (i.e. rejection rates of mimetic model eggs) in these nine populations. In accordance with the hypothetical role of tolerance in the coevolutionary process between magpies and cuckoos we found geographical variation in tolerance estimates that positively covaried with prevalence of parasitism. Levels of resistance and tolerance were not associated, possibly suggesting the lack of a trade-off between the two kinds of defences against great spotted cuckoo parasitism for magpies. We discuss the results in the framework of a mosaic of coevolutionary interactions along the geographical distribution of magpies and great spotted cuckoos for which we found evidence that tolerance plays a major role.

SSRF-PDM and its full-text retrieval improvement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tong Xingfan; Deng Huiyu; Li Zhiming

2011-01-01

Project and data management is essential for Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) which is a huge scientific platform for science research and technology development in China. With Product Data Management (PDM) system, SSRF improves its information service greatly. In this paper, we introduce the network structure, configuration modules and client terminals of the PDM system and the improvement in full-text retrieval subsystem, including its algorithms and details of implement in order to optimize the retrieval system.(authors)

Estimation of the ancestral effective population sizes of African great apes under different selection regimes.

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Schrago, Carlos G

2014-08-01

Reliable estimates of ancestral effective population sizes are necessary to unveil the population-level phenomena that shaped the phylogeny and molecular evolution of the African great apes. Although several methods have previously been applied to infer ancestral effective population sizes, an analysis of the influence of the selective regime on the estimates of ancestral demography has not been thoroughly conducted. In this study, three independent data sets under different selective regimes were used were composed to tackle this issue. The results showed that selection had a significant impact on the estimates of ancestral effective population sizes of the African great apes. The inference of the ancestral demography of African great apes was affected by the selection regime. The effects, however, were not homogeneous along the ancestral populations of great apes. The effective population size of the ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was more impacted by the selection regime when compared to the same parameter in the ancestor of humans, chimpanzees and gorillas. Because the selection regime influenced the estimates of ancestral effective population size, it is reasonable to assume that a portion of the discrepancy found in previous studies that inferred the ancestral effective population size may be attributable to the differential action of selection on the genes sampled.

Traffic improvement and transportation pollution control in Xiamen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dongxing Yuan; Zilin, Wu

1996-12-31

in this paper, the urban traffic improvement and transportation control in Xiamen are highlighted. Xiamen is a port city and an economical special zone of China. As the economy grows, the transportation is developing dramatically and becoming the key for further economic development. The air quality is threatened by the rapid growth of the vehicles in the city. The most urgent task in improving urban traffic is to establish a sound traffic system. The municipal government takes great effort to improve the traffic condition, as well as to reduce green house gases and protect air environment. Some management and technical measures are carried out. Those management measures are mainly as follows: (1) systematic planning of the city arrangement and city functional division, and integrated planning of the urban roads system, (2) putting great emphasis on tail gas monitoring and management, and (3) establishing optimized utilization of motor vehicles. Those included in the main technical measures are (1) making the roads clear, (2) enlarging traffic capacity, and (3) developing the public transport. The most urgent task in improving urban traffic is to establish a sound traffic system. The city municipal government and Transportation Management Bureau plan to make a series of reforms to improve the urban traffic condition, such as building high quality road around the city, reducing the number of one way roads and replacing gasoline buses with electric buses. An optimized traffic system of Xiamen, taking public transport as the main means, is the key to meet the needs of both traffic improvement and urban transportation pollution control.

Climate change and water quality in the Great Lakes Basin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2003-08-01

The Great Lakes Basin is subjected to several stresses, such as land use changes, chemical contamination, nutrient over-enrichment, alien invasive species, and acid precipitation. Climate change is now added to this list. The Water Quality Board was asked to provide advice concerning the impacts of climate change on the water quality of the Great Lakes and on how to address the issue. A White Paper was commissioned by the Board to address four key questions: (1) what are the Great Lakes water quality issues associated with climate change, (2) what are potential impacts of climate change on beneficial uses, (3) how might impacts vary across the Great Lakes region, and (4) what are the implications for decision making. The conclusions and findings of the White Paper were then discussed at a workshop held in May 2003. Part 1 of the document provides an executive summary. The advice of the Water Quality Board was based on the findings of the White Paper and presented in Part 2. Part 3 presented the White Paper, while a summary of the workshop was provided in Part 4. A presentation on cross border tools and strategies was also presented by a workshop participant.

Ultrasound assessment of great saphenous vein insufficiency

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Chander RK

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Rajiv K Chander,1 Thomas S Monahan1,2 1Section of Vascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2Department of Surgery, Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA Abstract: Duplex ultrasonography is the ideal modality to assess great saphenous vein insufficiency. Duplex ultrasonography incorporates both gray scale images to delineate anatomy and color-Doppler imaging that visualizes the flow of blood in a structure. Assessment of great saphenous vein requires definition of the anatomy, augmentation of flow, evaluation for both superficial and deep vein thrombosis, and determining the presence of reflux. Currently, evolution in the treatment of reflux also relies on ultrasound for the treatment of the disease. Understanding the utilization of the ultrasound for the diagnosis and treatment of greater saphenous vein reflux is important for practitioners treating reflux disease. Keywords: duplex ultrasonography, small saphenous vein 

Gender and Race/Ethnicity Differences in Mental Health Care Use before and during the Great Recession.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jie; Dagher, Rada

2016-04-01

This study examines the changes in health care utilization for mental health disorders among patients who were diagnosed with depressive and/or anxiety disorders during the Great Recession 2007-2009 in the USA. Negative binomial regressions are used to estimate the association of the economic recession and mental health care use for females and males separately. Results show that prescription drug utilization (e.g., antidepressants, psychotropic medications) increased significantly during the economic recession 2007-2009 for both females and males. Physician visits for mental health disorders decreased during the same period. Results show that racial disparities in mental health care might have increased, while ethnic disparities persisted during the Great Recession. Future research should separately examine mental health care utilization by gender and race/ethnicity.

Improved Process Used to Treat Aqueous Mixed Waste Results in Cost Savings and Improved Worker Safety

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hodge, D.S.; Preuss, D.E.; Belcher, K.J.; Rock, C.M.; Bray, W.S.; Herman, J.P.

2006-01-01

This paper describes an improved process implemented at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to treat aqueous mixed waste. This waste is comprised of radioactively-contaminated corrosive liquids with heavy metals. The Aqueous Mixed Waste Treatment System (AMWTS) system components include a reaction tank and a post-treatment holding tank with ancillary piping and pumps; and a control panel with pumping/mixing controls; tank level, temperature and pH/Oxidation Reduction Potential (ORP) indicators. The process includes a neutralization step to remove the corrosive characteristic, a chromium reduction step to reduce hexavalent chromium to trivalent chromium, and a precipitation step to convert the toxic metals into an insoluble form. Once the toxic metals have precipitated, the resultant sludge is amenable to stabilization and can be reclassified as a low-level waste if the quantity of leachable toxic metals, as determined by the TCLP, is below Universal Treatment Standards (UTS). To date, six batches in eight have passed the UTS. The AMWTS is RCRA permitted and allows for the compliant treatment of mixed waste prior to final disposal at a Department of Energy (DOE) or commercial radioactive waste disposal facility. Mixed wastes eligible for treatment include corrosive liquids (pH 12.5) containing EPA-regulated toxic metals (As, Ba, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ag, Se, Hg) at concentrations greater than the RCRA Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) limit. The system has also been used to treat corrosive wastes with small quantities of fissionable materials. The AMWTS is a significant engineered solution with many improvements over the more labor intensive on-site treatment method being performed within a ventilation hood used previously. The previously used treatment system allowed for batch sizes of only 15-20 gallons whereas the new AMWTS allows for the treatment of batches up to 75 gallons; thereby reducing batch labor and supply costs by 40-60% and reducing analytical

NASA's Great Observatories Celebrate the International Year of Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

2009-01-01

[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Click on the image for larger version In 1609, Galileo improved the newly invented telescope, turned it toward the heavens, and revolutionized our view of the universe. In celebration of the 400th anniversary of this milestone, 2009 has been designated as the International Year of Astronomy. Today, NASA's Great Observatories are continuing Galileo's legacy with stunning images and breakthrough science from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. While Galileo observed the sky using visible light seen by the human eye, technology now allows us to observe in many wavelengths, including Spitzer's infrared view and Chandra's view in X-rays. Each wavelength region shows different aspects of celestial objects and often reveals new objects that could not otherwise be studied. This image of the spiral galaxy Messier 101 is a composite of views from Spitzer, Hubble, and Chandra. The red color shows Spitzer's view in infrared light. It highlights the heat emitted by dust lanes in the galaxy where stars can form. The yellow color is Hubble's view in visible light. Most of this light comes from stars, and they trace the same spiral structure as the dust lanes. The blue color shows Chandra's view in X-ray light. Sources of X-rays include million-degree gas, exploded stars, and material colliding around black holes. Such composite images allow astronomers to see how features seen in one wavelength match up with those seen in another wavelength. It's like seeing with a camera, night vision goggles, and X-ray vision all at once. In the four centuries since Galileo, astronomy has changed dramatically. Yet our curiosity and quest for knowledge remain the same. So, too, does our wonder at the splendor of the universe. The International Year of Astronomy Great Observatories Image Unveiling is supported by the NASA Science Mission Directorate Astrophysics Division. The project is a

Cognition improvement in Taekwondo novices over forty. Results from the SEKWONDO Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gaby ePons Van Dijk

2013-11-01

Full Text Available AbstractAge-related cognitive decline is associated with increased risk of disability, dementia and death. Recent studies suggest improvement in cognitive speed, attention and executive functioning with physical activity. However, whether such improvements are activity specific is unclear.Therefore, we aimed to study the effect of one year age-adapted Taekwondo training on several cognitive functions, including reaction/ motor time, information processing speed, and working and executive memory, in 24 healthy volunteers over forty.Reaction and motor time decreased with 41.2 seconds and 18.4 seconds (p=0.004, p=0.015, respectively. Digit symbol coding task improved with a mean of 3.7 digits (p=0.017. Digit span, letter fluency, and trail making test task-completion-time all improved, but not statistically significant. The questionnaire reported better reaction time in 10 and unchanged in 9 of the nineteen study compliers. In conclusion, our data suggest that age-adapted Taekwondo training improves various aspects of cognitive function in people over 40, which may, therefore, offer a cheap, safe and enjoyable way to mitigate age-related cognitive decline.

Improved results in paediatric diabetes care using a quality registry in an improvement collaborative: a case study in Sweden.

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Anette Peterson

Full Text Available Several studies show that good metabolic control is important for children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. In Sweden, there are large differences in mean haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c in different hospitals and difficulties implementing national guidelines in everyday practice. This study shows how the participation in an improvement collaborative could facilitate improvements in the quality of care by paediatric diabetes teams. The Swedish paediatric diabetes quality registry, SWEDIABKIDS was used as a tool and resource for feedback and outcome measures.Twelve teams at paediatric diabetes centres, caring for 30% (2302/7660 of patients in Sweden, participated in an 18-month quality improvement program. Each team defined treatment targets, areas needing improvement, and action plans. The main outcome was the centre patients' mean HbA1c levels, but other clinical variables and change concepts were also studied. Data from the previous six months were compared with the first six months after starting the program, and the long-term follow up after another eleven months.All centres reduced mean HbA1c during the second and third periods compared with the first. The mean reduction for all was 3·7 mmol/mol (p<0.001, compared with non-participating centres who improved their mean HbA1c with 1·7 mmol/mol during the same period. Many of the participating centres reduced the frequency of severe hypoglycaemia and/or ketoacidosis, and five centres reached their goal of ensuring that all patients had some sort of physical activity at least once weekly. Change concepts were, for example, improved guidelines, appointment planning, informing the patients, improving teamwork and active use of the registry, and health promotion activities.By involving paediatric diabetes teams in a quality improvement collaborative together with access to a quality register, the quality of paediatric diabetes care can improve, thereby contributing to a reduced risk of late

Impact of intensity and loss assessment following the great Wenchuan Earthquake

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