Seismic Data Gathering and Validation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coleman, Justin [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

2015-02-01

Three recent earthquakes in the last seven years have exceeded their design basis earthquake values (so it is implied that damage to SSC’s should have occurred). These seismic events were recorded at North Anna (August 2011, detailed information provided in [Virginia Electric and Power Company Memo]), Fukushima Daichii and Daini (March 2011 [TEPCO 1]), and Kaswazaki-Kariwa (2007, [TEPCO 2]). However, seismic walk downs at some of these plants indicate that very little damage occurred to safety class systems and components due to the seismic motion. This report presents seismic data gathered for two of the three events mentioned above and recommends a path for using that data for two purposes. One purpose is to determine what margins exist in current industry standard seismic soil-structure interaction (SSI) tools. The second purpose is the use the data to validated seismic site response tools and SSI tools. The gathered data represents free field soil and in-structure acceleration time histories data. Gathered data also includes elastic and dynamic soil properties and structural drawings. Gathering data and comparing with existing models has potential to identify areas of uncertainty that should be removed from current seismic analysis and SPRA approaches. Removing uncertainty (to the extent possible) from SPRA’s will allow NPP owners to make decisions on where to reduce risk. Once a realistic understanding of seismic response is established for a nuclear power plant (NPP) then decisions on needed protective measures, such as SI, can be made.

An Introduction to Computer Forensics: Gathering Evidence in a Computing Environment

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Henry B. Wolfe

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Business has become increasingly dependent on the Internet and computing to operate. It has become apparent that there are issues of evidence gathering in a computing environment, which by their nature are technical and different to other forms of evidence gathering, that must be addressed. This paper offers an introduction to some of the technical issues surrounding this new and specialized field of Computer Forensics. It attempts to identify and describe sources of evidence that can be found on disk data storage devices in the course of an investigation. It also considers sources of copies of email, which can be used in evidence, as well as case building.

Endangered edible orchids and vulnerable gatherers in the context of HIV/AIDS in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania

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Price Lisa

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Tanzania is a wild orchid biodiversity hotspot and has a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. The wild orchids in the study are endemic and protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Every year, however, between 2.2 and 4.1 million orchid plants consumed in Zambia are estimated as originating from Tanzania. This research examines the differences between HIV/AIDS wild edible orchid gatherers and non-HIV/AIDS gatherers with regards to the frequency of gathering, salience in naming the various orchids, gathering knowledge acquisition and perceptions regarding the current state of abundance of the edible species. Methods Data was collected through interviews with 224 individuals in the Makete District of Tanzania close to the boarder of Zambia. Free-listings were conducted and Sutrup's Cultural Significance Index (CSI constructed. The independent t-test was used to compare the differences in gathering frequencies between affected and non-affected gatherers. A multiple comparison of the 4 subgroups (affected adults and children, and non-affected adults and children in gathering frequencies was done with a one way ANOVA test and its post hoc test. To examine the difference between affected and non-affected gatherers difference in source of gathering knowledge, a chi square test was run. Results Forty two vernacular names of gathered orchid species were mentioned corresponding to 7 botanical species belongs to genera Disa, Satyrium, Habenaria, Eulophia and Roeperocharis. Ninety-seven percent of HIV/AIDS affected households state that orchid gathering is their primary economic activity compared to non-HIV/AIDS affected households at 9.7 percent. The HIV/AIDS affected gathered significantly more often than the non-affected. AIDS orphans, however, gathered most frequently. Gatherers perceive a decreasing trend of abundance of 6 of the 7 species. Gathering activities were mainly performed in age based peer groups

Future Discounting in Congo Basin Hunter-Gatherers Declines with Socio-Economic Transitions.

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Gul Deniz Salali

Full Text Available Humans have a tendency to discount the future; that is we value small, short-term rewards over larger, long-term rewards. The degree of future discounting, however, changes in response to socio-ecological factors. Here, we study Mbendjele BaYaka hunter-gatherers of northern Congo and their farmer neighbours to investigate adaptations in inter-temporal preferences in humans. We argue that in immediate-return systems, where food storage is absent and egalitarianism is enforced through levelling mechanisms, future discounting is an adaptive strategy to prevent wealth accumulation and the emergence of hierarchies. This ensures food sharing and allows for survival in unpredictable environments where there is risk of an energy shortfall. On the other hand, when food storage is made possible by the emergence of agriculture or as seen in some delayed-return hunter-gatherer populations, wealth accumulation, hierarchies and lower discount rates become the adaptive strategy. Therefore, individuals in immediate-return, egalitarian societies will discount the future more than those in non-egalitarian, delayed-return societies. Consistent with the predictions we found that market integration and socio-economic transitions decrease the future discounting in Mbendjele hunter-gatherers. Our measures of socio-economic differences marked this transition in hunter-gatherers living in a logging town. The degree of future-discounting was the same between more market-integrated hunter-gatherers and their farmer neighbours.

World Biotechnology Leaders to Gather for Conference

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Biotechnology Leaders to Gather for Conference For more information contact: e:mail: Public Affairs biotechnology leaders gather in Fort Collins, CO May 2-6 for the 21st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and special session on funding opportunities for U.S. biotechnology projects. More than 175 presentations are

Gathering “tea” – from necessity to connectedness with nature. Local knowledge about wild plant gathering in the Biosphere Reserve Grosses Walsertal (Austria

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Grasser Susanne

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Wild plant gathering is an essential element in livelihood strategies all over the world. However due to changing circumstances in Europe, the reason for gathering has altered from one of necessity in the past to a pleasurable activity today. Wild plant gathering has therefore also received renewed attention as a form of intangible cultural heritage expressing local preferences, habits and man’s relationship with nature. In the Biosphere Reserve Grosses Walsertal (Austria, local people’s knowledge of the gathering of wild plants and their perception of their own gathering activities are being documented. The focus of this paper is on the uses of herbal teas and the informal guidelines for gathering plants that have been issued by the Bergtee (mountain tea association. Methods Thirty-six free-list interviews were conducted with subsequent semi-structured interviews and three focus group meetings held with members of the Bergtee association. Participatory observation (gathering and processing plants, mixing and marketing tea also allowed for greater understanding of what had been reported. Results In total, 140 different gathered plant species were listed by respondents. Herbal tea is the most frequently mentioned use. The Bergtee association, founded by a young man and two middle-aged women in the valley, is a good example of the link between biological and cultural diversity, with the aim of sharing the biosphere reserve’s natural treasures as well as local plant-related knowledge in the form of herbal tea products. The association’s informal guidelines for gathering reflect people’s attitude to nature: monetary income does not play a major role in gathering plants; instead people’s appreciation of the value of the nature around them is to the fore. Conclusions Gathering wild plants can be seen as an expression of people’s regional identity. The conscious appreciation of nature and related local knowledge is

Gathering “tea” – from necessity to connectedness with nature. Local knowledge about wild plant gathering in the Biosphere Reserve Grosses Walsertal (Austria)

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Wild plant gathering is an essential element in livelihood strategies all over the world. However due to changing circumstances in Europe, the reason for gathering has altered from one of necessity in the past to a pleasurable activity today. Wild plant gathering has therefore also received renewed attention as a form of intangible cultural heritage expressing local preferences, habits and man’s relationship with nature. In the Biosphere Reserve Grosses Walsertal (Austria), local people’s knowledge of the gathering of wild plants and their perception of their own gathering activities are being documented. The focus of this paper is on the uses of herbal teas and the informal guidelines for gathering plants that have been issued by the Bergtee (mountain tea) association. Methods Thirty-six free-list interviews were conducted with subsequent semi-structured interviews and three focus group meetings held with members of the Bergtee association. Participatory observation (gathering and processing plants, mixing and marketing tea) also allowed for greater understanding of what had been reported. Results In total, 140 different gathered plant species were listed by respondents. Herbal tea is the most frequently mentioned use. The Bergtee association, founded by a young man and two middle-aged women in the valley, is a good example of the link between biological and cultural diversity, with the aim of sharing the biosphere reserve’s natural treasures as well as local plant-related knowledge in the form of herbal tea products. The association’s informal guidelines for gathering reflect people’s attitude to nature: monetary income does not play a major role in gathering plants; instead people’s appreciation of the value of the nature around them is to the fore. Conclusions Gathering wild plants can be seen as an expression of people’s regional identity. The conscious appreciation of nature and related local knowledge is crucial for the sustainable

Gathering and using information on a global scale

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Mathews, C. W.

1977-01-01

The importance of information gathered, integrated and analyzed over broad regions of the world is discussed. Means of acquiring information on critical areas are outlined, and the particular role that remote sensing can play is described in each case. The possible implementation of a global information system and some of the current difficulties in initiation of such a system on an operational basis are explored. In this way, issues will be surfaced for consideration. Topics include: the importance of innovative leadership, and some actions that the government might take, both in Congress and in the Executive Branch; the relationship of U.S. government activities to international interests and to industry; and the need to stimulate more private sector initiative and to transfer responsibilities from government to commercial interests.

Sensitive Information Gathering and Dissemination: An Assessment ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Yet the freedom of expression granted to all men is not absolute. This paper on sensitive information gathering and dissemination focuses on the role of the military and that of the media in the gathering and dissemination of information often termed sensitive, contentious and inciting. It is based on past and present media ...

Mental health in mass gatherings

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Shahbaz Ali Khan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Hajj pilgrimage, in Saudi Arabia, is one of the world's largest religious mass gatherings. We have similar mass gathering scenarios in India such as the Amarnath Yatra and Kumbh. A unique combination of physical, physiological, and psychological factors makes this pilgrimage a very stressful milieu. We studied the emergence of psychopathology and its determinants, in this adverse environment in mass gathering situation, in Indian pilgrims on Hajj 2016. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study analyzing the mental morbidity in 1.36 lakh Indian pilgrims during Hajj 2016, using SPSS software version 19. Results: Totally 182 patients reported psychological problems. Twenty-two patients (12% required admission. Twelve (6.8% pilgrims reported a past history of a mental illness. One hundred and sixty-five (93.2% patients never had any mental symptoms earlier in life. The most common illnesses seen were stress related (45.7% followed by psychosis (9.8%, insomnia (7.3%, and mood disorders (5.6%. The most common symptoms recorded were apprehension (45%, sleep (55%, anxiety (41%, and fear of being lost (27%. Psychotropics were prescribed for 46% of pilgrims. All patients completed their Hajj successfully and returned to India. Conclusions: Cumulative stress causes full spectrum of mental decompensation, and prompt healing is aided by simple nonpharmacological measures including social support and counseling in compatible sociolinguistic milieu.

Mental health in mass gatherings

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Shahbaz Ali; Chauhan, V. S.; Timothy, A.; Kalpana, S.; Khanam, Shagufta

2016-01-01

Background: Hajj pilgrimage, in Saudi Arabia, is one of the world's largest religious mass gatherings. We have similar mass gathering scenarios in India such as the Amarnath Yatra and Kumbh. A unique combination of physical, physiological, and psychological factors makes this pilgrimage a very stressful milieu. We studied the emergence of psychopathology and its determinants, in this adverse environment in mass gathering situation, in Indian pilgrims on Hajj 2016. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study analyzing the mental morbidity in 1.36 lakh Indian pilgrims during Hajj 2016, using SPSS software version 19. Results: Totally 182 patients reported psychological problems. Twenty-two patients (12%) required admission. Twelve (6.8%) pilgrims reported a past history of a mental illness. One hundred and sixty-five (93.2%) patients never had any mental symptoms earlier in life. The most common illnesses seen were stress related (45.7%) followed by psychosis (9.8%), insomnia (7.3%), and mood disorders (5.6%). The most common symptoms recorded were apprehension (45%), sleep (55%), anxiety (41%), and fear of being lost (27%). Psychotropics were prescribed for 46% of pilgrims. All patients completed their Hajj successfully and returned to India. Conclusions: Cumulative stress causes full spectrum of mental decompensation, and prompt healing is aided by simple nonpharmacological measures including social support and counseling in compatible sociolinguistic milieu. PMID:28659703

Hunter-gatherer energetics and human obesity.

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Pontzer, Herman; Raichlen, David A; Wood, Brian M; Mabulla, Audax Z P; Racette, Susan B; Marlowe, Frank W

2012-01-01

Western lifestyles differ markedly from those of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, and these differences in diet and activity level are often implicated in the global obesity pandemic. However, few physiological data for hunter-gatherer populations are available to test these models of obesity. In this study, we used the doubly-labeled water method to measure total daily energy expenditure (kCal/day) in Hadza hunter-gatherers to test whether foragers expend more energy each day than their Western counterparts. As expected, physical activity level, PAL, was greater among Hadza foragers than among Westerners. Nonetheless, average daily energy expenditure of traditional Hadza foragers was no different than that of Westerners after controlling for body size. The metabolic cost of walking (kcal kg(-1) m(-1)) and resting (kcal kg(-1) s(-1)) were also similar among Hadza and Western groups. The similarity in metabolic rates across a broad range of cultures challenges current models of obesity suggesting that Western lifestyles lead to decreased energy expenditure. We hypothesize that human daily energy expenditure may be an evolved physiological trait largely independent of cultural differences.

Information Needs and Information Gathering Behavior of Medical Doctors in Maiduguri, Nigeria

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Jonathan A. Ocheibi

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Survey data describes the results of an investigation on the information needs and information gathering behaviour of Medical doctors in Maiduguri, Nigeria. A total of 158 Medical doctors (128 males and 30 (females were used for the study. The overall response rate was around 70.2 percent. Medical doctors need specific medical information to enhance their knowledge on a day-to-day basis, particularly with the information explosion such as e-mail and internet facilities. Medical doctors prefer the use of publishers catalogues as the most important source for new developments in their relevant fields. Many do not have access to local data bases that are supposed to have remarkable impact on their information gathering behaviour.

Effect of the number of two-wheeled containers at a gathering point on the energetic workload and work efficiency in refuse collecting

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuijer, P. Paul F. M.; van der Beek, Allard J.; van Dieën, Jaap H.; Visser, Bart; Frings-Dresen, Monique H. W.

2002-01-01

The effect of the number of two-wheeled containers at a gathering point on the energetic workload and the work efficiency in refuse collecting was studied in order to design an optimal gathering point for two-wheeled containers. Three sizes of gathering points were investigated, i.e. with 2, 16 and

Hunter-gatherer energetics and human obesity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herman Pontzer

Full Text Available Western lifestyles differ markedly from those of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, and these differences in diet and activity level are often implicated in the global obesity pandemic. However, few physiological data for hunter-gatherer populations are available to test these models of obesity. In this study, we used the doubly-labeled water method to measure total daily energy expenditure (kCal/day in Hadza hunter-gatherers to test whether foragers expend more energy each day than their Western counterparts. As expected, physical activity level, PAL, was greater among Hadza foragers than among Westerners. Nonetheless, average daily energy expenditure of traditional Hadza foragers was no different than that of Westerners after controlling for body size. The metabolic cost of walking (kcal kg(-1 m(-1 and resting (kcal kg(-1 s(-1 were also similar among Hadza and Western groups. The similarity in metabolic rates across a broad range of cultures challenges current models of obesity suggesting that Western lifestyles lead to decreased energy expenditure. We hypothesize that human daily energy expenditure may be an evolved physiological trait largely independent of cultural differences.

Human-Robot Teaming for Hydrologic Data Gathering at Multiple Scales

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Peschel, J.; Young, S. N.

2017-12-01

The use of personal robot-assistive technology by researchers and practitioners for hydrologic data gathering has grown in recent years as barriers to platform capability, cost, and human-robot interaction have been overcome. One consequence to this growth is a broad availability of unmanned platforms that might or might not be suitable for a specific hydrologic investigation. Through multiple field studies, a set of recommendations has been developed to help guide novice through experienced users in choosing the appropriate unmanned platforms for a given application. This talk will present a series of hydrologic data sets gathered using a human-robot teaming approach that has leveraged unmanned aerial, ground, and surface vehicles over multiple scales. The field case studies discussed will be connected to the best practices, also provided in the presentation. This talk will be of interest to geoscience researchers and practitioners, in general, as well as those working in fields related to emerging technologies.

Wealth Transmission and Inequality Among Hunter-Gatherers

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Hill, Kim; Marlowe, Frank; Nolin, David; Wiessner, Polly; Gurven, Michael; Bowles, Samuel; Mulder, Monique Borgerhoff; Hertz, Tom; Bell, Adrian

2010-01-01

We report quantitative estimates of intergenerational transmission and population-wide inequality for wealth measures in a set of hunter-gatherer populations. Wealth is defined broadly as factors that contribute to individual or household well-being, ranging from embodied forms such as weight and hunting success to material forms such household goods, as well as relational wealth in exchange partners. Intergenerational wealth transmission is low to moderate in these populations, but is still expected to have measurable influence on an individual’s life chances. Wealth inequality (measured with Gini coefficients) is moderate for most wealth types, matching what qualitative ethnographic research has generally indicated (if not the stereotype of hunter-gatherers as extreme egalitarians). We discuss some plausible mechanisms for these patterns, and suggest ways in which future research could resolve questions about the role of wealth in hunter-gatherer social and economic life. PMID:21151711

Cooperation and the evolution of hunter-gatherer storytelling.

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Smith, Daniel; Schlaepfer, Philip; Major, Katie; Dyble, Mark; Page, Abigail E; Thompson, James; Chaudhary, Nikhil; Salali, Gul Deniz; Mace, Ruth; Astete, Leonora; Ngales, Marilyn; Vinicius, Lucio; Migliano, Andrea Bamberg

2017-12-05

Storytelling is a human universal. From gathering around the camp-fire telling tales of ancestors to watching the latest television box-set, humans are inveterate producers and consumers of stories. Despite its ubiquity, little attention has been given to understanding the function and evolution of storytelling. Here we explore the impact of storytelling on hunter-gatherer cooperative behaviour and the individual-level fitness benefits to being a skilled storyteller. Stories told by the Agta, a Filipino hunter-gatherer population, convey messages relevant to coordinating behaviour in a foraging ecology, such as cooperation, sex equality and egalitarianism. These themes are present in narratives from other foraging societies. We also show that the presence of good storytellers is associated with increased cooperation. In return, skilled storytellers are preferred social partners and have greater reproductive success, providing a pathway by which group-beneficial behaviours, such as storytelling, can evolve via individual-level selection. We conclude that one of the adaptive functions of storytelling among hunter gatherers may be to organise cooperation.

Information gathering for CLP classification

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Ida Marcello

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Regulation 1272/2008 includes provisions for two types of classification: harmonised classification and self-classification. The harmonised classification of substances is decided at Community level and a list of harmonised classifications is included in the Annex VI of the classification, labelling and packaging Regulation (CLP. If a chemical substance is not included in the harmonised classification list it must be self-classified, based on available information, according to the requirements of Annex I of the CLP Regulation. CLP appoints that the harmonised classification will be performed for carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction substances (CMR substances and for respiratory sensitisers category 1 and for other hazard classes on a case-by-case basis. The first step of classification is the gathering of available and relevant information. This paper presents the procedure for gathering information and to obtain data. The data quality is also discussed.

Adaptive Data Gathering in Mobile Sensor Networks Using Speedy Mobile Elements

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Lai, Yongxuan; Xie, Jinshan; Lin, Ziyu; Wang, Tian; Liao, Minghong

2015-01-01

Data gathering is a key operator for applications in wireless sensor networks; yet it is also a challenging problem in mobile sensor networks when considering that all nodes are mobile and the communications among them are opportunistic. This paper proposes an efficient data gathering scheme called ADG that adopts speedy mobile elements as the mobile data collector and takes advantage of the movement patterns of the network. ADG first extracts the network meta-data at initial epochs, and calculates a set of proxy nodes based on the meta-data. Data gathering is then mapped into the Proxy node Time Slot Allocation (PTSA) problem that schedules the time slots and orders, according to which the data collector could gather the maximal amount of data within a limited period. Finally, the collector follows the schedule and picks up the sensed data from the proxy nodes through one hop of message transmissions. ADG learns the period when nodes are relatively stationary, so that the collector is able to pick up the data from them during the limited data gathering period. Moreover, proxy nodes and data gathering points could also be timely updated so that the collector could adapt to the change of node movements. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed scheme outperforms other data gathering schemes on the cost of message transmissions and the data gathering rate, especially under the constraint of limited data gathering period. PMID:26389903

Adaptive Data Gathering in Mobile Sensor Networks Using Speedy Mobile Elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Yongxuan; Xie, Jinshan; Lin, Ziyu; Wang, Tian; Liao, Minghong

2015-09-15

Data gathering is a key operator for applications in wireless sensor networks; yet it is also a challenging problem in mobile sensor networks when considering that all nodes are mobile and the communications among them are opportunistic. This paper proposes an efficient data gathering scheme called ADG that adopts speedy mobile elements as the mobile data collector and takes advantage of the movement patterns of the network. ADG first extracts the network meta-data at initial epochs, and calculates a set of proxy nodes based on the meta-data. Data gathering is then mapped into the Proxy node Time Slot Allocation (PTSA) problem that schedules the time slots and orders, according to which the data collector could gather the maximal amount of data within a limited period. Finally, the collector follows the schedule and picks up the sensed data from the proxy nodes through one hop of message transmissions. ADG learns the period when nodes are relatively stationary, so that the collector is able to pick up the data from them during the limited data gathering period. Moreover, proxy nodes and data gathering points could also be timely updated so that the collector could adapt to the change of node movements. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed scheme outperforms other data gathering schemes on the cost of message transmissions and the data gathering rate, especially under the constraint of limited data gathering period.

Campaign to gather medical devices containing radium: results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pierre, J.P.; Vidal, J.P.; Martin, J.C.; Pasquier, J.L.

2002-01-01

Campaign to gather medical devices containing radium: results. On December 1, 1999, at the request of the French Health Ministry, OPRI and ANDRA launched a campaign to gather medical devices containing radium, formerly used in brachytherapy. This campaign addressed a public health issue because of the risks actually involved in a careless handling of these objects. Moreover the growing number of reported scattered radium medical devices in the last few years reinforced the necessity of the campaign. The gathering was initiated by a call of the owners (hospitals, caring centers, retired doctors or their heirs) to a toll free number. OPRI or ANDRA then appreciated the situation urgency. Priority was given to private people because most of them did not have suitable storage facilities. OPRI teams operated according a strict protocol guaranteeing their own safety, proper procedures and compliance with transport regulations for radioactive materials. 517 objects amounting to an activity of 1.32 x 10 11 Bq have been gathered in 90 operations. Properly packaged they were transported to and safely stored at the CEA Saclay site before their permanent storage in the ANDRA facilities. (author)

The distributed wireless gathering problem

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bonifaci, V.; Korteweg, P.; Marchetti Spaccamela, A.; Stougie, L.

2011-01-01

We address the problem of data gathering in a wireless network using multi-hop communication; our main goal is the analysis of simple algorithms suitable for implementation in realistic scenarios. We study the performance of distributed algorithms, which do not use any form of local coordination,

PALEOLITHIC HUNTER-GATHERERS' DIETARY PATTERNS ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Dr. Al-Domi

the main aspects of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers' dietary patterns and its main long-term ... Hence, people in developing countries have been exposed to certain ... as food habits, which prompted possible negative impacts on health status leading to ... costs [5, 7]. .... Agricultural revolution with efficient production of grains,.

A Biocultural Investigation of Gender Differences in Tobacco Use in an Egalitarian Hunter-Gatherer Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Roulette, Casey J; Hagen, Edward; Hewlett, Barry S

2016-06-01

In the developing world, the dramatic male bias in tobacco use is usually ascribed to pronounced gender disparities in social, political, or economic power. This bias might also reflect under-reporting by woman and/or over-reporting by men. To test the role of gender inequality on gender differences in tobacco use we investigated tobacco use among the Aka, a Congo Basin foraging population noted for its exceptionally high degree of gender equality. We also tested a sexual selection hypothesis-that Aka men's tobacco use is related to risk taking. Tobacco use, income, tobacco purchases, tobacco sharing, reasons for using tobacco, risk taking, and other variables were measured using structured surveys and peer reports. Tobacco use was verified by testing for salivary cotinine, a nicotine metabolite. Contrary to expectations, we found a very large male bias in tobacco use. Low levels of use among females appeared to be explained by aversions to tobacco, concerns over its negative effects on fetal health, and a desire to attract husbands, who prefer nonsmoking wives. High male use appeared to be related to a desire to enhance hunting abilities and attract and/or retain wives, who prefer husbands that smoke. We conclude that low levels of smoking by Aka women are better explained by the hypothesis that women evolved to avoid plant toxins to protect their fetuses and nursing infants. High male use might be better explained by sexual selection. We also highlight the important role that recreational drugs appear to play in hunter-gatherer sharing relationships.

Prevention of influenza at Hajj: applications for mass gatherings.

Science.gov (United States)

Haworth, Elizabeth; Barasheed, Osamah; Memish, Ziad A; Rashid, Harunor; Booy, Robert

2013-06-01

Outbreaks of infectious diseases that spread via respiratory route, e.g. influenza, are common amongst Hajj congregation in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian authority successfully organized the Hajj 2009 amidst fear of pandemic influenza. While severe influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 was rare, the true burden of pandemic influenza at Hajj that year remains speculative. In this article we review the latest evidence on influenza control and discuss our experience of influenza and its prevention at Hajj and possible application to other mass gatherings. Depending on study design the attack rate of seasonal influenza at Hajj has ranged from 6% in polymerase chain reaction or culture confirmed studies to 38% in serological surveillance. No significant effect of influenza vaccine or the use of personal protective measures against influenza has been established from observational studies, although the uptake of the vaccine and adherence to face masks and hand hygiene has been low. In all, there is a relatively poor evidence base for control of influenza. Until better evidence is obtained, vaccination coupled with rapid antiviral treatment of symptomatic individuals remains the mainstay of prevention at Hajj and other mass gatherings. Hajj pilgrimage provides a unique opportunity to test the effectiveness of various preventive measures that require a large sample size, such as testing the efficacy of plain surgical masks against laboratory-confirmed influenza. After successful completion of a pilot trial conducted among Australian pilgrims at the 2011 Hajj, a large multinational cluster randomized controlled trial is being planned. This will require effective international collaboration.

Contributions of meaningful experiences gatherings to artistic education field

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernardo Bustamante Cardona

2012-06-01

Full Text Available This article shows a theoretical approach to and a description of some contributions of a work of transformation of educational and sociocultural reality carried out by a group of people and institutions, among which are San Buenaventura University, Antioquia Museum, Ediarte Inc. and Antioquia University. Such intervention aims at contributing to the improvement of Artistic Education quality in Antioquia and the nation. In order to understand the significance of these Gatherings, a short historical framework is explained in which global and regional processes of academic activities having an impact on the structure of the Artistic Education field are pointed out. Likewise, some perspectives in the definition of artistic education are tackled and then a definition of Pierre Bourdieu´s concept of fieldis presented. Therefore, Meaningful Experiences Gatherings in Artistic Education (MEGAE are presented and the three first gatherings are described. Finally, it is shown the panorama of the contributions of the gatherings both in the theoretical formulation and relational structure of the field.

Honey, Hadza, hunter-gatherers, and human evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Marlowe, Frank W; Berbesque, J Colette; Wood, Brian; Crittenden, Alyssa; Porter, Claire; Mabulla, Audax

2014-06-01

Honey is the most energy dense food in nature. It is therefore not surprising that, where it exists, honey is an important food for almost all hunter-gatherers. Here we describe and analyze widespread honey collecting among foragers and show that where it is absent, in arctic and subarctic habitats, honey bees are also rare to absent. Second, we focus on one hunter-gatherer society, the Hadza of Tanzania. Hadza men and women both rank honey as their favorite food. Hadza acquire seven types of honey. Hadza women usually acquire honey that is close to the ground while men often climb tall baobab trees to raid the largest bee hives with stinging bees. Honey accounts for a substantial proportion of the kilocalories in the Hadza diet, especially that of Hadza men. Cross-cultural forager data reveal that in most hunter-gatherers, men acquire more honey than women but often, as with the Hadza, women do acquire some. Virtually all warm-climate foragers consume honey. Our closest living relatives, the great apes, take honey when they can. We suggest that honey has been part of the diet of our ancestors dating back to at least the earliest hominins. The earliest hominins, however, would have surely been less capable of acquiring as much honey as more recent, fully modern human hunter-gatherers. We discuss reasons for thinking our early ancestors would have acquired less honey than foragers ethnographically described, yet still significantly more than our great ape relatives. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Provenance metadata gathering and cataloguing of EFIT++ code execution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lupelli, I., E-mail: ivan.lupelli@ccfe.ac.uk [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Muir, D.G.; Appel, L.; Akers, R.; Carr, M. [CCFE, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB (United Kingdom); Abreu, P. [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • An approach for automatic gathering of provenance metadata has been presented. • A provenance metadata catalogue has been created. • The overhead in the code runtime is less than 10%. • The metadata/data size ratio is about ∼20%. • A visualization interface based on Gephi, has been presented. - Abstract: Journal publications, as the final product of research activity, are the result of an extensive complex modeling and data analysis effort. It is of paramount importance, therefore, to capture the origins and derivation of the published data in order to achieve high levels of scientific reproducibility, transparency, internal and external data reuse and dissemination. The consequence of the modern research paradigm is that high performance computing and data management systems, together with metadata cataloguing, have become crucial elements within the nuclear fusion scientific data lifecycle. This paper describes an approach to the task of automatically gathering and cataloguing provenance metadata, currently under development and testing at Culham Center for Fusion Energy. The approach is being applied to a machine-agnostic code that calculates the axisymmetric equilibrium force balance in tokamaks, EFIT++, as a proof of principle test. The proposed approach avoids any code instrumentation or modification. It is based on the observation and monitoring of input preparation, workflow and code execution, system calls, log file data collection and interaction with the version control system. Pre-processing, post-processing, and data export and storage are monitored during the code runtime. Input data signals are captured using a data distribution platform called IDAM. The final objective of the catalogue is to create a complete description of the modeling activity, including user comments, and the relationship between data output, the main experimental database and the execution environment. For an intershot or post-pulse analysis (∼1000

Provenance metadata gathering and cataloguing of EFIT++ code execution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lupelli, I.; Muir, D.G.; Appel, L.; Akers, R.; Carr, M.; Abreu, P.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • An approach for automatic gathering of provenance metadata has been presented. • A provenance metadata catalogue has been created. • The overhead in the code runtime is less than 10%. • The metadata/data size ratio is about ∼20%. • A visualization interface based on Gephi, has been presented. - Abstract: Journal publications, as the final product of research activity, are the result of an extensive complex modeling and data analysis effort. It is of paramount importance, therefore, to capture the origins and derivation of the published data in order to achieve high levels of scientific reproducibility, transparency, internal and external data reuse and dissemination. The consequence of the modern research paradigm is that high performance computing and data management systems, together with metadata cataloguing, have become crucial elements within the nuclear fusion scientific data lifecycle. This paper describes an approach to the task of automatically gathering and cataloguing provenance metadata, currently under development and testing at Culham Center for Fusion Energy. The approach is being applied to a machine-agnostic code that calculates the axisymmetric equilibrium force balance in tokamaks, EFIT++, as a proof of principle test. The proposed approach avoids any code instrumentation or modification. It is based on the observation and monitoring of input preparation, workflow and code execution, system calls, log file data collection and interaction with the version control system. Pre-processing, post-processing, and data export and storage are monitored during the code runtime. Input data signals are captured using a data distribution platform called IDAM. The final objective of the catalogue is to create a complete description of the modeling activity, including user comments, and the relationship between data output, the main experimental database and the execution environment. For an intershot or post-pulse analysis (∼1000

The Videographic Requirements Gathering Method for Adolescent-Focused Interaction Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamara Peyton

2014-08-01

Full Text Available We present a novel method for conducting requirements gathering with adolescent populations. Called videographic requirements gathering, this technique makes use of mobile phone data capture and participant creation of media images. The videographic requirements gathering method can help researchers and designers gain intimate insight into adolescent lives while simultaneously reducing power imbalances. We provide rationale for this approach, pragmatics of using the method, and advice on overcoming common challenges facing researchers and designers relying on this technique.

Celebrities Gather to Fight Heart Disease

Science.gov (United States)

... Current Issue Past Issues Celebrities Gather to Fight Heart Disease Past Issues / Spring 2007 Table of Contents For ... Kit to offer community education programs on women's heart disease. Organize heart-health screening events and health fairs ...

Limited dispersal in mobile hunter–gatherer Baka Pygmies

Science.gov (United States)

Verdu, Paul; Leblois, Raphaël; Froment, Alain; Théry, Sylvain; Bahuchet, Serge; Rousset, François; Heyer, Evelyne; Vitalis, Renaud

2010-01-01

Hunter–gatherer Pygmies from Central Africa are described as being extremely mobile. Using neutral genetic markers and population genetics theory, we explored the dispersal behaviour of the Baka Pygmies from Cameroon, one of the largest Pygmy populations in Central Africa. We found a strong correlation between genetic and geographical distances: a pattern of isolation by distance arising from limited parent–offspring dispersal. Our study suggests that mobile hunter–gatherers do not necessarily disperse over wide geographical areas. PMID:20427330

Strengthening health security at the Hajj mass gatherings: characteristics of the infectious diseases surveillance systems operational during the 2015 Hajj.

Science.gov (United States)

Alotaibi, Badriah M; Yezli, Saber; Bin Saeed, Abdul-Aziz A; Turkestani, Abdulhafeez; Alawam, Amnah H; Bieh, Kingsley L

2017-05-01

Hajj is one of the largest and the most ethnically and culturally diverse mass gatherings worldwide. The use of appropriate surveillance systems ensures timely information management for effective planning and response to infectious diseases threats during the pilgrimage. The literature describes infectious diseases prevention and control strategies for Hajj but with limited information on the operations and characteristics of the existing Hajj infectious diseases surveillance systems. We reviewed documents, including guidelines and reports from the Saudi Ministry of Health's database, to describe the characteristics of the infectious diseases surveillance systems that were operational during the 2015 Hajj, highlighting best practices and gaps and proposing strategies for strengthening and improvement. Using Pubmed and Embase online search engines and a combination of search terms including, 'mass gatherings' 'Olympics' 'surveillance' 'Hajj' 'health security', we explored the existing literature and highlighted some lessons learnt from other international mass gatherings. A regular indicator-based infectious disease surveillance system generates routine reports from health facilities within the Kingdom to the regional and central public health directorates all year round. During Hajj, enhanced indicator-based notifiable diseases surveillance systems complement the existing surveillance tool to ensure timely reporting of event information for appropriate action by public health officials. There is need to integrate the existing Hajj surveillance data management systems and to implement syndromic surveillance as an early warning system for infectious disease control during Hajj. International engagement is important to strengthen Hajj infectious diseases surveillance and to prevent disease transmission and globalization of infectious agents which could undermine global health security. © International Society of Travel Medicine, 2017. Published by Oxford University

Quality Utilization Aware Based Data Gathering for Vehicular Communication Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yingying Ren

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The vehicular communication networks, which can employ mobile, intelligent sensing devices with participatory sensing to gather data, could be an efficient and economical way to build various applications based on big data. However, high quality data gathering for vehicular communication networks which is urgently needed faces a lot of challenges. So, in this paper, a fine-grained data collection framework is proposed to cope with these new challenges. Different from classical data gathering which concentrates on how to collect enough data to satisfy the requirements of applications, a Quality Utilization Aware Data Gathering (QUADG scheme is proposed for vehicular communication networks to collect the most appropriate data and to best satisfy the multidimensional requirements (mainly including data gathering quantity, quality, and cost of application. In QUADG scheme, the data sensing is fine-grained in which the data gathering time and data gathering area are divided into very fine granularity. A metric named “Quality Utilization” (QU is to quantify the ratio of quality of the collected sensing data to the cost of the system. Three data collection algorithms are proposed. The first algorithm is to ensure that the application which has obtained the specified quantity of sensing data can minimize the cost and maximize data quality by maximizing QU. The second algorithm is to ensure that the application which has obtained two requests of application (the quantity and quality of data collection, or the quantity and cost of data collection could maximize the QU. The third algorithm is to ensure that the application which aims to satisfy the requirements of quantity, quality, and cost of collected data simultaneously could maximize the QU. Finally, we compare our proposed scheme with the existing schemes via extensive simulations which well justify the effectiveness of our scheme.

Angle gathers in wave-equation imaging for transversely isotropic media

KAUST Repository

Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali; Fomel, Sergey B.

2010-01-01

In recent years, wave-equation imaged data are often presented in common-image angle-domain gathers as a decomposition in the scattering angle at the reflector, which provide a natural access to analysing migration velocities and amplitudes. In the case of anisotropic media, the importance of angle gathers is enhanced by the need to properly estimate multiple anisotropic parameters for a proper representation of the medium. We extract angle gathers for each downward-continuation step from converting offset-frequency planes into angle-frequency planes simultaneously with applying the imaging condition in a transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI) medium. The analytic equations, though cumbersome, are exact within the framework of the acoustic approximation. They are also easily programmable and show that angle gather mapping in the case of anisotropic media differs from its isotropic counterpart, with the difference depending mainly on the strength of anisotropy. Synthetic examples demonstrate the importance of including anisotropy in the angle gather generation as mapping of the energy is negatively altered otherwise. In the case of a titled axis of symmetry (TTI), the same VTI formulation is applicable but requires a rotation of the wavenumbers. © 2010 European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers.

Angle gathers in wave-equation imaging for transversely isotropic media

KAUST Repository

Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

2010-11-12

In recent years, wave-equation imaged data are often presented in common-image angle-domain gathers as a decomposition in the scattering angle at the reflector, which provide a natural access to analysing migration velocities and amplitudes. In the case of anisotropic media, the importance of angle gathers is enhanced by the need to properly estimate multiple anisotropic parameters for a proper representation of the medium. We extract angle gathers for each downward-continuation step from converting offset-frequency planes into angle-frequency planes simultaneously with applying the imaging condition in a transversely isotropic with a vertical symmetry axis (VTI) medium. The analytic equations, though cumbersome, are exact within the framework of the acoustic approximation. They are also easily programmable and show that angle gather mapping in the case of anisotropic media differs from its isotropic counterpart, with the difference depending mainly on the strength of anisotropy. Synthetic examples demonstrate the importance of including anisotropy in the angle gather generation as mapping of the energy is negatively altered otherwise. In the case of a titled axis of symmetry (TTI), the same VTI formulation is applicable but requires a rotation of the wavenumbers. © 2010 European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers.

Investigation of internally finned LED heat sinks

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bin; Xiong, Lun; Lai, Chuan; Tang, Yumei

2018-03-01

A novel heat sink is proposed, which is composed of a perforated cylinder and internally arranged fins. Numerical studies are performed on the natural convection heat transfer from internally finned heat sinks; experimental studies are carried out to validate the numerical results. To compare the thermal performances of internally finned heat sinks and externally finned heat sinks, the effects of the overall diameter, overall height, and installation direction on maximum temperature, air flow and heat transfer coefficient are investigated. The results demonstrate that internally finned heat sinks show better thermal performance than externally finned heat sinks; the maximum temperature of internally finned heat sinks decreases by up to 20% compared with the externally finned heat sinks. The existence of a perforated cylinder and the installation direction of the heat sink affect the thermal performance significantly; it is shown that the heat transfer coefficient of the heat sink with the perforated cylinder is improved greater than that with the imperforated cylinder by up to 34%, while reducing the mass of the heat sink by up to 13%. Project supported by the Scientific Research Fund of Sichuan Provincial Education Department (No. 18ZB0516) and the Sichuan University of Arts and Science (No. 2016KZ009Y).

Distributed Measurement Data Gathering about Moving Objects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Kholod

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes approaches to gathering measurement data about moving objects in networks with low bandwidth. The first approach uses Fog computing conception and suggests moving assessing the quality of the measurement data into measuring points. The second approach uses prediction of telemetry quality by mining models. In addition, the paper presents implementation of these approaches based on actor model. As a result, it became possible not only to load balancing among edge and cloud nodes, but also to significantly reduce the network traffic, which in turn brings the possibility of decreasing the requirements for communication channels bandwidth and of using wireless networks for gathering measurement data about moving objects.

Establishing requirements for information gathering tasks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.K. Amin (Alia)

2009-01-01

htmlabstractThis PhD project aims at understanding and supporting the complex activities of information gathering. To date, most search applications support one aspect of search namely low-level keyword-based search to find documents. However, in reality, users search tasks are often high-level

Synergistic failure of BWR internals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ware, A. G.; Chang, T.Y.

1999-01-01

Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) core shrouds and other reactor internals important to safety are experiencing intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC). The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission has followed the problem, and as part of its investigations, contracted with the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory to conduct a risk assessment. The overall project objective is to assess the potential consequences and risks associated with the failure of IGSCC-susceptible BWR vessel internals, with specific consideration given to potential cascading and common mode effects. An initial phase has been completed in which background material was gathered and evaluated, and potential accident sequences were identified. A second phase is underway to perform a simplified, quantitative probabilistic risk assessment on a representative high-power BWR/4. Results of the initial study conducted on the jet pumps show that any cascading failures would not result in a significant increase in the core damage frequency. The methodology is currently being extended to other major reactor internals components

Gut microbiome of the Hadza hunter-gatherers.

Science.gov (United States)

Schnorr, Stephanie L; Candela, Marco; Rampelli, Simone; Centanni, Manuela; Consolandi, Clarissa; Basaglia, Giulia; Turroni, Silvia; Biagi, Elena; Peano, Clelia; Severgnini, Marco; Fiori, Jessica; Gotti, Roberto; De Bellis, Gianluca; Luiselli, Donata; Brigidi, Patrizia; Mabulla, Audax; Marlowe, Frank; Henry, Amanda G; Crittenden, Alyssa N

2014-04-15

Human gut microbiota directly influences health and provides an extra means of adaptive potential to different lifestyles. To explore variation in gut microbiota and to understand how these bacteria may have co-evolved with humans, here we investigate the phylogenetic diversity and metabolite production of the gut microbiota from a community of human hunter-gatherers, the Hadza of Tanzania. We show that the Hadza have higher levels of microbial richness and biodiversity than Italian urban controls. Further comparisons with two rural farming African groups illustrate other features unique to Hadza that can be linked to a foraging lifestyle. These include absence of Bifidobacterium and differences in microbial composition between the sexes that probably reflect sexual division of labour. Furthermore, enrichment in Prevotella, Treponema and unclassified Bacteroidetes, as well as a peculiar arrangement of Clostridiales taxa, may enhance the Hadza's ability to digest and extract valuable nutrition from fibrous plant foods.

Azimuth and angle gathers from wave equation imaging in VTI media

KAUST Repository

Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

2009-01-01

Angles in common-image angle domain gathers refer to the scattering angle at the reflector and provide a natural access to analyzing migration velocities and amplitudes. In the case of anisotropic media, the importance of angle gathers is enhanced by the need to properly estimate multiple anisotropic parameters for a proper representation of the medium. We extract angle gathers for each downward-continuation step from converting offset-space-frequency planes into angle-space planes simultaneously with applying the imaging condition in a transversely isotropic (VTI) medium. The analytic equations, though cumbersome, are exact within the framework of the acoustic approximation. They are also easily programmable and show that angle gather mapping in the case anisotropic media differs from its isotropic counterpart, difference depending mainly on the strength of anisotropy.

Risk and protective factors for mental health at a youth mass gathering.

Science.gov (United States)

Cruwys, Tegan; Saeri, Alexander K; Radke, Helena R M; Walter, Zoe C; Crimston, Daniel; Ferris, Laura J

2018-05-11

Mass gatherings are well-documented for their public health risks; however, little research has examined their impact on mental health or focused on young people specifically. This study explores risk and protective factors for mental health at mass gatherings, with a particular focus on characterising attendees with high levels of psychological distress and risk taking. Data collection was conducted in situ at "Schoolies", an annual informal week-long mass gathering of approximately 30,000 Australian school leavers. Participants were 812 attendees of Schoolies on the Gold Coast in 2015 or 2016 (74% aged 17 years old). In both years, attendee mental health was found to be significantly better than population norms for their age peers. Identification with the mass gathering predicted better mental health, and this relationship became stronger across the course of the mass gathering. Attendees with high levels of psychological distress were more likely to be male, socially isolated, impulsive, and in a friendship group where risk taking was normative. Mass gatherings may have a net benefit for attendee mental health, especially for those attendees who are subjectively committed to the event. However, a vulnerable subgroup of attendees requires targeted mental health support.

Juris International

CERN Document Server

A database on international trade law aimed at lawyers and legal counsel in developing and transition economies. Juris International is a multilingual collection (English, Spanish, and French) of legal information on international trade. Juris International aims to facilitate and reduce the work involved in research for business lawyers, advisers and in-house counsel, and state organizations in developing nd transition economies, by providing access to texts which have often been difficult to obtain. Its objective is to gather a large quantity of basic information at one site (favoring complete legal texts), without the need to send for the information, and consequently without excessive communication costs for users who d benefit from an efficient and cheap telecommunications network.

Knowledge-Intensive Gathering and Integration of Statistical Information on European Fisheries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klinkert, M.; Treur, J.; Verwaart, T.; Loganantharaj, R.; Palm, G.; Ali, M.

2000-01-01

Gathering, maintenance, integration and presentation of statistics are major activities of the Dutch Agricultural Economics Research Institute LEI. In this paper we explore how knowledge and agent technology can be exploited to support the information gathering and integration process. In

Personalised Information Gathering and Recommender Systems: Techniques and Trends

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaohui Tao

2013-02-01

Full Text Available With the explosive growth of resources available through the Internet, information mismatching and overload have become a severe concern to users.Web users are commonly overwhelmed by huge volume of information and are faced with the challenge of finding the most relevant and reliable information in a timely manner. Personalised information gathering and recommender systems represent state-of-the-art tools for efficient selection of the most relevant and reliable information resources, and the interest in such systems has increased dramatically over the last few years. However, web personalization has not yet been well-exploited; difficulties arise while selecting resources through recommender systems from a technological and social perspective. Aiming to promote high quality research in order to overcome these challenges, this paper provides a comprehensive survey on the recent work and achievements in the areas of personalised web information gathering and recommender systems. The report covers concept-based techniques exploited in personalised information gathering and recommender systems.

50 CFR 453.04 - Committee information gathering.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE); ENDANGERED SPECIES COMMITTEE REGULATIONS ENDANGERED SPECIES EXEMPTION PROCESS ENDANGERED SPECIES COMMITTEE § 453.04 Committee information gathering. (a) Written submissions... Section 453.04 Wildlife and Fisheries JOINT REGULATIONS (UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE...

Sex differences in Nintendo Wii performance as expected from hunter-gatherer selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherney, Isabelle D; Poss, Jordan L

2008-06-01

To test the hunter-gatherer theory of cognitive sex differences, men and women each played four video games on a Wii console: two games simulating skills necessary for hunting (navigation and shooting) and two games simulating skills necessary for gathering (fine motor and visual search). Men outperformed women on the two hunting games, whereas there were no sex differences on the gathering skill games. The findings are discussed in terms of evolutionary psychology theory.

Methodology for gathering nuclear energy literature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lambert, Maria B.M.A.

1996-01-01

Several activities related to gathering information and documents -conventional and non-conventional primary literature - to include in a bibliographic nuclear energy database are described and arranged, using as model the communication and information process in science and technology and the analysis of the indexed documents in the database. Methodological steps are identified and a collecting system model is presented. 112 refs., 4 tabs

The changing ethnoecological cobweb of white truffle (Tuber mangnatum Pico) gatherers in South Piedmont, NW Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Pieroni, Andrea

2016-04-18

Traditional Environmental Knowledge (TEK) related to truffles represents an under-investigated area of research in ethnobiology. Nevertheless, truffles, in a few southern European areas, and notably in South Piedmont, represent a crucial component of the local economy and cultural heritage. Thirty-four white truffle (Tuber magnatum Pico) gatherers, locally known as trifulau, aged between 35 and 75 years and living in a few villages and small towns of the Langhe and Roero areas (South Piedmont, NW Italy), were interviewed in-depth during the years 2010-2014 regarding their ecological perceptions, truffle gathering techniques, and the socio-ecological changes that have occurred during the past several decades. A very sophisticated ethnoecological knowledge of the trees, soils, and climatic conditions considered ideal for searching for and finding white truffles was recorded. Moreover, a very intimate connection between gatherers and their dogs plays a fundamental role in the success of the truffle search. However, according to the informants, this complex ethnoecological cobweb among men, truffles, dogs, and the environment has been heavily threatened in the past few decades by major changes: climate change, in which the summer has become a very hot and dry season; social changes, due to a more market-oriented attitude of younger gatherers; and especially environmental and macro-economic dynamics, which followed the remarkable expansion of viticulture in the study area. The TEK of white truffle gatherers indicates the urgent need for fostering sustainable gastronomy-centred initiatives, aimed at increasing the awareness of consumers and food entrepreneurs regarding the co-evolution that has inextricably linked locals, truffles, and their natural environment during the past three centuries.

The Regulation of the Possession of Weapons at Gatherings | du Toit

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Act also amends the Regulation of Gatherings Act 205 of 1993 to prohibit the possession of any dangerous weapon at a gathering or demonstration. ... (b) possession of dangerous weapons during the participation in any religious or cultural activities or lawful sport, recreation or entertainment or (c) legitimate collection, ...

The Marketing of Gathered Food as an Economic Strategy of Women in Northeast Thailand

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moreno-Black, G.; Price, L.L.

1993-01-01

Discusses the effects of the sale of gathered food items used for home consumption on women's time allocation patterns and household nutrition. Marketing opportunities; Gathering habits; Significance of the contribution to family income; Expenditures using money from gathered food; effects on

Psychosocial effects of perceived emotional synchrony in collective gatherings.

Science.gov (United States)

Páez, Dario; Rimé, Bernard; Basabe, Nekane; Wlodarczyk, Anna; Zumeta, Larraitz

2015-05-01

In a classic theory, Durkheim (1912) predicted that because of the social sharing of emotion they generate, collective gatherings bring participants to a stage of collective effervescence in which they experience a sense of union with others and a feeling of empowerment accompanied by positive affect. This would lead them to leave the collective situation with a renewed sense of confidence in life and in social institutions. A century after Durkheim's predictions of these effects, though, they remained untested as a whole. This article reports 4 studies, 2 correlational, 1 semilongitudinal, and 1 experimental, assessing the positive effects of participation in either positively valenced (folkloric marches) or negatively valenced (protest demonstrations) collective gatherings. Results confirmed that collective gatherings consistently strengthened collective identity, identity fusion, and social integration, as well as enhancing personal and collective self-esteem and efficacy, positive affect, and positive social beliefs among participants. In line with a central tenet of the theory, emotional communion, or perceived emotional synchrony with others mediated these effects. Higher perceived emotional synchrony was associated with stronger emotional reactions, stronger social support, and higher endorsement of social beliefs and values. Participation in symbolic collective gatherings also particularly reinforced identity fusion when perceived emotional synchrony was high. The respective contributions of perceived emotional synchrony and flow, or optimal experience, were also assessed. Whereas perceived emotional synchrony emerged as strongly related to the various social outcomes, flow was observed to be related first to collective efficacy and self-esteem, and thus, to encompass mainly empowerment effects. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Piloting a mass gathering conceptual framework at an Adelaide schoolies festival.

Science.gov (United States)

Hutton, Alison; Munt, Rebecca; Zeitz, Kathryn; Cusack, Lynette; Kako, Mayumi; Arbon, Paul

2010-01-01

During the summer months in Australia, school leavers celebrate their end of school life at schoolies festivals around the nation. These events are typically described as a mass gathering as they are an organised event taking place within a defined space, attended by a large number of people. A project was undertaken to analyse the usefulness of Arbon's (2004) conceptual model of mass gatherings in order to develop a process to better understand the Adelaide Schoolies Festival. Arbon's conceptual framework describes the inter-relationship between the psychosocial, environmental and bio-medical domains of a mass gathering. Each domain has set characteristics which help to understand the impact on the mass gathering event. The characteristics within three domains were collected using field work and bio-medical data to examine the relationship between injury and illness rates. Using the conceptual framework to evaluate this schoolies event helped create an understanding of the physiology, environment and behaviour contributing to patient presentations. Results showed that the schoolies crowd was active and energetic, and the main crowd behaviour observed was dancing and socialising with friends. The environmental domain was characterised by a grassy outdoor venue that was bounded and dry. Due to the overall health of the crowd, activities undertaken and the supportive environment, the majority of injuries to schoolies were minor (68%). However, twenty-four percent of schoolies who presented with alcohol related illness were found to have consumed alcohol at risky levels; half of this cohort was transported to hospital. The conceptual framework successfully guided a higher level of examination of the mass gathering event. In particular, the framework facilitated a greater understanding of the inter-relationships of the various characteristics of a mass gathering event, in this case the Adelaide Schoolies Festival.

Closing the Wage Gap. An International Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

National Committee on Pay Equity, Washington, DC.

This document comprises a report on international progress to close the "wage gap", the differential between the earnings of women and men. Information was gathered on pay equity activities from a survey of government agencies, trade unions, women's organizations, and international bodies. Almost all of the jurisdictions surveyed have…

The industrial centre of gathering, warehousing and storage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2014-06-01

This publication proposes an overview of the Cires (industrial centre for the gathering, warehousing and storage), a storage centre classified for the protection of the environment and operated by the ANDRA for the storage of very-low-level wastes. The activities and missions of this centre are briefly indicated, as well as some key figures (storage and warehousing surfaces), a definition of radioactive wastes and an indication of their origins (electronuclear, research, defence, industry, or medicine), an indication of the different categories of wastes with respect to their activity level and lifetime. It briefly describes the technical solution adopted for the storage of these very-low-level wastes, and comments their origins, indicates their average radioactivity level, and their quantity in France. The choice for storage is briefly explained. The pathway followed by a waste is briefly described: production, parcel preparation, parcel delivery at the Cires, controls performed at their arrival, processing and re-packaging of some parcels before storage. The gathering and warehousing functions of the centre for non electronuclear wastes are presented: functions of the specific buildings, concerned wastes. The path followed by these non electronuclear wastes is described with respect with the different types of wastes: sorting, gathering, processing, warehousing, storage. Actions related to the control of the environment and to the control of the storage area after closure are indicated

Network Coding Protocols for Data Gathering Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nistor, Maricica; Roetter, Daniel Enrique Lucani; Barros, João

2015-01-01

Tunable sparse network coding (TSNC) with various sparsity levels of the coded packets and different feedback mechanisms is analysed in the context of data gathering applications in multi-hop networks. The goal is to minimize the completion time, i.e., the total time required to collect all data ...

Gathering Time-Series Data for Evaluating Behavior-Change Campaigns in Developing Countries: Reactivity of Diaries and Interviews

Science.gov (United States)

Tobias, Robert; Inauen, Jennifer

2010-01-01

Gathering time-series data of behaviors and psychological variables is important to understand, guide, and evaluate behavior-change campaigns and other change processes. However, repeated measurement can affect the phenomena investigated, particularly frequent face-to-face interviews, which are often the only option in developing countries. This…

Hunter-gatherers in southeast Asia: from prehistory to the present.

Science.gov (United States)

Higham, Charles

2013-01-01

Anatomically modern hunter-gatherers expanded from Africa into Southeast Asia at least 50,000 years ago, where they probably encountered and interacted with populations of Homo erectus and Homo floresiensis and the recently discovered Denisovans. Simulation studies suggest that these hunter-gatherers may well have followed a coastal route that ultimately led to the settlement of Sahul, while archaeology confirms that they also crossed significant seas and explored well into the interior. They also adapted to marked environmental changes that alternated between relatively cool and dry conditions and warmer, wetter interludes. During the former, the sea fell by up to 120 m below its present level, which opened up a vast low-lying area known as Sundaland. Three principal alignments can be identified: the first involved the occupation of rock shelters in upland regions, the second has identified settlement on broad riverine floodplains, and the last concentrated on the raised beaches formed from about five millennia ago when the sea level was elevated above its present position. This cultural sequence was dislocated about 4 kya when rice and millet farmers infiltrated the lowlands of Southeast Asia ultimately from the Yangtze River valley. It is suggested that this led to two forms of interaction. In the first, the indigenous hunter-gatherers integrated with intrusive Neolithic communities and, while losing their cultural identity, contributed their genes to the present population of Southeast Asia. In the second, hunter-gatherers withdrew to rainforest refugia and, through selective pressures inherent in such an environment, survived as the small-bodied, dark-skinned humans found to this day in the Philippines, Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand, and the Andaman Islands. Beyond the impact of expansive rice farmers in Melanesia and Australia, hunter-gatherers continued to dominate until they encountered European settlement. Copyright © 2013 Wayne State University Press

Hunter-gatherer genomic diversity suggests a southern African origin for modern humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Henn, Brenna M; Gignoux, Christopher R; Jobin, Matthew; Granka, Julie M; Macpherson, J M; Kidd, Jeffrey M; Rodríguez-Botigué, Laura; Ramachandran, Sohini; Hon, Lawrence; Brisbin, Abra; Lin, Alice A; Underhill, Peter A; Comas, David; Kidd, Kenneth K; Norman, Paul J; Parham, Peter; Bustamante, Carlos D; Mountain, Joanna L; Feldman, Marcus W

2011-03-29

Africa is inferred to be the continent of origin for all modern human populations, but the details of human prehistory and evolution in Africa remain largely obscure owing to the complex histories of hundreds of distinct populations. We present data for more than 580,000 SNPs for several hunter-gatherer populations: the Hadza and Sandawe of Tanzania, and the ≠Khomani Bushmen of South Africa, including speakers of the nearly extinct N|u language. We find that African hunter-gatherer populations today remain highly differentiated, encompassing major components of variation that are not found in other African populations. Hunter-gatherer populations also tend to have the lowest levels of genome-wide linkage disequilibrium among 27 African populations. We analyzed geographic patterns of linkage disequilibrium and population differentiation, as measured by F(ST), in Africa. The observed patterns are consistent with an origin of modern humans in southern Africa rather than eastern Africa, as is generally assumed. Additionally, genetic variation in African hunter-gatherer populations has been significantly affected by interaction with farmers and herders over the past 5,000 y, through both severe population bottlenecks and sex-biased migration. However, African hunter-gatherer populations continue to maintain the highest levels of genetic diversity in the world.

High adult mortality among Hiwi hunter-gatherers: implications for human evolution.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Kim; Hurtado, A M; Walker, R S

2007-04-01

Extant apes experience early sexual maturity and short life spans relative to modern humans. Both of these traits and others are linked by life-history theory to mortality rates experienced at different ages by our hominin ancestors. However, currently there is a great deal of debate concerning hominin mortality profiles at different periods of evolutionary history. Observed rates and causes of mortality in modern hunter-gatherers may provide information about Upper Paleolithic mortality that can be compared to indirect evidence from the fossil record, yet little is published about causes and rates of mortality in foraging societies around the world. To our knowledge, interview-based life tables for recent hunter-gatherers are published for only four societies (Ache, Agta, Hadza, and Ju/'hoansi). Here, we present mortality data for a fifth group, the Hiwi hunter-gatherers of Venezuela. The results show comparatively high death rates among the Hiwi and highlight differences in mortality rates among hunter-gatherer societies. The high levels of conspecific violence and adult mortality in the Hiwi may better represent Paleolithic human demographics than do the lower, disease-based death rates reported in the most frequently cited forager studies.

Multi agent gathering waste system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Álvaro LOZANO MURCIEGO

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Along this paper, we present a new multi agent-based system to gather waste on cities and villages. We have developed a low cost wireless sensor prototype to measure the volume level of the containers. Furthermore a route system is developed to optimize the routes of the trucks and a mobile application has been developed to help drivers in their working days. In order to evaluate and validate the proposed system a practical case study in a real city environment is modeled using open data available and with the purpose of identifying limitations of the system.

Gathering positive experience

CERN Document Server

2009-01-01

Last Monday, the new CERN Machine Advisory Committee (CMAC) met for the first time, and we had good news to tell its members. Over the weekend, injection tests for both LHC beams were successfully carried out. In other words, we’ve had beam in the LHC for the first time since September 2008. That’s a good feeling, but it’s no reason for complacency. There’s still a long way to go before first physics at the new energy frontier. As the Bulletin has reported over recent weeks, we’re gathering a lot of positive experience with the new quench detection and protection system (QPS), which is already allowing us to monitor the LHC far better than we were able to in the past. So far, the QPS for three of the LHC’s eight sectors has been put through its paces, and we’ve also power tested those sectors to 2000 amperes, the equivalent of around 1.2 TeV per beam. The next step is to slowly increase the current to 4000 amperes, and...

Gamification for data gathering in emergency response exercises

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meesters, Kenny; Ruhe, Aaron; Soetanto, Marvin; Munkvold, R.; Kolås, L.

2015-01-01

Our paper describes how gamification can be implemented in an emergency response exercise. In particular, we focus on the potential of gamification to support self-evaluation processes through the automated gathering of data about the participants' performance. Disaster-exercises are typically

Rapid Spread of Zika Virus in The Americas--Implications for Public Health Preparedness for Mass Gatherings at the 2016 Brazil Olympic Games.

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Eskild; Wilson, Mary E; Touch, Sok; McCloskey, Brian; Mwaba, Peter; Bates, Matthew; Dar, Osman; Mattes, Frank; Kidd, Mike; Ippolito, Giuseppe; Azhar, Esam I; Zumla, Alimuddin

2016-03-01

Mass gatherings at major international sporting events put millions of international travelers and local host-country residents at risk of acquiring infectious diseases, including locally endemic infectious diseases. The mosquito-borne Zika virus (ZIKV) has recently aroused global attention due to its rapid spread since its first detection in May 2015 in Brazil to 22 other countries and other territories in the Americas. The ZIKV outbreak in Brazil, has also been associated with a significant rise in the number of babies born with microcephaly and neurological disorders, and has been declared a 'Global Emergency by the World Health Organization. This explosive spread of ZIKV in Brazil poses challenges for public health preparedness and surveillance for the Olympics and Paralympics which are due to be held in Rio De Janeiro in August, 2016. We review the epidemiology and clinical features of the current ZIKV outbreak in Brazil, highlight knowledge gaps, and review the public health implications of the current ZIKV outbreak in the Americas. We highlight the urgent need for a coordinated collaborative response for prevention and spread of infectious diseases with epidemic potential at mass gatherings events. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Real-time decision support and information gathering system for financial domain

Science.gov (United States)

Tseng, Chiu-Che; Gmytrasiewicz, Piotr J.

2006-05-01

The challenge of the investment domain is that a large amount of diverse information can be potentially relevant to an investment decision, and that, frequently, the decisions have to be made in a timely manner. This presents the potential for better decision support, but poses the challenge of building a decision support agent that gathers information from different sources and incorporates it for timely decision support. These problems motivate us to investigate ways in which the investors can be equipped with a flexible real-time decision support system to be practical in time-critical situations. The flexible real-time decision support system considers a tradeoff between decision quality and computation cost. For this purpose, we propose a system that uses the object oriented Bayesian knowledge base (OOBKB) design to create a decision model at the most suitable level of detail to guide the information gathering activities, and to produce an investment recommendation within a reasonable length of time. The decision models our system uses are implemented as influence diagrams. We validate our system with experiments in a simplified investment domain. The experiments show that our system produces a quality recommendation under different urgency situations. The contribution of our system is that it provides the flexible decision recommendation for an investor under time constraints in a complex environment.

Does Lateral Transmission Obscure Inheritance in Hunter-Gatherer Languages?

Science.gov (United States)

Bowern, Claire; Epps, Patience; Gray, Russell; Hill, Jane; Hunley, Keith; McConvell, Patrick; Zentz, Jason

2011-01-01

In recent years, linguists have begun to increasingly rely on quantitative phylogenetic approaches to examine language evolution. Some linguists have questioned the suitability of phylogenetic approaches on the grounds that linguistic evolution is largely reticulate due to extensive lateral transmission, or borrowing, among languages. The problem may be particularly pronounced in hunter-gatherer languages, where the conventional wisdom among many linguists is that lexical borrowing rates are so high that tree building approaches cannot provide meaningful insights into evolutionary processes. However, this claim has never been systematically evaluated, in large part because suitable data were unavailable. In addition, little is known about the subsistence, demographic, ecological, and social factors that might mediate variation in rates of borrowing among languages. Here, we evaluate these claims with a large sample of hunter-gatherer languages from three regions around the world. In this study, a list of 204 basic vocabulary items was collected for 122 hunter-gatherer and small-scale cultivator languages from three ecologically diverse case study areas: northern Australia, northwest Amazonia, and California and the Great Basin. Words were rigorously coded for etymological (inheritance) status, and loan rates were calculated. Loan rate variability was examined with respect to language area, subsistence mode, and population size, density, and mobility; these results were then compared to the sample of 41 primarily agriculturalist languages in [1]. Though loan levels varied both within and among regions, they were generally low in all regions (mean 5.06%, median 2.49%, and SD 7.56), despite substantial demographic, ecological, and social variation. Amazonian levels were uniformly very low, with no language exhibiting more than 4%. Rates were low but more variable in the other two study regions, in part because of several outlier languages where rates of borrowing were

An Evolution in Research Practice for Investigating International Business Relationships

OpenAIRE

Anne HAMPTON; James ROWELL

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development and rationale of research methodology for a specific topic of research. The topic in question is an investigation into international business relationships, a complex subject and one that is very topical in the growing world of international business. It is intended to examine the logical development of research practice in our study and to show the changing thought processes and justifications we have made over a period of time. It is h...

LHCb in the International Particle Physics Masterclasses

CERN Document Server

Couturier, Ben

2016-01-01

The Large Hadron Collider Beauty (LHCb) Experiment joined the International Particle Physics Masterclass programme in 2013. The experiment proposed the measurement of the D0 meson lifetime, using real data gathered at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012. We describe the exercise as well as the lessons learned during this first participation in the International Masterclass programme.

Flood damage data gathering: procedures and use

Science.gov (United States)

Molinari, D.; Aronica, G. T.; Ballio, F.; Berni, N.; Pandolfo, C.

2012-04-01

Damage data represents the basis on which flood risk models, re-founding schemes and mitigation activities are grounded on. Nevertheless damage data have been collected so far mainly at the national-regional scale; few databases exist at the local scale and, even if present, no standard exist for their development. On the contrary, risk analyses and mitigation strategies are usually carried out at local scale. This contribution describes the ongoing activity to collect and analyze local damage data coming from past events with recently hit Umbria an Sicily regions (central and south part of Italy respectively). Data from past events will be discussed from two different perspectives. In Italy, procedures to gather damage data after a flood are defined by law. According to this, authors will first question whether or not collected data are suitable to give an exhaustive representation of the total impact the events had on the affected territories. As regards, suggestions are provided about how gathering procedures can improve. On the other hand, collected data will be discussed with respect to their implementation in the definition of depth-damage curves for the Italian context; literature review highlights indeed that no curves are available for Italy. Starting from the knowledge of observed hazard intensity and damage data, available curves from other countries are validated, the objective being to reduce the uncertainty which currently characterise damage estimation. Indeed, a variety of curves can be found in literature and the choice of one curve in place of another can change damage assessment results of one order of magnitude. The validation procedure will allow, in its turn, to face a secondary but key question for the contribution, being the identification of those hazard and vulnerability features that should be recorded and kept updated in a local GIS database to support risk modelling, funding and management. The two areas under investigation are prone to

Gathering Information from Transport Systems for Processing in Supply Chains

Science.gov (United States)

Kodym, Oldřich; Unucka, Jakub

2016-12-01

Paper deals with complex system for processing information from means of transport acting as parts of train (rail or road). It focuses on automated information gathering using AutoID technology, information transmission via Internet of Things networks and information usage in information systems of logistic firms for support of selected processes on MES and ERP levels. Different kinds of gathered information from whole transport chain are discussed. Compliance with existing standards is mentioned. Security of information in full life cycle is integral part of presented system. Design of fully equipped system based on synthesized functional nodes is presented.

An energy-efficient data gathering protocol in large wireless sensor network

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yamin; Zhang, Ruihua; Tao, Shizhong

2006-11-01

Wireless sensor network consisting of a large number of small sensors with low-power transceiver can be an effective tool for gathering data in a variety of environment. The collected data must be transmitted to the base station for further processing. Since a network consists of sensors with limited battery energy, the method for data gathering and routing must be energy efficient in order to prolong the lifetime of the network. In this paper, we presented an energy-efficient data gathering protocol in wireless sensor network. The new protocol used data fusion technology clusters nodes into groups and builds a chain among the cluster heads according to a hybrid of the residual energy and distance to the base station. Results in stochastic geometry are used to derive the optimum parameter of our algorithm that minimizes the total energy spent in the network. Simulation results show performance superiority of the new protocol.

High frequency of lactose intolerance in a prehistoric hunter-gatherer population in northern Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Holmlund Gunilla

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Genes and culture are believed to interact, but it has been difficult to find direct evidence for the process. One candidate example that has been put forward is lactase persistence in adulthood, i.e. the ability to continue digesting the milk sugar lactose after childhood, facilitating the consumption of raw milk. This genetic trait is believed to have evolved within a short time period and to be related with the emergence of sedentary agriculture. Results Here we investigate the frequency of an allele (-13910*T associated with lactase persistence in a Neolithic Scandinavian population. From the 14 individuals originally examined, 10 yielded reliable results. We find that the T allele frequency was very low (5% in this Middle Neolithic hunter-gatherer population, and that the frequency is dramatically different from the extant Swedish population (74%. Conclusions We conclude that this difference in frequency could not have arisen by genetic drift and is either due to selection or, more likely, replacement of hunter-gatherer populations by sedentary agriculturalists.

75 FR 57017 - Venice Gathering System, LLC; Notice of Request Under Blanket Authorization

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-17

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. CP10-497-000] Venice Gathering System, LLC; Notice of Request Under Blanket Authorization September 10, 2010. Take notice that on September 3, 2010, Venice Gathering System, LLC (VGS), 1000 Louisiana, Suite 4300, Houston, Texas 77002...

75 FR 15739 - International Business Machines Corporation: Armonk, NY; Notice of Termination of Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-30

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-70,580] International Business Machines Corporation: Armonk, NY; Notice of Termination of Investigation Pursuant to Section 223 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended, an investigation was initiated in response to a petition filed on May 21, 2009 on behalf of workers of International...

The significance of gathering wild orchid tubers for orphan household livelihoods in a context of HIV/AIDS in Tanzania

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Challe, J.F.X.; Niehof, A.; Struik, P.C.

2011-01-01

We investigated the role of gathering and selling the edible tubers of wild orchids by children orphaned by AIDS as one of their livelihood strategies, through a household survey administered to 152 households in three villages in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania during 2006 and 2007.

Rational management of hunting and gathering: An aristotelian entelechy or a chimera?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Mario Vargas Yáñez

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Rational management of hunting and gathering: An Aristotelian entelechy or a chimera? Since the dawn of time, consumption of animal protein has been crucially important to the evolution of humans. Cooperative hunting is an Evolutionarily Stable Strategy from the time when Palaeolithic hunters specialized in the pursuit of large animals. The entire process involves making decisions related to game management, some of which are still used by contemporary hunter-gatherers. In these societies, which still practice subsistence hunting, the composition of their diets and the exploitation techniques employed are explained by the theoretical underpinnings contained in the Optimal Foraging Theory (OFT. In order to test this theory, we have taken into account four decisions involving the adoption of different management strategies by hunter-gatherers: I what to eat, II where and how to look for food, III the most appropriate size and composition of the group of hunter-gatherers and IV the most efficient guidelines for the handling and distribution of prey. The OFT has been tested several times, and in a high percentage of cases studied, its predictions fit observations made in various hunter-gatherer societies. This means that maximizing catch yields in the short term is their main concern, rather than behaving as ‘cautious predators’ or passively selecting prey according to their size, accessibility and abundance. Such behaviour does not contradict the possibility that hunter-gatherers can act as conservationists, but discards the idea that this is the main focus of their way of life. There is no doubt that indigenous peoples have a wide knowledge of the environment, but it is unclear this knowledge is used to maintain a balance with nature or to be more efficient hunters. It more likely that the presence of sustainable hunting of game is due to low hunting pressure in areas where animal prey is abundant, and is thus an epiphenomenon rather than a

77 FR 22387 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities, Revision to Gas Transmission and Gathering...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-13

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0024] Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities, Revision to Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Annual Report, Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Incident Report...

77 FR 58616 - Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities, Revision to Gas Transmission and Gathering...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-21

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration [Docket No. PHMSA-2012-0024] Pipeline Safety: Information Collection Activities, Revision to Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Annual Report, Gas Transmission and Gathering Pipeline Systems Incident Report...

Mass-Gathering Medical Care in Electronic Dance Music Festivals.

Science.gov (United States)

FitzGibbon, Kathleen M; Nable, Jose V; Ayd, Benjamin; Lawner, Benjamin J; Comer, Angela C; Lichenstein, Richard; Levy, Matthew J; Seaman, Kevin G; Bussey, Ian

2017-10-01

Introduction Electronic dance music (EDM) festivals represent a unique subset of mass-gathering events with limited guidance through literature or legislation to guide mass-gathering medical care at these events. Hypothesis/Problem Electronic dance music festivals pose unique challenges with increased patient encounters and heightened patient acuity under-estimated by current validated casualty predication models. This was a retrospective review of three separate EDM festivals with analysis of patient encounters and patient transport rates. Data obtained were inserted into the predictive Arbon and Hartman models to determine estimated patient presentation rate and patient transport rates. The Arbon model under-predicted the number of patient encounters and the number of patient transports for all three festivals, while the Hartman model under-predicted the number of patient encounters at one festival and over-predicted the number of encounters at the other two festivals. The Hartman model over-predicted patient transport rates for two of the three festivals. Electronic dance music festivals often involve distinct challenges and current predictive models are inaccurate for planning these events. The formation of a cohesive incident action plan will assist in addressing these challenges and lead to the collection of more uniform data metrics. FitzGibbon KM , Nable JV , Ayd B , Lawner BJ , Comer AC , Lichenstein R , Levy MJ , Seaman KG , Bussey I . Mass-gathering medical care in electronic dance music festivals. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(5):563-567.

A distance-aware replica adaptive data gathering protocol for Delay Tolerant Mobile Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Yong; Gong, Haigang; Fan, Mingyu; Liu, Ming; Wang, Xiaomin

2011-01-01

In Delay Tolerant Mobile Sensor Networks (DTMSNs) that have the inherent features of intermitted connectivity and frequently changing network topology it is reasonable to utilize multi-replica schemes to improve the data gathering performance. However, most existing multi-replica approaches inject a large amount of message copies into the network to increase the probability of message delivery, which may drain each mobile node's limited battery supply faster and result in too much contention for the restricted resources of the DTMSN, so a proper data gathering scheme needs a trade off between the number of replica messages and network performance. In this paper, we propose a new data gathering protocol called DRADG (for Distance-aware Replica Adaptive Data Gathering protocol), which economizes network resource consumption through making use of a self-adapting algorithm to cut down the number of redundant replicas of messages, and achieves a good network performance by leveraging the delivery probabilities of the mobile sensors as main routing metrics. Simulation results have shown that the proposed DRADG protocol achieves comparable or higher message delivery ratios at the cost of the much lower transmission overhead than several current DTMSN data gathering schemes.

International seminar on structural investigations on pulsed neutron sources. Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aksenov, V.L.; Balagurov, A.M.; Taran, Yu.V.

1993-01-01

The proceedings of the International seminar on structural investigations using pulsed neutron sources are presented. The seminar is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Yu.M. Ostanevich, a world acknowledged physicist. The problems of structural analysis using pulsed neutron source at the IBR-2 reactor are discussed

Firewood-gathering impacts in backcountry campsites in Great Smoky Mountains national park

Science.gov (United States)

Bratton, Susan P.; Stromberg, Linda L.; Harmon, Mark E.

1982-01-01

The effects of human trampling and firewood gathering on eight backcountry campsites in the Great Smoky Mountains were surveyed. Sample plots were classified as sitecenter, transition, firewood-gathering area, and control. The canopy in the center of the sites tended to be more open than that of control plots, with the greatest openings occurring at shelter sites in spruce-fir forest. Intensive human trampling in the center of the sites inhibited reproduction of tree species, whereas firewood gathering alone did not. In some cases where canopy opening had occurred, there was an increase in shrub and tree reproduction around the edge of the site. Reduction in the basal area of standing deadwood varied with the type of site; older growth stands were less depleted. Injuries to trees increased tenfold from control areas to the center of the campsites. Smaller fuels were more strongly impacted by trampling and little impacted by firewood gathering. Woody fuels in the 2.5- to 7.6-cm size class were preferred for firewood. A previously constructed carbon cycling model was modified to incorporate removal of firewood and litter on campsites. The model suggested that after extended removal of leaf litter, soil carbon takes 12 to 50 years to recover, but this hypothesis remains to be tested in the field.

Explaining the resurgent popularity of the wild: motivations for wild plant gathering in the Biosphere Reserve Grosses Walsertal, Austria

OpenAIRE

Schunko, Christoph; Grasser, Susanne; Vogl, Christian R.

2015-01-01

Background Wild plant gathering becomes again a popular and fashionable activity in Europe after gathering practices have been increasingly abandoned over the last decades. Recent ethnobotanical research documented a diversity of gathering practices from people of diverse socio-economic and cultural backgrounds who gather in urban and rural areas. Few efforts were though made to study the motivations for gathering wild plants and to understand the resurgent popularity of wild plant gathering....

OPERATIONS THROUGHPUT AS A DETERMINANT OF GOLDEN-HOUR IN MASS-GATHERING MEDICINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. D. Khan

2017-07-01

Full Text Available BACKGROUND Golden-hour, a time-tested concept for trauma-care, involves a systems approach encompassing healthcare, logistics, geographical, environmental and temporal variables. Golden-hour paradigm in mass-gathering-medicine such as the Hajj-pilgrimage entwines along healthcare availability, accessibility, efficiency and interoperability; expanding from the patient-centric to public-health centric approach. The realm of mass-gathering-medicine invokes an opportunity for incorporating operations-throughput as a determinant of golden-hour for overall capacity-building and interoperability. METHODS Golden-hour was evaluated during the Indian-Medical-Mission operations for Hajj-2016; which established, operated and coordinated a strategic network of round-the-clock medical operations. Throughput was evaluated as deliverables/time, against established Standard-Operating-Procedures for various clinical, investigation, drug-dispensing and patient-transfer algorithms. Patient encounter-time, waiting-time, turnaround-time were assessed throughout echeloned healthcare under a patient-centric healthcare-delivery model. Dynamic evaluation was carried out to cater for variation and heterogeneity. RESULTS Massive surge of 3,94,013 patients comprising 2,25,103 males (57.1% and 1,68,910 females (42.9% overwhelmed the throughput capacities of outpatient attendance, pharmacy, laboratory, imaging, ambulance, referrals and documentation. There was delay in attendance, suspicion, diagnosis and isolation of patients with communicable infections. The situational-analysis of operations-throughput highlights wasted turnaround-time due to mobilization of medical-team, diverting critical healthcare resources away from emergency situations. CONCLUSION Time being a crucial factor in the complexity of medical-care, operations-throughput remains an important determinant towards interoperability of bottlenecks, thereby being a determinant of golden-hour in mass-gathering

An Investigation of Marketing Educators' Approach to Teaching International Marketing in the Introductory Marketing Course.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmer, Robert J.; And Others

1996-01-01

A survey of 122 college teachers of marketing courses investigated the extent and methods of their inclusion of international marketing into the course curriculum. Findings suggest that, among those teaching international marketing, how they acquired their international knowledge had a significant effect on how they taught international marketing.…

The hidden Mediterranean diet: wild vegetables traditionally gathered and consumed in the Gargano area, Apulia, SE Italy

OpenAIRE

Nello Biscotti; Andrea Pieroni

2015-01-01

Despite the extensive bio-scientific literature concerning the Mediterranean diet, which emerged in the last three decades, systematic ethnography-centered investigations on a crucial portion of this food system, linked to the traditional consumption of non-cultivated vegetables, are still largely lacking in many areas of the Mediterranean Basin. In this research, an ethnobotanical field study focusing on wild vegetables traditionally gathered and consumed locally, was conducted ...

HiCoDG: a hierarchical data-gathering scheme using cooperative multiple mobile elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Le, Duc; Oh, Hoon; Yoon, Seokhoon

2014-12-17

In this paper, we study mobile element (ME)-based data-gathering schemes in wireless sensor networks. Due to the physical speed limits of mobile elements, the existing data-gathering schemes that use mobile elements can suffer from high data-gathering latency. In order to address this problem, this paper proposes a new hierarchical and cooperative data-gathering (HiCoDG) scheme that enables multiple mobile elements to cooperate with each other to collect and relay data. In HiCoDG, two types of mobile elements are used: the mobile collector (MC) and the mobile relay (MR). MCs collect data from sensors and forward them to the MR, which will deliver them to the sink. In this work, we also formulated an integer linear programming (ILP) optimization problem to find the optimal trajectories for MCs and the MR, such that the traveling distance of MEs is minimized. Two variants of HiCoDG, intermediate station (IS)-based and cooperative movement scheduling (CMS)-based, are proposed to facilitate cooperative data forwarding from MCs to the MR. An analytical model for estimating the average data-gathering latency in HiCoDG was also designed. Simulations were performed to compare the performance of the IS and CMS variants, as well as a multiple traveling salesman problem (mTSP)-based approach. The simulation results show that HiCoDG outperforms mTSP in terms of latency. The results also show that CMS can achieve the lowest latency with low energy consumption.

HiCoDG: A Hierarchical Data-Gathering Scheme Using Cooperative Multiple Mobile Elements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duc Van Le

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we study mobile element (ME-based data-gathering schemes in wireless sensor networks. Due to the physical speed limits of mobile elements, the existing data-gathering schemes that usemobile elements can suffer from high data-gathering latency. In order to address this problem, this paper proposes a new hierarchical and cooperative data-gathering (HiCoDG scheme that enables multiple mobile elements to cooperate with each other to collect and relay data. In HiCoDG, two types of mobile elements are used: the mobile collector (MC and the mobile relay (MR. MCs collect data from sensors and forward them to the MR, which will deliver them to the sink. In this work, we also formulated an integer linear programming (ILP optimization problem to find the optimal trajectories for MCs and the MR, such that the traveling distance of MEs is minimized. Two variants of HiCoDG, intermediate station (IS-based and cooperative movement scheduling (CMS-based, are proposed to facilitate cooperative data forwarding from MCs to theMR. An analytical model for estimating the average data-gathering latency in HiCoDG was also designed. Simulations were performed to compare the performance of the IS and CMS variants, as well as a multiple traveling salesman problem (mTSP-based approach. The simulation results show that HiCoDG outperformsmTSP in terms of latency. The results also show that CMS can achieve the lowest latency with low energy consumption.

Analytical and numerical investigation of nonlinear internal gravity waves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. P. Kshevetskii

2001-01-01

Full Text Available The propagation of long, weakly nonlinear internal waves in a stratified gas is studied. Hydrodynamic equations for an ideal fluid with the perfect gas law describe the atmospheric gas behaviour. If we neglect the term Ͽ dw/dt (product of the density and vertical acceleration, we come to a so-called quasistatic model, while we name the full hydro-dynamic model as a nonquasistatic one. Both quasistatic and nonquasistatic models are used for wave simulation and the models are compared among themselves. It is shown that a smooth classical solution of a nonlinear quasistatic problem does not exist for all t because a gradient catastrophe of non-linear internal waves occurs. To overcome this difficulty, we search for the solution of the quasistatic problem in terms of a generalised function theory as a limit of special regularised equations containing some additional dissipation term when the dissipation factor vanishes. It is shown that such solutions of the quasistatic problem qualitatively differ from solutions of a nonquasistatic nature. It is explained by the fact that in a nonquasistatic model the vertical acceleration term plays the role of a regularizator with respect to a quasistatic model, while the solution qualitatively depends on the regularizator used. The numerical models are compared with some analytical results. Within the framework of the analytical model, any internal wave is described as a system of wave modes; each wave mode interacts with others due to equation non-linearity. In the principal order of a perturbation theory, each wave mode is described by some equation of a KdV type. The analytical model reveals that, in a nonquasistatic model, an internal wave should disintegrate into solitons. The time of wave disintegration into solitons, the scales and amount of solitons generated are important characteristics of the non-linear process; they are found with the help of analytical and numerical investigations. Satisfactory

Mass gathering medicine: a predictive model for patient presentation and transport rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Arbon, P; Bridgewater, F H; Smith, C

2001-01-01

This paper reports on research into the influence of environmental factors (including crowd size, temperature, humidity, and venue type) on the number of patients and the patient problems presenting to first-aid services at large, public events in Australia. Regression models were developed to predict rates of patient presentation and of transportation-to-a-hospital for future mass gatherings. To develop a data set and predictive model that can be applied across venues and types of mass gathering events that is not venue or event specific. Data collected will allow informed event planning for future mass gatherings for which health care services are required. Mass gatherings were defined as public events attended by in excess of 25,000 people. Over a period of 12 months, 201 mass gatherings attended by a combined audience in excess of 12 million people were surveyed throughout Australia. The survey was undertaken by St. John Ambulance Australia personnel. The researchers collected data on the incidence and type of patients presenting for treatment and on the environmental factors that may influence these presentations. A standard reporting format and definition of event geography was employed to overcome the event-specific nature of many previous surveys. There are 11,956 patients in the sample. The patient presentation rate across all event types was 0.992/1,000 attendees, and the transportation-to-hospital rate was 0.027/1,000 persons in attendance. The rates of patient presentations declined slightly as crowd sizes increased. The weather (particularly the relative humidity) was related positively to an increase in the rates of presentations. Other factors that influenced the number and type of patients presenting were the mobility of the crowd, the availability of alcohol, the event being enclosed by a boundary, and the number of patient-care personnel on duty. Three regression models were developed to predict presentation rates at future events. Several

Clinical Investigator Inspector List (CLIIL)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Clinical Investigator Inspection List (CLIIL) contains names, addresses, and other pertinent information gathered from inspections of clinical investigators who...

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS CONTRIBUTION TO BUSINESS SCHOOLS IN THE UK HEIs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trevor Uyi OMORUYI

2014-11-01

Full Text Available International students’ contribution to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs tends to be considered from different aspects. There is an inadequate substantiation base that would allow academics, researchers and other stakeholders understand the importance of overseas students in the UK Business Schools. This paper investigates the contribution of international students to Business School in the UK HEIs. The research was exploratory and part of a bigger project on how and why Business Schools in the UK use Relationship Marketing to retain international students. It employed semi-structured interviews with 18 members of staff from four Business Schools in the North of England. Findings indicate that international students’ definition tends to differ amongst staff members within the Business Schools. Business Schools’ management perceive overseas students as an integral part of their institutions, especially as their overall contributions cannot be over-emphasised. The sample size and use of semi-structured interviews, as a single data gathering strategy, does not allow broad generalisation of findings. The obtained evidence can still be used as a platform for further research in this area.

A New Method to Extract CSP Gather of Topography for Scattered Wave Imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao Pan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The seismic method is one of the major geophysical tools to study the structure of the earth. The extraction of the common scatter point (CSP gather is a critical step to accomplish the seismic imaging with a scattered wave. Conventionally, the CSP gather is obtained with the assumption that the earth surface is horizontal. However, errors are introduced to the final imaging result if the seismic traces obtained at the rugged surface are processed using the conventional method. Hence, we propose the method of the extraction of the CSP gather for the seismic data collected at the rugged surface. The proposed method is validated by two numerical examples and expected to reduce the effect of the topography on the scattered wave imaging.

Experimental investigations of heat transfer from an internally finned two phase closed thermosyphon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naresh, Y.; Balaji, C.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Experimental investigations on an internally finned vertical thermosyphon. • Two fluids – water and acetone considered. • Optimum fill ratio determined to be 50%. • Addition of internal fins at the condenser leads to improved thermal performance. - Abstract: This paper reports the results of an experimental investigation of heat transfer from an internally finned thermosyphon charged with either water or acetone. Six constant area fins with a rectangular cross section are placed internally along the length at the condenser section. The ratio of initial liquid pool volume to the evaporator volume, known as the filling ratio in a thermosyphon system, has been varied in this study. Experiments are carried out for filling ratios of 20, 50, and 80% for two working fluids (i) water and (ii) acetone. Results show that a fill ratio of 50% gives better heat transfer performance. Providing internal fins at the condenser produces additional condensation which improves the thermal performance of the thermosyphon by 17% in terms of the temperature reduction at the source and sink and 35.48% in terms of reduction in thermal resistance at lower heat inputs. The thermosyphon is tested between power levels of 50 and 275 W.

Assessment of rural households' objectives for gathering non-timber ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Among the reasons given were food security, self employment, income generation and continuity. The relative importance of the given reasons was also determined and it was discovered that food security was the most important reason the households engaged in NTFPs gathering while continuity objective was ranked ...

[Mass gatherings: a systematic review of the literature on large events].

Science.gov (United States)

Llorente Nieto, Pedro; González-Alcaide, Gregorio; Ramos, José M

2017-07-01

We reviewed the literature on mass gatherings published worldwide to determine event types and topics or epidemiologic aspects covered. Articles using the term mass gatherings indexed in the Scopus database between 2000 and 2015 were reviewed. Of the 518 returned, we selected 96 with relevant information. The main event types studied were related to sports (46%), music (25%) or religious/social content (23%), and the most commonly studied locations were the United States (n=21), the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (n=17), Australia (n=11), and the United Kingdom (n=10). The four most often studied events were the Hajj (n=17), the Olympic games (n=13), World Youth Day (n=8), and the FIFA World Cup (n=6). The main topics studied were models of health care (n=55), health care evaluation by means of rates of patients presenting for care or transferred to hospitals (n=21), respiratory pathogens (n=18), syndromic surveillance (n=10), and the global spread of diseases (n=10). Mass gatherings are an emerging area of study addressed by various medical specialties that have focused on studying the health care models used at such events. Emergency medicine is particularly involved with this research topic.

Effect of strategic intelligent games on gathering attention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yeşiltepe Margrit

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, while raising the humans of information age, to which extent we can provide guidance under the roof of the school that will ensure them to tackle the problems that they will encounter in the future? Currently, to what extent do we assume our children whom we prepare for currently unknown professions of future ages the name, function and the requirements for equipment of which are not known by us now, for their future, country and the world will have what degree of strategic thinking skills and whether they will be attentive in case of confusion regarding the target. If we assume that the individuals who will keep pace with rapidly changing world and direct it should have very good level of attention, activities to improve it should be arranged. We should consider making foundations available for them to manage daily problems or possible obstacles by using different thinking methods and by managing them with the plans a, b even c prepared by them, and finding alternative responses in the competition environment and creating added value for them, their country and the world. For this purpose, increase in attention gathering level at the beginning of mental activities would positively affect this process. What would be the effect of plays in developing attention giving and gathering features that are not felt more until coming to the school age? Our study started with this question and the voluntarily participated students were observed during the study. Study covers 3 students playing at very low, middle and high frequency who are selected among universe of 10 students, 2 of which were girls who are the members of strategic mind games activities which is a working group indicating maximum diversity. Subject who are taken under the scope of the study are selected from upper socio-cultural level. Students were expected to participate in thinking skills developing paper-and-pencil activities and strategic mind games. Strategy developing

Multi-faceted data gathering and analyzing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gustavson, D.B.; Rich, K.

1977-10-01

A low-cost general purpose data gathering and analyzing system based on a microprocessor, an interface to CAMAC, and a phone link to a time-sharing system was implemented. The parts cost for the microprocessor system was about $6000. The microprocessor buffers the data such that the variable response of the time-sharing system is acceptable for performing real-time data acquisition. The full power and flexibility of the time-sharing system excels at the task of on-line data analysis once this buffering problem is solved. 4 figures

Engineering considerations for corrosion monitoring of gas gathering pipeline systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Braga, T.G.; Asperger, R.G.

1987-01-01

Proper corrosion monitoring of gas gathering pipelines requires a system review to determine the appropriate monitor locations and types of monitoring techniques. This paper develops and discusses a classification of conditions such as flow regime and gas composition. Also discussed are junction categories which, for corrosion monitoring, need to be considered from two points of view. The first is related to fluid flow in the line and the second is related corrosion inhibitor movement along the pipeline. The appropriate application of the various monitoring techniques such as coupons, hydrogen detectors, electrical resistance probe and linear polarization probes are discussed in relation to flow regime and gas composition. Problems caused by semi-conduction from iron sulfide are considered. Advantages and disadvantages of fluid gathering methods such as pots and flow-through drips are discussed in relation to their reliability as on-line monitoring locations.

The Lady, the Linguists, and the International Language.

Science.gov (United States)

Fettes, Mark

2001-01-01

Discusses an extensive research program that was conducted under the auspices of the International Auxiliary Language Association, whose goal was to gather information on Esperanto, Ido, or Latino. Reviews ideological influences that instead led to creation of new hybrid language, Interlingua. (Author/VWL)

KidReporter : a method for engaging children in making a newspaper to gather user requirements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bekker, M.M.; Beusmans, J.; Keyson, D.V.; Lloyd, P.A.; Bekker, M.M.; Markopoulos, P.; Tsikalkina, M.

2002-01-01

We describe a design method, called the KidReporter method, for gathering user requirements from children. Two school classes participated in making a newspaper about a zoo, to gather requirements for the design process of an interactive educational game. The educational game was developed to

International outbreak investigation of Salmonella Heidelberg associated with in-flight catering.

Science.gov (United States)

Rebolledo, J; Garvey, P; Ryan, A; O'Donnell, J; Cormican, M; Jackson, S; Cloak, F; Cullen, L; Swaan, C M; Schimmer, B; Appels, R W; Nygard, K; Finley, R; Sreenivasan, N; Lenglet, A; Gossner, C; McKeown, P

2014-04-01

Rapid and wide dispersal of passengers after flights makes investigation of flight-related outbreaks challenging. An outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg was identified in a group of Irish travellers returning from Tanzania. Additional international cases sharing the same flight were identified. Our aim was to determine the source and potential vehicles of infection. Case-finding utilized information exchange using experts' communication networks and national surveillance systems. Demographic, clinical and food history information was collected. Twenty-five additional cases were identified from Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, USA and Canada. We conducted a case-control study which indicated a significant association between illness and consumption of milk tart (OR 10.2) and an egg dish (OR 6) served on-board the flight. No food consumed before the flight was associated with illness. Cases from countries other than Ireland provided supplementary information that facilitated the identification of likely vehicles of infection. Timely, committed international collaboration is vital in such investigations.

International outbreak investigation of Salmonella Heidelberg associated with in-flight catering.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Rebolledo, J

2013-07-26

SUMMARY Rapid and wide dispersal of passengers after flights makes investigation of flight-related outbreaks challenging. An outbreak of Salmonella Heidelberg was identified in a group of Irish travellers returning from Tanzania. Additional international cases sharing the same flight were identified. Our aim was to determine the source and potential vehicles of infection. Case-finding utilized information exchange using experts\\' communication networks and national surveillance systems. Demographic, clinical and food history information was collected. Twenty-five additional cases were identified from Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, USA and Canada. We conducted a case-control study which indicated a significant association between illness and consumption of milk tart (OR 10·2) and an egg dish (OR 6) served on-board the flight. No food consumed before the flight was associated with illness. Cases from countries other than Ireland provided supplementary information that facilitated the identification of likely vehicles of infection. Timely, committed international collaboration is vital in such investigations.

78 FR 64026 - Investigative Hearing

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-25

... NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD Investigative Hearing On Wednesday, November 6, 2013, and... hearing to gather additional factual information for the ongoing investigation into two Metro-North... Investigative Hearing. On Friday, May 17, 2013, at 6:01 p.m. eastern daylight time, eastbound Metro-North...

Executing a gather operation on a parallel computer

Science.gov (United States)

Archer, Charles J [Rochester, MN; Ratterman, Joseph D [Rochester, MN

2012-03-20

Methods, apparatus, and computer program products are disclosed for executing a gather operation on a parallel computer according to embodiments of the present invention. Embodiments include configuring, by the logical root, a result buffer or the logical root, the result buffer having positions, each position corresponding to a ranked node in the operational group and for storing contribution data gathered from that ranked node. Embodiments also include repeatedly for each position in the result buffer: determining, by each compute node of an operational group, whether the current position in the result buffer corresponds with the rank of the compute node, if the current position in the result buffer corresponds with the rank of the compute node, contributing, by that compute node, the compute node's contribution data, if the current position in the result buffer does not correspond with the rank of the compute node, contributing, by that compute node, a value of zero for the contribution data, and storing, by the logical root in the current position in the result buffer, results of a bitwise OR operation of all the contribution data by all compute nodes of the operational group for the current position, the results received through the global combining network.

Environmental Assessment for Wild Horse Gathering Inside and Outside Wild Horse Herd Management Areas

OpenAIRE

United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management

1999-01-01

Enclosed you will find the Environmental Assessment (EA) which describes the impacts of gathering wild horses in the Rock Springs Field Office area. Gathering wild horses would take place in the Great Divide Basin, White Mountain, Little Colorado, and Salt Wells Creek Wild Horse Herd Management Areas (HMA) and in an area known as the North Baxter/Jack Morrow area (outside the HMAs).

Reaction Diffusion and Chemotaxis for Decentralized Gathering on FPGAs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernard Girau

2009-01-01

and rapid simulations of the complex dynamics of this reaction-diffusion model. Then we describe the FPGA implementation of the environment together with the agents, to study the major challenges that must be solved when designing a fast embedded implementation of the decentralized gathering model. We analyze the results according to the different goals of these hardware implementations.

29 CFR 1978.103 - Investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... concerning the case. At such meeting OSHA may present additional allegations of violations which may have... Procedure Complaints, Investigations, Findings and Preliminary Orders § 1978.103 Investigation. (a) OSHA shall investigate and gather data concerning the case as it deems appropriate. (b) Within twenty days of...

Origin and diet of the prehistoric hunter-gatherers on the mediterranean island of Favignana (Ègadi Islands, Sicily.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcello A Mannino

Full Text Available Hunter-gatherers living in Europe during the transition from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene intensified food acquisition by broadening the range of resources exploited to include marine taxa. However, little is known on the nature of this dietary change in the Mediterranean Basin. A key area to investigate this issue is the archipelago of the Ègadi Islands, most of which were connected to Sicily until the early Holocene. The site of Grotta d'Oriente, on the present-day island of Favignana, was occupied by hunter-gatherers when Postglacial environmental changes were taking place (14,000-7,500 cal BP. Here we present the results of AMS radiocarbon dating, palaeogenetic and isotopic analyses undertaken on skeletal remains of the humans buried at Grotta d'Oriente. Analyses of the mitochondrial hypervariable first region of individual Oriente B, which belongs to the HV-1 haplogroup, suggest for the first time on genetic grounds that humans living in Sicily during the early Holocene could have originated from groups that migrated from the Italian Peninsula around the Last Glacial Maximum. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses show that the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of Favignana consumed almost exclusively protein from terrestrial game and that there was only a slight increase in marine food consumption from the late Pleistocene to the early Holocene. This dietary change was similar in scale to that at sites on mainland Sicily and in the rest of the Mediterranean, suggesting that the hunter-gatherers of Grotta d'Oriente did not modify their subsistence strategies specifically to adapt to the progressive isolation of Favignana. The limited development of technologies for intensively exploiting marine resources was probably a consequence both of Mediterranean oligotrophy and of the small effective population size of these increasingly isolated human groups, which made innovation less likely and prevented transmission of

Origin and Diet of the Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers on the Mediterranean Island of Favignana (Ègadi Islands, Sicily)

Science.gov (United States)

Mannino, Marcello A.; Catalano, Giulio; Talamo, Sahra; Mannino, Giovanni; Di Salvo, Rosaria; Schimmenti, Vittoria; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; Messina, Andrea; Petruso, Daria; Caramelli, David; Richards, Michael P.; Sineo, Luca

2012-01-01

Hunter-gatherers living in Europe during the transition from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene intensified food acquisition by broadening the range of resources exploited to include marine taxa. However, little is known on the nature of this dietary change in the Mediterranean Basin. A key area to investigate this issue is the archipelago of the Ègadi Islands, most of which were connected to Sicily until the early Holocene. The site of Grotta d’Oriente, on the present-day island of Favignana, was occupied by hunter-gatherers when Postglacial environmental changes were taking place (14,000-7,500 cal BP). Here we present the results of AMS radiocarbon dating, palaeogenetic and isotopic analyses undertaken on skeletal remains of the humans buried at Grotta d’Oriente. Analyses of the mitochondrial hypervariable first region of individual Oriente B, which belongs to the HV-1 haplogroup, suggest for the first time on genetic grounds that humans living in Sicily during the early Holocene could have originated from groups that migrated from the Italian Peninsula around the Last Glacial Maximum. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses show that the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of Favignana consumed almost exclusively protein from terrestrial game and that there was only a slight increase in marine food consumption from the late Pleistocene to the early Holocene. This dietary change was similar in scale to that at sites on mainland Sicily and in the rest of the Mediterranean, suggesting that the hunter-gatherers of Grotta d’Oriente did not modify their subsistence strategies specifically to adapt to the progressive isolation of Favignana. The limited development of technologies for intensively exploiting marine resources was probably a consequence both of Mediterranean oligotrophy and of the small effective population size of these increasingly isolated human groups, which made innovation less likely and prevented transmission of fitness

Exploring the Use of Electroencephalography to Gather Objective Evidence of Cognitive Processing During Problem Solving

Science.gov (United States)

Delahunty, Thomas; Seery, Niall; Lynch, Raymond

2018-04-01

Currently, there is significant interest being directed towards the development of STEM education to meet economic and societal demands. While economic concerns can be a powerful driving force in advancing the STEM agenda, care must be taken that such economic imperative does not promote research approaches that overemphasize pragmatic application at the expense of augmenting the fundamental knowledge base of the discipline. This can be seen in the predominance of studies investigating problem solving approaches and procedures, while neglecting representational and conceptual processes, within the literature. Complementing concerns about STEM graduates' problem solving capabilities, raised within the pertinent literature, this paper discusses a novel methodological approach aimed at investigating the cognitive elements of problem conceptualization. The intention is to demonstrate a novel method of data collection that overcomes some of the limitations cited in classic problem solving research while balancing a search for fundamental understanding with the possibility of application. The methodology described in this study employs an electroencephalographic (EEG) headset, as part of a mixed methods approach, to gather objective evidence of students' cognitive processing during problem solving epochs. The method described provides rich evidence of students' cognitive representations of problems during episodes of applied reasoning. The reliability and validity of the EEG method is supported by the stability of the findings across the triangulated data sources. The paper presents a novel method in the context of research within STEM education and demonstrates an effective procedure for gathering rich evidence of cognitive processing during the early stages of problem conceptualization.

HiCoDG: A Hierarchical Data-Gathering Scheme Using Cooperative Multiple Mobile Elements †

Science.gov (United States)

Van Le, Duc; Oh, Hoon; Yoon, Seokhoon

2014-01-01

In this paper, we study mobile element (ME)-based data-gathering schemes in wireless sensor networks. Due to the physical speed limits of mobile elements, the existing data-gathering schemes that use mobile elements can suffer from high data-gathering latency. In order to address this problem, this paper proposes a new hierarchical and cooperative data-gathering (HiCoDG) scheme that enables multiple mobile elements to cooperate with each other to collect and relay data. In HiCoDG, two types of mobile elements are used: the mobile collector (MC) and the mobile relay (MR). MCs collect data from sensors and forward them to the MR, which will deliver them to the sink. In this work, we also formulated an integer linear programming (ILP) optimization problem to find the optimal trajectories for MCs and the MR, such that the traveling distance of MEs is minimized. Two variants of HiCoDG, intermediate station (IS)-based and cooperative movement scheduling (CMS)-based, are proposed to facilitate cooperative data forwarding from MCs to the MR. An analytical model for estimating the average data-gathering latency in HiCoDG was also designed. Simulations were performed to compare the performance of the IS and CMS variants, as well as a multiple traveling salesman problem (mTSP)-based approach. The simulation results show that HiCoDG outperforms mTSP in terms of latency. The results also show that CMS can achieve the lowest latency with low energy consumption. PMID:25526356

An Evolution in Research Practice for Investigating International Business Relationships

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne HAMPTON

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to discuss the development and rationale of research methodology for a specific topic of research. The topic in question is an investigation into international business relationships, a complex subject and one that is very topical in the growing world of international business. It is intended to examine the logical development of research practice in our study and to show the changing thought processes and justifications we have made over a period of time. It is hoped that this discussion paper will be helpful to academics and students alike, as so often research methodology is only discussed in terms of the final method/techniques chosen with an emphasis on the technical aspects of the methods rather than relating them to the subject to be researched.

Effect of the number of two-wheeled containers at a gathering point on energetic workload and work efficiency

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuijer, P. Paul F M; Frings-Dresen, Monique H W; Van Der Beek, Allard J.; Van Dieën, Jaap H.; Visser, Bart

2000-01-01

The effect of the number of two-wheeled containers at a gathering point on the energetic workload and the work efficiency in refuse collecting was studied. The results showed that the size of the gathering point had no effect on the energetic workload. However, the size of the gathering point had an

The Effect of Organizational Culture, Leadership Style, and Functional Position on Organizational Commitment and Their Impact on the Performance of Internal Auditors in Aceh, Indonesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Shabri Abd. Majid

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This study aims at empirically examining the influence of the organizational culture, leadership style, and functional position of an auditor on organizational commitment and their impact on the performance of government internal auditors in Aceh, Indonesia. All 183 of the governmental internal auditors at the district level within the Province of Aceh, Indonesia, were investigated. Data, which are gathered by distributing questionnaires to the entire population, are then analysed by the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM technique.The study found that organizational culture, leadership style, and functional auditor have affected the performance of the governmental internal auditor either directly or indirectly through organizational commitment.Keywords: Organizational Culture, Leadership Style, Functional Auditor, Organizational Commitment, Internal Auditor Performance.

Wave-equation Migration Velocity Analysis Using Plane-wave Common Image Gathers

KAUST Repository

Guo, Bowen; Schuster, Gerard T.

2017-01-01

Wave-equation migration velocity analysis (WEMVA) based on subsurface-offset, angle domain or time-lag common image gathers (CIGs) requires significant computational and memory resources because it computes higher dimensional migration images

Gatherers, practices, and livelihodd roles of non-timber forest products

Science.gov (United States)

Marla R. Emery; Marla R. Emery

2001-01-01

Gathering plant material for food, medicine, and utilitarian items was the original relationship between human beings and forests. Even today, people throughout the world turn to forests and associated open lands to feed and heal themselves and find materials for things such as baskets and brooms.

Investigation of internal feedback in hearing aids

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Friis, Lars

2009-01-01

with vibroacoustic transmission from the receiver to the microphones often occur during the use of hearing aids. This transmission causes feedback at certain critical gain levels where it produces a loud uncomfortable squealing. Consequently feedback often constitutes the limiting factor for the maximum obtainable...... gain in the hearing aid and it therefore represents a critical design problem. Feedback in hearing aids is usually divided into external and internal feedback. External feedback is caused by the leakage of sound from the ear canal whereas internal feedback is due to transmission of sound and vibrations...... internally in the hearing aid. As a result of reducing the size of hearing aids, manufacturers have experienced an increase in internal feedback problems. The main objective of the present thesis is therefore to examine the vibroacoustic mechanisms responsible for internal feedback in hearing aids...

Managing the Earth's Biggest Mass Gathering Event and WASH Conditions: Maha Kumbh Mela (India).

Science.gov (United States)

Baranwal, Annu; Anand, Ankit; Singh, Ravikant; Deka, Mridul; Paul, Abhishek; Borgohain, Sunny; Roy, Nobhojit

2015-04-13

Mass gatherings including a large number of people makes the planning and management of the event a difficult task. Kumbh Mela is one such, internationally famous religious mass gathering. It creates the substantial challenge of creating a temporary city in which millions of people can stay for a defined period of time. The arrangements need to allow this very large number of people to reside with proper human waste disposal, medical services, adequate supplies of food and clean water, transportation etc. We report a case study of Maha Kumbh, 2013 which focuses on the management and planning that went into the preparation of Kumbh Mela and understanding its water, sanitation and hygiene conditions. It was an observational cross-sectional study, the field work was done for 13 days, from 21 January to 2 February 2013. Our findings suggest that the Mela committee and all other agencies involved in Mela management proved to be successful in supervising the event and making it convenient, efficient and safe. Health care services and water sanitation and hygiene conditions were found to be satisfactory. BhuleBhatke Kendra (Center for helping people who got separated from their families) had the major task of finding missing people and helping them to meet their families. Some of the shortfalls identified were that drainage was a major problem and some fire incidents were reported. Therefore, improvement in drainage facilities and reduction in fire incidents are essential to making Mela cleaner and safer. The number of persons per toilet was high and there were no separate toilets for males and females. Special facilities and separate toilets for men and women will improve their stay in Mela. Inculcation of modern methods and technologies are likely to help in supporting crowd management and improving water, sanitation and hygiene conditions in the continuously expanding KumbhMela, in the coming years.

British Students' Perceptions of Ethical Issues in International Marketing: An Empirical Investigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, Sammy G.

1996-01-01

A survey investigated 122 British business students' perceptions of ethics in international marketing practices, particularly as they are affected by demographic characteristics. In response to 12 specific scenarios, students indicated relatively liberal attitudes. Implications for global marketing specialists and for business education are…

An investigation of the international literature on nurse practitioner private practice models.

Science.gov (United States)

Currie, J; Chiarella, M; Buckley, T

2013-12-01

To investigate and synthesize the international literature surrounding nurse practitioner (NP) private practice models in order to provide an exposition of commonalities and differences. NP models of service delivery have been established internationally and most are based in the public healthcare system. In recent years, opportunities for the establishment of NP private practice models have evolved, facilitated by changes in legislation and driven by identification of potential patient need. To date, NP private practice models have received less attention in the literature and, to the authors' knowledge, this is the first international investigation of NP private practice models. Integrative literature review. A literature search was undertaken in October 2012. Database sources utilized included Medical Literature Analyses and Retrieval (MEDLINE), the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), ProQuest, Scopus and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR). The grey literature was also searched. The following Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and search terms used both individually and in combination included nurse practitioners; private practice; joint practice; collaboration; and insurance, health and reimbursement. Once literature had been identified, a thematic analysis was undertaken to extract themes. Thirty manuscripts and five publications from the grey literature were included in the final review. Private practice NP roles were identified in five countries, with the majority of the literature emanating from the USA. The thematic analysis resulted in the identification of five themes: reimbursement, collaborative arrangements, legislation, models of care and acceptability. Proportionally, there are very few NPs engaged in private practice internationally. The most common NP private practice models were community based, with NPs working in clinic settings, either alone or with other health professionals. Challenges in the

Cost effectiveness methodology for evaluating Korean international communication system alternatives.

OpenAIRE

Hwang, Tae Kyun.

1987-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. Cost and Effectiveness models are developed by using of cost-effectiveness technique for fiber optic cable and satellite communication media. The models are applied to the Korean international communication problem. Alternative selection is required since the two medias different in cost and effectiveness. The major difficulties encountered were data gathering and measuring the effectiveness of the Korean international ...

Common-image gathers in the offset domain from reverse-time migration

KAUST Repository

Zhan, Ge; Zhang, Minyu

2014-01-01

Kirchhoff migration is flexible to output common-image gathers (CIGs) in the offset domain by imaging data with different offsets separately. These CIGs supply important information for velocity model updates and amplitude-variation-with-offset (AVO

Azimuth and angle gathers from wave equation imaging in VTI media

KAUST Repository

Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali; Fomel, Sergey B.

2009-01-01

by the need to properly estimate multiple anisotropic parameters for a proper representation of the medium. We extract angle gathers for each downward-continuation step from converting offset-space-frequency planes into angle-space planes simultaneously

International Police Cooperation on Countering Transnational Terrorism

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-01

contemporary and predicted terrorist threats.199 In relation to TE-SAT, the monitoring and analysis of open source intelligence ( OSINT ) has been proven...Identification File of Customs Investigations)179 that increase the accuracy and completeness of the criminal intelligence gathered from other sources .180...Trend Report (TE-SAT). These reports are unclassified documents prepared based on the information gathered from MS, open sources , and other EU

The prepossession of international institutions for energy. The example International Energy Agency (IEA)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fell, H.J.

2007-01-01

In the contribution under consideration, the author reports on the fact that large international energy agencies, which are advisory active in energy questions active, affect the world-wide policy. In particular, these are the International Atomic Energy Authority in Vienna (Austria) and the International Energy Agency in Paris (France). The International Energy Agency is considered world-wide as the most important institution for all energy questions. Nearly annually, it publishes the World Energy Outlook by summarizing the most important current energy data of the world, prognoses the future power supply and makes future energy prices. The reality of the International Energy Agency looks completely differently: It performs no own sciences, but consists of statisticians, who gather only statistical data without scientific analysis. The author of this contribution summarizes the work of the International Energy Agency in three points: (a) Promotion of the interests of companies in mineral oil, natural gas, coal and atomic energy; (b) Hindering the world-wide conversion of renewable energy; (c) Endangerment of the world economy and prevention of an effective climate protection. The International Energy Agency does not justice to its own goal of a reliable, economical and pollution free power supply

Method for gathering and summarizing internet information

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Potok, Thomas E.; Elmore, Mark Thomas; Reed, Joel Wesley; Treadwell, Jim N.; Samatova, Nagiza Faridovna

2010-04-06

A computer method of gathering and summarizing large amounts of information comprises collecting information from a plurality of information sources (14, 51) according to respective maps (52) of the information sources (14), converting the collected information from a storage format to XML-language documents (26, 53) and storing the XML-language documents in a storage medium, searching for documents (55) according to a search query (13) having at least one term and identifying the documents (26) found in the search, and displaying the documents as nodes (33) of a tree structure (32) having links (34) and nodes (33) so as to indicate similarity of the documents to each other.

Study Design and Data Gathering Guide for Serious Games’ Evaluation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baalsrud Hauge, Jannicke; Boyle, Elizabeth; Mayer, Igor; Nadolski, Rob; Riedel, Johann C. K. H.; Moreno-Ger, Pablo; Bellotti, Francesco; Lim, Theodore; Ritchie, James

2013-01-01

Baalsrud Hauge, J., Boyle, E., Mayer, I., Nadolski, R. J., Riedel, J. C. K. H., Moreno-Ger, P., Bellotti, F., Lim, T., & Ritchie, J. (2013). Study Design and Data Gathering Guide for Serious Games’ Evaluation. In T. M. Connolly, T. Hainey, E. Boyle, G. Baxter, & P. Moreno-Ger (Eds.), Psychology,

78 FR 39017 - Investigative Hearing

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-28

... NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD Investigative Hearing On November 30, 2012, at 6:59 a.m... exposure. The investigative hearing will discuss Conrail operations and the emergency response to the... in establishing a unified command. The goals of this hearing are to gather additional factual...

Tuberculosis and mass gatherings-opportunities for defining burden, transmission risk, and the optimal surveillance, prevention, and control measures at the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Science.gov (United States)

Zumla, Alimuddin; Saeed, Abdulaziz Bin; Alotaibi, Badriah; Yezli, Saber; Dar, Osman; Bieh, Kingsley; Bates, Matthew; Tayeb, Tamara; Mwaba, Peter; Shafi, Shuja; McCloskey, Brian; Petersen, Eskild; Azhar, Esam I

2016-06-01

Tuberculosis (TB) is now the most common infectious cause of death worldwide. In 2014, an estimated 9.6 million people developed active TB. There were an estimated three million people with active TB including 360000 with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) who were not diagnosed, and such people continue to fuel TB transmission in the community. Accurate data on the actual burden of TB and the transmission risk associated with mass gatherings are scarce and unreliable due to the small numbers studied and methodological issues. Every year, an estimated 10 million pilgrims from 184 countries travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to perform the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages. A large majority of pilgrims come from high TB burden and MDR-TB endemic areas and thus many may have undiagnosed active TB, sub-clinical TB, and latent TB infection. The Hajj pilgrimage provides unique opportunities for the KSA and the 184 countries from which pilgrims originate, to conduct high quality priority research studies on TB under the remit of the Global Centre for Mass Gatherings Medicine. Research opportunities are discussed, including those related to the definition of the TB burden, transmission risk, and the optimal surveillance, prevention, and control measures at the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The associated data are required to develop international recommendations and guidelines for TB management and control at mass gathering events. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Summary of the International Conference on Arabidopsis Research 2011, June 22-25, 2011

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meyers, Blake C

2012-07-15

This project provided participant support for the gathering of plant biologists at the International Conferences on Arabidopsis Research (ICAR) in 2011. Arabidopsis thaliana, the reference flowering plant, has been intensely studied over the last 20 years and has proven to be an ideal model for studying nearly all aspects of plant biology. The success of this research field has been greatly facilitated by the openness and collegiality of the community fostered through multiple international forums including the ICAR. Advances in basic and applied plant biology are featured at the meeting, which is the primary gathering point for this strongly integrated international community. The ICAR convenes plant researchers, allows discussion and dissemination of the latest research in plant biology, and facilitates dialog among those that may be separated by geography, career stage, and culture. This project focused on facilitating access by early career scientists that have reduced access to attend major meetings.

The impact of mass gatherings and holiday traveling on the course of an influenza pandemic: a computational model.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Pengyi; Keskinocak, Pinar; Swann, Julie L; Lee, Bruce Y

2010-12-21

During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, concerns arose about the potential negative effects of mass public gatherings and travel on the course of the pandemic. Better understanding the potential effects of temporal changes in social mixing patterns could help public officials determine if and when to cancel large public gatherings or enforce regional travel restrictions, advisories, or surveillance during an epidemic. We develop a computer simulation model using detailed data from the state of Georgia to explore how various changes in social mixing and contact patterns, representing mass gatherings and holiday traveling, may affect the course of an influenza pandemic. Various scenarios with different combinations of the length of the mass gatherings or traveling period (range: 0.5 to 5 days), the proportion of the population attending the mass gathering events or on travel (range: 1% to 50%), and the initial reproduction numbers R0 (1.3, 1.5, 1.8) are explored. Mass gatherings that occur within 10 days before the epidemic peak can result in as high as a 10% relative increase in the peak prevalence and the total attack rate, and may have even worse impacts on local communities and travelers' families. Holiday traveling can lead to a second epidemic peak under certain scenarios. Conversely, mass traveling or gatherings may have little effect when occurring much earlier or later than the epidemic peak, e.g., more than 40 days earlier or 20 days later than the peak when the initial R0 = 1.5. Our results suggest that monitoring, postponing, or cancelling large public gatherings may be warranted close to the epidemic peak but not earlier or later during the epidemic. Influenza activity should also be closely monitored for a potential second peak if holiday traveling occurs when prevalence is high.

Energy expenditure and activity among Hadza hunter-gatherers.

Science.gov (United States)

Pontzer, Herman; Raichlen, David A; Wood, Brian M; Emery Thompson, Melissa; Racette, Susan B; Mabulla, Audax Z P; Marlowe, Frank W

2015-01-01

Studies of total energy expenditure, (TEE; kcal/day) among traditional populations have challenged current models relating habitual physical activity to daily energy requirements. Here, we examine the relationship between physical activity and TEE among traditional Hadza hunter-gatherers living in northern Tanzania. Hadza adults were studied at two camps, with minimal intervention so as to monitor energy expenditure and activity during normal daily life. We measured daily walking distance and walking speed using wearable GPS units for 41 adults. For a subset of 30 adults, we measured TEE using doubly labeled water, three indices of work load (foraging return rate, maternal status, and number of dependent children), and urinary biomarkers of metabolic activity and stress (8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, cortisol, and testosterone). Fat-free mass was the single strongest predictor of TEE among Hadza adults (r(2)  = 0.66, P < 0.001). Hadza men used greater daily walking distances and faster walking speeds compared with that of Hadza women, but neither sex nor any measure of physical activity or work load were correlated with TEE in analyses controlling for fat-free mass. Compared with developed, industrial populations, Hadza adults had similar TEE but elevated levels of metabolic stress as measured by 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine. Our results indicate that daily physical activity may not predict TEE within traditional hunter-gatherer populations like the Hadza. Instead, adults with high levels of habitual physical activity may adapt by reducing energy allocation to other physiological activity. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Investigating the Impact of Cambridge International Assessments on U.S. Stakeholders: Student and Teacher Perceptions

Science.gov (United States)

Shaw, Stuart

2011-01-01

As part of the continuing program to study the impact of its international assessments, the University of Cambridge International Examinations ("Cambridge") has undertaken a series of studies investigating the impact on a range of US stakeholders. This paper reports on research designed to respond to a series of washback and impact…

Investigations into Library Web-Scale Discovery Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jason Vaughan

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Web-scale discovery services for libraries provide deep discovery to a library’s local and licensed content, and represent an evolution, perhaps a revolution, for end user information discovery as pertains to library collections.  This article frames the topic of web-scale discovery, and begins by illuminating web-scale discovery from an academic library’s perspective – that is, the internal perspective seeking widespread staff participation in the discovery conversation.  This included the creation of a discovery task force, a group which educated library staff, conducted internal staff surveys, and gathered observations from early adopters.  The article next addresses the substantial research conducted with library vendors which have developed these services.  Such work included drafting of multiple comprehensive question lists distributed to the vendors, onsite vendor visits, and continual tracking of service enhancements.  Together, feedback gained from library staff, insights arrived at by the Discovery Task Force, and information gathered from vendors collectively informed the recommendation of a service for the UNLV Libraries.

I've Gathered a Basket of Communication and Collaboration Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, May

2004-01-01

In this article, the author, a Web development librarian at North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries, recounts how she initiated the implementation of a series of open source communication and collaboration applications for the Libraries' Web site and intranet, and how she gathered a number of tried and tested C&C tools that can…

Evaluating shellfish gathering ( Lucina pectinata) in a tropical mangrove system

Science.gov (United States)

Rondinelli, S. F.; Barros, F.

2010-10-01

Fish resources are important sources of income and protein to traditional inhabitants of coastal zones. In Garapuá village, the shellfish Lucina pectinata is the main resource exploited in mangroves. This study tests whether if in less explored areas (far from the village) L. pectinata individuals have higher densities and greater lengths, and if there was a decrease in cpue's over the last years. Samples were taken monthly in two habitats (mangrove channels and mangrove roots) in six mangrove areas by random squares. The results indicated that closer areas showed significantly lower densities than areas far from the village. Densities were significantly higher in mangrove roots (quizangas) than at channels. There was a significant increase in monthly L. pectinata cpue, from 18.2 dz./shellfish gatherers/day in 2001 to 19.3 in 2007, showing that this stock does not seem to be overexploited. However, (i) a long-term monitoring of Garapuá shellfish gatherers to evaluate if the stock will support an increasing pressure and (ii) several manipulative experiments to better understand ecological processes are suggested.

Gathering Stones: The Problems of Modern Cultural and Activity Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reed M.,

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Cultural-Historical Psychology 2017. Vol. 13, no. 1, 4–22 doi:10.17759/chp.2017130101 ISSN: 1816-5435 / 2224-8935 (online Gathering Stones: The Problems of Modern Cultural and Activity Research 28 Reed M., Ph.D., Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Bristol, Graduate School of Education, Bristol, Great Britain , Malcolm.Reed@bristol.ac.uk Download PDF-fulltext (306 kbFull Text in Russian (PDF, 306 kbPrintRUIn Russian Abstract This paper explores the verbal image of ‘gathering stones’ in order to appreciate the continuing relevance of Vygotsky to the tradition of inquiry that has been inspired by his example and his work. It considers how our tradition is built on the ancient and critical activity of problematization. The meaning and inner value of tradition is explored in relation to problems we address now and have addressed historically, in particular in relation to the problem of an ascendant version of enculturation. The argument ends with a reflection on the difficulties we still face in addressing educational needs.

Proceedings of the Third International Workshop on Advances in Electrocorticography.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ritaccio, A.; Beauchamp, M.; Bosman, C.; Brunner, P.; Chang, E.; Crone, N.; Gunduz, A.; Gupta, D.; Knight, R.; Leuthardt, E.; Litt, B.; Moran, D.; Ojemann, J.; Parvizi, K.; Ramsey, N.; Rieger, J.; Viventi, J.; Voytek, B.; Williams, J.; Schalk, G.

2012-01-01

The Third International Workshop on Advances in Electrocorticography (ECoG) was convened in Washington, DC, on November 10-11, 2011. As in prior meetings, a true multidisciplinary fusion of clinicians, scientists, and engineers from many disciplines gathered to summarize contemporary experiences in

A Type of Low-Latency Data Gathering Method with Multi-Sink for Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Sha, Chao; Qiu, Jian-mei; Li, Shu-yan; Qiang, Meng-ye; Wang, Ru-chuan

2016-01-01

To balance energy consumption and reduce latency on data transmission in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), a type of low-latency data gathering method with multi-Sink (LDGM for short) is proposed in this paper. The network is divided into several virtual regions consisting of three or less data gathering units and the leader of each region is selected according to its residual energy as well as distance to all of the other nodes. Only the leaders in each region need to communicate with the mobile Sinks which have effectively reduced energy consumption and the end-to-end delay. Moreover, with the help of the sleep scheduling and the sensing radius adjustment strategies, redundancy in network coverage could also be effectively reduced. Simulation results show that LDGM is energy efficient in comparison with MST as well as MWST and its time efficiency on data collection is higher than one Sink based data gathering methods. PMID:27338401

A Type of Low-Latency Data Gathering Method with Multi-Sink for Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chao Sha

2016-06-01

Full Text Available To balance energy consumption and reduce latency on data transmission in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs, a type of low-latency data gathering method with multi-Sink (LDGM for short is proposed in this paper. The network is divided into several virtual regions consisting of three or less data gathering units and the leader of each region is selected according to its residual energy as well as distance to all of the other nodes. Only the leaders in each region need to communicate with the mobile Sinks which have effectively reduced energy consumption and the end-to-end delay. Moreover, with the help of the sleep scheduling and the sensing radius adjustment strategies, redundancy in network coverage could also be effectively reduced. Simulation results show that LDGM is energy efficient in comparison with MST as well as MWST and its time efficiency on data collection is higher than one Sink based data gathering methods.

Intergroup aggression in chimpanzees and war in nomadic hunter-gatherers: evaluating the chimpanzee model.

Science.gov (United States)

Wrangham, Richard W; Glowacki, Luke

2012-03-01

Chimpanzee and hunter-gatherer intergroup aggression differ in important ways, including humans having the ability to form peaceful relationships and alliances among groups. This paper nevertheless evaluates the hypothesis that intergroup aggression evolved according to the same functional principles in the two species-selection favoring a tendency to kill members of neighboring groups when killing could be carried out safely. According to this idea chimpanzees and humans are equally risk-averse when fighting. When self-sacrificial war practices are found in humans, therefore, they result from cultural systems of reward, punishment, and coercion rather than evolved adaptations to greater risk-taking. To test this "chimpanzee model," we review intergroup fighting in chimpanzees and nomadic hunter-gatherers living with other nomadic hunter-gatherers as neighbors. Whether humans have evolved specific psychological adaptations for war is unknown, but current evidence suggests that the chimpanzee model is an appropriate starting point for analyzing the biological and cultural evolution of warfare.

78 FR 21632 - Investigative Hearing

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-11

... NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD Investigative Hearing On January 7, 2013, about 1021 eastern... Part 129. The investigative hearing is being held to discuss the Boeing 787 battery and battery charger... goals of this hearing will be to gather additional information on the selection of the lithium ion (Li...

A Parametric Investigation of Nozzle Planform and Internal/External Geometry at Transonic Speeds

Science.gov (United States)

Cler, Daniel L.

1995-01-01

An experimental investigation of multidisciplinary (scarfed trailing edge) nozzle divergent flap geometry was conducted at transonic speeds in the NASA Langley 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel. The geometric parameters investigated include nozzle planform, nozzle contouring location (internal and/or external), and nozzle area ratio (area ratio 1.2 and 2.0). Data were acquired over a range of Mach Numbers from 0.6 to 1.2, angle-of-attack from 0.0 degrees to 9.6 degrees and nozzle pressure ratios from 1.0 to 20.0. Results showed that increasing the rate of change internal divergence angle across the width of the nozzle or increasing internal contouring will decrease static, aeropropulsive and thrust removed drag performance regardless of the speed regime. Also, increasing the rate of change in boattail angle across the width of the nozzle or increasing external contouring will provide the lowest thrust removed drag. Scarfing of the nozzle trailing edges reduces the aeropropulsive performance for the most part and adversely affects the nozzle plume shape at higher nozzle pressure ratios thus increasing the thrust removed drag. The effects of contouring were primary in nature and the effects of planform were secondary in nature. Larger losses occur supersonically than subsonically when scarfing of nozzle trailing edges occurs. The single sawtooth nozzle almost always provided lower thrust removed drag than the double sawtooth nozzles regardless the speed regime. If internal contouring is required, the double sawtooth nozzle planform provides better static and aeropropulsive performance than the single sawtooth nozzle and if no internal contouring is required the single sawtooth provides the highest static and aeropropulsive performance.

Experimental investigation of natural convection induced by internal heat generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tasaka, Y; Kudoh, Y; Takeda, Y; Yanagisawa, T

2005-01-01

Dilatation of a convection cell with respect to its Rayleigh number, one of the problems in internally heated convection, was quantitatively investigated by analyzing temperature field in a cell. The temperature field visualized by a thermo-chromic liquid crystal (TLC) expresses the cell dilatation. A calibration system was developed to convert the visualized photographs of the temperature field to the temperature field. A calibration curve correlating color information extracted from the photograph and temperature was determined from the approximately linear temperature distribution in the horizontal fluid layer using the hue method. Photos taken at various internal Rayleigh numbers were converted to the temperature field by the obtained curve. Extracting individual cells from a temperature field achieves a quantitative expression of the cell dilatation as the variation of the wavenumber of the cell with Rayleigh number increases. The temperature profile in a cell shows that high temperature areas appear at the apexes of the cell, largely different from the profile obtained by linear theory

Internet-supported gathering of treatment data and patient benefits in psoriasis.

Science.gov (United States)

Langenbruch, A K; Schäfer, I; Franzke, N; Augustin, M

2010-05-01

Studies about health care of psoriasis patients in Germany are predominantly carried out in dermatological centres, which results in a certain selection bias. To collect data from other sources of patients, the German Centre of Health Services Research in Dermatology conducted a series of web-based studies. The extent of how data on health care on psoriasis gathered online vary from paper and pencil data is yet to be explored. 1 To collect reliable treatment and benefit online data from psoriasis patients in Germany. 2 To compare these with data gathered at dermatological centres. On the 'psoriasis-hilfe.de' web portal, psoriasis patients were asked to complete the online version of a questionnaire, which has already been used as a paper and pencil version in the national psoriasis study 'PsoHealth'. Subsequently, difference analyses were conducted between the two data sets. The PsoWeb sample (n = 1071) varies to a high extent from the PsoHealth sample (n = 2009) regarding the achievement of treatment goals and treatment satisfaction. Irrespective of age, sex and duration of disease, the online sample showed lower treatment satisfaction and fewer patient-defined benefits. The findings suggest that patients in the online sample are less satisfied with their health care, which also could have been their motive for participating online. It is important to gather data online because it increases the data pool and permits inclusion of people who are not incorporated in clinical settings. However, online data cannot directly replace data collected in clinics because they are also subject to selections.

The hidden Mediterranean diet: wild vegetables traditionally gathered and consumed in the Gargano area, Apulia, SE Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nello Biscotti

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Despite the extensive bio-scientific literature concerning the Mediterranean diet, which emerged in the last three decades, systematic ethnography-centered investigations on a crucial portion of this food system, linked to the traditional consumption of non-cultivated vegetables, are still largely lacking in many areas of the Mediterranean Basin. In this research, an ethnobotanical field study focusing on wild vegetables traditionally gathered and consumed locally, was conducted in a few centers and villages located in the Gargano area, northern Apulia, SE Italy, by interviewing twenty-five elderly informants. The folk culinary uses of seventy-nine botanical taxa of wild vascular plants, belonging to nineteen families, were recorded, thus showing a remarkable resilience of traditional environmental knowledge (TEK related to wild food plants. In particular, approximately one-fourth of the recorded wild vegetables are still very commonly gathered and consumed nowadays, while ten taxa have never been reported in previous ethnobotanical studies conducted in Southern Italy. These findings demonstrate the crucial cultural role played by folk cuisines in preserving TEK, despite significant socio-economic changes that have affected the study area during the past four decades.

Theoretical and experimental investigation on internal reflectors in a single-slope solar still

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karimi Estahbanati, M.R.; Ahsan, Amimul; Feilizadeh, Mehrzad; Jafarpur, Khosrow; Ashrafmansouri, Seyedeh-Saba; Feilizadeh, Mansoor

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The effect of installing an internal reflector in solar stills is investigated. • A mathematical model is presented which takes into account the effect of all walls. • The model is validated with the experimental data. • The internal reflector can increase yearly distillate production by 34%. • Cloud factor significantly decreases the effect of internal reflector. - Abstract: This study investigated the effect of an internal reflector (IR) on the productivity of a single-slope solar still (during the summer and winter) experimentally and theoretically. A mathematical model was presented which took into account the effect of all walls (north, south, west and east) of the still on the amount of received solar radiation to brine, and the model was validated with the experimental data. The model can calculate the yield of the still with and without IR on various walls. The results show that the simultaneous use of IR on front and side walls enhances the still’s efficiency by 18%. However, installation of an IR on the back wall can increase the annual efficiency by 22%. The installation of IRs on all walls in comparison to a still without IR can increase the distillate production at winter, summer and the entire year by 65%, 22% and 34%, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of cloud factor on the installation of IRs on all walls was examined, and the results indicate that the increasing the cloud factor decreases the influence of IRs significantly.

An Investigation of the Internal Structure of the Biggs Study Process Questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Watkins, David; Hattie, John

1980-01-01

Results of an Australian study of the Biggs Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) are presented. The purposes of the research were to: (1) re-examine the SPQ's internal consistency; (2) explore dimensionality of the SPQ scales; and (3) investigate validity of Bigg's model of the study process complex through factor analysis. (Author/GK)

Proceedings of the Eighth International Workshop on Advances in Electrocorticography

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ritaccio, Anthony L.; Williams, Justin; Denison, Tim; Foster, Brett L.; Starr, Philip A.; Gunduz, Aysegul; Zijlmans, Maeike; Schalk, Gerwin

2016-01-01

Excerpted proceedings of the Eighth International Workshop on Advances in Electrocorticography (ECoG), which convened October 15–16, 2015 in Chicago, IL, are presented. The workshop series has become the foremost gathering to present current basic and clinical research in subdural brain signal

Microform Market Place 1974/1975. An International Directory of Micropublishing.

Science.gov (United States)

Veaner, Allen B., Ed.; Meckler, Alan M., Ed.

The information for this international buyer's guide for the microform purchaser was gathered from questionnaires to the publishers themselves. The guide is divided into eight sections: directory of micropublishers, mergers and acquisitions, bibliography of first sources for the microform library, microform jobbers, organizations, a geographical…

Wild plant food in agricultural environments: a study of occurrence, management, and gathering rights in Northeast Thailand.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Price, L.L.

1997-01-01

This article examines the gathering of wild plant foods in agricultural environments and utilizes research conducted among rice cultivators in northeast Thailand as the case study. The management of wild food plants and gathering rights on agricultural land are closely linked to women's roles as

Fabrication of a Micro-Fluid Gathering Tool for the Gastrointestinal Juice Sampling Function of a Versatile Capsular Endoscope

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dong-il Dan Cho

2011-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a micro-fluid gathering tool for a versatile capsular endoscope that employs a solid chemical propellant, azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN. The proposed tool consists of a micro-heater, an AIBN matrix, a Venturi tube, a reservoir, an inlet, and an outlet. The micro-heater heats the AIBN matrix to be decomposed into by-products and nitrogen gas. This nitrogen gas generates negative pressure passing through the Venturi tube. The generated negative pressure inhales a target fluid from around the inlet into the reservoir. All the parts are designed to be embedded inside a cylindrical shape with a diameter of 17 mm and a height of 2.3 mm in order to integrate it into a versatile developmental capsular endoscope without any scaledown. Two sets of the proposed tools are fabricated and tested: one is made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS and the other is made of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA. In performance comparisons, the PDMS gathering tool can withstand a stronger pulling force, and the PMMA gathering tool requires a less negative pressure for inhaling the same target fluid. Due to the instant and full activation of the thin AIBN matrix, both types of gathering tool show analogous performance in the sample gathering evaluation. The gathered volume is approximately 1.57 μL using approximately 25.4 μL of AIBN compound.

Fabrication of a micro-fluid gathering tool for the gastrointestinal juice sampling function of a versatile capsular endoscope.

Science.gov (United States)

Koo, Kyo-In; Lee, Sangmin; Cho, Dong-il Dan

2011-01-01

This paper presents a micro-fluid gathering tool for a versatile capsular endoscope that employs a solid chemical propellant, azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN). The proposed tool consists of a micro-heater, an AIBN matrix, a Venturi tube, a reservoir, an inlet, and an outlet. The micro-heater heats the AIBN matrix to be decomposed into by-products and nitrogen gas. This nitrogen gas generates negative pressure passing through the Venturi tube. The generated negative pressure inhales a target fluid from around the inlet into the reservoir. All the parts are designed to be embedded inside a cylindrical shape with a diameter of 17 mm and a height of 2.3 mm in order to integrate it into a versatile developmental capsular endoscope without any scaledown. Two sets of the proposed tools are fabricated and tested: one is made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and the other is made of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). In performance comparisons, the PDMS gathering tool can withstand a stronger pulling force, and the PMMA gathering tool requires a less negative pressure for inhaling the same target fluid. Due to the instant and full activation of the thin AIBN matrix, both types of gathering tool show analogous performance in the sample gathering evaluation. The gathered volume is approximately 1.57 μL using approximately 25.4 μL of AIBN compound.

Global imbalances: a gathering storm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ugo Sacchetti

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This article provides a detailed analysis of the many factors that, over a period of several years, have contributed to the international financial crisis and highlights the global imbalances, both financial and economic, that continue to pose significant threats to the stability of the world economy. The examination goes beyond looking strictly at the case of the USA to include the positions of other relevant countries, and underscores the shifting relations between the USA and the rest of the world. The pertinent geopolitical aspects are covered, followed by a discussion on possible institutional changes in international financial agencies, prospective financial problems of the USA and their implications, monetary developments, external balances, and international economic problems.

Improving decision speed, accuracy and group cohesion through early information gathering in house-hunting ants.

Science.gov (United States)

Stroeymeyt, Nathalie; Giurfa, Martin; Franks, Nigel R

2010-09-29

Successful collective decision-making depends on groups of animals being able to make accurate choices while maintaining group cohesion. However, increasing accuracy and/or cohesion usually decreases decision speed and vice-versa. Such trade-offs are widespread in animal decision-making and result in various decision-making strategies that emphasize either speed or accuracy, depending on the context. Speed-accuracy trade-offs have been the object of many theoretical investigations, but these studies did not consider the possible effects of previous experience and/or knowledge of individuals on such trade-offs. In this study, we investigated how previous knowledge of their environment may affect emigration speed, nest choice and colony cohesion in emigrations of the house-hunting ant Temnothorax albipennis, a collective decision-making process subject to a classical speed-accuracy trade-off. Colonies allowed to explore a high quality nest site for one week before they were forced to emigrate found that nest and accepted it faster than emigrating naïve colonies. This resulted in increased speed in single choice emigrations and higher colony cohesion in binary choice emigrations. Additionally, colonies allowed to explore both high and low quality nest sites for one week prior to emigration remained more cohesive, made more accurate decisions and emigrated faster than emigrating naïve colonies. These results show that colonies gather and store information about available nest sites while their nest is still intact, and later retrieve and use this information when they need to emigrate. This improves colony performance. Early gathering of information for later use is therefore an effective strategy allowing T. albipennis colonies to improve simultaneously all aspects of the decision-making process--i.e. speed, accuracy and cohesion--and partly circumvent the speed-accuracy trade-off classically observed during emigrations. These findings should be taken into account

Risk management and internal audit: Evidence from Greece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George Drogalas

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Risk management is ranked by financial executives as one of their most important objectives. For this reason, a wide range of literature on risk management has been developed. Within this fluid business environment, internal audit plays a key role in monitoring a company’s risk profile and identifying areas for improving risk management processes. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview of the factors that impact on risk management regarding internal audit function. Empirical evidence was collected by means of a mailed survey. Regression analysis is used in order to illustrate the information gathered. Consistent with theory and our expectations, the results indicate that internal audit, internal auditor and added value of internal audit are statistically significantly associated with risk management.

36 CFR 293.15 - Gathering information about resources other than minerals.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... resources other than minerals. 293.15 Section 293.15 Parks, Forests, and Public Property FOREST SERVICE... than minerals. (a) The Chief, Forest Service, shall allow any activity, for the purposes of gathering information about resources, other than minerals, in National Forest Wilderness, except that any such activity...

An international point source outbreak of typhoid fever: a European collaborative investigation*

Science.gov (United States)

Stanwell-Smith, R. E.; Ward, L. R.

1986-01-01

A point source outbreak of Salmonella typhi, degraded Vi-strain 22, affecting 32 British visitors to Kos, Greece, in 1983 was attributed by a case—control study to the consumption of a salad at one hotel. This represents the first major outbreak of typhoid fever in which a salad has been identified as the vehicle. The source of the infection was probably a carrier in the hotel staff. The investigation demonstrates the importance of national surveillance, international cooperation, and epidemiological methods in the investigation and control of major outbreaks of infection. PMID:3488842

Users’ Participation in Requirements Gathering for Smart Phones Applications in Emerging Markets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aryana, Bijan; Clemmensen, Torkil; Boks, Casper

2015-01-01

This study presents insights from using requirements gathering techniques for country-specific customization of smart phones in two emerging markets, Iran and Turkey. In each country, a group of users participated in requirements gathering sessions that were aimed at developing design ideas...... for overcoming country-specific usability problems. Using qualitative content analysis, it was found that in each country some specific interaction activities were considered more when participants generated design ideas for country-specific usability problems. It was also found that even for similar usability...... problems, participants suggested country-specific solutions. Therefore, it is suggested that participation of local users in the design process should not be limited to identification of usability problems, but should also include the problem-solving phase that is usually a phase in design and development...

Common-image gathers in the offset domain from reverse-time migration

KAUST Repository

Zhan, Ge

2014-04-01

Kirchhoff migration is flexible to output common-image gathers (CIGs) in the offset domain by imaging data with different offsets separately. These CIGs supply important information for velocity model updates and amplitude-variation-with-offset (AVO) analysis. Reverse-time migration (RTM) offers more insights into complex geology than Kirchhoff migration by accurately describing wave propagation using the two-way wave equation. But, it has difficulty to produce offset domain CIGs like Kirchhoff migration. In this paper, we develop a method for obtaining offset domain CIGs from RTM. The method first computes the RTM operator of an offset gather, followed by a dot product of the operator and the offset data to form a common-offset RTM image. The offset domain CIGs are then achieved after separately migrating data with different offsets. We generate offset domain CIGs on both the Marmousi synthetic data and 2D Gulf of Mexico real data using this approach. © 2014.

Investigating Move Structure of English Applied Linguistics Research Article Discussions Published in International and Thai Journals

Science.gov (United States)

Amnuai, Wirada; Wannaruk, Anchalee

2013-01-01

This study investigates the rhetorical move structure of English applied linguistic research article Discussions published in Thai and international journals. Two corpora comprising of 30 Thai Discussions and 30 international Discussions were analyzed using Yang & Allison's (2003) move model. Based on the analysis, both similarities and…

The Search Stage: When, Where, and What Information Do Urban Public High School Students Gather about College

Science.gov (United States)

Malone, Helen Janc

2013-01-01

This qualitative longitudinal multiple case study offers a perspective into the college information gathering practices across a sample of low-income students at two large urban public high schools. The findings show that students engage in and benefit from comprehensive information gathering strategies but that disparities exist across academic…

Wide-azimuth angle gathers for anisotropic wave-equation migration

KAUST Repository

Sava, Paul C.

2012-10-15

Extended common-image-point gathers (CIP) constructed by wide-azimuth TI wave-equation migration contain all the necessary information for angle decomposition as a function of the reflection and azimuth angles at selected locations in the subsurface. The aperture and azimuth angles are derived from the extended images using analytic relations between the space- and time-lag extensions using information which is already available at the time of migration, i.e. the anisotropic model parameters. CIPs are cheap to compute because they can be distributed in the image at the most relevant positions, as indicated by the geologic structure. If the reflector dip is known at the CIP locations, then the computational cost can be reduced by evaluating only two components of the space-lag vector. The transformation from extended images to angle gathers is a planar Radon transform which depends on the local medium parameters. This transformation allows us to separate all illumination directions for a given experiment, or between different experiments. We do not need to decompose the reconstructed wavefields or to choose the most energetic directions for decomposition. Applications of the method include illumination studies in complex areas where ray-based methods fail, and assuming that the subsurface illumination is sufficiently dense, the study of amplitude variation with aperture and azimuth angles. © 2012 European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers.

Wide-azimuth angle gathers for anisotropic wave-equation migration

KAUST Repository

Sava, Paul C.; Alkhalifah, Tariq Ali

2012-01-01

Extended common-image-point gathers (CIP) constructed by wide-azimuth TI wave-equation migration contain all the necessary information for angle decomposition as a function of the reflection and azimuth angles at selected locations in the subsurface. The aperture and azimuth angles are derived from the extended images using analytic relations between the space- and time-lag extensions using information which is already available at the time of migration, i.e. the anisotropic model parameters. CIPs are cheap to compute because they can be distributed in the image at the most relevant positions, as indicated by the geologic structure. If the reflector dip is known at the CIP locations, then the computational cost can be reduced by evaluating only two components of the space-lag vector. The transformation from extended images to angle gathers is a planar Radon transform which depends on the local medium parameters. This transformation allows us to separate all illumination directions for a given experiment, or between different experiments. We do not need to decompose the reconstructed wavefields or to choose the most energetic directions for decomposition. Applications of the method include illumination studies in complex areas where ray-based methods fail, and assuming that the subsurface illumination is sufficiently dense, the study of amplitude variation with aperture and azimuth angles. © 2012 European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers.

Investigation of Subcombination Internal Resonances in Cantilever Beams

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Haider N. Arafat

1998-01-01

Full Text Available Activation of subcombination internal resonances in transversely excited cantilever beams is investigated. The effect of geometric and inertia nonlinearities, which are cubic in the governing equation of motion, is considered. The method of time-averaged Lagrangian and virtual work is used to determine six nonlinear ordinary-differential equations governing the amplitudes and phases of the three interacting modes. Frequency- and force-response curves are generated for the case ω ≈ ω4 ≈ 1/2(ω2 + ω5. There are two possible responses: single-mode and three-mode responses. The single-mode periodic response is found to undergo supercritical and subcritical pitchfork bifurcations, which result in three-mode interactions. In the case of three-mode responses, there are conditions where the low-frequency mode dominates the response, resulting in high-amplitude quasiperiodic oscillations.

How Do Hunter-Gatherer Children Learn Subsistence Skills? : A Meta-Ethnographic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lew-Levy, Sheina; Reckin, Rachel; Lavi, Noa; Cristóbal-Azkarate, Jurgi; Ellis-Davies, Kate

2017-12-01

Hunting and gathering is, evolutionarily, the defining subsistence strategy of our species. Studying how children learn foraging skills can, therefore, provide us with key data to test theories about the evolution of human life history, cognition, and social behavior. Modern foragers, with their vast cultural and environmental diversity, have mostly been studied individually. However, cross-cultural studies allow us to extrapolate forager-wide trends in how, when, and from whom hunter-gatherer children learn their subsistence skills. We perform a meta-ethnography, which allows us to systematically extract, summarize, and compare both quantitative and qualitative literature. We found 58 publications focusing on learning subsistence skills. Learning begins early in infancy, when parents take children on foraging expeditions and give them toy versions of tools. In early and middle childhood, children transition into the multi-age playgroup, where they learn skills through play, observation, and participation. By the end of middle childhood, most children are proficient food collectors. However, it is not until adolescence that adults (not necessarily parents) begin directly teaching children complex skills such as hunting and complex tool manufacture. Adolescents seek to learn innovations from adults, but they themselves do not innovate. These findings support predictive models that find social learning should occur before individual learning. Furthermore, these results show that teaching does indeed exist in hunter-gatherer societies. And, finally, though children are competent foragers by late childhood, learning to extract more complex resources, such as hunting large game, takes a lifetime.

The Relationship Between Internal Motivation And Customer Satisfaction Of Posthaste Purchase

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Farbodsouri

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study is performing an empirical study in the field of marketing in order to examine the relationship between internal motivation and customer satisfaction of posthaste purchase in stores that researcher made model have been used.In this model the relationship between internal motivation and customer satisfaction of posthaste purchase was investigated. To review research sample of 385 customers was selected as a stepwise clustering. Data gathered by standard questionnaire with 21 questions that its validity and reliability was confirmed and distributed among the statistical population. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. At the level of Descriptive statistics indices such as frequency and frequency percentage were used and in inferential statistics correlation methods structural equation modeling path analysis has been done using the spss and lisrel software. The results of the analysis showing the existence of a significant and positive impact of internal motivation on customer satisfaction of posthaste buying. In general the ability of the Tehran Hyperstar chain store to increase customers satisfaction of posthaste buying must pay special attention to the effective internal motivation of customers the impulsivity the pleasure of shopping fashion involvement personal identity p050.

Co-residence patterns in hunter-gatherer societies show unique human social structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Kim R; Walker, Robert S; Bozicević, Miran; Eder, James; Headland, Thomas; Hewlett, Barry; Hurtado, A Magdalena; Marlowe, Frank; Wiessner, Polly; Wood, Brian

2011-03-11

Contemporary humans exhibit spectacular biological success derived from cumulative culture and cooperation. The origins of these traits may be related to our ancestral group structure. Because humans lived as foragers for 95% of our species' history, we analyzed co-residence patterns among 32 present-day foraging societies (total n = 5067 individuals, mean experienced band size = 28.2 adults). We found that hunter-gatherers display a unique social structure where (i) either sex may disperse or remain in their natal group, (ii) adult brothers and sisters often co-reside, and (iii) most individuals in residential groups are genetically unrelated. These patterns produce large interaction networks of unrelated adults and suggest that inclusive fitness cannot explain extensive cooperation in hunter-gatherer bands. However, large social networks may help to explain why humans evolved capacities for social learning that resulted in cumulative culture.

Performance investigation on a 4-bed adsorption desalination cycle with internal heat recovery scheme

KAUST Repository

Thu, Kyaw; Yanagi, Hideharu; Saha, Bidyut Baran; Ng, Kim Choon

2016-01-01

Multi-bed adsorption cycle with the internal heat recovery between the condenser and the evaporator is investigated for desalination application. A numerical model is developed for a 4-bed adsorption cycle implemented with the master

Ethical Dilemmas of Rehabilitation Counselors: Results of an International Qualitative Study

Science.gov (United States)

Tarvydas, Vilia; Barros-Bailey, Mary

2010-01-01

This study reports the results of an international qualitative study conducted to inform the process of revising the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification's Code of Professional Ethics for Rehabilitation Counselors. The online survey gathered information regarding ethical dilemmas from a sample of certified rehabilitation counselors…

Inferring the demographic history of African farmers and pygmy hunter-gatherers using a multilocus resequencing data set.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Etienne Patin

2009-04-01

Full Text Available The transition from hunting and gathering to farming involved a major cultural innovation that has spread rapidly over most of the globe in the last ten millennia. In sub-Saharan Africa, hunter-gatherers have begun to shift toward an agriculture-based lifestyle over the last 5,000 years. Only a few populations still base their mode of subsistence on hunting and gathering. The Pygmies are considered to be the largest group of mobile hunter-gatherers of Africa. They dwell in equatorial rainforests and are characterized by their short mean stature. However, little is known about the chronology of the demographic events-size changes, population splits, and gene flow--ultimately giving rise to contemporary Pygmy (Western and Eastern groups and neighboring agricultural populations. We studied the branching history of Pygmy hunter-gatherers and agricultural populations from Africa and estimated separation times and gene flow between these populations. We resequenced 24 independent noncoding regions across the genome, corresponding to a total of approximately 33 kb per individual, in 236 samples from seven Pygmy and five agricultural populations dispersed over the African continent. We used simulation-based inference to identify the historical model best fitting our data. The model identified included the early divergence of the ancestors of Pygmy hunter-gatherers and farming populations approximately 60,000 years ago, followed by a split of the Pygmies' ancestors into the Western and Eastern Pygmy groups approximately 20,000 years ago. Our findings increase knowledge of the history of the peopling of the African continent in a region lacking archaeological data. An appreciation of the demographic and adaptive history of African populations with different modes of subsistence should improve our understanding of the influence of human lifestyles on genome diversity.

Information gathering for the Transportation Statistics Data Bank

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shappert, L.B.; Mason, P.J.

1981-10-01

The Transportation Statistics Data Bank (TSDB) was developed in 1974 to collect information on the transport of Department of Energy (DOE) materials. This computer program may be used to provide the framework for collecting more detailed information on DOE shipments of radioactive materials. This report describes the type of information that is needed in this area and concludes that the existing system could be readily modified to collect and process it. The additional needed information, available from bills of lading and similar documents, could be gathered from DOE field offices and transferred in a standard format to the TSDB system. Costs of the system are also discussed briefly

Firewood, food and human niche construction: the potential role of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in actively structuring Scotland's woodlands

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Rosie R.; Church, Mike J.; Rowley-Conwy, Peter A.

2015-01-01

Over the past few decades the potential role of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in actively constructing their own niches, through the management of wild plants, has frequently been discussed. It is probable that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers systematically exploited specific woodland resources for food and fuel and influenced the 'natural' abundance or distribution of particular species within Mesolithic environments. Though there has been considerable discussion of the pollen evidence for potential small-scale human-woodland manipulation in Mesolithic Scotland, the archaeobotanical evidence for anthropogenic firewood and food selection has not been discussed in this context. This paper assesses the evidence for the active role of Mesolithic hunter-gatherer communities in systematically exploiting and managing woodlands for food and fuel in Scotland. While taphonomic factors may have impacted on the frequency of specific species in archaeobotanical assemblages, it is suggested that hunter-gatherers in Mesolithic Scotland were systematically using woodland plants, and in particular hazel and oak, for food and fuel. It is argued that the pollen evidence for woodland management is equivocal, but hints at the role of hunter-gatherers in shaping the structure of their environments, through the maintenance or creation of woodland clearings for settlement or as part of vegetation management strategies. It is proposed that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers may have actively contributed to niche construction and that the systematic use of hazel and oak as a fuel may reflect the deliberate pruning of hazel trees to increase nut-yields and the inadvertent - or perhaps deliberate - coppicing of hazel and oak during greenwood collection.

Chapter 5. Plant gathering, game hunting, fishing, mineral collecting, and agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Kurt F. Anschuetz

2007-01-01

Native American populations have cut wood for shelters and fuel, gathered native plants, hunted game animals, and collected various other resources, such as obsidian for making chipped-stone tools, clay for crafting pottery vessels, and stone slabs for producing piki (corn meal paper bread) griddles, in the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) for countless...

Proceedings of the fifth international conference on CANDU fuel. V.1,2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lau, J.H.

1997-01-01

The First International Conference on CANDU Fuel was held in Chalk River in 1986. The CANDU Fuel community has gathered every three years since. The papers presented include topics on international experience, CANFLEX fuel bundles, Fuel design, Fuel modelling, Manufacturing and Quality assurance, Fuel performance and Safety, Fuel cycles and Spent Fuel management. Volume One was published in advance of the conference and Volume Two was printed after the conference

Proceedings of the fifth international conference on CANDU fuel. V.1,2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lau, J H [ed.

1997-07-01

The First International Conference on CANDU Fuel was held in Chalk River in 1986. The CANDU Fuel community has gathered every three years since. The papers presented include topics on international experience, CANFLEX fuel bundles, Fuel design, Fuel modelling, Manufacturing and Quality assurance, Fuel performance and Safety, Fuel cycles and Spent Fuel management. Volume One was published in advance of the conference and Volume Two was printed after the conference.

A Study of Factors Influencing International Students' Choice of Higher Education Institutions

OpenAIRE

Akadu, Victor Abia

2013-01-01

This paper discusses the factors that influence international students’ choice of higher education institutions. The research conducted using the international students in the University of Nottingham (Malaysia Campus) and Monash University (Malaysia Campus) and survey questionnaires were mainly used to gather primary data for the purpose of this study. Findings from this research indicated that product and university based factors, cost factors, promotion, location and social influences all ...

Gathering pipeline methane emissions in Fayetteville shale pipelines and scoping guidelines for future pipeline measurement campaigns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel J. Zimmerle

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Gathering pipelines, which transport gas from well pads to downstream processing, are a sector of the natural gas supply chain for which little measured methane emissions data are available. This study performed leak detection and measurement on 96 km of gathering pipeline and the associated 56 pigging facilities and 39 block valves. The study found one underground leak accounting for 83% (4.0 kg CH4/hr of total measured emissions. Methane emissions for the 4684 km of gathering pipeline in the study area were estimated at 402 kg CH4/hr [95 to 1065 kg CH4/hr, 95% CI], or 1% [0.2% to 2.6%] of all methane emissions measured during a prior aircraft study of the same area. Emissions estimated by this study fall within the uncertainty range of emissions estimated using emission factors from EPA’s 2015 Greenhouse Inventory and study activity estimates. While EPA’s current inventory is based upon emission factors from distribution mains measured in the 1990s, this study indicates that using emission factors from more recent distribution studies could significantly underestimate emissions from gathering pipelines. To guide broader studies of pipeline emissions, we also estimate the fraction of the pipeline length within a basin that must be measured to constrain uncertainty of pipeline emissions estimates to within 1% of total basin emissions. The study provides both substantial insight into the mix of emission sources and guidance for future gathering pipeline studies, but since measurements were made in a single basin, the results are not sufficiently representative to provide methane emission factors at the regional or national level.

Developing Public Health Initiatives through Understanding Motivations of the Audience at Mass-Gathering Events.

Science.gov (United States)

Hutton, Alison; Ranse, Jamie; Munn, Matthew Brendan

2018-04-01

This report identifies what is known about audience motivations at three different mass-gathering events: outdoor music festivals, religious events, and sporting events. In light of these motivations, the paper discusses how these can be harnessed by the event organizer and Emergency Medical Services. Lastly, motivations tell what kinds of interventions can be used to achieve an understanding of audience characteristics and the opportunity to develop tailor-made programs to maximize safety and make long-lasting public health interventions to a particular "cohort" or event population. A lot of these will depend on what the risks/hazards are with the particular populations in order to "target" them with public health interventions. Audience motivations tell the event organizer and Emergency Medical Services about the types of behaviors they should expect from the audience and how this may affect their health while at the event. Through these understandings, health promotion and event safety messages can be developed for a particular type of mass-gathering event based on the likely composition of the audience in attendance. Health promotion and providing public information should be at the core of any mass-gathering event to minimize public health risk and to provide opportunities for the promotion of healthy behaviors in the local population. Audience motivations are a key element to identify and agree on what public health information is needed for the event audience. A more developed understanding of audience behavior provides critical information for event planners, event risk managers, and Emergency Medical Services personnel to better predict and plan to minimize risk and reduce patient presentations at events. Mass-gathering event organizers and designers intend their events to be positive experiences and to have meaning for those who attend. Therefore, continual vigilance to improve public health effectiveness and efficiency can become best practice at events

VIRTUAL REALITY FOR MANAGEMENT OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS DURING GLOBAL MASS GATHERINGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. S. Karsakov

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a training technology for staff of mass events for development of action skills in large gatherings of people, including crowd dynamic management and actions in extreme situations caused by the panic. The technology is based on the multi-agent model of crowd dynamic with dynamically re-computable navigation fields. We implemented the software system that provides a collaborative and distributed process of training activities in the virtual reality environment. The following characteristics of the developed software system available from experimental studies were analyzed: computational intensity of simulations, scalability of rendering system and reactivity of the final system when rendering computationally intensive scenes. The proposed models and infrastructure for training through collaborative immersion in the virtual reality can improve situational awareness of events staff prior to the event. The developed technology is a unique tool for improving the quality and safety of disposable and unique events involving the broad masses of people, including unfunded by retrospective experience mass gatherings. Developed technology was tested within the Kumbh Mela festival in Ujjain, India.

Investigation of Plasma Spray Coatings as an Alternative to Hard Chrome Plating on Internal Surfaces

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Legg, Keith O; Sartwell, Bruce D; Legoux, Jean-Gabriel; Nestler, Montia; Dambra, Christopher; Wang, Daming; Quets, John; Natishan, Paul; Bretz, Philip; Devereaux, Jon

2006-01-01

.... This document constitutes the final report on an investigation of deposition of coatings using miniature plasma spray guns that could replace hard chromium on internal surfaces where conventional...

Statistical Physics: Third Tohwa University International Conference. AIP Conference Proceedings No. 519 [ACPCS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tokuyama, M.; Stanley, H.E.

2000-01-01

The main purpose of the Tohwa University International Conference on Statistical Physics is to provide an opportunity for an international group of experimentalists, theoreticians, and computational scientists who are working on various fields of statistical physics to gather together and discuss their recent advances. The conference covered six topics: complex systems, general methods of statistical physics, biological physics, cross-disciplinary physics, information science, and econophysics

Mortality, fertility, and the OY ratio in a model hunter-gatherer system.

Science.gov (United States)

White, Andrew A

2014-06-01

An agent-based model (ABM) is used to explore how the ratio of old to young adults (the OY ratio) in a sample of dead individuals is related to aspects of mortality, fertility, and longevity experienced by the living population from which the sample was drawn. The ABM features representations of rules, behaviors, and constraints that affect person- and household-level decisions about marriage, reproduction, and infant mortality in hunter-gatherer systems. The demographic characteristics of the larger model system emerge through human-level interactions playing out in the context of "global" parameters that can be adjusted to produce a range of mortality and fertility conditions. Model data show a relationship between the OY ratios of living populations (the living OY ratio) and assemblages of dead individuals drawn from those populations (the dead OY ratio) that is consistent with that from empirically known ethnographic hunter-gatherer cases. The dead OY ratio is clearly related to the mean ages, mean adult mortality rates, and mean total fertility rates experienced by living populations in the model. Sample size exerts a strong effect on the accuracy with which the calculated dead OY ratio reflects the actual dead OY ratio of the complete assemblage. These results demonstrate that the dead OY ratio is a potentially useful metric for paleodemographic analysis of changes in mortality and mean age, and suggest that, in general, hunter-gatherer populations with higher mortality, higher fertility, and lower mean ages are characterized by lower dead OY ratios. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Secure Network Coding-based Data Gathering Model and Its Protocol in Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian Xiao

2012-09-01

Full Text Available To provide security for data gathering based on network coding in wireless sensor networks (WSNs, a secure network coding-based data gathering model is proposed, and a data-privacy preserving and pollution preventing (DPPaamp;PP protocol using network coding is designed. DPPaamp;PP makes use of a new proposed pollution symbol selection and pollution (PSSP scheme based on a new obfuscation idea to pollute existing symbols. Analyses of DPPaamp;PP show that it not only requires low overhead on computation and communication, but also provides high security on resisting brute-force attacks.

Brief report: Do children with autism gather information from social contexts to aid their word learning?

Science.gov (United States)

Jing, Wei; Fang, Junming

2014-06-01

Typically developing (TD) infants could capitalize on social eye gaze and social contexts to aid word learning. Although children with autism disorder (AD) are known to exhibit atypicality in word learning via social eye gaze, their ability to utilize social contexts for word learning is not well understood. We investigated whether verbal AD children exhibit word learning ability via social contextual cues by late childhood. We found that AD children, unlike TD controls, failed to infer the speaker’s referential intention through information gathered from the social context. This suggests that TD children can learn words in diverse social pragmatic contexts in as early as toddlerhood whereas AD children are still unable to do so by late childhood.

The Challenge of City-Level Data-Gathering for Implementing SDG 11 in Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Elias, P. O.

2017-12-01

Implementing sustainable development goal 11 in Africa which includes measuring and monitoring social and economic welfare indicators at the city-level requires data of the best quality. In recent years, there have been progress in national statistics and censuses survey yet data gathering in many African countries are not accurate, timely, disaggregated and widely usable. This often diminish the capability of governments to tackle urban development challenges, which are particularly exacerbated by inequality, poverty and uncontrolled development especially in cities. To support knowledge driven decisions and policies there is need to improve data-gathering systems about health, education, and safety, economy and poverty, land, housing and environment, trade and commerce, population and demography. Also, the underlying dynamics, processes, distributions, patterns, trends or disparities inherent in African cities require the breaking down of aggregated data into their component parts or smaller units, which underscores urban data revolution towards achieving SDG 11. In Africa, the process of bringing together diverse data communities to embrace a diverse range of data sources, tools, and innovative technologies, to provide disaggregated data for decision-making, service delivery and citizen engagement is still emerging. Several factors are inhibiting urban data revolution and need to be overturned before we can provide more evidence, more data and more certainty for decision makers towards achieving urban development targets and sustainable cities for Africa. The paper examines the challenge of city-level data-gathering for implementing SDG 11 in Africa. Specifically, it examines the role of cities in implementing SDG 11 in Africa and the need to disaggregate data at city-level; it assesses existing data sources, compilation and dissemination channels as well as the challenges of deploying innovative techniques and strategies including digital and social media

Background and perspective on rapid progress and deepening of international development of nuclear industry-composition of international nuclear energy business 'cooperation and competition'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kano, Tokio; Kanda, Keji; Ishizuka, Nobuo

2005-01-01

Based on the recognition that international development of nuclear industry was important by a viewpoint of international cooperation to neighboring Asian area and also it was the trump that defeated a feeling of domestic confinement, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) founded Nuclear energy international development gathering' in November 2004. On that occasion our magazine (March, 2005 issue) featured 'prospects and problem of the international development of nuclear energy use'. Slightly for half a year afterwards this nuclear energy international development has been rapidly deepened and become a close-up as a policy of an important strategy of the field of nuclear energy that the government and the private sector were united to make. Therefore the nuclear energy international development was secondly featured from multidirectional points of view such as a background of nuclear energy international development, composition of international nuclear energy business, a main strategy of three makers, approach of finance / a business firm. (T. Tanaka)

Emergency preparedness for mass gatherings: Lessons of “12.31” stampede in Shanghai Bund

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yong-He Dong

2017-08-01

Full Text Available According to WHO, one of these mass gatherings with critical risk is stampedes. Shanghai “12.31” stampede was a preventable tragedy that the government and event planner hold responsibility for. At the same time, it can be a legacy for improvement in the future. The government should draw experience on the implementation of an emergency preparedness system, in order to improve the rapid emergency response during mass gatherings in the future.

Distal impacts of aquarium trade: Exploring the emerging sandhopper (Orchestoidea tuberculata) artisanal shore gathering fishery in Chile.

Science.gov (United States)

Tapia-Lewin, Sebastián; Vergara, Karina; De La Barra, Christian; Godoy, Natalio; Castilla, Juan Carlos; Gelcich, Stefan

2017-10-01

Artisanal fishery activities support the livelihoods of millions of people worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Within these fisheries, distal global drivers can promote switching between alternative target resources. These drivers can promote the rapid development of new, unregulated and previously unexploited fisheries that pose a threat to the sustainability of ecosystems. In this paper, we describe a new artisanal shore gathering activity that targets a previously unexploited resource: the sandhopper (Orchestoidea tuberculata). The activity is driven by aquarium trade demand for food. We used mixed methods to describe the activity, assessed basic socio-economic incentives, and estimated Catches per Unit Effort. Results show that the sandhopper plays an important role for the livelihoods of shore gatherers engaged in the activity. Gatherers have adapted and developed two main extraction methods with different degrees of investment and extraction rates. Furthermore, gatherers have developed local knowledge regarding the ecology and management of the resource. Results show that economic incentives can motivate a rapid expansion of this unregulated activity. Future research gaps and management options to address the development of this fishery are discussed in light of these findings.

Modeling rapidly disseminating infectious disease during mass gatherings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chowell Gerardo

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract We discuss models for rapidly disseminating infectious diseases during mass gatherings (MGs, using influenza as a case study. Recent innovations in modeling and forecasting influenza transmission dynamics at local, regional, and global scales have made influenza a particularly attractive model scenario for MG. We discuss the behavioral, medical, and population factors for modeling MG disease transmission, review existing model formulations, and highlight key data and modeling gaps related to modeling MG disease transmission. We argue that the proposed improvements will help integrate infectious-disease models in MG health contingency plans in the near future, echoing modeling efforts that have helped shape influenza pandemic preparedness plans in recent years.

Ombudspersons gather at CERN

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2012-01-01

On 30 March, Vincent Vuillemin, CERN’s Ombuds, welcomed twelve of his counterparts from Geneva-based international organisations. The guests enjoyed the visit and asked him to arrange another visit in a year or so, when they will be able to visit the LHC underground experimental areas.   Group photo in the Main Building. Vincent Vuillemin, former Head of the EN department, was appointed as CERN's first “Ombuds” in June 2010. The Ombuds is one of the first people who can be consulted when it has not proved possible to resolve a potential interpersonal conflict amicably or with the assistance of the competent hierarchy. “My counterparts from the other international organisations come from different backgrounds to me, mainly from Human Resources,” explains Vincent Vuillemin. “It was quite an experience for them to witness the magnitude of the LHC project when they visited the SM18 hall and the ATLAS Visitor Centre. They were ex...

Experimental and theoretical investigation on the depressurization of a vessel with internals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vigni, P.; Oriolo, F.; Rosa, U.

1978-01-01

This paper is about some blow-down experiments performed at the Scalbatraio Center of the University of Pisa. The blow-down tests have been made to investigate the depressurization of a vessel with internal structures, reproducing the geometry of a BWR. The experimental data have been compared with calculations performed by the RELAP program, in order to evaluate the scaling effects related to their application to large scale units. (author)

Improving decision speed, accuracy and group cohesion through early information gathering in house-hunting ants.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathalie Stroeymeyt

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Successful collective decision-making depends on groups of animals being able to make accurate choices while maintaining group cohesion. However, increasing accuracy and/or cohesion usually decreases decision speed and vice-versa. Such trade-offs are widespread in animal decision-making and result in various decision-making strategies that emphasize either speed or accuracy, depending on the context. Speed-accuracy trade-offs have been the object of many theoretical investigations, but these studies did not consider the possible effects of previous experience and/or knowledge of individuals on such trade-offs. In this study, we investigated how previous knowledge of their environment may affect emigration speed, nest choice and colony cohesion in emigrations of the house-hunting ant Temnothorax albipennis, a collective decision-making process subject to a classical speed-accuracy trade-off. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Colonies allowed to explore a high quality nest site for one week before they were forced to emigrate found that nest and accepted it faster than emigrating naïve colonies. This resulted in increased speed in single choice emigrations and higher colony cohesion in binary choice emigrations. Additionally, colonies allowed to explore both high and low quality nest sites for one week prior to emigration remained more cohesive, made more accurate decisions and emigrated faster than emigrating naïve colonies. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These results show that colonies gather and store information about available nest sites while their nest is still intact, and later retrieve and use this information when they need to emigrate. This improves colony performance. Early gathering of information for later use is therefore an effective strategy allowing T. albipennis colonies to improve simultaneously all aspects of the decision-making process--i.e. speed, accuracy and cohesion--and partly circumvent the speed-accuracy trade

Access to Justice for Communications Surveillance and Interception : Scrutinising Intelligence Gathering Reform Legislation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Quirine Eijkman

2018-01-01

By analysing intelligence-gathering reform legislation this article discusses access to justice for communications interception by the intelligence and security services. In the aftermath of the Snowden revelations, sophisticated oversight systems for bulk communications surveillance are being

Physical activity patterns and biomarkers of cardiovascular disease risk in hunter-gatherers.

Science.gov (United States)

Raichlen, David A; Pontzer, Herman; Harris, Jacob A; Mabulla, Audax Z P; Marlowe, Frank W; Josh Snodgrass, J; Eick, Geeta; Colette Berbesque, J; Sancilio, Amelia; Wood, Brian M

2017-03-01

Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is a strong predictor of cardiovascular health, yet few humans living in industrialized societies meet current recommendations (150 min/week). Researchers have long suggested that human physiological requirements for aerobic exercise reflect an evolutionary shift to a hunting and gathering foraging strategy, and a recent transition to more sedentary lifestyles likely represents a mismatch with our past in terms of physical activity. The goal of this study is to explore this mismatch by characterizing MVPA and cardiovascular health in the Hadza, a modern hunting and gathering population living in Northern Tanzania. We measured MVPA using continuous heart rate monitoring in 46 participants recruited from two Hadza camps. As part of a larger survey of health in the Hadza, we measured blood pressure (n = 198) and biomarkers of cardiovascular health (n = 23) including C-reactive protein, cholesterol (Total, HDL, and LDL), and triglycerides. We show that Hadza participants spend large amounts of time in MVPA (134.92 ± 8.6 min/day), and maintain these activity levels across the lifespan. In fact, the Hadza engage in over 14 times as much MVPA as subjects participating in large epidemiological studies in the United States. We found no evidence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in this population (low prevalence of hypertension across the lifespan, optimal levels for biomarkers of cardiovascular health). Our results provide evidence that the hunting and gathering foraging strategy involves high levels of MVPA, supporting the evolutionary medicine model for the relationship between MVPA and cardiovascular health. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Abstracts of 3. International scientific-practical conference 'Semipalatinsk Test Site. Radiation Legacy and Non-proliferation Issues'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

The Conference gathered representatives of more than 25 countries and international organizations. In the Conference among with actual problems of current environment conditions in Kazakhstan, perspective trends in the field of radiation protection, radio-ecological and radiobiological research and issues of international co-operation in support of non-proliferation regime, other advanced scientific projects were considered [ru

Investigating Internalization and Intracellular Trafficking of GPCRs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Foster, Simon R; Bräuner-Osborne, Hans

2017-01-01

for signal transduction. One of the major mechanisms for GPCR regulation involves their endocytic trafficking, which serves to internalize the receptors from the plasma membrane and thereby attenuate G protein-dependent signaling. However, there is accumulating evidence to suggest that GPCRs can signal...... independently of G proteins, as well as from intracellular compartments including endosomes. It is in this context that receptor internalization and intracellular trafficking have attracted renewed interest within the GPCR field. In this chapter, we will review the current understanding and methodologies...

HUMS: An Autonomous Moving Strategy for Mobile Sinks in Data-Gathering Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanzhong Bi

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Sink mobility has attracted much research interest in recent years because it can improve network performance such as energy efficiency and throughput. An energy-unconscious moving strategy is potentially harmful to the balance of the energy consumption among sensor nodes so as to aggravate the hotspot problem of sensor networks. In this paper, we propose an autonomous moving strategy for the mobile sinks in data-gathering applications. In our solution, a mobile sink approaches the nodes with high residual energy to force them to forward data for other nodes and tries to avoid passing by the nodes with low energy. We performed simulation experiments to compare our solution with other three data-gathering schemes. The simulation results show that our strategy cannot only extend network lifetime notably but also provides scalability and topology adaptability.

Evidence of Levy walk foraging patterns in human hunter-gatherers.

Science.gov (United States)

Raichlen, David A; Wood, Brian M; Gordon, Adam D; Mabulla, Audax Z P; Marlowe, Frank W; Pontzer, Herman

2014-01-14

When searching for food, many organisms adopt a superdiffusive, scale-free movement pattern called a Lévy walk, which is considered optimal when foraging for heterogeneously located resources with little prior knowledge of distribution patterns [Viswanathan GM, da Luz MGE, Raposo EP, Stanley HE (2011) The Physics of Foraging: An Introduction to Random Searches and Biological Encounters]. Although memory of food locations and higher cognition may limit the benefits of random walk strategies, no studies to date have fully explored search patterns in human foraging. Here, we show that human hunter-gatherers, the Hadza of northern Tanzania, perform Lévy walks in nearly one-half of all foraging bouts. Lévy walks occur when searching for a wide variety of foods from animal prey to underground tubers, suggesting that, even in the most cognitively complex forager on Earth, such patterns are essential to understanding elementary foraging mechanisms. This movement pattern may be fundamental to how humans experience and interact with the world across a wide range of ecological contexts, and it may be adaptive to food distribution patterns on the landscape, which previous studies suggested for organisms with more limited cognition. Additionally, Lévy walks may have become common early in our genus when hunting and gathering arose as a major foraging strategy, playing an important role in the evolution of human mobility.

Gathering Empirical Evidence Concerning Links between Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Creativity

Science.gov (United States)

Musta'amal, Aede Hatib; Norman, Eddie; Hodgson, Tony

2009-01-01

Discussion is often reported concerning potential links between computer-aided designing and creativity, but there is a lack of systematic enquiry to gather empirical evidence concerning such links. This paper reports an indication of findings from other research studies carried out in contexts beyond general education that have sought evidence…

Rising above the Gathering Storm: Developing Regional Innovation Environments--A Workshop Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Arrison, Tom, Ed.; Olson, Steve, Ed.

2012-01-01

In October 2005, the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine released a policy report that served as a call to action. The report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future" observed that "the scientific and technological building blocks…

Solving Interoperability in Translational Health. Perspectives of Students from the International Partnership in Health Informatics Education (IPHIE) 2016 Master Class

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Turner, Anne M.; Facelli, Julio C.; Jaspers, Monique; Wetter, Thomas; Pfeifer, Daniel; Gatewood, Laël Cranmer; Adam, Terry; Li, Yu-Chuan; Lin, Ming-Chin; Evans, R. Scott; Beukenhorst, Anna; van Mens, Hugo Johan Theodoore; Tensen, Esmee; Bock, Christian; Fendrich, Laura; Seitz, Peter; Suleder, Julian; Aldelkhyyel, Ranyah; Bridgeman, Kent; Hu, Zhen; Sattler, Aaron; Guo, Shin-Yi; Mohaimenul, Islam Md Mohaimenul; Anggraini Ningrum, Dina Nur; Tung, Hsin-Ru; Bian, Jiantano; Plasek, Joseph M.; Rommel, Casey; Burke, Juandalyn; Sohih, Harkirat

2017-01-01

In the summer of 2016 an international group of biomedical and health informatics faculty and graduate students gathered for the 16th meeting of the International Partnership in Health Informatics Education (IPHIE) masterclass at the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. This

Thermal and Fluid Mechanical Investigation of an Internally Cooled Piston Rod

Science.gov (United States)

Klotsche, K.; Thomas, C.; Hesse, U.

2017-08-01

The Internal Cooling of Reciprocating Compressor Parts (ICRC) is a promising technology to reduce the temperature of the thermally stressed piston and piston rod of process gas compressors. The underlying heat transport is based on the flow of a two-phase cooling medium that is contained in the hollow reciprocating assembly. The reciprocating motion forces the phases to mix, enabling an enhanced heat transfer. In order to investigate this heat transfer, experimental results from a vertically reciprocating hollow rod are presented that show the influence of different liquid charges for different working temperatures. In addition, pressure sensors are used for a crank angle dependent analysis of the fluid mechanical processes inside the rod. The results serve to investigate the two-phase flow in terms of the velocity and distribution of the liquid and vapour phase for different liquid fractions.

2016 International Symposium on Experimental Robotics

CERN Document Server

Nakamura, Yoshihiko; Khatib, Oussama; Venture, Gentiane

2017-01-01

Experimental Robotics XV is the collection of papers presented at the International Symposium on Experimental Robotics, Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan on October 3-6, 2016. 73 scientific papers were selected and presented after peer review. The papers span a broad range of sub-fields in robotics including aerial robots, mobile robots, actuation, grasping, manipulation, planning and control and human-robot interaction, but shared cutting-edge approaches and paradigms to experimental robotics. The readers will find a breadth of new directions of experimental robotics. The International Symposium on Experimental Robotics is a series of bi-annual symposia sponsored by the International Foundation of Robotics Research, whose goal is to provide a forum dedicated to experimental robotics research. Robotics has been widening its scientific scope, deepening its methodologies and expanding its applications. However, the significance of experiments remains and will remain at the center of the discipline. The ISER gatherings are...

Efficient Data Gathering in 3D Linear Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Using Sink Mobility.

Science.gov (United States)

Akbar, Mariam; Javaid, Nadeem; Khan, Ayesha Hussain; Imran, Muhammad; Shoaib, Muhammad; Vasilakos, Athanasios

2016-03-19

Due to the unpleasant and unpredictable underwater environment, designing an energy-efficient routing protocol for underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) demands more accuracy and extra computations. In the proposed scheme, we introduce a mobile sink (MS), i.e., an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), and also courier nodes (CNs), to minimize the energy consumption of nodes. MS and CNs stop at specific stops for data gathering; later on, CNs forward the received data to the MS for further transmission. By the mobility of CNs and MS, the overall energy consumption of nodes is minimized. We perform simulations to investigate the performance of the proposed scheme and compare it to preexisting techniques. Simulation results are compared in terms of network lifetime, throughput, path loss, transmission loss and packet drop ratio. The results show that the proposed technique performs better in terms of network lifetime, throughput, path loss and scalability.

Efficient Data Gathering in 3D Linear Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Using Sink Mobility

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariam Akbar

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Due to the unpleasant and unpredictable underwater environment, designing an energy-efficient routing protocol for underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs demands more accuracy and extra computations. In the proposed scheme, we introduce a mobile sink (MS, i.e., an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV, and also courier nodes (CNs, to minimize the energy consumption of nodes. MS and CNs stop at specific stops for data gathering; later on, CNs forward the received data to the MS for further transmission. By the mobility of CNs and MS, the overall energy consumption of nodes is minimized. We perform simulations to investigate the performance of the proposed scheme and compare it to preexisting techniques. Simulation results are compared in terms of network lifetime, throughput, path loss, transmission loss and packet drop ratio. The results show that the proposed technique performs better in terms of network lifetime, throughput, path loss and scalability.

Cluster-based Data Gathering in Long-Strip Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

FANG, W.

2012-02-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates a special class of wireless sensor networks that are different from traditional ones in that the sensor nodes in this class of networks are deployed along narrowly elongated geographical areas and form a long-strip topology. According to hardware capabilities of current sensor nodes, a cluster-based protocol for reliable and efficient data gathering in long-strip wireless sensor networks (LSWSN is proposed. A well-distributed cluster-based architecture is first formed in the whole network through contention-based cluster head election. Cluster heads are responsible for coordination among the nodes within their clusters and aggregation of their sensory data, as well as transmission the data to the sink node on behalf of their own clusters. The intra-cluster coordination is based on the traditional TDMA schedule, in which the inter-cluster interference caused by the border nodes is solved by the multi-channel communication technique. The cluster reporting is based on the CSMA contention, in which a connected overlay network is formed by relay nodes to forward the data from the cluster heads through multi-hops to the sink node. The relay nodes are non-uniformly deployed to resolve the energy-hole problem which is extremely serious in the LSWSN. Extensive simulation results illuminate the distinguished performance of the proposed protocol.

32 CFR 536.111 - Investigation of claims arising under international agreements (for those claims arising in the...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... under international agreements (for those claims arising in the United States). Responsibility for... civilian component is attached, including the legal office of another armed force, to carry out the responsibility to investigate. The investigation will comply with the responsible Service's implementing claims...

10th International Conference on Genetic and Evolutionary Computing

CERN Document Server

Lin, Jerry; Wang, Chia-Hung; Jiang, Xin

2017-01-01

This book gathers papers presented at the 10th International Conference on Genetic and Evolutionary Computing (ICGEC 2016). The conference was co-sponsored by Springer, Fujian University of Technology in China, the University of Computer Studies in Yangon, University of Miyazaki in Japan, National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences in Taiwan, Taiwan Association for Web Intelligence Consortium, and VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic. The ICGEC 2016, which was held from November 7 to 9, 2016 in Fuzhou City, China, was intended as an international forum for researchers and professionals in all areas of genetic and evolutionary computing.

Joint international conference ICIEOM-CIO-IIE 2015

CERN Document Server

Ferreira, Carlos; Junior, Milton; Prado, Carlos

2017-01-01

This book gathers a selection of the best papers presented at the joint international conference ICIEOM-CIO-IIE 2015, offering recent research on industrial engineering, management and operations from an international and interdisciplinary perspective. It includes contributions from different fields, such as operations research, modeling and simulation, production and service management and logistics, information systems and quality, and as such is of interest to both researchers and practitioners. Reflecting the interconnected nature of today’s production systems, characterized by intense flows of goods, information and individuals between companies and nations, it is a valuable resource for anyone wanting an in-depth understanding of the field to guide managerial practice in order to take full advantage of existing opportunities.

Investigating the effective factors on management internal controls applying

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Ahmadkhani

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Information technology plays an important role on increasing internal control in many organizations. In this paper, we present an empirical study to measure the impact of information technology, hiring high quality skilled management team, using high quality standards and increasing employees' awareness on managing internal control. The survey uses a questionnaire based on Likert scale and distributes among the people who work in either administration or financial sectors of governmental agencies in province of Zanjan, Iran. The results of the study indicate that the implementation of information technology positively influences management team to control their system, more effectively, using more skilled and specialized managers positively influences management internal control, an organization with suitable standard positively influences management internal control and increasing employees' awareness positively influences management internal control.

Utilization of concurrently gathered pulser data for complete spectral validation of gamma-ray spectra from germanium detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Johnson, L.O.; Killian, E.W.; Helmer, R.G.; Coates, R.A.

1980-01-01

Some of the capabilities and limitations of using concurrently gathered pulser data for energy calibration, dead time correction, and pile-up loss correction of gamma ray spectra from germanium detectors have been investigated. This report deals with the pulser, charge injection into the charge sensitive preamplifier, hardware separation of gamma and pulser events, and analysis techniques to improve the accuracy of gamma peak area corrections from pulser data. Data are presented indicating achievable short and long term energy calibration stability of better than .01% and accuracy and rate dependent peak area loss corrections of +-1% up to 50,000 pulses per second (pps) and +-2.5% up to 100,000 pps, energy independent

Green Data Gathering under Delay Differentiated Services Constraint for Internet of Things

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mingfeng Huang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Energy-efficient data gathering techniques play a crucial role in promoting the development of smart portable devices as well as smart sensor devices based Internet of Things (IoT. For data gathering, different applications require different delay constraints; therefore, a delay Differentiated Services based Data Routing (DSDR scheme is creatively proposed to improve the delay differentiated services constraint that is missed from previous data gathering studies. The DSDR scheme has three advantages: first, DSDR greatly reduces transmission delay by establishing energy-efficient routing paths (E2RPs. Multiple E2RPs are established in different locations of the network to forward data, and the duty cycles of nodes on E2RPs are increased to 1, so the data is forwarded by E2RPs without the existence of sleeping delay, which greatly reduces transmission latency. Secondly, DSDR intelligently chooses transmission method according to data urgency: the direct-forwarding strategy is adopted for delay-sensitive data to ensure minimum end-to-end delay, while wait-forwarding method is adopted for delay-tolerant data to perform data fusion for reducing energy consumption. Finally, DSDR make full use of the residual energy and improve the effective energy utilization. The E2RPs are built in the region with adequate residual energy and they are periodically rotated to equalize the energy consumption of the network. A comprehensive performance analysis demonstrates that the DSDR scheme has obvious advantages in improving network performance compared to previous studies: it reduces transmission latency of delay-sensitive data by 44.31%, reduces transmission latency of delay-tolerant data by 25.65%, and improves network energy utilization by 30.61%, while also guaranteeing the network lifetime is not lower than previous studies.

An Online Dictionary Learning-Based Compressive Data Gathering Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Donghao; Wan, Jiangwen; Chen, Junying; Zhang, Qiang

2016-09-22

To adapt to sense signals of enormous diversities and dynamics, and to decrease the reconstruction errors caused by ambient noise, a novel online dictionary learning method-based compressive data gathering (ODL-CDG) algorithm is proposed. The proposed dictionary is learned from a two-stage iterative procedure, alternately changing between a sparse coding step and a dictionary update step. The self-coherence of the learned dictionary is introduced as a penalty term during the dictionary update procedure. The dictionary is also constrained with sparse structure. It's theoretically demonstrated that the sensing matrix satisfies the restricted isometry property (RIP) with high probability. In addition, the lower bound of necessary number of measurements for compressive sensing (CS) reconstruction is given. Simulation results show that the proposed ODL-CDG algorithm can enhance the recovery accuracy in the presence of noise, and reduce the energy consumption in comparison with other dictionary based data gathering methods.

Food Sharing among Hadza Hunter-Gatherer Children.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alyssa N Crittenden

Full Text Available Human prosociality is one of the defining characteristics of our species, yet the ontogeny of altruistic behavior remains poorly understood. The evolution of widespread food sharing in humans helped shape cooperation, family formation, life history, language, and the development of economies of scale. While the behavioral and ecological correlates of food sharing among adults are widely studied, very little is known about food sharing among children. Here, in the first study to analyze the food sharing patterns of hunter-gatherer children, we show that while sharing may be biased towards kin, reciprocity characterizes the majority of all sharing dyads, both related and unrelated. These data lend support to the recent claim that discrimination among kin might be linked with reciprocal altruism theory. Furthermore, we show that age positively correlates with an increase in sharing, both in frequency and amount, supporting recent suggestions that prosocial behaviors and egalitarianism develop strongly in middle childhood when children acquire the normative rules of their society.

Food Sharing among Hadza Hunter-Gatherer Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Crittenden, Alyssa N; Zes, David A

2015-01-01

Human prosociality is one of the defining characteristics of our species, yet the ontogeny of altruistic behavior remains poorly understood. The evolution of widespread food sharing in humans helped shape cooperation, family formation, life history, language, and the development of economies of scale. While the behavioral and ecological correlates of food sharing among adults are widely studied, very little is known about food sharing among children. Here, in the first study to analyze the food sharing patterns of hunter-gatherer children, we show that while sharing may be biased towards kin, reciprocity characterizes the majority of all sharing dyads, both related and unrelated. These data lend support to the recent claim that discrimination among kin might be linked with reciprocal altruism theory. Furthermore, we show that age positively correlates with an increase in sharing, both in frequency and amount, supporting recent suggestions that prosocial behaviors and egalitarianism develop strongly in middle childhood when children acquire the normative rules of their society.

Active node determination for correlated data gathering in wireless sensor networks

OpenAIRE

Karasabun, Efe

2009-01-01

Ankara : The Department of Computer Engineering and the Institute of Engineering and Science of Bilkent University, 2009. Thesis (Master's) -- Bilkent University, 2009. Includes bibliographical references leaves 53-55. In wireless sensor network applications where data gathered by different sensor nodes is correlated, not all sensor nodes need to be active for the wireless sensor network to be functional. However, the sensor nodes that are selected as active should form a co...

Settlement-Size Scaling among Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Settlement Systems in the New World.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W Randall Haas

Full Text Available Settlement size predicts extreme variation in the rates and magnitudes of many social and ecological processes in human societies. Yet, the factors that drive human settlement-size variation remain poorly understood. Size variation among economically integrated settlements tends to be heavy tailed such that the smallest settlements are extremely common and the largest settlements extremely large and rare. The upper tail of this size distribution is often formalized mathematically as a power-law function. Explanations for this scaling structure in human settlement systems tend to emphasize complex socioeconomic processes including agriculture, manufacturing, and warfare-behaviors that tend to differentially nucleate and disperse populations hierarchically among settlements. But, the degree to which heavy-tailed settlement-size variation requires such complex behaviors remains unclear. By examining the settlement patterns of eight prehistoric New World hunter-gatherer settlement systems spanning three distinct environmental contexts, this analysis explores the degree to which heavy-tailed settlement-size scaling depends on the aforementioned socioeconomic complexities. Surprisingly, the analysis finds that power-law models offer plausible and parsimonious statistical descriptions of prehistoric hunter-gatherer settlement-size variation. This finding reveals that incipient forms of hierarchical settlement structure may have preceded socioeconomic complexity in human societies and points to a need for additional research to explicate how mobile foragers came to exhibit settlement patterns that are more commonly associated with hierarchical organization. We propose that hunter-gatherer mobility with preferential attachment to previously occupied locations may account for the observed structure in site-size variation.

Effects of methamphetamine administration on information gathering during probabilistic reasoning in healthy humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Ermakova, Anna O; Ramachandra, Pranathi; Corlett, Philip R; Fletcher, Paul C; Murray, Graham K

2014-01-01

Jumping to conclusions (JTC) during probabilistic reasoning is a cognitive bias repeatedly demonstrated in people with schizophrenia and shown to be associated with delusions. Little is known about the neurochemical basis of probabilistic reasoning. We tested the hypothesis that catecholamines influence data gathering and probabilistic reasoning by administering intravenous methamphetamine, which is known to cause synaptic release of the catecholamines noradrenaline and dopamine, to healthy humans whilst they undertook a probabilistic inference task. Our study used a randomised, double-blind, cross-over design. Seventeen healthy volunteers on three visits were administered either placebo or methamphetamine or methamphetamine preceded by amisulpride. In all three conditions participants performed the "beads" task in which participants decide how much information to gather before making a probabilistic inference, and which measures the cognitive bias towards jumping to conclusions. Psychotic symptoms triggered by methamphetamine were assessed using Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States (CAARMS). Methamphetamine induced mild psychotic symptoms, but there was no effect of drug administration on the number of draws to decision (DTD) on the beads task. DTD was a stable trait that was highly correlated within subjects across visits (intra-class correlation coefficients of 0.86 and 0.91 on two versions of the task). The less information was sampled in the placebo condition, the more psychotic-like symptoms the person had after the methamphetamine plus amisulpride condition (p = 0.028). Our results suggest that information gathering during probabilistic reasoning is a stable trait, not easily modified by dopaminergic or noradrenergic modulation.

Study of the Status of Physicians-Patient Communication among Medical Interns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sa’eedeh Farajzadeh

2009-02-01

Full Text Available Background and purpose: Proper communication between a physician and a patient is the key to diagnosis and management of diseases.Communication skills are essential for gathering information from patients, enhancing patients trust on physicians, relaxing them and managing them .The main purpose of this study was to determine the states of communication skills of medical interns to communicate with patients.Method: In this cross sectional study, communication skills of 72 medical interns of Kerman Medical University was assessed based on a checklist completed with direct observation and a questionnaire completed through interview with patients.The checklist included two parts: the first part for individual characteristics and the second part for 24 specifications related to initiation of an interview, conducting an interview and completion of aninterview.Another questionnaire with a similar structure was developed to gather patients’ comments about communication of medical interns with them.Results: Communication skills of medical interns were weak in 29.3%, moderate in 85.4% and good in 15.9% of interns. An agreement between observed communication skills and patients’ survey results about greeting, asking patients’ names and calling them by their names, acceptable physicians’ appearance, listening to patients’ words, friendly doctor- patient encounter, empathizing with patients (0.37, 0.26, 0.22.0.41and 0.44 respectively was seen. Results of individual variables show that relationship between age of patient and his or her opinion about communication was significant.Based on patient’s survey, the communication score given to the student increases with age of the patient.Conclusion: The study shows deficits in doctor-patient communication of medical interns in history taking. Given the importance of communication skills, the necessity to teach them in clinical skill centers before real contact with patients is obvious

Closing the translation gap for justice requirements in international research.

Science.gov (United States)

Pratt, Bridget; Zion, Deborah; Lwin, Khin Maung; Cheah, Phaik Yeong; Nosten, Francois; Loff, Bebe

2012-09-01

Bioethicists have long debated the content of sponsors and researchers' obligations of justice in international clinical research. However, there has been little empirical investigation as to whether and how obligations of responsiveness, ancillary care, post-trial benefits and research capacity strengthening are upheld in low- and middle-income country settings. In this paper, the authors argue that research ethics guidelines need to be more informed by international research practice. Practical guidance on how to fulfil these obligations is needed if research groups and other actors are to successfully translate them into practice because doing so is often a complicated, context-specific process. Case study research methods offer one avenue for collecting data to develop this guidance. The authors describe how such methods have been used in relation to the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit's vivax malaria treatment (VHX) trial (NCT01074905). Relying on the VHX trial example, the paper shows how information can be gathered from not only international clinical researchers but also trial participants, community advisory board members and research funder representatives in order to: (1) measure evidence of responsiveness, provision of ancillary care, access to post-trial benefits and research capacity strengthening in international clinical research; and (2) identify the contextual factors and roles and responsibilities that were instrumental in the fulfilment of these ethical obligations. Such empirical work is necessary to inform the articulation of obligations of justice in international research and to develop guidance on how to fulfil them in order to facilitate better adherence to guidelines' requirements.

11. international conference on ion sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leitner, D.; Lyneis, C.; Cheng, D.; Galloway, M.L.; Leitner, M.; Todd, D.S.; Ciavola, G.; Gammino, S.; Celona, L.; Ando, L.; Torrisi, L.; Cavenago, M.; Galata, A.; Spaedtke, P.; Tinschert, K.; Lang, R.; Iannucci, R.; Leroy, R.; Barue, C.; Hitz, D.; Koivisto, H.; Suominen, P.; Tarvainen, O.; Beijers, H.; Brandenburg, S.; Vanrooyen, D.; Hillo, C.; Kuchler, D.; Homeyer, H.; Rohrich, J.; Schachter, L.; Dobrescu, S.; Nakagawa, T.; Higurashi, Y.; Kidera, M.; Aihara, T.; Kase, M.; Goto, A.; Yang, Y.; Zhao, H.W.; Zhang, Z.M.; Zhang, X.Z.; Guo, X.H.; He, W.E.; Sun, L.T.; Yuan, P.; Song, M.T.; Xie, Z.Q.; Cao, Y.; Zhan, W.L.; Wei, B.W.; Bricault, P.; Lau, C.; Essabaa, S.; Cheikh Mhamed, M.; Bajeat, O.; Ducourtieux, M.; Lefort, H.; Panteleev, V.N.; Barzakh, A.E.; Fedorov, D.V.; Ionan, A.M.; Mezilev, K.A.; Moroz, F.V.; Orlov, S.Y.; Volkov, Y.M.; Andrighetto, A.; Lhersonneau, G.; Rizzi, V.; Tecchio, L.B.; Dubois, M.; Gaubert, G.; Jardins, P.; Lecesne, N.; Leroy, R.; Pacquet, J.Y.; Saint Laurent, M.G.; Villari, A.C.O.; Bajeat, O.; Essabaa, S.; Lau, C.; Menna, M.; Franberg, H.; Ammann, M.; Gdggeler, H.W.; Koster, U.; Allen, F.; Biedermann, C.; Radtke, R.; Ames, F.; Baartman, R.; Bricault, P.; Jayamanna, K.; Lamy, T.; McDonald, M.; Olivo, M.; Schmorl, P.; Yuan, D.H.L.; Asaji, T.; Sasaki, H.; Kato, Y.; Atabaev, B.; Radjabov, S.S.; Akhmadjanova, M.K.; Yuzikaeva, F.R.; Baoqun, Cui; Liqiang, Li; Yingjun, Ma; Shengyun, Zhu; Cong, Jiang

2005-01-01

This document gathers the summaries of the presentations made at ICIS05 (international conference on ion sources). It can be organized into 3 main topics: 1) 'fundamentals and theory' that deals with plasma, beam extraction, transport and emittance, diagnostics and simulation; 2) 'various types of ion sources' that include ECRIS, EBIS, microwave, negative, radioactive, polarized and laser ion sources, and charge breeders; and 3) 'ion sources and applications' in fields like accelerator injection, fusion energy, space propulsion, mass spectrometry, and neutron and cluster and rare nuclide production

An investigation of structural design methodology for HTGR reactor internals with ceramic materials (Contract research)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sumita, Junya; Shibata, Taiju; Nakagawa, Shigeaki; Iyoku, Tatsuo; Sawa, Kazuhiro

2008-03-01

To advance the performance and safety of HTGR, heat-resistant ceramic materials are expected to be used as reactor internals of HTGR. C/C composite and superplastic zirconia are the promising materials for this purpose. In order to use these new materials as reactor internals in HTGR, it is necessary to establish a structure design method to guarantee the structural integrity under environmental and load conditions. Therefore, C/C composite expected as reactor internals of VHTR is focused and an investigation on the structural design method applicable to the C/C composite and a basic applicability of the C/C composite to representative structures of HTGR were carried out in this report. As the results, it is found that the competing risk theory for the strength evaluation of the C/C composite is applicable to design method and C/C composite is expected to be used as reactor internals of HTGR. (author)

8. International Conference on Pulse Investigations in Chemistry, Biology and Physics - PULS'2008. Abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

The Report comprises abstracts of 68 communications (oral and posters) presented during the 8. International Conference on Pulse Investigations in Chemistry, Biology and Physics - PULS'2008, held on September 6 - 12, 2008 in Cracow. Presentations cover a variety of research fields representing different fields of pulse radiolysis in chemistry, biology and physics

8. International Conference on Pulse Investigations in Chemistry, Biology and Physics - PULS'2008. Abstracts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-07-01

The Report comprises abstracts of 68 communications (oral and posters) presented during the 8. International Conference on Pulse Investigations in Chemistry, Biology and Physics - PULS'2008, held on September 6 - 12, 2008 in Cracow. Presentations cover a variety of research fields representing different fields of pulse radiolysis in chemistry, biology and physics.

Favorable ecological circumstances promote life expectancy in chimpanzees similar to that of human hunter-gatherers.

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Brian M; Watts, David P; Mitani, John C; Langergraber, Kevin E

2017-04-01

Demographic data on wild chimpanzees are crucial for understanding the evolution of chimpanzee and hominin life histories, but most data come from populations affected by disease outbreaks and anthropogenic disturbance. We present survivorship data from a relatively undisturbed and exceptionally large community of eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda. We monitored births, deaths, immigrations, and emigrations in the community between 1995 and 2016. Using known and estimated ages, we calculated survivorship curves for the whole community, for males and females separately, and for individuals ≤2 years old when identified. We used a novel method to address age estimation error by calculating stochastic survivorship curves. We compared Ngogo life expectancy, survivorship, and mortality rates to those from other chimpanzee communities and human hunter-gatherers. Life expectancy at birth for both sexes combined was 32.8 years, far exceeding estimates of chimpanzee life expectancy in other communities, and falling within the range of human hunter-gatherers (i.e., 27-37 years). Overall, the pattern of survivorship at Ngogo was more similar to that of human hunter-gatherers than to other chimpanzee communities. Maximum lifespan for the Ngogo chimpanzees, however, was similar to that reported at other chimpanzee research sites and was less than that of human-hunter gatherers. The absence of predation by large carnivores may contribute to some of the higher survivorship at Ngogo, but this cannot explain the much higher survivorship at Ngogo than at Kanyawara, another chimpanzee community in the same forest, which also lacks large carnivores. Higher survivorship at Ngogo appears to be an adaptive response to a food supply that is more abundant and varies less than that of Kanyawara. Future analyses of hominin life history evolution should take these results into account. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

3rd International Multidisciplinary Microscopy and Microanalysis Congress

CERN Document Server

Oral, Zehra

2017-01-01

The 3rd International Multidisciplinary Microscopy Congress (InterM2015), held from 19 to 23 October 2015, focused on the latest developments concerning applications of microscopy in the biological, physical and chemical sciences at all dimensional scales, advances in instrumentation, techniques in and educational materials on microscopy. These proceedings gather 17 peer-reviewed technical papers submitted by leading academic and research institutions from nine countries and representing some of the most cutting-edge research available.

An Online Dictionary Learning-Based Compressive Data Gathering Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donghao Wang

2016-09-01

Full Text Available To adapt to sense signals of enormous diversities and dynamics, and to decrease the reconstruction errors caused by ambient noise, a novel online dictionary learning method-based compressive data gathering (ODL-CDG algorithm is proposed. The proposed dictionary is learned from a two-stage iterative procedure, alternately changing between a sparse coding step and a dictionary update step. The self-coherence of the learned dictionary is introduced as a penalty term during the dictionary update procedure. The dictionary is also constrained with sparse structure. It’s theoretically demonstrated that the sensing matrix satisfies the restricted isometry property (RIP with high probability. In addition, the lower bound of necessary number of measurements for compressive sensing (CS reconstruction is given. Simulation results show that the proposed ODL-CDG algorithm can enhance the recovery accuracy in the presence of noise, and reduce the energy consumption in comparison with other dictionary based data gathering methods.

Thomas M. Prymak. Gathering a Heritage: Ukrainian, Slavonic, and Ethnic Canada and the USA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danielle Morrissette

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Book review of Thomas M. Prymak. Gathering a Heritage: Ukrainian, Slavonic, and Ethnic Canada and the USA. U of Toronto P, 2015. xiv, 370 pp. Illustrations. Tables. Appendix. Notes. Index. $29.95, paper.

Gathering in the city: an annotated bibliography and review of the literature about human-plant interactions in urban ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

R.J. McLain; K. MacFarland; L. Brody; J. Hebert; P. Hurley; M. Poe; L.P. Buttolph; N. Gabriel; M. Dzuna; M.R. Emery; S. Charnley

2012-01-01

The past decade has seen resurgence in interest in gathering wild plants and fungi in cities. In addition to gathering by individuals, dozens of groups have emerged in U.S., Canadian, and European cities to facilitate access to nontimber forest products (NTFPs), particularly fruits and nuts, in public and private spaces. Recent efforts within cities to encourage public...

A multivariate statistical study on a diversified data gathering system for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Samanta, P.K.; Teichmann, T.; Levine, M.M.; Kato, W.Y.

1989-02-01

In this report, multivariate statistical methods are presented and applied to demonstrate their use in analyzing nuclear power plant operational data. For analyses of nuclear power plant events, approaches are presented for detecting malfunctions and degradations within the course of the event. At the system level, approaches are investigated as a means of diagnosis of system level performance. This involves the detection of deviations from normal performance of the system. The input data analyzed are the measurable physical parameters, such as steam generator level, pressurizer water level, auxiliary feedwater flow, etc. The study provides the methodology and illustrative examples based on data gathered from simulation of nuclear power plant transients and computer simulation of a plant system performance (due to lack of easily accessible operational data). Such an approach, once fully developed, can be used to explore statistically the detection of failure trends and patterns and prevention of conditions with serious safety implications. 33 refs., 18 figs., 9 tabs

The Gillette Stadium Experience: A Retrospective Review of Mass Gathering Events From 2010 to 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Goldberg, Scott A; Maggin, Jeremy; Molloy, Michael S; Baker, Olesya; Sarin, Ritu; Kelleher, Michael; Mont, Kevin; Fajana, Adedeji; Goralnick, Eric

2018-03-19

Mass gathering events can substantially impact public safety. Analyzing patient presentation and transport rates at various mass gathering events can help inform staffing models and improve preparedness. A retrospective review of all patients seeking medical attention across a variety of event types at a single venue with a capacity of 68,756 from January 2010 through September 2015. We examined 232 events with a total of 8,260,349 attendees generating 8157 medical contacts. Rates were 10 presentations and 1.6 transports per 10,000 attendees with a non-significant trend towards increased rates in postseason National Football League games. Concerts had significantly higher rates of presentation and transport than all other event types. Presenting concern varied significantly by event type and gender, and transport rate increased predictably with age. For cold weather events, transport rates increased at colder temperatures. Overall, on-site physicians did not impact rates. At a single venue hosting a variety of events across a 6-year period, we demonstrated significant variations in presentation and transport rates. Weather, gender, event type, and age all play important roles. Our analysis, while representative only of our specific venue, may be useful in developing response plans and staffing models for similar mass gathering venues. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;page 1 of 7).

International workshop on site investigation and evaluation based on the siting process in Sweden

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, Johan; Stroem, A.

2001-06-01

SKB's goal is to commence surface based site investigations in 2002. Extensive preparations are now being made for this transition to the next phase in the siting process for the deep repository for spent nuclear fuel. The purpose of the international workshop on site characterisation held at Aespoe April 2001 was to: present the SKB site investigation and evaluation programme to a group of international experts; discuss whether the available toolbox of investigation methods for surface based site investigations is appropriate and state-of-the-art in an international perspective; and by working group sessions discuss the level of ambition in the programme for site investigation for each discipline. This report summarises the conclusions of the workshop in general terms. Many of the detailed comments and ideas obtained at the workshop have already inspired and will also directly inspire the on-going planning work for site characterisation. The core activity at the workshop was the work performed by working groups. They addressed what should be considered for a site characterisation programme, based on the generic planning made so far by SKB. The working groups also outlined site specific characterisation programmes for the sites suggested by SKB. The tasks were strictly confined to technical and scientific modelling issues. The working group chairmen presented the working group results at the workshop and have also submitted short memos to SKB. The present document is a compilation of these memos. The SKB generic programme as presented in the existing top level documents, 'Requirements and Criteria and Overall Programme', received general endorsement and was appreciated for being comprehensive and systematic. For example, it contains comprehensive lists of parameters to be measured. However, there is need for prioritisation and sequencing. This is actually included in the current planning process at SKB where the generic programme later this year will be adapted to

International Conference on Systems Science 2016

CERN Document Server

Tomczak, Jakub

2017-01-01

This book gathers the carefully reviewed proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Systems Science, presenting recent research findings in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Communication/Networking and Information Technology, Control Theory, Decision Support, Image Processing and Computer Vision, Optimization Techniques, Pattern Recognition, Robotics, Service Science, Web-based Services, Uncertain Systems and Transportation Systems. The International Conference on Systems Science was held in Wroclaw, Poland from September 7 to 9, 2016, and addressed a range of topics, including systems theory, control theory, machine learning, artificial intelligence, signal processing, communication and information technologies, transportation systems, multi-robotic systems and uncertain systems, as well as their applications. The aim of the conference is to provide a platform for communication between young and established researchers and practitioners, fostering future joint research in syst...

78 FR 44944 - EQT Gathering LLC; Notice of Application for Limited Jurisdiction Certificate

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-25

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. CP13-520-000] EQT Gathering.... The Derry Facilities, will consist of a compressor station with three compressor engines totaling 14... Support at [email protected] or toll free at (866) 208-3676, or TTY, contact (202) 502-8659...

Detecting disease outbreaks in mass gatherings using Internet data.

Science.gov (United States)

Yom-Tov, Elad; Borsa, Diana; Cox, Ingemar J; McKendry, Rachel A

2014-06-18

Mass gatherings, such as music festivals and religious events, pose a health care challenge because of the risk of transmission of communicable diseases. This is exacerbated by the fact that participants disperse soon after the gathering, potentially spreading disease within their communities. The dispersion of participants also poses a challenge for traditional surveillance methods. The ubiquitous use of the Internet may enable the detection of disease outbreaks through analysis of data generated by users during events and shortly thereafter. The intent of the study was to develop algorithms that can alert to possible outbreaks of communicable diseases from Internet data, specifically Twitter and search engine queries. We extracted all Twitter postings and queries made to the Bing search engine by users who repeatedly mentioned one of nine major music festivals held in the United Kingdom and one religious event (the Hajj in Mecca) during 2012, for a period of 30 days and after each festival. We analyzed these data using three methods, two of which compared words associated with disease symptoms before and after the time of the festival, and one that compared the frequency of these words with those of other users in the United Kingdom in the days following the festivals. The data comprised, on average, 7.5 million tweets made by 12,163 users, and 32,143 queries made by 1756 users from each festival. Our methods indicated the statistically significant appearance of a disease symptom in two of the nine festivals. For example, cough was detected at higher than expected levels following the Wakestock festival. Statistically significant agreement (chi-square test, PInternet data. The use of multiple data sources and analysis methods was found to be advantageous for rejecting false positives. Further studies are required in order to validate our findings with data from public health authorities.

11. international conference on ion sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leitner, D.; Lyneis, C.; Cheng, D.; Galloway, M.L.; Leitner, M.; Todd, D.S.; Ciavola, G.; Gammino, S.; Celona, L.; Ando, L.; Torrisi, L.; Cavenago, M.; Galata, A.; Spaedtke, P.; Tinschert, K.; Lang, R.; Iannucci, R.; Leroy, R.; Barue, C.; Hitz, D.; Koivisto, H.; Suominen, P.; Tarvainen, O.; Beijers, H.; Brandenburg, S.; Vanrooyen, D.; Hillo, C.; Kuchler, D.; Homeyer, H.; Rohrich, J.; Schachter, L.; Dobrescu, S.; Nakagawa, T.; Higurashi, Y.; Kidera, M.; Aihara, T.; Kase, M.; Goto, A.; Yang, Y.; Zhao, H.W.; Zhang, Z.M.; Zhang, X.Z.; Guo, X.H.; He, W.E.; Sun, L.T.; Yuan, P.; Song, M.T.; Xie, Z.Q.; Cao, Y.; Zhan, W.L.; Wei, B.W.; Bricault, P.; Lau, C.; Essabaa, S.; Cheikh Mhamed, M.; Bajeat, O.; Ducourtieux, M.; Lefort, H.; Panteleev, V.N.; Barzakh, A.E.; Fedorov, D.V.; Ionan, A.M.; Mezilev, K.A.; Moroz, F.V.; Orlov, S.Y.; Volkov, Y.M.; Andrighetto, A.; Lhersonneau, G.; Rizzi, V.; Tecchio, L.B.; Dubois, M.; Gaubert, G.; Jardins, P.; Lecesne, N.; Leroy, R.; Pacquet, J.Y.; Saint Laurent, M.G.; Villari, A.C.O.; Bajeat, O.; Essabaa, S.; Lau, C.; Menna, M.; Franberg, H.; Ammann, M.; Gdggeler, H.W.; Koster, U.; Allen, F.; Biedermann, C.; Radtke, R.; Ames, F.; Baartman, R.; Bricault, P.; Jayamanna, K.; Lamy, T.; McDonald, M.; Olivo, M.; Schmorl, P.; Yuan, D.H.L.; Asaji, T.; Sasaki, H.; Kato, Y.; Atabaev, B.; Radjabov, S.S.; Akhmadjanova, M.K.; Yuzikaeva, F.R.; Baoqun, Cui; Liqiang, Li; Yingjun, Ma; Shengyun, Zhu; Cong, Jiang

2005-07-01

This document gathers the summaries of the presentations made at ICIS05 (international conference on ion sources). It can be organized into 3 main topics: 1) 'fundamentals and theory' that deals with plasma, beam extraction, transport and emittance, diagnostics and simulation; 2) 'various types of ion sources' that include ECRIS, EBIS, microwave, negative, radioactive, polarized and laser ion sources, and charge breeders; and 3) 'ion sources and applications' in fields like accelerator injection, fusion energy, space propulsion, mass spectrometry, and neutron and cluster and rare nuclide production.

Human behavior. Sex equality can explain the unique social structure of hunter-gatherer bands.

Science.gov (United States)

Dyble, M; Salali, G D; Chaudhary, N; Page, A; Smith, D; Thompson, J; Vinicius, L; Mace, R; Migliano, A B

2015-05-15

The social organization of mobile hunter-gatherers has several derived features, including low within-camp relatedness and fluid meta-groups. Although these features have been proposed to have provided the selective context for the evolution of human hypercooperation and cumulative culture, how such a distinctive social system may have emerged remains unclear. We present an agent-based model suggesting that, even if all individuals in a community seek to live with as many kin as possible, within-camp relatedness is reduced if men and women have equal influence in selecting camp members. Our model closely approximates observed patterns of co-residence among Agta and Mbendjele BaYaka hunter-gatherers. Our results suggest that pair-bonding and increased sex egalitarianism in human evolutionary history may have had a transformative effect on human social organization. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

2nd International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Systems and Informatics

CERN Document Server

Shaalan, Khaled; Gaber, Tarek; Azar, Ahmad; Tolba, M

2017-01-01

This book gathers the proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Systems and Informatics (AISI2016), which took place in Cairo, Egypt during October 24–26, 2016. This international interdisciplinary conference, which highlighted essential research and developments in the field of informatics and intelligent systems, was organized by the Scientific Research Group in Egypt (SRGE) and sponsored by the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (Egypt chapter) and the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (Egypt Chapter). The book’s content is divided into four main sections: Intelligent Language Processing, Intelligent Systems, Intelligent Robotics Systems, and Informatics.

Experimental Investigation of 2:1 and 3:1 Internal Resonances in Nonlinear MEMS Arch Resonators

KAUST Repository

Ramini, Abdallah; Hajjaj, Amal Z.; Younis, Mohammad I.

2016-01-01

We demonstrate experimentally internal resonances in MEMS resonators. The investigation is conducted on in-plane MEMS arch resonators fabricated with a highly doped silicon. The resonators are actuated electrostatically and their stiffness are tuned by electrothermal loading by passing an electrical current though the microstructures. We show that through this tuning, the ratio of the various resonance frequencies can be varied and set at certain ratios. Particularly, we adjust the resonance frequencies of two different vibrational modes to 2:1 and 3:1. Finally, we validate the internal resonances at these ratios through frequency-response curves and FFTs.

Experimental Investigation of 2:1 and 3:1 Internal Resonances in Nonlinear MEMS Arch Resonators

KAUST Repository

Ramini, Abdallah

2016-12-05

We demonstrate experimentally internal resonances in MEMS resonators. The investigation is conducted on in-plane MEMS arch resonators fabricated with a highly doped silicon. The resonators are actuated electrostatically and their stiffness are tuned by electrothermal loading by passing an electrical current though the microstructures. We show that through this tuning, the ratio of the various resonance frequencies can be varied and set at certain ratios. Particularly, we adjust the resonance frequencies of two different vibrational modes to 2:1 and 3:1. Finally, we validate the internal resonances at these ratios through frequency-response curves and FFTs.

Numerical and experimental investigation of melting with internal heat generation within cylindrical enclosures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Amber Shrivastava; Brian Williams; Ali S. Siahpush; Bruce Savage; John Crepeau

2014-06-01

There have been significant efforts by the heat transfer community to investigate the melting phenomenon of materials. These efforts have included the analytical development of equations to represent melting, numerical development of computer codes to assist in modeling the phenomena, and collection of experimental data. The understanding of the melting phenomenon has application in several areas of interest, for example, the melting of a Phase Change Material (PCM) used as a thermal storage medium as well as the melting of the fuel bundle in a nuclear power plant during an accident scenario. The objective of this research is two-fold. First a numerical investigation, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), of melting with internal heat generation for a vertical cylindrical geometry is presented. Second, to the best of authors knowledge, there are very limited number of engineering experimental results available for the case of melting with Internal Heat Generation (IHG). An experiment was performed to produce such data using resistive, or Joule, heating as the IHG mechanism. The numerical results are compared against the experimental results and showed favorable correlation. Uncertainties in the numerical and experimental analysis are discussed. Based on the numerical and experimental analysis, recommendations are made for future work.

Synthetic Minor NSR Permit: Red Cedar Gathering Company - Arkansas Loop and Simpson Treating Plants

Science.gov (United States)

This page contains the response to public comments and the final synthetic minor NSR permit for the Red Cedar Gathering Company, Arkansas Loop and Simpson Treating Plants, located on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in La Plata County, CO.

Mass-gathering Events: The Public Health Challenge of the Kumbh Mela 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Dwivedi, Suresh; Cariappa, Mudera P

2015-12-01

Mass-gathering (MG) events pose challenges to the most adept of public health practitioners in ensuring the health safety of the population. These MGs can be for sporting events, musical festivals, or more commonly, have religious undertones. The Kumbh Mela 2013 at Allahabad, India may have been the largest gathering of humanity in history with nearly 120 million pilgrims having thronged the venue. The scale of the event posed a challenge to the maintenance of public health security and safety. A snapshot of the experience of managing the hygiene and sanitation aspects of this mega event is presented herein, highlighting the importance of proactive public health planning and preparedness. There having been no outbreaks of disease is vindication of the steps undertaken in planning and preparedness, notwithstanding obvious limitations of unsanitary behaviors and traditional beliefs of those attending the festival. The evident flaw on post-event analyses was the failure to cater adequately for environmental mopping-up operations after the festival. Besides, a system of real-time monitoring of disease and morbidity patterns, harnessing low cost technology alternatives, should be planned for at all such future events.

VII International Symposium and Young Scientists School “Modern Problems of Laser Physics”

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

General Information This volume of the Journal is devoted to the VII International Symposium and Young Scientists School “Modern Problems of Laser Physics” (MPLP-2016). I was held in Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, Russia, 22–28 August 2016. Akademgorodok is the well-known Siberian Scientific Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). It was founded in 1957. Since that time it is the place of many international scientific meetings, because it reflects the unique and fruitful symbiosis of many research institutions and Novosibirsk State University at one territory. Since the first MPLP meeting in 1995 the Symposium usually gathers scientists from many countries, carrying out their investigations at the forefront of laser physics, quantum metrology and high-resolution spectroscopy, physics of ultracold atoms, molecules and ions, atom optics, ultrafast phenomena and attoscience, quantum optics and information, nonlinear optics and applications of laser radiation from THz to UV radiation ranges in medicine, geophysics, chemistry and microbiology. Traditionally the Symposium is the place where scientists can discuss new trends in modern laser physics, generate new ideas as well as initiate further collaborations. (paper)

Spectroscopic investigation of the vibrational quasi-continuum arising from internal rotation of a methyl group

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hougen, J.T. [NIST, Gaithersburg, MD (United States)

1993-12-01

The goal of this project is to use spectroscopic techniques to investigate in detail phenomena involving the vibrational quasi-continuum in a simple physical system. Acetaldehyde was chosen for the study because: (i) methyl groups have been suggested to be important promotors of intramolecular vibrational relaxation, (ii) the internal rotation of a methyl group is an easily describle large-amplitude motion, which should retain its simple character even at high levels of excitation, and (iii) the aldehyde carbonyl group offers the possibility of both vibrational and electronic probing. The present investigation of the ground electronic state has three parts: (1) understanding the {open_quotes}isolated{close_quotes} internal-rotation motion below, at, and above the top of the torsional barrier, (2) understanding in detail traditional (bond stretching and bending) vibrational fundamental and overtone states, and (3) understanding interactions involving states with multiquantum excitations of at least one of these two kinds of motion.

International Telemedicine/Disaster Medicine Conference: Papers and Presentations

Science.gov (United States)

1991-01-01

The first International Telemedicine/Disaster Medicine Conference was held in Dec. 1991. The overall purpose was to convene an international, multidisciplinary gathering of experts to discuss the emerging field of telemedicine and assess its future directions; principally the application of space technology to disaster response and management, but also to clinical medicine, remote health care, public health, and other needs. This collection is intended to acquaint the reader with recent landmark efforts in telemedicine as applied to disaster management and remote health care, the technical requirements of telemedicine systems, the application of telemedicine and telehealth in the U.S. space program, and the social and humanitarian dimensions of this area of medicine.

External and internal structure of weevils (Insecta: Coleoptera) investigated with phase-contrast X-ray imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoennicke, M.G.; Cusatis, C.; Rigon, L.; Menk, R.-H.; Arfelli, F.; Foerster, L.A.; Rosado-Neto, G.H.

2010-01-01

Weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) are identified by the external structure (dorsal, ventral and lateral features) and also by internal structure. The genitalia can be used to distinguish the sex and to identify the insects when the external structure appears identical. For this purpose, a destructive dissecting microscopy procedure is usually employed. In this paper, phase contrast X-ray imaging (radiography and tomography) is employed to investigate the internal structure (genitalia) of two entire species of weevils that presents very similar external structures (Sitophilus oryzae and Sitophilus zeamais). The detection of features, which looks like the genital structure, shows that such non-destructive technique could be used as an alternative method for identification of insects. This method is especially useful in examining the internal features of precious species from museum collections, as already described in the recent literature.

A Spawn Mobile Agent Itinerary Planning Approach for Energy-Efficient Data Gathering in Wireless Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Qadori, Huthiafa Q; Zulkarnain, Zuriati A; Hanapi, Zurina Mohd; Subramaniam, Shamala

2017-06-03

Mobile agent (MA), a part of the mobile computing paradigm, was recently proposed for data gathering in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The MA-based approach employs two algorithms: Single-agent Itinerary Planning (SIP) and Multi-mobile agent Itinerary Planning (MIP) for energy-efficient data gathering. The MIP was proposed to outperform the weakness of SIP by introducing distributed multi MAs to perform the data gathering task. Despite the advantages of MIP, finding the optimal number of distributed MAs and their itineraries are still regarded as critical issues. The existing MIP algorithms assume that the itinerary of the MA has to start and return back to the sink node. Moreover, each distributed MA has to carry the processing code (data aggregation code) to collect the sensory data and return back to the sink with the accumulated data. However, these assumptions have resulted in an increase in the number of MA's migration hops, which subsequently leads to an increase in energy and time consumption. In this paper, a spawn multi-mobile agent itinerary planning (SMIP) approach is proposed to mitigate the substantial increase in cost of energy and time used in the data gathering processes. The proposed approach is based on the agent spawning such that the main MA is able to spawn other MAs with different tasks assigned from the main MA. Extensive simulation experiments have been conducted to test the performance of the proposed approach against some selected MIP algorithms. The results show that the proposed SMIP outperforms the counterpart algorithms in terms of energy consumption and task delay (time), and improves the integrated energy-delay performance.

The psychology of health and well-being in mass gatherings: A review and a research agenda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nick Hopkins

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Mass gatherings bring large numbers of people into physical proximity. Typically, this physical proximity has been assumed to contribute to ill health (e.g., through being stressful, facilitating infection transmission, etc.. In this paper, we add a new dimension to the emerging field of mass gatherings medicine. Drawing on psychological research concerning group processes, we consider the psychological transformations that occur when people become part of a crowd. We then consider how these transformations may have various consequences for health and well-being. Some of these consequences may be positive. For example, a sense of shared identity amongst participants may encourage participants to view others as a source of social support which in turn contributes to a sense of health and well-being. However, some consequences may be negative. Thus, this same sense of shared identity may result in a loss of disgust at the prospect of sharing resources (e.g., drinking utensils which could, in turn, facilitate infection transmission. These, and related issues, are illustrated with research conducted at the Magh Mela (North India. We conclude with an agenda for future research concerning health practices at mass gatherings.

Managing, profiling and analyzing a library of 2.6 million compounds gathered from 32 chemical providers.

Science.gov (United States)

Monge, Aurélien; Arrault, Alban; Marot, Christophe; Morin-Allory, Luc

2006-08-01

The data for 3.8 million compounds from structural databases of 32 providers were gathered and stored in a single chemical database. Duplicates are removed using the IUPAC International Chemical Identifier. After this, 2.6 million compounds remain. Each database and the final one were studied in term of uniqueness, diversity, frameworks, 'drug-like' and 'lead-like' properties. This study also shows that there are more than 87 000 frameworks in the database. It contains 2.1 million 'drug-like' molecules among which, more than one million are 'lead-like'. This study has been carried out using 'ScreeningAssistant', a software dedicated to chemical databases management and screening sets generation. Compounds are stored in a MySQL database and all the operations on this database are carried out by Java code. The druglikeness and leadlikeness are estimated with 'in-house' scores using functions to estimate convenience to properties; unicity using the InChI code and diversity using molecular frameworks and fingerprints. The software has been conceived in order to facilitate the update of the database. 'ScreeningAssistant' is freely available under the GPL license.

Proceedings of the 2. International symposium on the radioactive accident in Goiania. Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

This 2. International symposium on the radioactive accident with cesium-137 brings together in Goiania renowned international and Brazilian specialists. These are recognized professionals of Medicine, Physics, Biology and Psychology who, gathered around a strictly scientific event, will discuss the complex problems originated by a serious accident, exchanging experiences and searching for definite solutions for the issues. The main topics are: the environmental and social impacts; technical and medical procedures; victims contamination and biological radiation effects in the body of the victims

Morbidity and mortality amongst Indian Hajj pilgrims: A 3-year experience of Indian Hajj medical mission in mass-gathering medicine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inam D. Khan

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The Hajj, a mass-gathering of over 3.5-million pilgrims, faces challenges to global health-security, housing, food, water, transportation, communication, sanitation, crowd-control and security. The Indian Medical Mission extended health-security to approximately 140,000 pilgrims, through outreach medical teams, primary-care clinics, tent-clinics, secondary-care hospitals and evacuation capabilities. Data on medical attendance, bed-occupancy, investigations, referrals, medication usage and deaths was compared. Outpatient attendance was 374,475 in static-clinics, 5135 in tent-clinics and 13,473 through task-forces. 585 (62.90% in-patients were hospitalized amongst 930 secondary-care referrals. Secondary-care bed-days were 2106 with average bed-occupancy being 77.78%. 495 patients were institutionalized in tertiary-care Saudi-Arabian hospitals. Infectious diseases were most commonly (53.26% encountered due to overwhelming respiratory-infections, followed by trauma (24.40%. Analgesics (66.38/100 patients and antibacterials (48.34/100 patients were frequently prescribed. Crude mortality amongst Indian pilgrims was 11.99/10,000. Risk-factors associated with high morbidity were old-age and pre-existing comorbidities. Overwhelming surge of patients facilitates transmission of communicable infections and leads to stress induced physical, mental and compassion fatigue amongst healthcare personnel. Respiratory infections are highly prevalent and easily transmissible during Hajj leading to significant morbidity, increased burden to existing health facilities, overwhelming costs on health systems and globalization of multiresistant pathogens. Diabetic patients should avoid heat exposure and use protective footwear during Hajj rituals. Mass-gathering medicine at Hajj can be optimized by improving patient knowledge on performing Hajj at a younger age, medicine compliance, avoiding self-medication, self-monitoring of hypertension, blood glucose, and preventive

An examination of gender bias on the eighth-grade MEAP science test as it relates to the Hunter Gatherer Theory of Spatial Sex Differences

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong-Hall, Judy Gail

The purpose of this study was to apply the Hunter-Gatherer Theory of sex spatial skills to responses to individual questions by eighth grade students on the Science component of the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) to determine if sex bias was inherent in the test. The Hunter-Gatherer Theory on Spatial Sex Differences, an original theory, that suggested a spatial dimorphism concept with female spatial skill of pattern recall of unconnected items and male spatial skills requiring mental movement. This is the first attempt to apply the Hunter-Gatherer Theory on Spatial Sex Differences to a standardized test. An overall hypothesis suggested that the Hunter-Gatherer Theory of Spatial Sex Differences could predict that males would perform better on problems involving mental movement and females would do better on problems involving the pattern recall of unconnected items. Responses to questions on the 1994-95 MEAP requiring the use of male spatial skills and female spatial skills were analyzed for 5,155 eighth grade students. A panel composed of five educators and a theory developer determined which test items involved the use of male and female spatial skills. A MANOVA, using a random sample of 20% of the 5,155 students to compare male and female correct scores, was statistically significant, with males having higher scores on male spatial skills items and females having higher scores on female spatial skills items. Pearson product moment correlation analyses produced a positive correlation for both male and female performance on both types of spatial skills. The Hunter-Gatherer Theory of Spatial Sex Differences appears to be able to predict that males could perform better on the problems involving mental movement and females could perform better on problems involving the pattern recall of unconnected items. Recommendations for further research included: examination of male/female spatial skill differences at early elementary and high school levels to

Macrophysical climate models and Holocene hunter-gatherer subsistence shifts in Central Texas, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Mauldin, R. P.; Munoz, C.

2013-12-01

We use stable carbon isotopic values from bone collagen, as well as carbon values from carbonate extracted from bone apatite from 69 prehistoric human skeletal samples to investigate past resource use and climate relationships over the Middle and Late Holocene in Central Texas. Bone samples come from seven archaeological sites and samples date from 6,900 BP to the close of the prehistoric sequence at about 350 BP. Carbon isotopes from these samples suggest four broad dietary trends. From 6,900 through about 3,800 BP, carbon isotopes suggest a gradual increase in the consumption of resources that ultimately use a C3 photosynthetic pathway. A decline in δ13C in both collagen and carbonate values follows, suggesting a decrease in C3 resource use through roughly 2,900 BP. A variable, but once again increasing pattern on C3 resource use by prehistoric hunter-gatherers is indicated in bone isotopes through about 1,000 BP. After that date, a decrease in C3 resource dependence, with hints at greater subsistence diversity, is suggested through the close of the sequence at 350 BP. To assess the impact of climate shifts on this isotopic pattern, we developed a series of macrophysical climate models (MCM) for several locations in Central Texas focusing on fall, winter, and early spring precipitation. This fall-spring rainfall should closely determine C3 production. If subsistence shifts are responding to climate-induced changes in resource availability, then the measured hunter-gatherer carbon isotope trends summarized above should pattern with C3 production as monitored by the modeled fall-spring precipitation values. For the Middle Holocene portion of the sequence, the precipitation models suggest increasing C3 production, consistent with increasing C3 dependence shown in the isotopic data. A decline in C3 production between 3,900 and 3,000 BP in the models is also consistent with the isotopic decline at that point. After 3,000 BP, however, the coupling between fall

An investigation on relationship between residual income and internal and external performance measures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hesam Daryani

2012-09-01

Full Text Available During the past few years, there have been growing interest in learning the relationship between residual income and other financial figures such as dividend per share, market value and operating cash flow. The proposed study of this paper gathers the financial information of all listed firms traded in Tehran Stock Exchange over the period of 2007-2011. We only concentrate on listed companies whose fiscal years started from March to May of each year. The other criterion associated with the proposed study of this paper is that shares of the selected firms must have been active during period of study and there must be no change in their fiscal calendar. The study does not include the shares of holdings, banks, insurance firms. Finally, the information of the firms must be available for course of study. The study uses two regressions analysis and examines five hypotheses including the relationship between residual income and other factors including dividend per share, value added operating cash flow, value added cash flow, market cap and market value added. Using two regression models, all these hypotheses are investigated and the results of the survey confirm a meaningful relationship between residual income and dividend per share, value added operating cash flow, value added cash flow. However, the results of the second model do not confirm the last two hypotheses.

Investigating the Role of International Law in Controlling Communicable Diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aliasghar Kheirkhah

2017-02-01

Full Text Available International law globally plays a key role in the surveillance and control of communicable diseases. Throughout the nineteenth century, international law played a dominant role in harmonizing the inconsistent national quarantine regulations of European nation states; facilitating the exchange of epidemiological information on infectious diseases; establishing international health organizations; and standardization of surveillance. Today, due to changed forms of infectious diseases and individuals' lifestyles as well as individuals' proximity caused by increased air travels, communicable diseases are in an international and cross-border form. In this regard, binding regulations and inconsistent rules adopted in international multilateral institutions like the World Health Organization, World Trade Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization can be of great use in surveillance and control of communicable diseases. With the globalization of public health, international law can be used as an essential tool in monitoring global health and reducing human vulnerability and mortality.

An Adaptive Data Gathering Scheme for Multi-Hop Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Compressed Sensing and Network Coding.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Jun; Yang, Yuwang; Wang, Lei

2016-04-01

Joint design of compressed sensing (CS) and network coding (NC) has been demonstrated to provide a new data gathering paradigm for multi-hop wireless sensor networks (WSNs). By exploiting the correlation of the network sensed data, a variety of data gathering schemes based on NC and CS (Compressed Data Gathering--CDG) have been proposed. However, these schemes assume that the sparsity of the network sensed data is constant and the value of the sparsity is known before starting each data gathering epoch, thus they ignore the variation of the data observed by the WSNs which are deployed in practical circumstances. In this paper, we present a complete design of the feedback CDG scheme where the sink node adaptively queries those interested nodes to acquire an appropriate number of measurements. The adaptive measurement-formation procedure and its termination rules are proposed and analyzed in detail. Moreover, in order to minimize the number of overall transmissions in the formation procedure of each measurement, we have developed a NP-complete model (Maximum Leaf Nodes Minimum Steiner Nodes--MLMS) and realized a scalable greedy algorithm to solve the problem. Experimental results show that the proposed measurement-formation method outperforms previous schemes, and experiments on both datasets from ocean temperature and practical network deployment also prove the effectiveness of our proposed feedback CDG scheme.

Proposed Synthetic Minor NSR Permit: Red Cedar Gathering Company - Arkansas Loop and Simpson Treating Plants

Science.gov (United States)

Proposed synthetic minor NSR permit, public notice bulletin, and administrative permit docket for the Red Cedar Gathering Company, Arkansas Loop and Simpson Treating Plants, located on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Colorado.

A new magnetic spectrometer for the investigation of the internal conversion electron in capture reaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suarez, A.A.

1978-01-01

Planning, development and manufacture of a new beta spectrometer for the investigation of the internal conversion electrons, from 0,02 to 10 MeV, emitted during the radioative capture process of the thermal neutrons. The resolution on the base of resolution curve is about 1,5 X 10 sup(-3) [pt

Using the Web for Competitive Intelligence (CI) Gathering

Science.gov (United States)

Rocker, JoAnne; Roncaglia, George

2002-01-01

Businesses use the Internet as a way to communicate company information as a way of engaging their customers. As the use of the Web for business transactions and advertising grows, so too, does the amount of useful information for practitioners of competitive intelligence (CI). CI is the legal and ethical practice of information gathering about competitors and the marketplace. Information sources like company webpages, online newspapers and news organizations, electronic journal articles and reports, and Internet search engines allow CI practitioners analyze company strengths and weaknesses for their customers. More company and marketplace information than ever is available on the Internet and a lot of it is free. Companies should view the Web not only as a business tool but also as a source of competitive intelligence. In a highly competitive marketplace can any organization afford to ignore information about the other players and customers in that same marketplace?

An Empirical Investigation of Factors Influencing Knowledge Management System Success

Science.gov (United States)

2008-03-01

International Conference on System Sciences, Big Island, Hawaii. Coakes, S. J., & Steed, L. G. (1997), SPSS : Analysis without anguish . New York, NY...Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ( SPSS ) version 15 for Windows. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the samples. Multiple...Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Responses from the questionnaires were gathered and entered into SPSS 15 for Windows. The purpose of the Pearson’s

Prevention and surveillance of public health risks during extended mass gatherings in rural areas: the experience of the Tamworth Country Music Festival, Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Polkinghorne, B G; Massey, P D; Durrheim, D N; Byrnes, T; MacIntyre, C R

2013-01-01

To describe and evaluate the public health response to the Tamworth Country Music Festival, an annual extended mass gathering in rural New South Wales, Australia; and to propose a framework for responding to similar rural mass gatherings. Process evaluation by direct observation, archival analysis and focus group discussion. The various components of the public health response to the 2011 Tamworth Country Music Festival were actively recorded. An archival review of documentation from 2007 to 2010 was performed to provide context. A focus group was also conducted to discuss the evolution of the public health response and the consequences of public health involvement. Public health risks increased with increasing duration of the rural mass gathering. Major events held within the rural mass gathering further strained resources. The prevention, preparedness, response and recovery principles provided a useful framework for public health actions. Particular risks included inadequately trained food preparation volunteers functioning in poorly equipped temporary facilities, heat-related ailments and arboviral disease. Extended mass gatherings in rural areas pose particular public health challenges; surge capacity is limited and local infrastructure may be overwhelmed in the event of an acute incident or outbreak. There is value in proactive public health surveillance and monitoring. Annual mass gatherings provide opportunities for continual systems improvement. Early multi-agency planning can identify key risks and identify opportunities for partnership. Special consideration is required for major events within mass gatherings. Copyright © 2012 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

International Inequalities: Algebraic Investigations into Health and Economic Development

Science.gov (United States)

Staats, Susan; Robertson, Douglas

2009-01-01

The Millennium Project is an international effort to improve the health, economic status, and environmental resources of the world's most vulnerable people. Using data associated with the Millennium Project, students use algebra to explore international development issues including poverty reduction and the relationship between health and economy.…

A Data-Gathering Scheme with Joint Routing and Compressive Sensing Based on Modified Diffusion Wavelets in Wireless Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Xiangping; Zhou, Xiaofeng; Sun, Yanjing

2018-02-28

Compressive sensing (CS)-based data gathering is a promising method to reduce energy consumption in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Traditional CS-based data-gathering approaches require a large number of sensor nodes to participate in each CS measurement task, resulting in high energy consumption, and do not guarantee load balance. In this paper, we propose a sparser analysis that depends on modified diffusion wavelets, which exploit sensor readings' spatial correlation in WSNs. In particular, a novel data-gathering scheme with joint routing and CS is presented. A modified ant colony algorithm is adopted, where next hop node selection takes a node's residual energy and path length into consideration simultaneously. Moreover, in order to speed up the coverage rate and avoid the local optimal of the algorithm, an improved pheromone impact factor is put forward. More importantly, theoretical proof is given that the equivalent sensing matrix generated can satisfy the restricted isometric property (RIP). The simulation results demonstrate that the modified diffusion wavelets' sparsity affects the sensor signal and has better reconstruction performance than DFT. Furthermore, our data gathering with joint routing and CS can dramatically reduce the energy consumption of WSNs, balance the load, and prolong the network lifetime in comparison to state-of-the-art CS-based methods.

International Conference eXtended Discretization MethodS

CERN Document Server

Benvenuti, Elena

2016-01-01

This book gathers selected contributions on emerging research work presented at the International Conference eXtended Discretization MethodS (X-DMS), held in Ferrara in September 2015. It highlights the most relevant advances made at the international level in the context of expanding classical discretization methods, like finite elements, to the numerical analysis of a variety of physical problems. The improvements are intended to achieve higher computational efficiency and to account for special features of the solution directly in the approximation space and/or in the discretization procedure. The methods described include, among others, partition of unity methods (meshfree, XFEM, GFEM), virtual element methods, fictitious domain methods, and special techniques for static and evolving interfaces. The uniting feature of all contributions is the direct link between computational methodologies and their application to different engineering areas.

Diet in phenylketonuria : A snapshot of special dietary costs and reimbursement systems in 10 international centers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Belanger-Quintana, A.; Dokoupil, K.; Gokmen-Ozel, H.; Lammardo, A. M.; MacDonald, A.; Motzfeldt, K.; Nowacka, M.; van Rijn, M.; Ahring, K.; Robert, M.

Background and aims: To gather exploratory data on the costs and reimbursement of special dietary foods used in the management of phenylketonuria (PKU) from ten international specialist PKU centers. Methods: Experts from each center provided data on retail costs of the three most frequently used

Differential characteristics in polypathological inpatients in internal medicine departments and acute geriatric units: the PLUPAR study.

Science.gov (United States)

Díez-Manglano, Jesús; de Escalante Yangüela, Begoña; García-Arilla Calvo, Ernesto; Ubis Díez, Elena; Munilla López, Eulalia; Clerencia Sierra, Mercedes; Revillo Pinilla, Paz; Omiste Sanvicente, Teresa

2013-12-01

To determine whether there are any differences between polypathological patients attended in Internal Medicine departments and acute Geriatric units. A cross-sectional multicenter study was performed. Polypathological patients admitted to an internal medicine or geriatrics department and attended by investigators consecutively between March 1 and June 30, 2011 were included. Data of age, sex, living in a nursing residence or at home, diagnostic category, use of chronic medication, Charlson, Barthel and Lawton-Brody indexes, Pfeiffer questionnaire, delirium during last admission, need of a caregiver, and having a caregiver were gathered. The need of a caregiver was defined when the Barthel index wasinternal medicine and 144 from geriatrics units were included. Geriatrics inpatients were older and more frequently female. Cardiac (62.1% vs 49.6%; p=.01), digestive (8.3% vs 3.0%; p=.04) and oncohematological diseases (30.2% vs 18.8%; p=.01) were more frequent in patients of internal medicine units and neurological (66.2% vs 40.2%; pinternal medicine inpatients [4.0(2.1) vs 3.5(2.1); p=.04). Patients attended in geriatrics scored higher in Pfeiffer questionnaire [5.5(3.7) vs 3.8(3.3); pinternal medicine and geriatrics departments. © 2013.

An Efficient Data-Gathering Routing Protocol for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadeem Javaid

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Most applications of underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs demand reliable data delivery over a longer period in an efficient and timely manner. However, the harsh and unpredictable underwater environment makes routing more challenging as compared to terrestrial WSNs. Most of the existing schemes deploy mobile sensors or a mobile sink (MS to maximize data gathering. However, the relatively high deployment cost prevents their usage in most applications. Thus, this paper presents an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV-aided efficient data-gathering (AEDG routing protocol for reliable data delivery in UWSNs. To prolong the network lifetime, AEDG employs an AUV for data collection from gateways and uses a shortest path tree (SPT algorithm while associating sensor nodes with the gateways. The AEDG protocol also limits the number of associated nodes with the gateway nodes to minimize the network energy consumption and to prevent the gateways from overloading. Moreover, gateways are rotated with the passage of time to balance the energy consumption of the network. To prevent data loss, AEDG allows dynamic data collection at the AUV depending on the limited number of member nodes that are associated with each gateway. We also develop a sub-optimal elliptical trajectory of AUV by using a connected dominating set (CDS to further facilitate network throughput maximization. The performance of the AEDG is validated via simulations, which demonstrate the effectiveness of AEDG in comparison to two existing UWSN routing protocols in terms of the selected performance metrics.

An Efficient Data-Gathering Routing Protocol for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Javaid, Nadeem; Ilyas, Naveed; Ahmad, Ashfaq; Alrajeh, Nabil; Qasim, Umar; Khan, Zahoor Ali; Liaqat, Tayyaba; Khan, Majid Iqbal

2015-11-17

Most applications of underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) demand reliable data delivery over a longer period in an efficient and timely manner. However, the harsh and unpredictable underwater environment makes routing more challenging as compared to terrestrial WSNs. Most of the existing schemes deploy mobile sensors or a mobile sink (MS) to maximize data gathering. However, the relatively high deployment cost prevents their usage in most applications. Thus, this paper presents an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV)-aided efficient data-gathering (AEDG) routing protocol for reliable data delivery in UWSNs. To prolong the network lifetime, AEDG employs an AUV for data collection from gateways and uses a shortest path tree (SPT) algorithm while associating sensor nodes with the gateways. The AEDG protocol also limits the number of associated nodes with the gateway nodes to minimize the network energy consumption and to prevent the gateways from overloading. Moreover, gateways are rotated with the passage of time to balance the energy consumption of the network. To prevent data loss, AEDG allows dynamic data collection at the AUV depending on the limited number of member nodes that are associated with each gateway. We also develop a sub-optimal elliptical trajectory of AUV by using a connected dominating set (CDS) to further facilitate network throughput maximization. The performance of the AEDG is validated via simulations, which demonstrate the effectiveness of AEDG in comparison to two existing UWSN routing protocols in terms of the selected performance metrics.

Icarus Paradox: the interplay between entrepreneurial cognition and internal stakeholder perception.

OpenAIRE

Miller, Lianne Bernadette

2014-01-01

This thesis focuses on how entrepreneurial cognition interacts with internal stakeholder perception in established entrepreneurial organizations. In addition, the influence of interdependent factors of cognitive biases, temporality, growth\\ud and performance on the interaction has been examined.\\ud The study is exploratory, phenomenological and framed within an interpretive research paradigm. Primary data was gathered using a qualitative multiple case study methodology. Semi-structured interv...

Perceived Discrimination and International Students' Learning: An Empirical Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Karuppan, Corinne M.; Barari, Mahua

2011-01-01

At a time when the number of internationally mobile students worldwide has been growing steadily, the US share of this market has been declining. Since, as it is often claimed, international students are the best ambassadors for their host countries, an effective recruitment strategy is to enhance their learning experience, with the expectation…

Social networks and cooperation in hunter-gatherers.

Science.gov (United States)

Apicella, Coren L; Marlowe, Frank W; Fowler, James H; Christakis, Nicholas A

2012-01-25

Social networks show striking structural regularities, and both theory and evidence suggest that networks may have facilitated the development of large-scale cooperation in humans. Here, we characterize the social networks of the Hadza, a population of hunter-gatherers in Tanzania. We show that Hadza networks have important properties also seen in modernized social networks, including a skewed degree distribution, degree assortativity, transitivity, reciprocity, geographic decay and homophily. We demonstrate that Hadza camps exhibit high between-group and low within-group variation in public goods game donations. Network ties are also more likely between people who give the same amount, and the similarity in cooperative behaviour extends up to two degrees of separation. Social distance appears to be as important as genetic relatedness and physical proximity in explaining assortativity in cooperation. Our results suggest that certain elements of social network structure may have been present at an early point in human history. Also, early humans may have formed ties with both kin and non-kin, based in part on their tendency to cooperate. Social networks may thus have contributed to the emergence of cooperation.

Fifth International Conference KSE 2013

CERN Document Server

Denoeux, Thierry; Tran, Dang; Le, Anh; Pham, Son; Knowledge and Systems Engineering

2014-01-01

The field of Knowledge and Systems Engineering (KSE) has experienced rapid development and inspired many applications in the world of information technology during the last decade. The KSE conference aims at providing an open international forum for presentation, discussion and exchange of the latest advances and challenges in research of the field. These proceedings contain papers presented at the Fifth International Conference on Knowledge and Systems Engineering (KSE 2013), which was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, during 17–19 October, 2013. Besides the main track of contributed papers, which are compiled into the first volume, the conference also featured several special sessions focusing on specific topics of interest as well as included one workshop, of which the papers form the second volume of these proceedings. The book gathers a total of 68 papers describing recent advances and development on various topics including knowledge discovery and data mining, natural language processing, expert systems, intell...

Proceedings of the 6. international green energy conference IGEC-6

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karakoc, T.H.; Midilli, A.; Turan, O.; Orman, E.; Tunca, F.; Yazar, I. (eds.) [School of Civil Aviation, Anadolu University, Eskisehir (Turkey)

2011-07-01

The 6th International Green Energy Conference (IGEC) took place in Eskisehir, Turkey, from June 5 to June 9, 2011 and was organized by the International Association for Green Energy and Anadolu University. The IGEC is a multi-disciplinary international conference on the use of energy with reduced environmental impacts. Around 150 experts from all over the world attended and presentations were given on energy diversity, energy localization, energy security and sustainable development. The conference provided these experts with an opportunity to hear about studies done by their peers, gather and discuss the latest technical information and research results, and to debate future directions and priorities in sustainable development and energy security. All 124 papers presented during the conference have been catalogued separately for inclusion in this database.

CFD investigation of flow through internally riffled boiler tubes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Christian; Houbak, Niels; Sørensen, Jens Nørkær

1997-01-01

In this paper we show how to model the swirling flow in an internally riffled boiler tube. The flow field is visualized and the results are compared with measurements.......In this paper we show how to model the swirling flow in an internally riffled boiler tube. The flow field is visualized and the results are compared with measurements....

The Regulation of the Possession of Weapons at Gatherings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pieter du Toit

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The Dangerous Weapons Act 15 of 2013 provides for certain prohibitions and restrictions in respect of the possession of a dangerous weapon and it repeals the Dangerous Weapons Act 71 of 1968 as well as the different Dangerous Weapons Acts in operation in the erstwhile TBVC States. The Act also amends the Regulation of Gatherings Act 205 of 1993 to prohibit the possession of any dangerous weapon at a gathering or demonstration. The Dangerous Weapons Act provides for a uniform system of law governing the use of dangerous weapons for the whole of South Africa and it furthermore no longer places the onus on the individual charged with the offence of the possession of a dangerous weapon to show that he or she did not have any intention of using the firearm for an unlawful purpose. The Act also defines the meaning of a dangerous weapon. According to our court’s interpretation of the Dangerous Weapons Act 71 of 1968 a dangerous weapon was regarded as an object used or intended to be used as a weapon even if it had not been designed for use as a weapon. The Act, however, requires the object to be capable of causing death or inflicting serious bodily harm if it were used for an unlawful purpose. The possession of a dangerous weapon, in circumstances which may raise a reasonable suspicion that the person intends to use it for an unlawful purpose, attracts criminal liability. The Act also provides a useful set of guidelines to assist courts to determine if a person charged with the offence of the possession of a dangerous weapon had indeed intended to use the weapon for an unlawful purpose. It seems, however, that the Act prohibits the possession of a dangerous weapon at gatherings, even if the person carrying the weapon does not intend to use it for an unlawful purpose. The state will, however, have to prove that the accused had the necessary control over the object and the intention to exercise such control, as well as that the object is capable of

The lunar-tide cycle viewed by crustacean and mollusc gatherers in the State of Paraíba, Northeast Brazil and their influence in collection attitudes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alves Rômulo RN

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Traditional human communities have a wide knowledge of their environment. Collection of animals in estuarine and coastal areas are directly influenced by tidal cycles. The aim of this study is to evaluate the understanding of the tides associated with the lunar cycle held by people who gather crustaceans and molluscs in the State of Paraiba. The empirical knowledge of 20 crab gatherers and 30 mollusc gatherers was recorded through open interviews and structured questionnaires. The results showed that the gatherers have an accurate comprehension of tidal phenomenon based on their exploitation of natural resources, which perpetuates through generations.

Investigation of high flux test module for the international fusion materials irradiation facilities (IFMIF)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyashita, Makoto; Sugimoto, Masayoshi; Yutani, Toshiaki

2007-03-01

This report describes investigation on structure of a high neutron flux test module (HFTM) for the International Fusion Materials Irradiation Facilities (IFMIF). The HFTM is aimed for neutron irradiation of a specimen in a high neutron flux domain of the test cell for irradiation ground of IFMIF. We investigated the overall structure of the HFTM that was able to include specimens in a rig and thermocouple arrangement, an interface of control signal and support structure. Moreover, pressure and the amount of the bend in the module vessel (a rectangular section pressure vessel) were calculated. The module vessel did a rectangular section from limitation of a high neutron flux domain. Also, we investigated damage of thermocouples under neutron irradiation, which was a temperature sensor of irradiation materials temperature control demanded high precision. Based on these results, drawings on the HTFM structure. (author)

Performance investigation on a 4-bed adsorption desalination cycle with internal heat recovery scheme

KAUST Repository

Thu, Kyaw

2016-10-08

Multi-bed adsorption cycle with the internal heat recovery between the condenser and the evaporator is investigated for desalination application. A numerical model is developed for a 4-bed adsorption cycle implemented with the master-and-slave configuration and the aforementioned internal heat recovery scheme. The present model captures the reversed adsorption/desorption phenomena frequently associated with the unmatched switching periods. Mesoporous silica gel and water vapor emanated from the evaporation of the seawater are employed as the adsorbent and adsorbate pair. The experimental data and investigation for such configurations are reported for the first time at heat source temperatures from 50 °C to 70 °C. The numerical model is validated rigorously and the parametric study is conducted for the performance of the cycle at assorted operation conditions such as hot and cooling water inlet temperatures and the cycle times. The specific daily water production (SDWP) of the present cycle is found to be about 10 m/day per tonne of silica gel for the heat source temperature at 70 °C. Performance comparison is conducted for various types of adsorption desalination cycles. It is observed that the AD cycle with the current configuration provides superior performance whilst is operational at unprecedentedly low heat source temperature as low as 50 °C.

Increased decision thresholds enhance information gathering performance in juvenile Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Science.gov (United States)

Iannaccone, Reto; Brem, Silvia; Walitza, Susanne

2017-01-01

Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be described as cautious and hesitant, manifesting an excessive indecisiveness that hinders efficient decision making. However, excess caution in decision making may also lead to better performance in specific situations where the cost of extended deliberation is small. We compared 16 juvenile OCD patients with 16 matched healthy controls whilst they performed a sequential information gathering task under different external cost conditions. We found that patients with OCD outperformed healthy controls, winning significantly more points. The groups also differed in the number of draws required prior to committing to a decision, but not in decision accuracy. A novel Bayesian computational model revealed that subjective sampling costs arose as a non-linear function of sampling, closely resembling an escalating urgency signal. Group difference in performance was best explained by a later emergence of these subjective costs in the OCD group, also evident in an increased decision threshold. Our findings present a novel computational model and suggest that enhanced information gathering in OCD can be accounted for by a higher decision threshold arising out of an altered perception of costs that, in some specific contexts, may be advantageous. PMID:28403139

Flight delay performance at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grigoriy Yablonsky

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The main objective of this paper is to determine the annual cyclical flight delays at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Then using other data such as annual precipitation, passenger and aircraft traffic volumes and other factors, we attempted to correlate these factors with overall delays. These data could assist airport management in predicting periods of flight delay.Design/methodology/approach: Data were taken and analyzed from the data base “Research and Innovation Technology Administration” (RITA for the years 2005-2011 for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The data included 2.8 million flights originating and departing from this airport. Data were also gathered from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA showing precipitation. Additional data were gathered from the FAA regarding delay causes, number and types of delays and changes to the infrastructure of ATL airportFindings: There is a repeatable annual pattern of delays at ATL that can be modeled using delay data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. This pattern appears to be caused primarily by the frequency and amount of precipitation that falls at ATL and by the amount of flights that arrive and depart at ATL.Originality/value: This information could assist airport operations personnel, FAA air traffic controllers and airlines in anticipating and mitigating delays at specific times of the year.

Understanding Stress-Related Behavioral Phenotypes: Report from the 1st International Neuroscience Summer School and the 11th International “Stress and Behavior” Conference

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. L. LaPorte

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The 1st International Neuroscience Summer School and the 11th International Multidisciplinary Neuroscience and Biopsychiatry Conference on Stress and Behavior were held in St. Petersburg, Russia, during May 9–20, 2008. The summer school gathered 30 talented young scientists from 15 countries worldwide, and was dedicated to different topics of behavioral neuroscience. Many interactive courses were provided on neuropharmacology, animal phenotyping, and biopsychology. The conference's excellent scientific and social program attracted almost 500 delegates from 40 countries from many areas of stress research. The eclectic interaction between medical doctors, basic scientists, psychologists, and students made for a productive and collaborative environment, which contributed greatly to the success of the school and conference.

A ECG Signal Gathering and Displaying System Based on AVR

Science.gov (United States)

Ning, Li; Ruilan, Zhang; Jian, Liu; Xiaochen, Wang; Shuying, Chen; Zhuolin, Lang

2017-12-01

This article introduces a kind of system which is based on the AVR to acquire the data of ECG. Such system using the A/D function of ATmega8 chip and the lattice graph LCD to design ECG heart acquisition satisfies the demands above. This design gives a composition of hardware and programming of software about the system in detail which has mainly realized the real-time gathering, the amplifier, the filter, the A/D transformation and the LCD display. Since the AVR includes A/D transformation function and support embedded C language programming, it reduces the peripheral circuit, further more it also decreases the time to design and debug this system.

5th International Congress on Energy Fluxes and Radiation Effects 2016

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

accelerators, finds application in beam pumping of high-power pulsed gas lasers, switches and other electric pulsed devices.The 17 th International Conference on Radiation Physics and Chemistry of Condensed Matter is traditionally organised starting from 1969. This conference is the largest both on national and international scale in the fields of radiation physics and chemistry of inorganic substances, investigation of fundamental problems of elementary, nonlinear and catastrophic processes in condensed matter under fluxes of hard radiation.The International Conference on Modification of Materials with Particle Beams and Plasma Flows was held for the 13 th time beginning from 1988. The high level of this event is due to the participation of the representatives of outstanding scientific schools that stand at the origins of this scientific and technological field.Regular organisation of EFRE Congress strengthens the interdisciplinary bonds between three grand fields of physics and technology playing increasingly important role in the technological development of society. Pulsed energy generation and high-current electronics provide equipment for electric discharge, plasma beam and radiation technologies that intensely fill and update the technological niches in various branches of industry, defence, chemistry, biology and medicine. The participants of the forums get comprehensive picture of scientific and applied problems and have an opportunity to look at them from the perspective of theoretical and experiment studies and engineering.The place of the event has been chosen for a reason: Tomsk is a city having strong scientific and educational network including outstanding physical and technological schools. It was Tomsk where many of the scientific topics of the Congress germinated. Each of the forums gathers the representatives of abundant student pool of Tomsk.The main organisers of the Congress—Tomsk Polytechnic University and Institute of High-Current Electronics of SB

Common-image gathers using the excitation amplitude imaging condition

KAUST Repository

Kalita, Mahesh

2016-06-06

Common-image gathers (CIGs) are extensively used in migration velocity analysis. Any defocused events in the subsurface offset domain or equivalently nonflat events in angle-domain CIGs are accounted for revising the migration velocities. However, CIGs from wave-equation methods such as reverse time migration are often expensive to compute, especially in 3D. Using the excitation amplitude imaging condition that simplifies the forward-propagated source wavefield, we have managed to extract extended images for space and time lags in conjunction with prestack reverse time migration. The extended images tend to be cleaner, and the memory cost/disk storage is extensively reduced because we do not need to store the source wavefield. In addition, by avoiding the crosscorrelation calculation, we reduce the computational cost. These features are demonstrated on a linear v(z) model, a two-layer velocity model, and the Marmousi model.

76 FR 4651 - Venice Gathering System, L.L.C.; Notice of Request Under Blanket Authorization

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-26

... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. CP11-58-000] Venice... on January 7, 2011, Venice Gathering System, L.L.C. (Venice), 1000 Louisiana, Suite 4300, Houston... existing 20- inch diameter natural gas supply lateral pipeline, offshore Louisiana, under Venice's blanket...

International Asia Conference on Industrial Engineering and Management Innovation

CERN Document Server

Shen, Jiang; Dou, Runliang

2013-01-01

The International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management is sponsored by the Chinese Industrial Engineering Institution, CMES, which is the only national-level academic society for Industrial Engineering. The conference is held annually as the major event in this arena. Being the largest and the most authoritative international academic conference held in China, it provides an academic platform for experts and entrepreneurs in the areas of international industrial engineering and management to exchange their research findings. Many experts in various fields from China and around the world gather together at the conference to review, exchange, summarize and promote their achievements in the fields of industrial engineering and engineering management. For example, some experts pay special attention to the current state of the application of related techniques in China as well as their future prospects, such as green product design, quality control and management, supply chain and logist...

THE FUTURE OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AS A STUDY FIELD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcos Amatucci

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The field of International Business lies at a crossroads of analytical levels, themes and theoretical traditions, and it will probably remain at this point in the near future. This work follows five years (2001-2006 of the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS to analyse the scope and evolution of themes, methodologies and theoretical traditions in 199 articles. After this phase, it discusses, with the help of colleagues gathered in two workshops, the future of the area in terms of two hypotheses: the convergence hypothesis of the dominance of a theoretical and thematic mainstream, and the divergence hypothesis of a “theoretical quilt” configuration of the field. It concludes that the editorial preferences of JIBS favour traditional approaches to the field and that the second “future” is the most likely to occur, leading International Business to evolve as a social reference more than an epistemological entity.

29 CFR 502.5 - Investigation authority of Secretary.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... ENFORCEMENT OF CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS FOR TEMPORARY ALIEN AGRICULTURAL WORKERS ADMITTED UNDER SECTION 218 OF... gather such information as deemed necessary by the Secretary to determine compliance with contractual obligations under sec. 218 of the INA or these regulations. (b) Failure to cooperate with an investigation...

Putting the Steam Back into Critique? "Gathering" for Critical-Dissensual Collaborations in Education Policy Research

Science.gov (United States)

Heimans, Stephen; Singh, Parlo

2018-01-01

Bruno Latour famously asked, "Why has critique run out of steam?". In this paper we draw on his ideas to present some resources for "gathering"--for doing education policy research with others--which we term "critical-dissensual collaboration". We believe that our education policy research "critique from…

From information needs to information gathering: a system optimization perspective to ISR synchronization

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz-Peña, Héctor J.; Nagi, Rakesh; Sudit, Moises; Moskal, Michael D.; Dawson, Michael; Fink, James; Hanratty, Timothy; Heilman, Eric; Tuttle, Daniel

2012-06-01

There has been significant progress recognizing the value of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) activities supporting Situational Awareness and Command and Control functions during the past several decades. We consider ISR operations to be proactive (discovering activities or areas of interest), active (activities performed for a particular task that flows down from a hierarchical process) or reactive (critical information gathering due to unexpected events). ISR synchronization includes the analysis and prioritization of information requirements, identification of intelligence gaps and the recommendation of available resources to gather information of interest, for all types of ISR operations. It has become critically important to perform synchronized ISR activities to maximize the efficient utilization of limited resources (both in quantity and capabilities) and, simultaneously, to increase the accuracy and timeliness of the information gain. A study evaluating the existing technologies and processes supporting ISR activities is performed suggesting a rigorous system optimization approach to the ISR synchronization process. Unfortunately, this approach is not used today. The study identifies existing gaps between the current ISR synchronization process and the proposed system optimization approach in the areas of communication and collaboration tools and advanced decision aids (analytics). Solutions are recommended that will help close this gap.

Partial support for the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Core Project Office

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Prinn, Ronald G.

2001-05-04

IGAC provides an international framework for the planning, coordination, and execution of atmospheric--biospheric research with emphasis on projects which require resources beyond the capabilities of any single nation. The development of chemical emission inventories by IGAC scientists, the development and intercomparison under IGAC leadership of existing chemical transport models, the analysis of data gathered during IGAC-sponsored field campaigns, etc., has provided new scientific information essential to the development of the discipline.

A Data Gathering Scheme in Wireless Sensor Networks Based on Synchronization of Chaotic Spiking Oscillator Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakano, Hidehiro; Utani, Akihide; Miyauchi, Arata; Yamamoto, Hisao

2011-01-01

This paper studies chaos-based data gathering scheme in multiple sink wireless sensor networks. In the proposed scheme, each wireless sensor node has a simple chaotic oscillator. The oscillators generate spike signals with chaotic interspike intervals, and are impulsively coupled by the signals via wireless communication. Each wireless sensor node transmits and receives sensor information only in the timing of the couplings. The proposed scheme can exhibit various chaos synchronous phenomena and their breakdown phenomena, and can effectively gather sensor information with the significantly small number of transmissions and receptions compared with the conventional scheme. Also, the proposed scheme can flexibly adapt various wireless sensor networks not only with a single sink node but also with multiple sink nodes. This paper introduces our previous works. Through simulation experiments, we show effectiveness of the proposed scheme and discuss its development potential.

Th biodistribution in internal contamination of animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciubotariu, M.; Danis, A.; Dumitrescu, G.; Cucu, M.

1999-01-01

body from a non-contaminated rat and a solution calibrated in Th. The obtained results put into evidence that the Th was retained in all the vital organs of the contaminated rats, particularly in lung, liver, stomach and small intestine. All the contaminated rats have presented a non-uniform Th distribution in the investigated organs excepting the one which was sacrificed 2 days after contamination. In its organs Th inclusions were present. Their Th concentration were ranging from 1 ppm up to 24 ppm. We think that the rejection reaction of the contaminant element by the rats organism was stronger on the first days after contamination and, as a consequence, the Th was gathered in inclusions, as 'intruder' element. In time, these inclusions were 'washed' by blood and then eliminated. From the point of view of the medical state, the blood test revealed the normal values of the hemoglobin and a exponential increase of the leucocyte values (leucocytosis) without toxic granules in comparison with the U internal contamination where the blood test revealed granular cytopenia and acute leukopenia with toxic granules. In the next stage, we shall try to find a correlation between the ingested Th amount and the ones retained and eliminated by rats. For that, we must investigate the Th elimination through urine and excrements. We must specify that our results obtained in the studies on the U or Th internal contamination can be used only as a discussion based in order to think out a plan for a systematic biological investigation on the internal contamination in which a sufficient number of subjects must be used for a good statistics. (authors)

International Nuclear Safety Center (INSC) database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sofu, T.; Ley, H.; Turski, R.B.

1997-01-01

As an integral part of DOE's International Nuclear Safety Center (INSC) at Argonne National Laboratory, the INSC Database has been established to provide an interactively accessible information resource for the world's nuclear facilities and to promote free and open exchange of nuclear safety information among nations. The INSC Database is a comprehensive resource database aimed at a scope and level of detail suitable for safety analysis and risk evaluation for the world's nuclear power plants and facilities. It also provides an electronic forum for international collaborative safety research for the Department of Energy and its international partners. The database is intended to provide plant design information, material properties, computational tools, and results of safety analysis. Initial emphasis in data gathering is given to Soviet-designed reactors in Russia, the former Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe. The implementation is performed under the Oracle database management system, and the World Wide Web is used to serve as the access path for remote users. An interface between the Oracle database and the Web server is established through a custom designed Web-Oracle gateway which is used mainly to perform queries on the stored data in the database tables

Ancient DNA reveals lack of continuity between neolithic hunter-gatherers and contemporary Scandinavians

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Malmström, Helena; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Thomas, Mark G

2009-01-01

of the two cultures in Scandinavia has been cited as an argument against population replacement between the Mesolithic and the present [7, 8]. Through analysis of DNA extracted from ancient Scandinavian human remains, we show that people of the Pitted Ware culture were not the direct ancestors of modern......]. Furthermore, our data are consistent with the view that the eastern Baltic represents a genetic refugia for some of the European hunter-gatherer populations....

5th Conference of the International Federation of Classification Societies

CERN Document Server

Yajima, Keiji; Bock, Hans-Hermann; Ohsumi, Noboru; Tanaka, Yutaka; Baba, Yasumasa

1998-01-01

This volume, Data Science, Classification, and Related Methods, contains a selection of papers presented at the Fifth Conference of the International Federation of Oassification Societies (IFCS-96), which was held in Kobe, Japan, from March 27 to 30,1996. The volume covers a wide range of topics and perspectives in the growing field of data science, including theoretical and methodological advances in domains relating to data gathering, classification and clustering, exploratory and multivariate data analysis, and knowledge discovery and seeking. It gives a broad view of the state of the art and is intended for those in the scientific community who either develop new data analysis methods or gather data and use search tools for analyzing and interpreting large and complex data sets. Presenting a wide field of applications, this book is of interest not only to data analysts, mathematicians, and statisticians but also to scientists from many areas and disciplines concerned with complex data: medicine, biology, ...

General correlations for pressure drop and heat transfer for single-phase turbulent flow in internally ribbed tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ravigururajan, T.S.; Bergles, A.E.

1985-01-01

General correlations for friction factors and heat transfer coefficients for single-phase turbulent flow in internally ribbed tubes are presented. Data from previous investigations are gathered for a wide range of tube parameters with e/d: 0.01 to 0.2; p/d: 0.1 to 7.0; α/90: 0.3 to 1.0, and flow parameters Re: 5000 to 250,000 and Pr: 0.66 to 37.6. The data were applied to a linear model to get normalized correlations that were then modified to fit tubes with extremely small parametric values. A shape function was included in the friction correlation to account for different rib profiles. The friction correlation predicts 96% of the data base to within +. 50% and 77% of the data base to within +. 20%. Corresponding figures for the heat transfer correlation are 99% and 69%. The present correlations are superior, for this extensive data base, to those presented by other investigators

Preliminary analysis of proteome alterations in non-aneurysmal, internal mammary artery tissue from patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kidholm, Christina Lund; Beck, Hans Christian; Madsen, Julie Bukh

2018-01-01

with AAA and 33 sex- and age-matched controls without AAA. Samples were selected from a biobank of leftover internal mammary arterial tissue gathered at coronary by-pass operations. Results We identified and quantitated 877 proteins, of which 44 were differentially expressed between the two groups (nominal...

ANT International chemistry update and best practices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nordmann, F.; Odar, S.; Venz, H.; Kysela, J.; Ruehle, W.; Riess, R.

2010-01-01

There is an increasing number of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) in various countries. Their chemistry practices are different due to the variety of designs and experiences while in the past the view was more monolithic. This is allowing a very rich experience that is extremely difficult to fully be aware of. ANT International is now collecting and evaluating these data as well as related R and D Information. This allows interested parties to have an easier access to the various sources of information. The chemistry experts associated to ANT International have been gathering a comprehensive detailed view of: The numerous laboratory data gained all over the world during the past decades; The extensive plant operating experiences with various types of chemistry strategies, crosschecked for various types of reactors designs and materials; An experienced international knowledge able to give the comprehensive overview that young engineers now in charge of many other activities are unable to fully cover. This paper gives the core conclusions of the detailed ANT International reports and results that have recently been gathered in the area of chemistry. It particularly covers: The primary water chemistry and its relation with radionuclides, dose rates and fuel behaviour; The secondary water chemistry focusing on its rationale selection depending on materials, design and other constraints; The start up and shutdown chemistry with it large variety of practices hardly understandable even for some experts; and, The maintenance remedies such as decontamination, steam generator cleaning and its alternate options. Various types of Reactor designs (PWR, VVER, BWR, CANDU®) are considered. The different materials, for example the impact of steam generator tubing and its evolution on the secondary water chemistry rationale or on the radioactivity built-up in the primary coolant, are described. The ways to improve the plant operation with a long term reliability as well as the most

Internal Consistency of the easyCBM© CCSS Reading Measures: Grades 3-8. Technical Report #1407

Science.gov (United States)

Guerreiro, Meg; Alonzo, Julie; Tindal, Gerald

2014-01-01

This technical report documents findings from a study of the internal consistency and split-half reliability of the easyCBM© CCSS Reading measures, grades 3-8. Data, drawn from an extant data set gathered in school year 2013-2014, include scores from over 150,000 students' fall and winter benchmark assessments. Findings suggest that the easyCBM©…

Experimental and numerical investigation of the internal kinetics of a surf-zone plunging breaker

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Emarat, Narumon; Forehand, David I.M.; Christensen, Erik Damgaard

2012-01-01

Over the last couple of decades both the qualitative and quantitative understanding of breaking waves in the surf zone have greatly increased. This is due to the advances in experimental and numerical techniques. However, few comparisons between these two different investigative techniques...... for surfzone breaking waves have been reported. In this study, a comparison is made between the experimental and numerical investigation of the internal kinematics of a surf-zone plunging breaker. The full-field velocity measuring technique known as Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is used in the experiments...... was found for all comparisons: free-surface elevations, velocity vector maps, velocity profiles and velocity-magnitude contours. However, some small discrepancies were observed. In the free-surface elevation comparisons, a slight time lag was observed in the numerical results and it is suggested...

Balloon-borne ozonesonde and rocket temperature and wind data gathered during the July 1977 intertropical convergence zone experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidlin, F. J.; Kloos, G.

1979-01-01

In middle latitudes, it is possible for large concentrations of stratospheric air to be brought down to the tropopause through folds or breaks in the tropopause. The exchange of air from the tropopause into higher altitudes is not well understood. Thus, the ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) experiment, conducted from July 16 through July 31, 1977, included a series of balloon-borne ozone soundings. The results of these soundings are presented and explain in the vertical exchange of air and provide information on the short vertical scales-of-motion. Rocketsonde data was also gathered in the ITCZ experiment in support of a stratospheric scales-of-motion study. The investigation was to determine whether rocketsonde and satellite information currently used yield information on the stratospheric horizontal wave spectrum and its importance with respect to tropospheric and mesospheric interaction and transport.

The Second International Workshop on Bioprinting, Biopatterning and Bioassembly.

Science.gov (United States)

Mironov, Vladimir

2005-08-01

The Second International Workshop on Bioprinting, Biopatterning and Bioassembly was held at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), located in the beautiful, historic city of Charleston. The workshop attracted > 50 participants from 10 different countries, including mechanical and chemical engineers, molecular, cell and developmental biologists, biophysicists, mathematicians, clinicians, humanists and artists. Bioprinting can be defined as computer-aided, automatic, layer-by-layer deposition, transfer and patterning of biologically relevant materials. The workshop goal was to gather the world's experts and leaders, present the latest results, assess future trends, explore new applications, and promote international collaborations and academic-industrial partnerships. The workshop demonstrated the multidisciplinary and global character of ongoing efforts in the development of bioprinting technology, galvanised an evolving community of bioprintists, and demonstrated feasibility as well as strong potential for a broad spectrum of applications of bioprinting technology. The Third International Workshop on Bioprinting, Biopatterning and Bioassembly is planned for Japan in 2006.

Aligning internal organizational factors with a service excellence mission: an exploratory investigation in health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Robert C; Sivo, Stephen A; Fottler, Myron D; Dickson, Duncan; Bradley, Kenneth; Johnson, Lee

2006-01-01

In today's competitive health care environment, service excellence is rapidly becoming a major differentiating advantage between health care providers. Too often, senior executives talk about their commitment to a mission statement that extols the virtues of providing world class service to their patients only to undermine those statements with what they do, write, and say. This article presents an exploratory investigation into a new application of an internal mission alignment instrument that seeks to assess the extent to which an organization's internal processes are aligned with its service mission. This instrument was sent to 250 randomly selected employees from all clinical departments of a large southeastern hospital to explore the underlying alignment factors. A factor analysis of the data revealed eight factors that predicted beneficial employee outcomes such as organizational commitment and satisfaction with the job and organization.

Experimental Investigation on the Internal Resistance of Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Cells during Calendar Ageing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stroe, Daniel Ioan; Swierczynski, Maciej Jozef; Stan, Ana-Irina

2013-01-01

Lithium-ion batteries are increasingly considered for a wide area of applications because of their superior characteristics in comparisons to other energy storage technologies. However, at present, Lithium-ion batteries are expensive storage devices and consequently their ageing behavior must...... be known in order to estimate their economic viability in different application. The ageing behavior of Lithium-ion batteries is described by the fade of their discharge capacity and by the decrease of their power capability. The capability of a Lithium-ion battery to deliver or to absorb a certain power...... is directly related to its internal resistance. This work aims to investigate the dependency of the internal resistance of lithium-ion batteries on the storage temperature and on the storage time. For this purpose, accelerated ageing calendar lifetime tests were carried out over a period of one year. Based...

Fatigue life analysis of cracked gas receiver of emergency cut-off system in gas gathering station

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Junzhi; Zhou, Jiyong; Li, Siyuan

2017-06-01

Small-scale air compressor and gas receiver are used as the driving gas of the emergency cut-off system in gas gathering station. Operation of block valve is ensured by starting and stopping compressor automatically. The frequent start-stop of compressor and the pressure fluctuation pose a threat to the service life of gas receiver, and then affect normal operation of the emergency cut-off system and security of gas gathering station. In this paper, the fatigue life of a pressure vessel with axial semi-elliptical surface crack in the inner wall is analyzed under the varying pressure by means of the theory of fracture mechanics. The influences of the amplitude of pressure fluctuation and the initial crack size on the residual life of gas receiver are discussed. It provides a basis for setting the working parameters of gas receiver of emergency cut-off system and determining the maintenance cycle.

LPTA: location predictive and time adaptive data gathering scheme with mobile sink for wireless sensor networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Chuan; Wang, Yao; Han, Guangjie; Rodrigues, Joel J P C; Lloret, Jaime

2014-01-01

This paper exploits sink mobility to prolong the lifetime of sensor networks while maintaining the data transmission delay relatively low. A location predictive and time adaptive data gathering scheme is proposed. In this paper, we introduce a sink location prediction principle based on loose time synchronization and deduce the time-location formulas of the mobile sink. According to local clocks and the time-location formulas of the mobile sink, nodes in the network are able to calculate the current location of the mobile sink accurately and route data packets timely toward the mobile sink by multihop relay. Considering that data packets generating from different areas may be different greatly, an adaptive dwelling time adjustment method is also proposed to balance energy consumption among nodes in the network. Simulation results show that our data gathering scheme enables data routing with less data transmission time delay and balance energy consumption among nodes.

An institutional investigation of international financial transactions

OpenAIRE

Piroska, Dóra

2004-01-01

The paper focuses on the foreign debt management of the Hungarian and Slovenian policy makers in the global financial markets. The proposed argument combines a theoretical refinement of international financial markets as locally embedded social relations with a domestically oriented institutional analysis of foreign debt management. I argue that in order to understand the differences between the two states’ debt management strategies, it is important to look at the institutional differences w...

Industrial centre of gathering, warehousing and storage. 2014 annual report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-07-01

This report first presents the installations of the Cires, the industrial centre for gathering, warehousing and storing of low-level nuclear wastes, its equipment and buildings, its activities (storage of very-low-activity wastes, regrouping and warehousing of non-electronuclear wastes). It reviews the arrangements regarding safety and radiation protection: radioactive waste storage safety, safety of non-electronuclear waste regrouping and warehousing, relationship with the regional directorate of environment, planning and housing (DREAL), quality audits, staff safety, and radiation protection. It addresses the actions undertaken for the monitoring of the environment and of the releases from the facilities: radiological control in various locations (measurements in soils, surface and underground waters, atmosphere), physical and chemical controls. The next part reports actions regarding transparency and information (visits, conferences, exhibitions, relationship with the local information and control commission)

Deepwater Horizon Accident Investigation Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-09-01

On the evening of April 20, 2010, a well control event allowed hydrocarbons to escape from the Macondo well onto Transocean's Deepwater Horizon, resulting in explosions and fire on the rig. Eleven people lost their lives, and 17 others were injured. The fire, which was fed by hydrocarbons from the well, continued for 36 hours until the rig sank. Hydrocarbons continued to flow from the reservoir through the wellbore and the blowout preventer (BOP) for 87 days, causing a spill of national significance. BP Exploration and Production Inc. was the lease operator of Mississippi Canyon Block 252, which contains the Macondo well. BP formed an investigation team that was charged with gathering the facts surrounding the accident, analyzing available information to identify possible causes and making recommendations to enable prevention of similar accidents in the future. The BP investigation team began its work immediately in the aftermath of the accident, working independently from other BP spill response activities and organizations. The ability to gather information was limited by a scarcity of physical evidence and restricted access to potentially relevant witnesses. The team had access to partial real-time data from the rig, documents from various aspects of the Macondo well's development and construction, witness interviews and testimony from public hearings. The team used the information that was made available by other companies, including Transocean, Halliburton and Cameron. Over the course of the investigation, the team involved over 50 internal and external specialists from a variety of fields: safety, operations, subsea, drilling, well control, cementing, well flow dynamic modeling, BOP systems and process hazard analysis. This report presents an analysis of the events leading up to the accident, eight key findings related to the causal chain of events and recommendations to enable the prevention of a similar accident. The investigation team worked separately

Deepwater Horizon Accident Investigation Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2010-09-15

On the evening of April 20, 2010, a well control event allowed hydrocarbons to escape from the Macondo well onto Transocean's Deepwater Horizon, resulting in explosions and fire on the rig. Eleven people lost their lives, and 17 others were injured. The fire, which was fed by hydrocarbons from the well, continued for 36 hours until the rig sank. Hydrocarbons continued to flow from the reservoir through the wellbore and the blowout preventer (BOP) for 87 days, causing a spill of national significance. BP Exploration and Production Inc. was the lease operator of Mississippi Canyon Block 252, which contains the Macondo well. BP formed an investigation team that was charged with gathering the facts surrounding the accident, analyzing available information to identify possible causes and making recommendations to enable prevention of similar accidents in the future. The BP investigation team began its work immediately in the aftermath of the accident, working independently from other BP spill response activities and organizations. The ability to gather information was limited by a scarcity of physical evidence and restricted access to potentially relevant witnesses. The team had access to partial real-time data from the rig, documents from various aspects of the Macondo well's development and construction, witness interviews and testimony from public hearings. The team used the information that was made available by other companies, including Transocean, Halliburton and Cameron. Over the course of the investigation, the team involved over 50 internal and external specialists from a variety of fields: safety, operations, subsea, drilling, well control, cementing, well flow dynamic modeling, BOP systems and process hazard analysis. This report presents an analysis of the events leading up to the accident, eight key findings related to the causal chain of events and recommendations to enable the prevention of a similar accident. The investigation team worked

Impact of some types of mass gatherings on current suicide risk in an urban population: statistical and negative binominal regression analysis of time series.

Science.gov (United States)

Usenko, Vasiliy S; Svirin, Sergey N; Shchekaturov, Yan N; Ponarin, Eduard D

2014-04-04

Many studies have investigated the impact of a wide range of social events on suicide-related behaviour. However, these studies have predominantly examined national events. The aim of this study is to provide a statistical evaluation of the relationship between mass gatherings in some relatively small urban sub-populations and the general suicide rates of a major city. The data were gathered in the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, with a population of 1 million people, in 2005-2010. Suicide attempts, suicides, and the total amount of suicide-related behaviours were registered daily for each sex. Bivariate and multivariate statistical analysis, including negative binomial regression, were applied to assess the risk of suicide-related behaviour in the city's general population for 7 days before and after 427 mass gatherings, such as concerts, football games, and non-regular mass events organized by the Orthodox Church and new religious movements. The bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses found significant changes in some suicide-related behaviour rates in the city's population after certain kinds of mass gatherings. In particular, we observed an increased relative risk (RR) of male suicide-related behaviour after a home defeat of the local football team (RR = 1.32, p = 0.047; regression coefficient beta = 0.371, p = 0.002), and an increased risk of male suicides (RR = 1.29, p = 0.006; beta =0.255, p = 0.002), male suicide-related behaviour (RR = 1.25, p = 0.019; beta =0.251, p football games and mass events organized by new religious movements involved a relatively small part of an urban population (1.6 and 0.3%, respectively), we observed a significant increase of the some suicide-related behaviour rates in the whole population. It is likely that the observed effect on suicide-related behaviour is related to one's personal presence at the event rather than to its broadcast. Our findings can be explained largely in

Solving Interoperability in Translational Health. Perspectives of Students from the International Partnership in Health Informatics Education (IPHIE) 2016 Master Class.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Anne M; Facelli, Julio C; Jaspers, Monique; Wetter, Thomas; Pfeifer, Daniel; Gatewood, Laël Cranmer; Adam, Terry; Li, Yu-Chuan; Lin, Ming-Chin; Evans, R Scott; Beukenhorst, Anna; van Mens, Hugo Johan Theodoore; Tensen, Esmee; Bock, Christian; Fendrich, Laura; Seitz, Peter; Suleder, Julian; Aldelkhyyel, Ranyah; Bridgeman, Kent; Hu, Zhen; Sattler, Aaron; Guo, Shin-Yi; Mohaimenul, Islam Md Mohaimenul; Anggraini Ningrum, Dina Nur; Tung, Hsin-Ru; Bian, Jiantano; Plasek, Joseph M; Rommel, Casey; Burke, Juandalyn; Sohih, Harkirat

2017-06-20

In the summer of 2016 an international group of biomedical and health informatics faculty and graduate students gathered for the 16th meeting of the International Partnership in Health Informatics Education (IPHIE) masterclass at the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. This international biomedical and health informatics workshop was created to share knowledge and explore issues in biomedical health informatics (BHI). The goal of this paper is to summarize the discussions of biomedical and health informatics graduate students who were asked to define interoperability, and make critical observations to gather insight on how to improve biomedical education. Students were assigned to one of four groups and asked to define interoperability and explore potential solutions to current problems of interoperability in health care. We summarize here the student reports on the importance and possible solutions to the "interoperability problem" in biomedical informatics. Reports are provided from each of the four groups of highly qualified graduate students from leading BHI programs in the US, Europe and Asia. International workshops such as IPHIE provide a unique opportunity for graduate student learning and knowledge sharing. BHI faculty are encouraged to incorporate into their curriculum opportunities to exercise and strengthen student critical thinking to prepare our students for solving health informatics problems in the future.

Investigation of index finger triggering force using a cadaver experiment: Effects of trigger grip span, contact location, and internal tendon force.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Joonho; Freivalds, Andris; Sharkey, Neil A; Kong, Yong-Ku; Mike Kim, H; Sung, Kiseok; Kim, Dae-Min; Jung, Kihyo

2017-11-01

A cadaver study was conducted to investigate the effects of triggering conditions (trigger grip span, contact location, and internal tendon force) on index finger triggering force and the force efficiency of involved tendons. Eight right human cadaveric hands were employed, and a motion simulator was built to secure and control the specimens. Index finger triggering forces were investigated as a function of different internal tendon forces (flexor digitorum profundus + flexor digitorum superficialis = 40, 70, and 100 N), trigger grip spans (40, 50, and 60 mm), and contact locations between the index finger and a trigger. Triggering forces significantly increased when internal tendon forces increased from 40 to 100 N. Also, trigger grip spans and contact locations had significant effects on triggering forces; maximum triggering forces were found at a 50 mm span and the most proximal contact location. The results revealed that only 10-30% of internal tendon forces were converted to their external triggering forces. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using obsidian transfer distances to explore social network maintenance in late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers.

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, Eiluned; Moutsiou, Theodora

2014-12-01

Social behaviour is notoriously difficult to study archaeologically and it is unclear how large the networks of prehistoric humans were, or how they remained connected. Maintaining social cohesion was crucial for early humans because social networks facilitate cooperation and are imperative for survival and reproduction. Recent hunter-gatherer social organisation typically comprises a number of nested layers, ranging from the nuclear family through to the ~1500-strong ethnolinguistic tribe. Here we compare maximum obsidian transfer distances from the late Pleistocene with ethnographic data on the size of the geographic areas associated with each of these social grouping layers in recent hunter-gatherers. The closest match between the two is taken to indicate the maximum social layer within which contact could be sustained by Pleistocene hominins. Within both the (sub)tropical African and Subarctic biomes, the maximum obsidian transfer distances for Pleistocene modern humans (~200km and ~400km respectively) correspond to the geographic ranges of the outermost tribal layer in recent hunter-gatherers. This suggests that modern humans could potentially sustain the cohesion of their entire tribe at all latitudes, even though networks are more dispersed nearer the poles. Neanderthal obsidian transfer distances (300km) indicate that although Neanderthal home ranges are larger than those of low latitude hominins, Neanderthals travelled shorter distances than modern humans living at the same high latitudes. We argue that, like modern humans, Neanderthals could have maintained tribal cohesion, but that their tribes were substantially smaller than those of contemporary modern humans living in similar environments. The greater time taken to traverse the larger modern human tribal ranges may have limited the frequency of their face-to-face interactions and thus necessitated additional mechanisms to ensure network connectivity, such as the exchange of symbolic artefacts

International conference on differential and difference equations with applications

CERN Document Server

Caraballo, Tomás; Kloeden, Peter; Graef, John

2018-01-01

This book gathers papers from the International Conference on Differential & Difference Equations and Applications 2017 (ICDDEA 2017), held in Lisbon, Portugal on June 5-9, 2017. The editors have compiled the strongest research presented at the conference, providing readers with valuable insights into new trends in the field, as well as applications and high-level survey results. The goal of the ICDDEA was to promote fruitful collaborations between researchers in the fields of differential and difference equations. All areas of differential and difference equations are represented, with a special emphasis on applications.

Development of the NRC`s Human Performance Investigation Process (HPIP). Volume 2, Investigators`s Manual

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paradies, M.; Unger, L. [System Improvements, Inc., Knoxville, TN (United States); Haas, P.; Terranova, M. [Concord Associates, Inc., Knoxville, TN (United States)

1993-10-01

The three volumes of this report detail a standard investigation process for use by US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) personnel when investigating human performance related events at nuclear power plants. The process, called the Human Performance Investigation Process (HPIP), was developed to meet the special needs of NRC personnel, especially NRC resident and regional inspectors. HPIP is a systematic investigation process combining current procedures and field practices, expert experience, NRC human performance research, and applicable investigation techniques. The process is easy to learn and helps NRC personnel perform better field investigations of the root causes of human performance problems. The human performance data gathered through such investigations provides a better understanding of the human performance issues that cause event at nuclear power plants. This document, Volume II, is a field manual for use by investigators when performing event investigations. Volume II includes the HPIP Procedure, the HPIP Modules, and Appendices that provide extensive documentation of each investigation technique.

Beyond the drip-line: a high-resolution open-air Holocene hunter-gatherer sequence from highland Lesotho

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Mitchell, P

2011-03-01

Full Text Available the drip-line: a high-resolution open-air Holocene hunter-gatherer sequence from highland Lesotho Peter Mitchell1, Ina Plug2, Geoff Bailey3, Ruth Charles4, Amanda Esterhuysen5, Julia Lee Thorp6, Adrian Parker7 & Stephan Woodborne8 The activities...

The Effect of Internal Marketing on Organizational Commitment in Ghods Hospital in Arak City, 2016

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mojgan Ahmari Nejad

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: Internal marketing is one of the applied instruments for managers to plan human force. This study aimed to investigate the effect of internal marketing on organizational commitment in a remedial center. Materials and Methods: This study has an applied purpose and its nature is causal-survey. Statistical population consisted of 450 working employees in Ghods hospital in Arak city. Out of these, 207 samples were selected by available random cluster sampling. Data were gathered by standard questionnaires and the reliability of them validated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Data analysis was performed by linear regression by using SPSS 19 software. Results: The findings of this study showed that internal marketing had an effect on organizational commitment and the value of it was 0.2. Also, reward affected on organizational commitment which was equal to 0.13. The effect of communication on organizational commitment was positive and the value of it was 0.16. Development had an effect on organizational commitment which was equal to 0.16. In addition, safe workplace had an effect on organizational commitment and the value of it was 0.12. Also, the effect of job recruitment and appointment was positive which was equal to 0.11. Conclusion: According to the results, it is essential to pay attention to necessary requirements and conditions for providing an appropriate bed to expand internal marketing and employees’ participation to develop organizational commitment.

Prosperity in Pittsburgh. Special Librarians Gather to Reaffirm the Ties that Bind this Varied and Growing Association

Science.gov (United States)

Library Journal, 1973

1973-01-01

Everything, for the second year in a row, seemed to be looking up for the Special Libraries Association as it gathered in Pittsburgh in June. This article is a brief report on the conference. (Author/SJ)

An Investigation of Violence against Teachers in Turkey

Science.gov (United States)

Ozdemir, Soner Mehmet

2012-01-01

This study seeks to investigate violence against teachers. A total of 902 teachers working at the elementary schools and at secondary schools located in the center of Kirikkale, Turkey were enrolled in the study. Data were gathered by an instrument designed by the researcher and aiming to measure violence against teachers. Analyses included…

International Symposium: “Scientific School of L.S. Vygotsky: Traditions and Innovations” and International ISCAR Summer University for PhD Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baykovskaya N.A.,

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article represents a brief report on the work of the International Symposium: «Scientific School of L.S. Vygotsky: Traditions and Innovations» and VI th International ISCAR Summer University for PhD Students and young scholars, that were held in Moscow State University of Psychology & Education on June, 28 — July, 3 in 2016 in commemoration of the 120th anniversary of the great Russian psychologist L.S. Vygotsky. The main goals of the events organised by MSUPE include: analysis of the basic principles and the system of concepts of L.S. Vygotsky’s scientific school, discussion of the current state and the prospect for the development of the cultural-historical theory in Russia and abroad, integration of the ideas of the cultural-historical psychology and activity approach in various kinds of social and educational practices, as well as conducting research in the international scientific space. Symposium gathered the world’s leading experts and young scholars in the field of cultural-historical theory and activity approach from 19 countries, including United Kingdom, Australia, Switzerland, Greece, Brasil and USA.

15th Conference of the International Federation of Classification Societies

CERN Document Server

Montanari, Angela; Vichi, Maurizio

2017-01-01

This edited volume on the latest advances in data science covers a wide range of topics in the context of data analysis and classification. In particular, it includes contributions on classification methods for high-dimensional data, clustering methods, multivariate statistical methods, and various applications. The book gathers a selection of peer-reviewed contributions presented at the Fifteenth Conference of the International Federation of Classification Societies (IFCS2015), which was hosted by the Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, from July 5 to 8, 2015.

24th International Workshop in Operator Theory and its Applications

CERN Document Server

Dritschel, Michael

2015-01-01

This volume gathers contributions from the International Workshop on Operator Theory and Its Applications (IWOTA) held in Bangalore, India, in December 2013. All articles were written by experts and cover a broad range of original material at the cutting edge of operator theory and its applications. Topics include multivariable operator theory, operator theory on indefinite metric spaces (Krein and Pontryagin spaces) and its applications, spectral theory with applications to differential operators, the geometry of Banach spaces, scattering and time varying linear systems, and wavelets and coherent states.

LPTA: Location Predictive and Time Adaptive Data Gathering Scheme with Mobile Sink for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chuan Zhu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper exploits sink mobility to prolong the lifetime of sensor networks while maintaining the data transmission delay relatively low. A location predictive and time adaptive data gathering scheme is proposed. In this paper, we introduce a sink location prediction principle based on loose time synchronization and deduce the time-location formulas of the mobile sink. According to local clocks and the time-location formulas of the mobile sink, nodes in the network are able to calculate the current location of the mobile sink accurately and route data packets timely toward the mobile sink by multihop relay. Considering that data packets generating from different areas may be different greatly, an adaptive dwelling time adjustment method is also proposed to balance energy consumption among nodes in the network. Simulation results show that our data gathering scheme enables data routing with less data transmission time delay and balance energy consumption among nodes.

An Investigation of Metadiscourse Features in International Postgraduate Business Students’ Texts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hesham Suleiman Alyousef

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Metadiscourse analysis reveals the way writers engage with different texts and communicate with each other. Examining these linguistic resources is important because they play a vital role in maximizing the learning experiences of students in the Master’s program in Accounting. Yet, there is a lack of research investigating these features in a key topic in the Principles of Finance course: management reports that encompass tables and graphs. This study explores the use of metadiscourse markers in three multimodal management reports written by 10 international Master’s of Accounting students. It employs Hyland and Tse’s model and Hyland’s model for the multimodal analysis of metadiscourse markers in finance texts. The findings show a high frequency of interactive and interactional markers in the orthographic texts compared with a lack of implicit interactive markers and a high frequency of implicit interactional markers in the tables and graphs. Implications for the teaching of English for Business Purposes (EBP are discussed.

Hunting and Gathering: New Imperatives in Mapping and Collecting Student Learning Data to Assure Quality Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Lawson, Romy; Taylor, Tracy; French, Erica; Fallshaw, Eveline; Hall, Cathy; Kinash, Shelley; Summers, Jane

2015-01-01

Assurance of learning (AOL) is a quality enhancement and quality assurance process used in higher education. It involves a process of determining programme learning outcomes and standards, and systematically gathering evidence to measure students' performance on these. The systematic assessment of whole-of-programme outcomes provides a basis for…

Investigating international new product diffusion speed: A semiparametric approach

KAUST Repository

Hartman, Brian M.

2012-06-01

Global marketing managers are interested in understanding the speed of the new product diffusion process and how the speed has changed in our ever more technologically advanced and global marketplace. Understanding the process allows firms to forecast the expected rate of return on their new products and develop effective marketing strategies. The most recent major study on this topic [Marketing Science 21 (2002) 97-114] investigated new product diffusions in the United States.We expand upon that study in three important ways. (1) Van den Bulte notes that a similar study is needed in the international context, especially in developing countries. Our study covers four new product diffusions across 31 developed and developing nations from 1980-2004. Our sample accounts for about 80% of the global economic output and 60% of the global population, allowing us to examine more general phenomena. (2) His model contains the implicit assumption that the diffusion speed parameter is constant throughout the diffusion life cycle of a product. Recognizing the likely effects on the speed parameter of recent changes in the marketplace, we model the parameter as a semiparametric function, allowing it the flexibility to change over time. (3) We perform a variable selection to determine that the number of internet users and the consumer price index are strongly associated with the speed of diffusion. © Institute of Mathematical Statistics, 2012.

An Investigation of Middle School Teachers' Perceptions on Bullying

Science.gov (United States)

Waters, Stewart; Mashburn, Natalie

2017-01-01

The researchers in this study investigated rural middle school teachers' perspectives regarding bullying. The researchers gathered information about the teachers' definitions of bullying, where bullying occurs in their school, and how to prevent bullying. Peer-reviewed literature associated with this topic was studied in order to achieve a broader…

Investigation of the international comparability of population-based routine hospital data set derived comorbidity scores for patients with lung cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Lüchtenborg, Margreet; Morris, Eva J A; Tataru, Daniela; Coupland, Victoria H; Smith, Andrew; Milne, Roger L; Te Marvelde, Luc; Baker, Deborah; Young, Jane; Turner, Donna; Nishri, Diane; Earle, Craig; Shack, Lorraine; Gavin, Anna; Fitzpatrick, Deirdre; Donnelly, Conan; Lin, Yulan; Møller, Bjørn; Brewster, David H; Deas, Andrew; Huws, Dyfed W; White, Ceri; Warlow, Janet; Rashbass, Jem; Peake, Michael D

2018-04-01

The International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP) identified significant international differences in lung cancer survival. Differing levels of comorbid disease across ICBP countries has been suggested as a potential explanation of this variation but, to date, no studies have quantified its impact. This study investigated whether comparable, robust comorbidity scores can be derived from the different routine population-based cancer data sets available in the ICBP jurisdictions and, if so, use them to quantify international variation in comorbidity and determine its influence on outcome. Linked population-based lung cancer registry and hospital discharge data sets were acquired from nine ICBP jurisdictions in Australia, Canada, Norway and the UK providing a study population of 233 981 individuals. For each person in this cohort Charlson, Elixhauser and inpatient bed day Comorbidity Scores were derived relating to the 4-36 months prior to their lung cancer diagnosis. The scores were then compared to assess their validity and feasibility of use in international survival comparisons. It was feasible to generate the three comorbidity scores for each jurisdiction, which were found to have good content, face and concurrent validity. Predictive validity was limited and there was evidence that the reliability was questionable. The results presented here indicate that interjurisdictional comparability of recorded comorbidity was limited due to probable differences in coding and hospital admission practices in each area. Before the contribution of comorbidity on international differences in cancer survival can be investigated an internationally harmonised comorbidity index is required. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Analytical Investigation of Elastic Thin-Walled Cylinder and Truncated Cone Shell Intersection Under Internal Pressure

OpenAIRE

Zamani, J.; Soltani, B.; Aghaei, M.

2014-01-01

An elastic solution of cylinder-truncated cone shell intersection under internal pressure is presented. The edge solution theory that has been used in this study takes bending moments and shearing forces into account in the thin-walled shell of revolution element. The general solution of the cone equations is based on power series method. The effect of cone apex angle on the stress distribution in conical and cylindrical parts of structure is investigated. In addition, the effect of the inter...

23rd International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management 2016

CERN Document Server

Shen, Jiang; Dou, Runliang

2017-01-01

International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management is sponsored by Chinese Industrial Engineering Institution, CMES, which is the unique national-level academic society of Industrial Engineering. The conference is held annually as the major event in this area. Being the largest and the most authoritative international academic conference held in China, it supplies an academic platform for the experts and the entrepreneurs in International Industrial Engineering and Management area to exchange their research results. Many experts in various fields from China and foreign countries gather together in the conference to review, exchange, summarize and promote their achievements in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management fields. Some experts pay special attention to the current situation of the related techniques application in China as well as their future prospect, such as Industry 4.0, Green Product Design, Quality Control and Management, Supply Chain and logistics Management...

Zika virus: Epidemiology, current phobia and preparedness for upcoming mass gatherings, with examples from World Olympics and Pilgrimage.

Science.gov (United States)

Ibrahim, Nahla Khamis

2016-01-01

To describe Zika Virus (ZIKV) epidemiology, current phobia, and the required preparedness for its prevention during the upcoming Mass Gathering (MG) events. Electronic databases of PubMed, WHO, CDC, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Google, and Cochrane library were extensively searched for ZIKV. Articles were reviewed, scrutinized and critically appraised and the most relevant articles were utilized. ZIKV is an emerging Flavivirus which was first isolated from Uganda in 1947. It is transmitted mainly through bite of Aedes mosquitoes. Sexual, perinatal and blood-borne transmissions are implicated. ZIKV is incriminated to cause microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome. The spiky spread of ZIKV and its epidemic potential are especially problematic in countries which host big MGs with endogenous ZIKV circulation. This put millions of international travelers and local inhabitants at risk of acquiring ZIKV, especially in absence of vaccine until now. Brazil Olympic and Paralympics Games, and Muslims Hajj in Saudi Arabia are important upcoming MGs. Regarding Brazil, swiftly epidemic of ZIKV causes phobia and provokes claims and counter-claims about possible postponing or cancellation of such events. Intensifying ZIKV epidemiological surveillance (sentinel, syndromic, environmental, laboratory and electronic), and conduction of educational programs are required. Controlling Aedes vector (chemically & biologically) is essential. Multidisciplinary cooperation is required to win the war against ZIKV.

Investigation of Ego and Task Orientation among International Wrestling Referees

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. Barbas

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Aim: study was to investigate any possible effect(s of experiences from active membership and participation in task or ego orientations among referees in the sport of wrestling. Material: The sample consisted of 213 international referees from 30 countries (Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Russia, Poland, Hungary, U.S.A, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Canada, Georgia, Croatia, Uzbekistan, Norway, Cuba, Belarus, & Tunisia. Their age ranged from 26 to 60 yrs. old ( M =43, SD =8.6. During the procedure, the participants were asked to fill a specific questionnaire, the «Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire» (Duda & Nicholls, 1992. Results: Results showed that the referees from elite wrestling level’ countries (Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, U.S.A., Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan, & Cuba are more task oriented than those from the non-elite wrestling level’ countries. Researchers believe that this occurred because referees from non-elite wrestling level’ countries might have less game-sport experience and more specifically in high level games. At the same time, the Olympic experience referees were more task oriented than the non-Olympic experienced. Conclusion: Referee’s decisions are an important issue in the sport milieu. The investigations in decision-making by referees and factors that affect it are rather scarce and research should focus on such topics. Improvement of decision-making by referees, would lead to safer and better performance. Thus, better understanding of referees’ behavior, through identification and operationalization of the factors affecting it, might lead to more effective selection, training and performance.

From Bonding Wires to Banding Women. Proceedings of the International Consultation on Micro-Chips Technology (Manila, Philippines, October 1986).

Science.gov (United States)

Center for Women's Resources, Quezon City (Philippines).

In October 1986, 40 women from 12 countries gathered in the Philippines for a 10-day meeting of organizers, educators, and workers affected by and confronting the international electronics industry in microchip plants and in automated offices. Participants were from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, the Netherlands,…

77 FR 41394 - Notice Reopening the Request for Information (RFI) To Gather Technical Expertise Pertaining to...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-13

... (RFI) To Gather Technical Expertise Pertaining to the Disaggregation of Asian and Native Hawaiian and... the Asian and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Island student population. The deadline for written... available via the Federal Digital System at: www.gpo.gov/fdsys . At this site you can view this document, as...

Insights from the first international conference on hyperacusis: Causes, evaluation, diagnosis and treatment

OpenAIRE

Hashir Aazh; Don McFerran; Richard Salvi; Deepak Prasher; Margaret Jastreboff; Pawel Jastreboff

2014-01-01

The First International Conference on Hyperacusis gathered over 100 scientists and health care professionals in London, UK. Key conclusions from the conference included: (1) Hyperacusis is characterized by reduced tolerance of sound that has perceptual, psychological and social dimensions; (2) there is a growing awareness that children as well as adults experience symptoms of hyperacusis or misophonia; (3) the exact mechanisms that give rise to hyperacusis are not clear, but the available evi...

An investigation into the relationship between pre-competition mood states, age, gender and a national ranking in artistic gymnastics.

Science.gov (United States)

Boldizsár, Dóra; Soós, István; Whyte, Ian; Hamar, Pál

2016-06-01

This study investigated the relationship between pre-competition mood state factors in gymnastics by gender, age and a national ranking. Participant-gymnasts (total n=116, male n=49, female n=67) completed a Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS) one day prior to their main competition of the year. Information was also gathered from gymnasts of gender, age and a national ranking. Consistent with theoretical predictions, results confirmed that a number of pre-competition mood states differed by age with both juniors and seniors having a higher level of anger than children (p<.05 respectively). Also, seniors demonstrated higher tension than children (p<.001). However, only anger showed significant differences by gender with male gymnasts demonstrating higher levels of anger than female gymnasts (p<.05), and with international gymnasts registering higher levels of anger compared with second class gymnasts (p<.05). Authors suggest that future research should investigate relationships between the pre-competition mood in other gymnastics-related disciplines and sports, as well as competitive performances.

Expediting topology data gathering for the TOPDB database.

Science.gov (United States)

Dobson, László; Langó, Tamás; Reményi, István; Tusnády, Gábor E

2015-01-01

The Topology Data Bank of Transmembrane Proteins (TOPDB, http://topdb.enzim.ttk.mta.hu) contains experimentally determined topology data of transmembrane proteins. Recently, we have updated TOPDB from several sources and utilized a newly developed topology prediction algorithm to determine the most reliable topology using the results of experiments as constraints. In addition to collecting the experimentally determined topology data published in the last couple of years, we gathered topographies defined by the TMDET algorithm using 3D structures from the PDBTM. Results of global topology analysis of various organisms as well as topology data generated by high throughput techniques, like the sequential positions of N- or O-glycosylations were incorporated into the TOPDB database. Moreover, a new algorithm was developed to integrate scattered topology data from various publicly available databases and a new method was introduced to measure the reliability of predicted topologies. We show that reliability values highly correlate with the per protein topology accuracy of the utilized prediction method. Altogether, more than 52,000 new topology data and more than 2600 new transmembrane proteins have been collected since the last public release of the TOPDB database. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Support for the 38th International Conference on High Energy Physics, 3-10 August 2016

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Young-Kee [Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)

2017-06-19

The 38th International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP) held in Chicago from August 3 to 10, 2016 was for physicists from around the world to gather to share the latest advancements in particle physics, astrophysics/cosmology, and accelerator science and to discuss plans for major future facilities. DOE funding provided partial support for space rental audio-visual services for scientific presentations at the conference.

6th International Conference on Soft Computing for Problem Solving

CERN Document Server

Bansal, Jagdish; Das, Kedar; Lal, Arvind; Garg, Harish; Nagar, Atulya; Pant, Millie

2017-01-01

This two-volume book gathers the proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Soft Computing for Problem Solving (SocProS 2016), offering a collection of research papers presented during the conference at Thapar University, Patiala, India. Providing a veritable treasure trove for scientists and researchers working in the field of soft computing, it highlights the latest developments in the broad area of “Computational Intelligence” and explores both theoretical and practical aspects using fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks, evolutionary algorithms, swarm intelligence, soft computing, computational intelligence, etc.

Development of the international trade in wood fuels. Progress report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loenner, Goeran

2000-04-01

The imports of different biofuels have increased drastically over the last years on the expanding Swedish market. Apart from peat and refuse, imports cover wood fibre from clearcuts and forest industry and recycled wood from the rapidly expanding recycling industry in Central European countries. The objectives of this research project has been to analyse how the Swedish market for wood fuels has developed and interacted with the international market. The integration aspects have been difficult to cover due to the limited means of the project; a general data gathering and contact making have been prioritised. Knowledge has also been gathered to be used for an application for support for a new project within the EU fifth framework program. In 1997 some 6-8 TWh (21-29 PJ) of biofuels were imported, out of which 50-60% were wood fuels. There is a strong need for a continued analysis of how national policy instruments influence and interact with different markets. This becomes all the more important when facing an emerging European energy policy and the EU white paper on renewable energy

Pengaruh Pemasaran Internal dan Kualitas Layanan Internal Terhadap Kepuasan Pelanggan Internal (Studi Pada Industri Kepariwisataan di Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta)

OpenAIRE

Jumadi Jumadi

2016-01-01

The aim of this research is to investigate the implication of internal marketing and internal service quality effectivity towards internal customer satisfaction in Tourism Industry in Yogyakarta Special Territory. This internal marketing studyinvolves variables of motivation and reward system, effective communication, effective employee's selection, effective recruitment, effective development, effective support system, and healthy work environment. While the internal quality service aspects ...

The formation of fire residues associated with hunter-gatherers in humid tropical environments: A geo-ethnoarchaeological perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Friesem, David E.; Lavi, Noa; Madella, Marco; Boaretto, Elisabetta; Ajithparsad, P.; French, Charles

2017-09-01

Tropical forests have been an important human habitat and played a significant role in early human dispersal and evolution. Likewise, the use of fire, besides being one of the exceptional characteristics of humans, serves as a marker for human evolution. While the use of fire by prehistoric hunter-gatherers is relatively well documented in arid and temperate environments, the archaeological evidence in humid tropical environment is to date very limited. We first review the archaeological evidence for hunter-gatherer use of fire in humid tropical environments and suggest that better understanding of formation processes is required. We present a geo-ethnoarchaeological study from South India, involving ethnography, excavations and laboratory-based analyses in order to build a new framework to study fire residues in humid tropical forests associated with hunter-gatherer's use of fire. Ethnographic observations point to a dynamic and ephemeral use of hearths. Hearths location were dictated by the social and ever-changing social dynamics of the site. The hearths deposited small amount of residues which were later swept on a daily basis, re-depositing ash and charcoal in waste areas and leaving only a microscopic signal in the original location. Particular acidic conditions and intensive biological activity within tropical sediments result in the complete dissolution of ash and bones while favouring the preservation of charcoal and phytoliths. Consequently, the identification of fire residues in humid tropical forests and the reconstruction of the human use of fire must involve multi-proxy microscopic analysis to detect its micro-signatures.

14. International Thyroid Congress (ITC2010) - Selection of abstracts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2012-07-01

This international thyroid congress is organized every 5 years in a different country and gathers a large community of experts in the field of oncology, endocrinology, nuclear medicine, surgery, cytology and biology. A series of abstracts from this congress has been selected on the basis of the availability and on topics linked to nuclear medicine or radiation damage such as the use of I{sup 131} in thyroidectomy, the impact of radiation in thyroid cells, the optimization of the dose for remnant thyroid ablation, side effect of radiotherapy with I{sup 131} or the health hazards of Chernobyl radioactive fallout

14. International Thyroid Congress (ITC2010) - Selection of abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2012-01-01

This international thyroid congress is organized every 5 years in a different country and gathers a large community of experts in the field of oncology, endocrinology, nuclear medicine, surgery, cytology and biology. A series of abstracts from this congress has been selected on the basis of the availability and on topics linked to nuclear medicine or radiation damage such as the use of I 131 in thyroidectomy, the impact of radiation in thyroid cells, the optimization of the dose for remnant thyroid ablation, side effect of radiotherapy with I 131 or the health hazards of Chernobyl radioactive fallout

8th international conference on electronic spectroscopy and structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robinson, Art

2000-10-16

Gathering from 33 countries around the world, 408 registrants and a number of local drop-in participants descended on the Clark Kerr Campus of the University of California, Berkeley, from Monday, August 7 through Saturday, August 12, 2000 for the Eighth International Conference on Electronic Structure and Spectroscopy (ICESS8). At the conference, participants benefited from an extensive scientific program comprising more than 100 oral presentations (plenary lectures and invited and contributed talks) and 330 poster presentations, as well as ample time for socializing and a tour of the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at the nearby Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Proceedings of the Fourth international conference 'Interaction of radiation with solids'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anishchik, V.M.; Zhukova, S.I.; Azarko, I.I.; Prikhod'ko, Zh.L.

2001-10-01

The 132 collected papers form the Proceedings of the International Conference 'Interaction of Radiation with Solids'. This Conference is the fourth forum biennially gathering in Minsk the specialists from different countries. The scope of the problems considered at the Conference is widening steadily from year to year including the recent results and most advanced leads in the field of radiation physics of condensed matter. In the proceedings consideration is being given to 'Processes of ion interaction with solids', 'Plasma interaction with surface' and 'Radiation effects in solids'

Distribution of cow-calf producers' beliefs regarding gathering and holding their cattle and observing animal movement restrictions during an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Delgado, Amy H; Norby, Bo; Scott, H Morgan; Dean, Wesley; McIntosh, W Alex; Bush, Eric

2014-12-01

The voluntary cooperation of producers with disease control measures such as movement restrictions and gathering cattle for testing, vaccination, or depopulation is critical to the success of many disease control programs. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Texas in order to determine the distribution of key beliefs about obeying movement restrictions and gathering and holding cattle for disease control purposes. Two questionnaires were developed and distributed to separate representative samples of Texas cow-calf producers, respectively. The context for each behavior was provided through the use of scenarios in the questionnaire. Belief strength was measured using a 7-point Likert-like scale. Producers surveyed were unsure about the possible negative consequences of gathering and holding their cattle when requested by authorities, suggesting a key need for communication in this area during an outbreak. Respondents identified a lack of manpower and/or financial resources to gather and hold cattle as barriers to their cooperation with orders to gather and hold cattle. Producers also expressed uncertainty about the efficacy of movement restrictions to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease and concern about possible feed shortages or animal suffering. However, there are emotional benefits to complying with movement restrictions and strong social expectations of cooperation with any movement bans put in place. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Investigations on international standardization of environmental management systems. 3; Kankyo kanri system no kokusai hyojunka ni kansuru chosa. 3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-03-01

Japan as an ISO member country identifies the state of discussions in the environmental management standard deliberation committee at ISO. Investigations were performed on international standardization of environmental management systems for the purpose of participating and cooperating in preparing and establishing international standards related to environmental management, and playing part in working, solving and improving environmental problems. Under the circumstances that environmental problems are drawing worldwide interest, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has been carrying out since 1993 deliberations on environmental management standards to institutionalize environmental management rules to check effects of business activities on the environment. The International Organization for Standardization/Environmental Management Technical Committee (ISO/TC207) was installed, at which series number of 1400 order was allotted for environmental management related standards, and major standards have come to a final stage of standard formulation at the TC207 Oslo conference in June 1995. In Japan, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry has established an environmental management standard deliberation committee composed of people of experience or academic standing to advance discussions on how the environmental management should be in business entities through deliberations on ISO standards.

Reframing hunting, gathering, tool-making and art, as expressions of evolution of consciousness as depicted in Jean Gebser’s ‘the ever-present origin’

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fritz N. Ilongo

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This article explores the evolution of consciousness as directly correlated to hunting, gathering, tool-making and art. The methodology is qualitative theoretical analyses, articulated around Jean Gebser’s seminal work, The Ever-Present Origin. Hunting and gathering are expressions of a magical, unitary, ‘self-dissolving’ consciousness. Tool-making on the other hand is depicted as evolving from a mythical consciousness of duality, polarity, symbolism and a state of being qualified by ‘crystallisation of the I’. Lastly, art is a function of a consciousness of ‘self-transcendence’, ‘I and I’, idealisation and a transpersonal state of being. The article concludes by positing that hunting, gathering, tool-making and art can be reframed as ‘forms of the movement of consciousness’.

Public Health Surveillance Strategies for Mass Gatherings: Super Bowl XLIX and Related Events, Maricopa County, Arizona, 2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayala, Aurimar; Berisha, Vjollca; Goodin, Kate; Pogreba-Brown, Kristen; Levy, Craig; McKinney, Benita; Koski, Lia; Imholte, Sara

2016-01-01

Super Bowl XLIX took place on February 1, 2015, in Glendale, Arizona. In preparation for this event and associated activities, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) developed methods for enhanced surveillance, situational awareness, and early detection of public health emergencies. Surveillance strategies implemented from January 22 to February 6, 2015, included enhanced surveillance alerts; animal disease surveillance; review of NFL clinic visits; syndromic surveillance for emergency room visits, urgent care facilities, and hotels; real-time onsite syndromic surveillance; all-hazards mortality surveillance; emergency medical services surveillance, review of poison control center reports; media surveillance; and aberration detection algorithms for notifiable diseases. Surveillance results included increased influenzalike illness activity reported from urgent care centers and a few influenza cases reported in the NFL clinic. A cyanide single event exposure was investigated and determined not to be a public health threat. Real-time field syndromic surveillance documented minor injuries at all events and sporadic cases of gastrointestinal and neurological (mostly headaches) disease. Animal surveillance reports included a cat suspected of carrying plague and tularemia and an investigation of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a backyard chicken flock. Laboratory results in both instances were negative. Aberration detection and syndromic surveillance detected an increase in measles reports associated with a Disneyland exposure, and syndromic surveillance was used successfully during this investigation. Coordinated enhanced epidemiologic surveillance during Super Bowl XLIX increased the response capacity and preparedness of MCDPH to make informed decisions and take public health actions in a timely manner during these mass gathering events.

The Impact of Student Self-efficacy on Scientific Inquiry Skills: An Exploratory Investigation in River City, a Multi-user Virtual Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Ketelhut, Diane Jass

2007-02-01

This exploratory study investigated data-gathering behaviors exhibited by 100 seventh-grade students as they participated in a scientific inquiry-based curriculum project delivered by a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE). This research examined the relationship between students' self-efficacy on entry into the authentic scientific activity and the longitudinal data-gathering behaviors they employed while engaged in that process. Three waves of student behavior data were gathered from a server-side database that recorded all student activity in the MUVE; these data were analyzed using individual growth modeling. The study found that self-efficacy correlated with the number of data-gathering behaviors in which students initially engaged, with high self-efficacy students engaging in more data gathering than students with low self-efficacy. Also, the impact of student self-efficacy on rate of change in data gathering behavior differed by gender. However, by the end of their time in the MUVE, initial student self-efficacy no longer correlated with data gathering behaviors. In addition, students' level of self-efficacy did not affect how many different sources from which they chose to gather data. These results suggest that embedding science inquiry curricula in novel platforms like a MUVE might act as a catalyst for change in students' self-efficacy and learning processes.

The Role of a Short-Term Education Programme in International Nuclear Human Resource Development and Knowledge Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murakami, K.; Uesaka, M.

2016-01-01

Full text: The Nuclear Energy Management School is proposed as a good tool to structure the experiences of industries. The importance of a short-term international education programme for gathering knowledge regarding nuclear embarkation projects is discussed in this paper. The results of evaluating education efficiency from 2013 to 2016 will also be introduced in this presentation (or poster). (author

Insect biodiversity and dead wood: proceedings of a symposium for the 22nd international congress of entomology

Science.gov (United States)

Simon J. Grove; James L. Hanula

2006-01-01

In August 2004, the city of Brisbane, Australia, was host to one of the largest recent gatherings of the world’s entomologists. The 22nd International Congress of Entomology featured a multitude of symposia covering a wide range of entomology-related topics. This general technical report is based on papers presented on one such symposium, “Insect...

EVOLVE 2014 International Conference

CERN Document Server

Tantar, Emilia; Sun, Jian-Qiao; Zhang, Wei; Ding, Qian; Schütze, Oliver; Emmerich, Michael; Legrand, Pierrick; Moral, Pierre; Coello, Carlos

2014-01-01

This volume encloses research articles that were presented at the EVOLVE 2014 International Conference in Beijing, China, July 1–4, 2014.The book gathers contributions that emerged from the conference tracks, ranging from probability to set oriented numerics and evolutionary computation; all complemented by the bridging purpose of the conference, e.g. Complex Networks and Landscape Analysis, or by the more application oriented perspective. The novelty of the volume, when considering the EVOLVE series, comes from targeting also the practitioner’s view. This is supported by the Machine Learning Applied to Networks and Practical Aspects of Evolutionary Algorithms tracks, providing surveys on new application areas, as in the networking area and useful insights in the development of evolutionary techniques, from a practitioner’s perspective. Complementary to these directions, the conference tracks supporting the volume, follow on the individual advancements of the subareas constituting the scope of the confe...

International Conference UMC 2013

CERN Document Server

Hübner, Wolfgang; Rasing, Theo; Chantrell, Roy

2015-01-01

This volume on Ultrafast Magnetism is a collection of articles presented at the international “Ultrafast Magnetization Conference” held at the Congress Center in Strasbourg, France, from October 28th to November 1st, 2013. This first conference, which is intended to be held every two years, received a wonderful attendance and gathered scientists from 27 countries in the field of Femtomagnetism, encompassing many theoretical and experimental research subjects related to the spins dynamics in bulk or nanostructured materials. The participants appreciated this unique opportunity for discussing new ideas and debating on various physical interpretations of the reported phenomena. The format of a single session with many oral contributions as well as extensive time for poster presentations allowed researchers to have a detailed overview of the field. Importantly, one could sense that, in addition to studying fundamental magnetic phenomena, ultrafast magnetism has entered in a phase where applied physics and eng...

10th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers

CERN Document Server

Nickles, P.V; X-Ray Lasers 2006

2007-01-01

The search for table-top and repetitive pump schemes during the last decade has been the driving force behind the spectacular advances demonstrated during the 10th International Conference on X-Ray Lasers, organized in 2006 in Berlin. Since 1986, international experts have gathered every two years at this established conference to discuss the progress in theory, experiment and application of plasma-based soft X-ray lasers. Traditionally, the conference sessions devoted to complementary and alternative sources of short wavelength radiation, such as high harmonics, XFEL or incoherent X-rays are organized so as to emphasize the role of X-ray laser research in relation to the other short wavelength sources. Grazing incidence pumping (GRIP) and seeding with high harmonics were the dominant topics of the conference. High repetition rate and portable X-ray lasers were reported to have been applied in metrology and photochemistry for the first time. The proceedings of this series of conferences constitute a comprehen...

8th International Workshop on Non-Monotonic Reasoning

CERN Document Server

Truszczynski, Mirek

2000-01-01

The papers gathered in this collection were presented at the 8th International Workshop on Nonmonotonic Reasoning, NMR2000. The series was started by John McCarthy in 1978. The first international NMR workshop was held at Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, New York in June, 1984, and was organized by Ray Reiter and Bonnie Webber. In the last 10 years the area of nonmonotonic reasoning has seen a number of important developments. Significant theoretical advances were made in the understanding of general abstract principles underlying nonmonotonicity. Key results on the expressibility and computational complexity of nonmonotonic logics were established. The role of nonmonotonic reasoning in belief revision, abduction, reasoning about action, planing and uncertainty was further clarified. Several successful NMR systems were built and used in applications such as planning, scheduling, logic programming and constraint satisfaction. The papers in the proceedings reflect these recent advances in the field. They are g...

Volunteers wanted for the Telethon "Children of the World" gathering

CERN Multimedia

2000-01-01

The Telethon 2000, that will take place at Divonne-les-Bains on 8 and 9 December, organises a gathering of children from all over the world. The purpose of this annual event is to raise money for research about genetically transmitted diseases. 200 children of all nationalities aged between 8 and 14 will parade during the opening ceremony carrying their national flags. They will also take part in the closing ceremony. The children, who must be accompanied, will be welcomed by a girl or boy of their own age from the Pays de Gex. The Telethon event will be shown live on the French television. If you want to sign your child up, please contact : Giacomo Busetta Tel. + 41 22 767 85 89 Mobile + 41 79 201 43 72 Fax + 41 22 767 63 00 ; Email : Giacomo.Busetta@cern.ch The parental consent form to fill is in the bulletin 44/2000.

The patient comment card: a system to gather customer feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, E C; Larson, C O; Davies, A R; Gustafson, D; Ferreira, P L; Ware, J E

1991-09-01

Continuous patient feedback can give important information to hospitals about the quality of care they provide. The Patient Comment Card (PCC), a brief form that can be used to gather open-ended comments from patients and to measure quality, was developed during a two-year period and was extensively evaluated in a series of three pilot tests involving more than 2,000 patients discharged from five hospitals. Evaluation results demonstrate that the questionnaire elicits useful comments from patients and can generate statistically reliable scores and valid quality measures. However, in a field trial in four hospitals, low response rates (15%-27%) reflected, first, lack of follow-up of non-respondents, and second, the fact that most of the PCC quality scores were upwardly biased; these inflated scores were likely to reflect the low response rate. Tools such as the PCC should be used judiciously, given the possible abuses and misinterpretations of hospital quality scores.

Vessel guardians: sculpture and graphics related to the ceramics of NorthEastern European hunter-gatherers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Kashina

2015-12-01

Full Text Available North-Eastern European hunter-gatherer ceramic sculptures, relief sculptures and graphic images on vessels are discussed. Five groups of finds are distinguished according to their chronology (4000–2500 BC cal and represented subject (birds, human head, human figure, mammal head etc.. Their production believes to be a female craft, their making had ritual aims and their emerging was independent from any influences of pastoral/agricultural societies.

Together we have it all ! Benefits of participation in collective emotional gatherings and communal coping

OpenAIRE

Wlodarczyk, Anna Marcelina

2016-01-01

244 p. Participation in collective activities, gatherings and rituals plays an important role in the way people cope with collective disadvantage as well as entails major positive effects for social cohesion, functioning and well-being. Across five studies we tested the hypothesis that collective disadvantage and participation in collective activities can increase coping potential and provide positive psychosocial outcomes through the experience of perceived emotional synchrony and self-tr...

International Financial Integration and Economic Growth in India: An Empirical Investigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nayia MAHAJAN

2015-11-01

Full Text Available This study endeavors to estimate relationship between international financial integration and economic growth in India during 1981-2011. Apart from direct impact of international financial integration on growth, indirect impact (via financial development has also been studied empirically. Models of co-integration and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM have been applied to examine the relationships. The study observes that international financial integration affects the growth of the economy positively; and change in economic growth due to it through financial development is approximately 8.63 percent. The study also suggests that the structural reforms that took place in India in early nineties did not affect the existing relationship of global financial integration and economic growth significantly.

18th International Conference on Difference Equations and Applications

CERN Document Server

Cushing, Jim; Elaydi, Saber; Pinto, Alberto

2016-01-01

These proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Difference Equations and Applications cover a number of different aspects of difference equations and discrete dynamical systems, as well as the interplay between difference equations and dynamical systems. The conference was organized by the Department of Mathematics at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) under the auspices of the International Society of Difference Equations (ISDE) and held in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) in July 2012. Its purpose was to bring together experts and novices in these fields to discuss the latest developments. The book gathers contributions in the field of combinatorial and topological dynamics, complex dynamics, applications of difference equations to biology, chaotic linear dynamics, economic dynamics and control and asymptotic behavior, and periodicity of difference equations. As such it is of interest to researchers and scientists engaged in the theory and applications of difference equations and discrete dy...

A Primary Investigation into Performance Measurement Systems in the Maltese Further Education (FE Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Zarb

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This work investigates the presence of a performance measurement system in the small island state of Malta using data gathered in 2012. In this way the type of system and KPIs currently in use are delineated. An interpretative methodology was employed to gain a deeper understanding of performance measurement in FE organizations. Data were collected from seven FE vocational and academic organizations via interviews with top senior management team (SMT officials and other internal and external stakehold-ers. Very few organizations have performance measurement systems. The use of KPIs is very narrow, usually focusing on pass rates. There is no external QA or performance measurement regime making it very difficult to compare different FE organizations. By utilizing qualitative data it is possible to un-cover particular nuances in specific sectors in small states. Reliability is further enhanced since the number of organizations in any sector in a small state in usually low. This translates into a higher percentage of organizations in the study.

An EEG Data Investigation Using Only Artifacts

Science.gov (United States)

2017-02-22

hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and...some conditions, an automation feature was implemented to help the participants find the HVT. When the HVT was within the sensor footprint, a tone...EEG Data Investigation Using Only Artifacts 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 1 Chelsey

Investigation of international energy economics. [Use of econometric model EXPLOR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Deonigi, D.E.; Clement, M.; Foley, T.J.; Rao, S.A.

1977-03-01

The Division of International Affairs of the Energy Research and Development Administration is assessing the long-range economic effects of energy research and development programs in the U.S. and other countries, particularly members of the International Energy Agency (IEA). In support of this effort, a program was designed to coordinate the capabilities of five research groups--Rand, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, and Pacific Northwest Laboratory. The program could evaluate the international economics of proposed or anticipated sources of energy. This program is designed to be general, flexible, and capable of evaluating a diverse collection of potential energy (nuclear and nonnuclear) related problems. For example, the newly developed methodology could evaluate the international and domestic economic impact of nuclear-related energy sources, but also existing nonnuclear and potential energy sources such as solar, geothermal, wind, etc. Major items to be included would be the cost of exploration, cost of production, prices, profit, market penetration, investment requirements and investment goods, economic growth, change in balance of payments, etc. In addition, the changes in cost of producing all goods and services would be identified for each new energy source. PNL developed (1) a means of estimating the demands for major forms of energy by country, and (2) a means of identifying results or impacts on each country. The results for each country were then to be compared to assess relative advantages. PNL relied on its existing general econometric model, EXPLOR, to forecast the demand for energy by country. (MCW)

Final disposal of nuclear waste. An investigated issue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Palmu, J.; Nikula, A.

1996-01-01

Since 1978, the nuclear power companies have co-ordinated joint studies of nuclear waste disposal through the Nuclear Waste Commission of Finnish Power Companies. The studies are done primarily to gather basic data, with a view to implementing nuclear waste management in a safe, economical and timely way. The power companies' research, development and design work with regard to nuclear waste has been progressing according to the schedule set by the Government, and Finland has received international recognition for its advanced nuclear waste management programme. Last year, the nuclear power companies set up a joint company, Posiva Oy, to manage the final disposal of spent uranium fuel. (orig.)

Implementing an International Consultation on Earth System Research Priorities Using Web 2.0 Tools

Science.gov (United States)

Goldfarb, L.; Yang, A.

2009-12-01

Leah Goldfarb, Paul Cutler, Andrew Yang*, Mustapha Mokrane, Jacinta Legg and Deliang Chen The scientific community has been engaged in developing an international strategy on Earth system research. The initial consultation in this “visioning” process focused on gathering suggestions for Earth system research priorities that are interdisciplinary and address the most pressing societal issues. It was implemented this through a website that utilized Web 2.0 capabilities. The website (http://www.icsu-visioning.org/) collected input from 15 July to 1 September 2009. This consultation was the first in which the international scientific community was asked to help shape the future of a research theme. The site attracted over 7000 visitors from 133 countries, more than 1000 of whom registered and took advantage of the site’s functionality to contribute research questions (~300 questions), comment on posts, and/or vote on questions. To facilitate analysis of results, the site captured a small set of voluntary information about each contributor and their contribution. A group of ~50 international experts were invited to analyze the inputs at a “Visioning Earth System Research” meeting held in September 2009. The outcome of this meeting—a prioritized list of research questions to be investigated over the next decade—was then posted on the visioning website for additional comment from the community through an online survey tool. In general, many lessons were learned in the development and implementation of this website, both in terms of the opportunities offered by Web 2.0 capabilities and the application of these capabilities. It is hoped that this process may serve as a model for other scientific communities. The International Council for Science (ICSU) in cooperation with the International Social Science Council (ISSC) is responsible for organizing this Earth system visioning process.

The VIII International Congress on Stress Proteins in Biology and Medicine: täynnä henkeä.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonorino, Cristina; Sistonen, Lea; Eriksson, John; Mezger, Valérie; Santoro, Gabriella; Hightower, Lawrence E

2018-03-01

About 150 international scientists gathered in Turku, Finland, in August of 2017 for the eighth in a series of international congresses about the roles of stress proteins in biology and medicine. The scientific theme and title of the 2017 Congress was "Stress Management Mechanisms and Pathways." The meeting covered a broad range of topics, reflecting the wide scope of the Cell Stress Society International (CSSI) and highlighting the numerous recent breakthroughs in stress response biology and medicine. The keynote lecturers included Marja Jäättelä, Richard Morimoto, Anne Bertolotti, and Peter Walter. The Executive Council of the CSSI elected new Fellows and Senior Fellows. The Spirit of Budapest Award was presented to Peter Csermely, Wolfgang Schumann, and Subhash Lakhotia in recognition of pioneering service contributions to the CSSI. The CSSI Medallion for Career Achievement was awarded to Larry Hightower and CSSI president Gabriella Santoro proclaimed Tuesday, August 15, 2017, Robert M. Tanguay Day at the congress in recognition of Robert's many years of scientific accomplishment and work on behalf of the CSSI. Additional special events were the awarding of the Ferruccio Ritossa Early Career Award to Serena Carra and the Alfred Tissières Young Investigator Award to Ayesha Murshid. As is the tradition at CSSI congresses, there were social events that included an exciting piano performance by a trio of young Finnish pianists, at the Sibelius Museum.

Crises, Rumours and Reposts: Journalists’ Social Media Content Gathering and Verification Practices in Breaking News Situations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Klas Backholm

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Social media (SoMe platforms provide potentially important information for news journalists during everyday work and in crisis-related contexts. The aims of this study were (a to map central journalistic challenges and emerging practices related to using SoMe for collecting and validating newsworthy content; and (b to investigate how practices may contribute to a user-friendly design of a web-based SoMe content validation toolset. Interviews were carried out with 22 journalists from three European countries. Information about journalistic work tasks was also collected during a crisis training scenario (N = 5. Results showed that participants experienced challenges with filtering and estimating trustworthiness of SoMe content. These challenges were especially due to the vast overall amount of information, and the need to monitor several platforms simultaneously. To support improved situational awareness in journalistic work during crises, a user-friendly tool should provide content search results representing several media formats and gathered from a diversity of platforms, presented in easy-to-approach visualizations. The final decision-making about content and source trustworthiness should, however, remain as a manual journalistic task, as the sample would not trust an automated estimation based on tool algorithms.

Investigation of osteosarcoma genomics and its impact on targeted therapy: an international collaboration to conquer human osteosarcoma

OpenAIRE

Yang, Ji-Long

2014-01-01

Osteosarcoma is a genetically unstable malignancy that most frequently occurs in children and young adults. The lack of progress in managing this devastating disease in the clinic has prompted international researchers to collaborate to profile key genomic alterations that define osteosarcoma. A team of researchers and clinicians from China, Finland, and the United States investigated human osteosarcoma by integrating transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq), high-density genome-wide array comparat...

Ultrafast internal rotational dynamics of the azido group in (4S)-azidoproline: Chemical exchange 2DIR spectroscopic investigations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Kyung-Koo; Park, Kwang-Hee; Joo, Cheonik; Kwon, Hyeok-Jun; Han, Hogyu [Department of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul 136-701 (Korea, Republic of); Ha, Jeong-Hyon [Multidimensional Spectroscopy Laboratory, Korea Basic Science Institute, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of); Park, Sungnam, E-mail: spark8@korea.ac.kr [Department of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul 136-701 (Korea, Republic of); Multidimensional Spectroscopy Laboratory, Korea Basic Science Institute, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Minhaeng, E-mail: mcho@korea.ac.kr [Department of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul 136-701 (Korea, Republic of); Multidimensional Spectroscopy Laboratory, Korea Basic Science Institute, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of); Research Institute for Natural Sciences, Korea University, Seoul 136-713 (Korea, Republic of)

2012-03-02

Graphical abstract: Internal rotational dynamics of the azido group in SA (Ac-(4S)-Azp-NHMe) was studied in real time by using ultrafast 2DIR spectroscopic method. The time constant of the internal rotation around the C{sup {gamma}}-N{sup {delta}} bond in SA was determined to be {tau}{sub ir} = 5.1 ps, which is found to be much faster than that around the C-C bond in ethane. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Femtosecond two-dimensional IR spectroscopy of internal rotational dynamics. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Stereo-electronic effects of azido group in azido-derivatized proline peptide. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The timescale of the azido group internal rotation is about 5.1 ps. - Abstract: The azido group in 4-azidoproline (Azp) derivative, SA (Ac-(4S)-Azp-NHMe), can form an intramolecular electrostatic interaction with the backbone peptide in the s-trans and C{sup {gamma}}-endo conformations of SA. As a result, the azido group exists as two forms, bound and free, which are defined by the presence and absence of such interaction, respectively. The bound and free azido forms are spectrally resolved in the azido IR spectrum of SA in CHCl{sub 3}. Using the two-dimensional infrared (2DIR) and polarization-controlled IR pump-probe methods, we investigated the internal rotational and orientational relaxation dynamics of the azido group and determined the internal rotational time constant of the azido group to be 5.1 ps. The internal rotational motion is found to be responsible for the early part of the orientational relaxation of the azido group in SA. Thus, the femtosecond 2DIR spectroscopy is shown to be an ideal tool for studying ultrafast conformational dynamics of SA.

Proceedings of the XIII International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds; September 11-16, 2011; Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Yun Wu; Tracy Johnson; Sharlene Sing; S. Raghu; Greg Wheeler; Paul Pratt; Keith Warner; Ted Center; John Goolsby; Richard Reardon

2013-01-01

A total of 208 participants from 78 organizations in 19 countries gathered at the Waikoloa Beach Marriott on the Big Island of Hawaii on September 11-16, 2011 for the XIII International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds. Following a reception on the first evening, Symposium co-chairs Tracy Johnson and Pat Conant formally welcomed the attendees on the morning of...

Wave-equation Migration Velocity Analysis Using Plane-wave Common Image Gathers

KAUST Repository

Guo, Bowen

2017-06-01

Wave-equation migration velocity analysis (WEMVA) based on subsurface-offset, angle domain or time-lag common image gathers (CIGs) requires significant computational and memory resources because it computes higher dimensional migration images in the extended image domain. To mitigate this problem, a WEMVA method using plane-wave CIGs is presented. Plane-wave CIGs reduce the computational cost and memory storage because they are directly calculated from prestack plane-wave migration, and the number of plane waves is often much smaller than the number of shots. In the case of an inaccurate migration velocity, the moveout of plane-wave CIGs is automatically picked by a semblance analysis method, which is then linked to the migration velocity update by a connective function. Numerical tests on two synthetic datasets and a field dataset validate the efficiency and effectiveness of this method.

Investigation of the design of a metal-lined fully wrapped composite vessel under high internal pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Kalaycıoğlu, Barış; Husnu Dirikolu, M.

2010-09-01

In this study, a Type III composite pressure vessel (ISO 11439:2000) loaded with high internal pressure is investigated in terms of the effect of the orientation of the element coordinate system while simulating the continuous variation of the fibre angle, the effect of symmetric and non-symmetric composite wall stacking sequences, and lastly, a stacking sequence evaluation for reducing the cylindrical section-end cap transition region stress concentration. The research was performed using an Ansys® model with 2.9 l volume, 6061 T6 aluminium liner/Kevlar® 49-Epoxy vessel material, and a service internal pressure loading of 22 MPa. The results show that symmetric stacking sequences give higher burst pressures by up to 15%. Stacking sequence evaluations provided a further 7% pressure-carrying capacity as well as reduced stress concentration in the transition region. Finally, the Type III vessel under consideration provides a 45% lighter construction as compared with an all metal (Type I) vessel.

The First International Mini-Symposium on Methionine Restriction and Lifespan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gene eAbles

2014-05-01

Full Text Available It has been 20 years since the Orentreich Foundation for the Advancement of Science, under the leadership Dr. Norman Orentreich, first reported that low methionine (Met ingestion by rats extends lifespan [1]. Since then, several studies have replicated the effects of dietary methionine restriction (MR in delaying age-related diseases [2–5]. We report the abstracts from the First International Mini-Symposium on Methionine Restriction and Lifespan held in Tarrytown, NY last September 2013. The goals were 1 to gather researchers with an interest in methionine restriction and lifespan, 2 to exchange knowledge, 3 to generate ideas for future investigations, and 4 to strengthen relationships within this community. The presentations highlighted the importance of research on cysteine, growth hormone (GH, and ATF4 in the paradigm of aging. In addition, the effects of dietary restriction or MR in the kidneys, liver, bones and the adipose tissue were discussed. The symposium also emphasized the value of other species, e.g. the naked mole rat, Brandt’s bat and drosophila in aging research. Overall, the symposium consolidated scientists with similar research interests and provided opportunities to conduct future collaborative studies.

International Conference on Recent Trends in Materials Science and Applications

CERN Document Server

2017-01-01

This book gathers the proceedings of the plenary sessions, invited lectures, and papers presented at the International Conference on Recent Trends in Materials Science and Applications (ICRTMSA-2016). It also features revealing presentations on various aspects of Materials Science, such as nanomaterials, photonic crystal fibers, quantum dots, thin film techniques, crystal growth, spectroscopic procedures, fabrication and characterisation of new materials / compounds with enhanced features, and potential applications in nonlinear optical and electro-optic devices, solar cell device, chemical sensing, biomedical imaging, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, energy storage device etc. This book will be of great interest to beginning and seasoned researchers alike.

Recent initiative in information exchange throughout the international nuclear community

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simard, R.L.

1983-01-01

Two key systems essential to the gathering and dissemination of operating experience, the Nuclear Plant Reliability Data System (NPRDS) and NUCLEAR NOTEPAD are described. The NPRDS is a collection of detailed engineering data on systems and components important to nuclear plant safety and productivity. NUCLEAR NOTEPAD is an international telecommunications network which provides a mechanism for the rapid, widespread dissemination of information pertinent to the design, licensing, safe and reliable operation of nuclear plants. Both systems have been managed by the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations since 1982 and are used extensively by 84 organizations in 14 countries. (U.K.)

Analytical Investigation of Elastic Thin-Walled Cylinder and Truncated Cone Shell Intersection Under Internal Pressure.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamani, J; Soltani, B; Aghaei, M

2014-10-01

An elastic solution of cylinder-truncated cone shell intersection under internal pressure is presented. The edge solution theory that has been used in this study takes bending moments and shearing forces into account in the thin-walled shell of revolution element. The general solution of the cone equations is based on power series method. The effect of cone apex angle on the stress distribution in conical and cylindrical parts of structure is investigated. In addition, the effect of the intersection and boundary locations on the circumferential and longitudinal stresses is evaluated and it is shown that how quantitatively they are essential.

International study for an international career: a survey of the motivations and aspirations of international students in the UK

OpenAIRE

Packwood, Helen; Findlay, Allan; McCollum, David

2015-01-01

There are currently 435,000 international students studying in UK Universities. This paper investigates the forces driving student mobility and the relationship between student migration and future mobility plans. The research, based on a survey of over 3000 international students and interviews with senior staff in International Offices at ten UK Universities confirms the importance of understanding international student mobility as part of wider mobility trajectories.

An Empirical Investigation of the Practices and Challenges Specific to International User Studies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Madsen, Sabine; Nielsen, Lene; Jensen, Iben

2015-01-01

In today’s globalized world, it is increasingly important for companies to gain knowledge about international markets and to understand the differences and similarities between international users. As a result, international user studies have become more common. However, they still pose a challenge...

Comparing facility-level methane emission rate estimates at natural gas gathering and boosting stations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy L. Vaughn

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Coordinated dual-tracer, aircraft-based, and direct component-level measurements were made at midstream natural gas gathering and boosting stations in the Fayetteville shale (Arkansas, USA. On-site component-level measurements were combined with engineering estimates to generate comprehensive facility-level methane emission rate estimates (“study on-site estimates (SOE” comparable to tracer and aircraft measurements. Combustion slip (unburned fuel entrained in compressor engine exhaust, which was calculated based on 111 recent measurements of representative compressor engines, accounts for an estimated 75% of cumulative SOEs at gathering stations included in comparisons. Measured methane emissions from regenerator vents on glycol dehydrator units were substantially larger than predicted by modelling software; the contribution of dehydrator regenerator vents to the cumulative SOE would increase from 1% to 10% if based on direct measurements. Concurrent measurements at 14 normally-operating facilities show relative agreement between tracer and SOE, but indicate that tracer measurements estimate lower emissions (regression of tracer to SOE = 0.91 (95% CI = 0.83–0.99, R2 = 0.89. Tracer and SOE 95% confidence intervals overlap at 11/14 facilities. Contemporaneous measurements at six facilities suggest that aircraft measurements estimate higher emissions than SOE. Aircraft and study on-site estimate 95% confidence intervals overlap at 3/6 facilities. The average facility level emission rate (FLER estimated by tracer measurements in this study is 17–73% higher than a prior national study by Marchese et al.

Data compilation task report for the source investigation of the 300-FF-1 operable unit phase 1 remedial investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Young, J.S.; Fruland, R.M.; Fruchter, J.S.

1990-02-01

This report provides additional information on facility and waste characteristics for the 300-FF-1 operable unit. The additional information gathered and reported includes meetings and on-site visits with current and past personnel having knowledge of operations in the operable unit, a more precise determination of the location of the Process Sewer lines and Retired Radioactive Liquid Waste Sewer, a better understanding of the phosphoric acid spill at the 340 Complex, and a search for engineering plans and environmental reports related to the operable unit. As a result of this data-gathering effort, recommendations for further investigation include characterization of the 307 Trenches to determine the origin of an underlying uranium plume in the groundwater, more extensive sampling of near-surface and dike sediments in the North and South Process Ponds to better define the extent of horizontal contamination, and detection of possible leaks in the abandoned Radioactive Waste Sewer by either electromagnetic induction or remote television camera inspection techniques. 16 refs., 4 figs., 5 tabs

On the Th internal contamination of animals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciubotariu, M.; Danis, A.; Dumitrescu, G.

2000-01-01

fission track micro-mapping obtained for the elimination samples led us to conclude: - the amount of evacuated Th is higher than the amount of retained Th; - from the Th intake, the most part was eliminated by evacuations being higher in urine than in excrements, especially in the first three days after contamination. For the urine and excrements samples sampled in these first three days, the fission track micro-mappings obtained presented a non-uniform Th distribution. We found a lot of inclusions with Th concentrations between 6.59 ppm and 28,91 ppm in excrements samples and 35 ppm and 1300 ppm in urine samples. We think that on the first days after contamination, the rejection reaction of the contaminant element by the rats organism was stronger and as a consequence, the Th was gathered in inclusions and then eliminated by urine and excrements. We must emphasize that our results obtained in the studies on the Th internal contamination can be used only as a discussion base in order to plan systematic biological investigations on the internal contamination in which a sufficient number of subjects must be used for good statistics. (authors)

Event Investigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korosec, D.

2000-01-01

The events in the nuclear industry are investigated from the license point of view and from the regulatory side too. It is well known the importance of the event investigation. One of the main goals of such investigation is to prevent the circumstances leading to the event and the consequences of the event. The protection of the nuclear workers against nuclear hazard, and the protection of general public against dangerous effects of an event could be achieved by systematic approach to the event investigation. Both, the nuclear safety regulatory body and the licensee shall ensure that operational significant events are investigated in a systematic and technically sound manner to gather information pertaining to the probable causes of the event. One of the results should be appropriate feedback regarding the lessons of the experience to the regulatory body, nuclear industry and general public. In the present paper a general description of systematic approach to the event investigation is presented. The systematic approach to the event investigation works best where cooperation is present among the different divisions of the nuclear facility or regulatory body. By involving management and supervisors the safety office can usually improve their efforts in the whole process. The end result shall be a program which serves to prevent events and reduce the time and efforts solving the root cause which initiated each event. Selection of the proper method for the investigation and an adequate review of the findings and conclusions lead to the higher level of the overall nuclear safety. (author)

Perspektif Karyawan Perbankan pada Komunikasi Internal dengan Two-Way Symmetrical Communication dan Internal Marketing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mia Angeline

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The article investigates the internal communication in the two branches of foreign banks in Kelapa Gading from the perspectives of two-way symmetrical communication and internal marketing. The second problem investigated is the effectiveness of the use of email as a means of internal communication. Data were collected through interviews and literature. The results showed that the perception of employees not in accordance with the concept of two-way communication and internal marketing, but this policy has led the organization to these concepts. In the use of email, employee perceptions still see that the email is an effective internal communication media despite having many weaknesses.  

Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory. Overview of the investigations 1986-1990

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stanfors, R.; Erlstroem, M.; Markstroem, I.

1991-06-01

In order to prepare for the siting and licensing of a spent fuel repository SKB has decided to construct a new underground research laboratory. The pre-investigations for the Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory started in late 1986. This report gives a comprehensive compilation of the different investigations performed during the pre-investigation phase (1986-1990). The information is mainly compiled in CAD-generated maps and illustrations in which the reader can gather information concerning the scope of work as well as references to more detailed reports for further study. (au)

Real-time electronic monitoring of a pitted and leaking gas gathering pipeline

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asperger, R.G.; Hewitt, P.G.

1986-08-01

Hydrogen patch, flush electrical resistance, and flush linear polarization proves wre used with flush coupons to monitor corrosion rates in a pitted and leaking sour gas gathering line. Four inhibitors were evaluated in stopping the leaks. Inhibitor residuals and the amount and ratio of water and condensate in the lines were measured at five locations along the line. The best inhibitor reduced reduced the pit-leak frequency by over a factor of 10. Inhibitor usage rate was optimized using the hydrogen patch current as a measure of the instantaneous corrosion rate. Improper pigging was identified as a cause of corrosion transients. This problem is discussed in relation to the pigging of pipelines in stratified flow where moving fluids are the carriers for continuously injected corrosion inhibitors.

Investigation of Turkish EFL Learners' Attributions on Success and Failure in Learning English

Science.gov (United States)

Yavuz, Aysun; Höl, Devrim

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the attributions of Turkish EFL learners on success and failure in learning English as a foreign language with different variables such as gender and level of English proficiency. To investigate the attributions of the participants and gather the relevant data, a questionnaire including 38 items and…

An investigation into international business collaboration in higher education organisations: a case study of international partnerships in four UK leading universities

OpenAIRE

Ayoubi, R; Al-Habaibeh, A

2006-01-01

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to develop a comparative analysis of the main objectives of international institutional partnerships in four UK leading universities. Based on the presented case studies, the paper outlines a model for objectives and implementation of international partnership. Design/methodology/approach - Using a multiple case study approach, the paper employs three sources of data: templates of international partnerships, actual agreements of international partnership...

Experimental performance investigation of glazing system combined with internal roller blinds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Olena Kalyanova; Jensen, Rasmus Lund; Iversen, Tore Dahl

2016-01-01

Modern low-energy buildings are often associated with efficient shading devices, as an inevitable component to reduce the peak heat gain in the building and to improve visual comfort. Internal shading devices may have inferior performance compared to external shading, but these are still the most...... used in practice due to lower cost, simplicity and better acceptance between architects and users. The interplay between glazing systems and internal shading devices has been studied and in everyday practice this interplay is described by the solar shading coefficient and the total g......-value of the system (window + roller blind). Solar shading coefficient in such practice is assumed to be independent of the window properties and solar incidence angle. This paper is aimed to illustrate the deviation between the actual and assumed performance of the window system with internal roller blind. This task...

Qualitative and Quantitative Status and International Visibility of Iranian Journals Indexed in Journal Citation Reports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammadamin Erfanmanesh

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Objectives: The present study aims to investigate the international status and visibility of Iranian journals which have been indexed in Journal Citation Reports (JCR. Accordingly, the number of international papers, citations and editorial board members of each journal was studied. Moreover, various measures were utilized to compare the quality of Iranian journals with their international counterparts. Method: Current paper applied scientometric research method. A total of 16471 papers which published in 38 Iranian journals and indexed by the JCR 2013 were selected as the population of the study. Web of Science (WoS, JCR and journals’ website were used for data gathering. Results: Results of the study revealed that foreign researchers have published 34.8% of papers published in Iranian ISI journals. Moreover, only 30.6% of citations to Iranian ISI journals have been received from foreign papers or Iranian internationally collaborative papers. The results showed that Iranian researchers accounted for 66.4% of editorial board member of all studied journals, while foreign researchers only occupied 33.6% of the editorial board positions. Based on the findings, only two Iranian journals have impact factors above the median of the journals in the disciplinary category areas in which they are classified in JCR. Furthermore, only 8 Iranian journals have ever been placed in the 1st and 2nd quartile of journals of the same field in the JCR. Findings also showed that 36 out of the 38 Iranian journals have mostly cited by journals with higher median impact factors than cited journals. Conclusion: The findings indicate that the share of international papers, citations and editorial board memberships is low in Iranian ISI journals. Moreover, Iranian journals’ impact factor was below of those of the leading journals.

Investigating the relationship between outsourcing and performance based on Balanced Score Card (Case study Ilam Post Office

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karam Khalili

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Today, outsourcing can play a crucial role in satisfying customers and meeting their requirements; therefore post office has devoted some of its services and supports for improving the performance, reducing the expenses, and modifying the organizational structure. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between outsourcing and the performance based on Balanced Score Card (Ilam Post Office in 2013. This study was a descriptive-survey and it utilized a questionnaire for collecting data. SPSS software was used to analyze the data. Useable data were gathered from 18 managers and assistants. T-student and correlation method was used for data analysis. The results showed that there are a strong and positive relationship between outsourcing post office activities and performance management in three aspects of financial, customers and internal processes; however there was a positive and weak relationship between the aspect of learning and outsourcing.

Hunter-gatherer adaptations and environmental change in the southern Great Basin: The evidence from Pahute and Rainier mesas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pippin, L.C.

1998-06-01

This paper reviews the evidence for fluctuations in past environments in the southern Great Basin and examines how these changes may have affected the strategies followed by past hunter and gatherers in their utilization of the resources available on a highland in this region. The evidence used to reconstruct past environments for the region include botanical remains from packrat middens, pollen spectra from lake and spring deposits, faunal remains recovered from archaeological and geologic contexts, tree-ring indices from trees located in sensitive (tree-line) environments, and eolian, alluvial and fluvial sediments deposited in a variety of contexts. Interpretations of past hunter and gatherer adaptive strategies are based on a sample of 1,311 archaeological sites recorded during preconstruction surveys on Pahute and Rainier mesas in advance of the US Department of Energy`s nuclear weapons testing program. Projectile point chronologies and available tree-ring, radiocarbon, thermoluminescence and obsidian hydration dates were used to assign these archaeological sites to specific periods of use.

Investigating the Effective Factors on Entering into International Markets by Presenting the Local Islamic Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sayyed Mohammad Ali Alamolhodaei

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The internationalization of small and medium size businesses is regarded as one of the most leading general policies in many of the world’s countries. The reason is that it is often the small and medium size companies which have a vital role in industrial innovation and gain profit for their societies through economic development. This research has investigated and identified the effective factors (organizational factors and business etiquette in Islam on entering into international markets by presenting local Islamic model in the companies of incubator of Science and Technology Park. The statistical population of the research includes the existing companies of Incubator of Mashhad Science and Technology Park. The statistical sample was investigated through simple random sampling from managers of active companies in export in Science and Technology Park. AMOS and SPSS software were applied for data analysis to identify the effects among variables survey research methodology and questionnaire tools were used.

Consideration of adding a commercial module to the International Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

Friefeld, J.; Fugleberg, D.; Patel, J.; Subbaraman, G.

1999-01-01

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is currently assembling the International Space Station in Low Earth Orbit. One of NASA's program objectives is to encourage space commercialization. Through NASA's Engineering Research and Technology Development program, Boeing is conducting a study to ascertain the feasibility of adding a commercial module to the International Space Station. This module (facility) that can be added, following on-orbit assembly is described. The facility would have the capability to test large, engineering scale payloads in a space environment. It would also have the capability to provide services to co-orbiting space vehicles as well as gathering data for commercial terrestrial applications. The types of industries to be serviced are described as are some of the technical and business considerations that need to be addressed in order to achieve commercial viability.

Creating an agricultural world order: regional plant protection problems and international phytopathology, 1878-1939.

Science.gov (United States)

Castonguay, Stéphane

2010-01-01

Beginning in 1878 with the International Phylloxera Convention of Berne, international conventions have sought to relieve national agricultural industries from two specific burdens. First, by defining phytosanitary practices to be enforced by national plant protection services, these conventions attempted to prevent the introduction of plant diseases and pests into national territories from which they were previously absent. Second, by standardizing these practices - especially through the design of a unique certificate of inspection - the conventions attempted to eliminate barriers such as quarantines affection international agricultural trade. The succession of phytopathological conventions seemed to epitomize the coalescence of an international community against agricultural pests. What actually coalesced was bio-geopolitics wherein plant pathologists and economic entomologists from North America and the British Empire questioned the so-called internationality of the environmental and economic specificities of continental European agriculture, embodied in "international" conventions. Although an international phenomenon, the dissemination of agricultural pests provided opportunities for cooperation on a strictly regional albeit transnational basis that pitted bio-geopolitical spaces against each other. This article retraces the formation of these spaces by analyzing the deliberations of committees and congresses that gathered to define an international agricultural order based on the means to prevent the spread of plant diseases and pests.

Status of remedial investigation activities in the Hanford Site 300 Area groundwater operable unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hulstrom, L.C.; Innis, B.E.; Frank, M.A.

1993-09-01

The Phase 1 remedial investigation (RI) and Phase 1 and 2 feasibility studies (FS) for the 300-FF-5 groundwater operable unit underlying the 300 Area on the Hanford Site have been completed. Analysis and evaluation of soil, sediment, and surface water, and biotic sampling data, groundwater chemistry, and radiological data gathered over the past 3 years has been completed. Risk assessment calculations have been performed. Use of the data gathered, coupled with information from an automated water level data collection system, has enabled engineers to track three plumes that represent the most significant contamination of the groundwater

Proceedings of the 2. International Linear Collider Test-beam workshop - LCTW'09

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wormser, G.; Poeschl, R.; Takeshi, M.; Yu, J.; Hauptman, J.; Jeans, D.; Velthuis, J.; Repond, J.; Stanitzki, M.; Chefdeville, M.; Pauletta, G.; Hauptman, J.; Kulis, S.; Charpy, A.; Rivera, R.; Turchetti, M.; Vos, M.; Dehmelt, K.; Settles, R.; Decotigny, D.; Killenberg, M.; Haas, D.; Gaede, F.; Graf, N.; Wing, M.; Gaede, F.; Karstensen, S.; Meyners, N.; Hast, C.; Vrba, V.; Takeshita, T.; Kawagoe, K.; Linssen, L.; Ramberg, E.; Demarteau, M.; Fisk, H.E.; Savoy-Navarro, A.; Videau, H.; Boudry, V.; Hauptman, J.; Lipton, R.; Nelson, T.

2009-01-01

At this workshop detector and simulation experts have described and discussed the necessary ILC (International Linear Collider) detector research and development program in view of its need for test beams. This workshop has provided an opportunity to evaluate the capabilities and shortcomings of existing facilities in the context of planned test beam activities. This document gathers together the slides of the presentations. The presentations have been classified into 4 topics: -) plans of sub-detectors - calorimetry, silicon and gaseous tracking, -) data acquisition, -) test beam facilities, and -) resources and infrastructure for future test beams

Investigating the Significance of VFR Visits to International Students

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Ruth; Shanka, Tekle; Pope, Jeff

2004-01-01

Higher education, particularly in the area of international education has exhibited significant growth since the mid-1980s. Whilst it is beginning to attract research from both educational and tourism industry perspectives, the current body of knowledge regarding this market is still quite limited. This is particularly the case in the area of…

Medicinal wild plant knowledge and gathering patterns in a Mapuche community from North-western Patagonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Estomba, Diego; Ladio, Ana; Lozada, Mariana

2006-01-03

Medicinal plant use has persisted as a long standing tradition in the Mapuche communities of Southern Argentina and Chile. An ethnobotanical survey was conducted in the rural Curruhuinca community located near the mountain city of San Martin de los Andes, Argentina. Semi-structured interviews were carried out on 22 families in order to examine the present use of medicinal plants and their reputed therapeutic effects. Ecological variables, such as distance to the gathering site and biogeographical origin were also analyzed. Our results showed that the Curruhuinca dwellers cited 89 plant species for medicinal purposes, both of native and exotic origin. They know about 47 native plants, of which they use 40, and they know of 42 exotic medicinal plants of which they use 34. A differential pattern was observed given that only native species, relevant for the traditional Mapuche medicine, were collected at more distant gathering sites. The interviewees mentioned 268 plant usages. Those most frequently reported had therapeutic value for treating digestive ailments (33%), as analgesic/anti-inflammatory (25%) and antitusive (13%). Native species were mainly cited as analgesics, and for gynecological, urinary and "cultural syndrome" effects, whereas exotic species were mainly cited for digestive ailments. The total number of medicinal plants known and used by the interviewees was positively correlated with people's age, indicating that this ancient knowledge tends to disappear in the younger generations.

International Conference on Human and Organizational Aspects of Assuring Nuclear Safety. Exploring 30 years of Safety Culture. Programme and Abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

Thirty years ago, the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group concluded, in its investigation of the Chernobyl accident, that one of the key lessons to be learned from that accident was the importance of a strong safety culture to maintain safe operations. Almost five years have now passed since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and the need to implement a systemic approach to safety that takes into account the complex and dynamic sociotechnical systems comprising nuclear infrastructure is one of the main lessons emerging from investigations. This conference will allow an international audience to take a step back and reflect upon the knowledge accumulated in the areas of human and organizational factors (HOF), safety culture and leadership for safety over the past 30 years. The objectives of the conference are to: • Review the experience gained with regard to HOF, safety culture and leadership for safety; • Share and gather experiences related to current developments, approaches, methods and research in the areas of HOF, safety culture and leadership for safety; and • Identify the future needs for building organizational resilience capabilities in order to further strengthen defence in depth for nuclear facilities and activities. The special focus of the conference will be on safety culture and the past 30 years of developments in this area.

The Importance and Degree of Implementation of the European Standards and Guidelines for Internal Quality Assurance in Universities: The Views of Portuguese Academics

Science.gov (United States)

Manatos, Maria J.; Rosa, Maria J.; Sarrico, Cláudia S.

2015-01-01

This research seeks to explore academics' perceptions of the importance and degree of implementation of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) for internal quality assurance. It uses empirical evidence from Portugal, gathered via a questionnaire given to all university academics. Results show…

Morbidity and mortality amongst Indian Hajj pilgrims: A 3-year experience of Indian Hajj medical mission in mass-gathering medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Inam D; Khan, Shahbaz A; Asima, Bushra; Hussaini, Syed B; Zakiuddin, M; Faisal, F A

The Hajj, a mass-gathering of over 3.5-million pilgrims, faces challenges to global health-security, housing, food, water, transportation, communication, sanitation, crowd-control and security. The Indian Medical Mission extended health-security to approximately 140,000 pilgrims, through outreach medical teams, primary-care clinics, tent-clinics, secondary-care hospitals and evacuation capabilities. Data on medical attendance, bed-occupancy, investigations, referrals, medication usage and deaths was compared. Outpatient attendance was 374,475 in static-clinics, 5135 in tent-clinics and 13,473 through task-forces. 585 (62.90%) in-patients were hospitalized amongst 930 secondary-care referrals. Secondary-care bed-days were 2106 with average bed-occupancy being 77.78%. 495 patients were institutionalized in tertiary-care Saudi-Arabian hospitals. Infectious diseases were most commonly (53.26%) encountered due to overwhelming respiratory-infections, followed by trauma (24.40%). Analgesics (66.38/100 patients) and antibacterials (48.34/100 patients) were frequently prescribed. Crude mortality amongst Indian pilgrims was 11.99/10,000. Risk-factors associated with high morbidity were old-age and pre-existing comorbidities. Overwhelming surge of patients facilitates transmission of communicable infections and leads to stress induced physical, mental and compassion fatigue amongst healthcare personnel. Respiratory infections are highly prevalent and easily transmissible during Hajj leading to significant morbidity, increased burden to existing health facilities, overwhelming costs on health systems and globalization of multiresistant pathogens. Diabetic patients should avoid heat exposure and use protective footwear during Hajj rituals. Mass-gathering medicine at Hajj can be optimized by improving patient knowledge on performing Hajj at a younger age, medicine compliance, avoiding self-medication, self-monitoring of hypertension, blood glucose, and preventive health measures

Platinum atom location on the internal walls of nanocavities investigated by ion channeling analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kinomura, A.; Williams, J.S.; Tsubouchi, N.; Horino, Y.

2002-01-01

Atomic locations of Pt trapped at hydrogen-induced cavities in Si have been investigated by ion channeling analysis. A Pt dose of 1x10 14 cm -2 , corresponding to a monolayer coverage of the internal walls of cavities, was implanted into cavity-containing samples. The gettering of Pt to the cavities was induced by annealing at 850 deg. C for 1 h. Clear channeling effects were observed in aligned and random backscattering spectra for the , and axes. Angular yield profiles for three crystalline axes exhibited dips with a narrowing of Pt signal half width compared with the Si matrix. Results suggested that the Pt atoms trapped at the cavities are closely aligned with the Si atomic strings bounding axial channels in Si

Proceedings of the Third international conference 'Interaction of radiation with solids'. Part 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anishchik, V.M.; Zhukova, S.I.; Ponaryadov, V.V.; Popok, V.N.; Prikhod'ko, Zh.L.

1999-10-01

The 128 collected papers form the Proceedings of the International Conference 'Interaction of Radiation with Solids'. This Conference is the third forum biennially gathering in Minsk the specialists from different countries. The scope of the problems considered at the Conference is widening steadily from year to year including the recent results and most advanced leads in the field of radiation physics of condensed matter. In the second part of the proceedings consideration is being given to 'Properties modification of materials ' and 'Equipment and technologies'

Introduction to the special issue from the 2014 meeting of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Jared W; Hall, F Scott; Pletnikov, Mikhail; Kent, Stephen

2015-11-01

In 2013, President Obama launched what has been optimistically described as the "decade of the brain". The launch of this effort comes on the back of widespread acknowledgement that more is required to aid those suffering from mental health disorders. Specifically, a greater understanding of the neural circuitry related to behaviors specific to mental health disorders is needed. The field of research that relates the circuitry of the brain to specific aspects of behavior is referred to as behavioral neuroscience. The International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS) was founded in 1992 specifically to meet on an annual basis and present the latest research findings in this field, and to gather together the international research community to discuss issues important for the development and progress of this scientific discipline. This special issue includes reviews of topics of emerging interest and advancing knowledge in behavioral neuroscience, based on symposia presented at the 2014 IBNS meeting. Topics discussed at the annual IBNS meeting ranged from investigations of the neural mechanisms underlying bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, traumatic brain injury, and risk-taking behavior, to behavioral consequences of obesity and immune dysfunction. Novel treatment areas are covered such as the use of deep brain stimulation, as well as investigation of the behavioral impacts of nicotine withdrawal and how this research will influence the development of nicotine cessation treatments. Hence, this special issue covers a wide-range of topics in behavioral neuroscience offering an insight into the challenges faced by researchers in this decade of the brain. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using qualitative repertory grid interviews to gather shared perspectives in a sequential mixed methods research design

OpenAIRE

Rojon, C; Saunders, M.N.K.; McDowall, Almuth

2016-01-01

In this chapter, we consider a specific example of applying mixed methods designs combining both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis approaches, giving particular attention to issues including reliability and validity. Human resource management (HRM) researchers, like others setting out to examine a novel or insufficiently defined research topic, frequently favour qualitative approaches to gather data during initial stages, to facilitate an in-depth exploration of indivi...

Child Maltreatment, Inflammation, and Internalizing Symptoms: Investigating the Roles of C-Reactive Protein, Gene Variation and Neuroendocrine Regulation

Science.gov (United States)

Cicchetti, Dante; Handley, Elizabeth D.; Rogosch, Fred A.

2015-01-01

Prior research has found inconsistent evidence regarding the association among childhood adversity, inflammation, and internalizing symptoms, perhaps because previous studies have yet to adequately integrate important factors such as the timing of the adversity, genetic variation, and other relevant processes such as neuroendocrine regulation. The aims of the present study were threefold: 1) Determine whether the effect of the timing of child maltreatment on C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker, varies by CRP gene variation; 2) Explore whether links between salivary CRP and childhood internalizing symptoms depend on the presence and timing of maltreatment experiences; 3) Investigate the role of CRP in the relations between child neuroendocrine regulation and internalizing symptoms and examine whether these associations are moderated by the presence and timing of child maltreatment. Participants included a sample of 267 maltreated and 222 nonmaltreated children (M age= 9.72, SD=0.99; 52.4% male; 66% African-American) who attended a summer day camp research program designed for school-aged low-income children. Department of Human Services records were examined to determine the onset and recency of maltreatment for children in the maltreated group. Results indicated that among children with recent onset maltreatment, those with at least one A allele from CRP SNP rs1417938 evidenced significantly higher CRP levels compared to recently maltreated children carrying the TT genotype. Moreover, higher levels of CRP were associated with higher levels of internalizing symptoms only for recently maltreated children. Finally, we did not find support for salivary CRP as a mechanism in the relation between neuroendocrine regulation and childhood internalizing symptoms. Our findings highlight the importance of the timing of child maltreatment and have important implications for characterizing variability in inflammation and internalizing symptoms among youth. PMID

Wild vascular plants gathered for consumption in the Polish countryside: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Łuczaj, Łukasz; Szymański, Wojciech M

2007-04-15

This paper is an ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants gathered for consumption from the end of the 18th century to the present day, within the present borders of Poland. 42 ethnographic and botanical sources documenting the culinary use of wild plants were analyzed. The use of 112 species (3.7% of the flora) has been recorded. Only half of them have been used since the 1960s. Three species: Cirsium rivulare, Euphorbia peplus and Scirpus sylvaticus have never before been reported as edible by ethnobotanical literature. The list of wild edible plants which are still commonly gathered includes only two green vegetables (Rumex acetosa leaves for soups and Oxalis acetosella as children's snack), 15 folk species of fruits and seeds (Crataegus spp., Corylus avellana, Fagus sylvatica, Fragaria vesca, Malus domestica, Prunus spinosa, Pyrus spp., Rosa canina, Rubus idaeus, Rubus sect. Rubus, Sambucus nigra, Vaccinium myrtillus, V. oxycoccos, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea) and four taxa used for seasoning or as preservatives (Armoracia rusticana root and leaves, Carum carvi seeds, Juniperus communis pseudo-fruits and Quercus spp. leaves). The use of other species is either forgotten or very rare. In the past, several species were used for food in times of scarcity, most commonly Chenopodium album, Urtica dioica, U. urens, Elymus repens, Oxalis acetosella and Cirsium spp., but now the use of wild plants is mainly restricted to raw consumption or making juices, jams, wines and other preserves. The history of the gradual disappearance of the original barszcz, Heracleum sphondylium soup, from Polish cuisine has been researched in detail and two, previously unpublished, instances of its use in the 20th century have been found in the Carpathians. An increase in the culinary use of some wild plants due to media publications can be observed. Poland can be characterized as a country where the traditions of culinary use of wild plants became impoverished very early, compared to

Investigations on a new internally-heated tubular packed-bed methanol–steam reformer

KAUST Repository

Nehe, Prashant

2015-05-01

Small-scale reformers for hydrogen production through steam reforming of methanol can provide an alternative solution to the demand of continuous supply of hydrogen gas for the operation of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs). A packed-bed type reformer is one of the potential designs for such purpose. An externally heated reformer has issues of adverse lower temperature in the core of the reformer and significant heat loss to the environment thus impacting its performance. Experimental and numerical studies on a new concept of internally heated tubular packed-bed methanol-steam reformer have been reported in this paper with improved performance in terms of higher methanol conversion and reduced heat losses to surroundings. CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 is used as the catalyst for the methanol-steam reforming reaction and a rod-type electric heater at the center of the reactor is used for supplying necessary heat for endothermic steam reforming reaction. The vaporizer and the reformer unit with a constant volume catalyst bed are integrated in the annular section of a tubular reformer unit. The performance of the reformer was investigated at various operating conditions like feed rate of water-methanol mixture, mass of the catalyst and reforming temperature. The experimental and numerical results show that the methanol conversion and CO concentration increase with internal heating for a wide range of operating conditions. The developed reformer unit generates 50-80W (based on lower heating value) of hydrogen gas for applications in PEMFCs. For optimized design and operating conditions, the reformer unit produced 298sccm reformed gas containing 70% H2, 27% CO2 and 3% CO at 200-240°C which can produce a power output of 25-32W assuming 60% fuel cell efficiency and 80% of hydrogen utilization in a PEMFC. © 2015 Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC.

Social adjustment and friendship patterns of international students : a study of Norwegian students studying abroad

OpenAIRE

Iversen, Gunn Irene

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of friendships in the social adjustment of international students, in particular to explore the role of preference for co-nationals/co-culturals as opposed to a preference for befriending people belonging to other cultural groups. Information was gathered by a psychometric, self-report survey questionnaire. A modified version of the Sociocultural Adaptation Scale (Ward & Kennedy, 1999) was used. For the purpose of this study, a Success Scale, ...

Investigating the Impact of Personality Factors on Perceived Communication Mobility of Non-Native English Speaking Thai Professionals in International Companies

Science.gov (United States)

Marina, Olga A.; Rajprasit, Krich

2014-01-01

Communication mobility has been suggested as an element of the complex construct of professional communicative competence, with a shared core of English in the oral mode, for professional international communication. This study aims (1) to investigate the possible correlation between the perceived level of communication mobility, and the influence…

External validation of the PROFUND index in polypathological patients from internal medicine and acute geriatrics departments in Aragón.

Science.gov (United States)

Díez-Manglano, Jesús; Cabrerizo García, José Luis; García-Arilla Calvo, Ernesto; Jimeno Saínz, Araceli; Calvo Beguería, Eva; Martínez-Álvarez, Rosa M; Bejarano Tello, Esperanza; Caudevilla Martínez, Aránzazu

2015-12-01

The objective of the study was to validate externally and prospectively the PROFUND index to predict survival of polypathological patients after a year. An observational, prospective and multicenter study was performed. Polypathological patients admitted to an internal medicine or geriatrics department and attended by investigators consecutively between March 1 and June 30, 2011 were included. Data concerning age, gender, comorbidity, Barthel and Lawton-Brody indexes, Pfeiffer questionnaire, socio-familial Gijon scale, delirium, number of drugs and number of admissions during the previous year were gathered for each patient. The PROFUND index was calculated. The follow-up lasted 1 year. A Cox proportional regression model was calculated, and was used to analyze the association of the variables to mortality and C-statistic. 465 polypathological patients, 333 from internal medicine and 132 from geriatrics, were included. One-year mortality is associated with age [hazard ratio (HR) 1.52 95 % CI 1.04-2.12; p = 0.01], presence of neoplasia [HR 2.68 95 % CI 1.71-4.18; p = 0.0001] and dependence for basic activities of daily living [HR 2.34 95 % CI 1.61-3.40; p = 0.0009]. In predicting mortality, the PROFUND index shows good discrimination in patients from internal medicine (C-statistics 0.725 95 % CI 0.670-0.781), but a poor one in those from geriatrics (0.546 95 % CI 0.448-0.644). The PROFUND index is a reliable tool for predicting mortality in internal medicine PP patients.

An Investigation of the Impact of International Branch Campuses on Organizational Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Tierney, William G.; Lanford, Michael

2015-01-01

The authors first survey the factors related to globalization that have stimulated the creation of international branch campuses. They then contend that the viability of an international branch campus should not be solely evaluated from a rational choice perspective oriented toward economic self-interest. Rather, the organizational culture of the…

International Conference on Polarised Neutrons for Condensed Matter Investigations (PNCMI 2016)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2017-01-01

The present volume of the Journal of Physics: Conference Series represents Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Polarised Neutrons for Condensed Matter Investigation (PNCMI) held in Freising, Germany from July 4–7, 2016. The conference attended by more than 120 scientists from various academic, government, and industrial institutions in Europe, Asia and the Americas was organized by the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science of the Forschungszentrum Jülich. The PNCMI-2016 continuoued the successful previous conferences in this series covering the latest condensed matter investigations using polarised neutrons and state-of-the-art methodologies, from effective polarization of neutron beams to wide-angle polarization analysis, as well as applications for novel instrumentation and experiments, with emphasis on prospects for new science and new instrument concepts. The conference program included invited and contributed oral presentations and posters which demonstrated the activities using polarized neutrons all over the world and showed the deep interest in developing the topic. The presentations tackled all area of science including multiferroic and chirality, strongly correlated electron systems, superconductors, frustrated and disordered systems, magnetic nanomaterials, thin films and multilayers, soft matter and biology, imaging, as well as further developments in polarized neutron techniques and methods, including nuclear polarisation, Larmor techniques and depolarisation methods.. We would like to thank all speakers for their presentations and all attendees for their participation. We would also like to gratefully acknowledge the financial support by J-PARC and AIRBUS DS as Premium Sponsors and Swiss Neutronics, ISIS, LLB, PSI and Mirrotron as Standard Sponsors of this conference. The next PNCMI will take place in Great Britain in 2018 and will be organized by ISIS. Alexander Ioffe (Conference Chair) Thomas Gutberlet (Conference Secretary) (paper)

Climate-driven environmental changes around 8,200 years ago favoured increases in cetacean strandings and Mediterranean hunter-gatherers exploited them.

Science.gov (United States)

Mannino, Marcello A; Talamo, Sahra; Tagliacozzo, Antonio; Fiore, Ivana; Nehlich, Olaf; Piperno, Marcello; Tusa, Sebastiano; Collina, Carmine; Di Salvo, Rosaria; Schimmenti, Vittoria; Richards, Michael P

2015-11-17

Cetacean mass strandings occur regularly worldwide, yet the compounded effects of natural and anthropogenic factors often complicate our understanding of these phenomena. Evidence of past stranding episodes may, thus, be essential to establish the potential influence of climate change. Investigations on bones from the site of Grotta dell'Uzzo in North West Sicily (Italy) show that the rapid climate change around 8,200 years ago coincided with increased strandings in the Mediterranean Sea. Stable isotope analyses on collagen from a large sample of remains recovered at this cave indicate that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers relied little on marine resources. A human and a red fox dating to the 8.2-kyr-BP climatic event, however, acquired at least one third of their protein from cetaceans. Numerous carcasses should have been available annually, for at least a decade, to obtain these proportions of meat. Our findings imply that climate-driven environmental changes, caused by global warming, may represent a serious threat to cetaceans in the near future.

International workshop on advanced materials for high precision detectors. Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicquevert, B.; Hauviller, C.

1994-01-01

These proceedings gather together the contributions to the Workshop on Advanced Materials for High Precision Detectors, which was held from 28-30 September 1994 in Archamps, Haute-Savoie, France. This meeting brought together international experts (researchers, physicists and engineers) in the field of advanced materials and their use in high energy physics detectors or spacecraft applications. Its purpose was to discuss the status of the different materials currently in use in the structures of detectors and spacecraft, together with their actual performances, technological implications and future prospects. Environmental effects, such as those of moisture and radiation, were discussed, as were design and manufacturing technologies. Some case studies were presented. (orig.)

Effective International Medical Disaster Relief: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Broby, Nicolette; Lassetter, Jane H; Williams, Mary; Winters, Blaine A

2018-04-01

Purpose The aim of this study was to assist organizations seeking to develop or improve their medical disaster relief effort by identifying fundamental elements and processes that permeate high-quality, international, medical disaster relief organizations and the teams they deploy. A qualitative descriptive design was used. Data were gathered from interviews with key personnel at five international medical response organizations, as well as during field observations conducted at multiple sites in Jordan and Greece, including three refugee camps. Data were then reviewed by the research team and coded to identify patterns, categories, and themes. The results from this qualitative, descriptive design identified three themes which were key characteristics of success found in effective, well-established, international medical disaster relief organizations. These characteristics were first, ensuring an official invitation had been extended and the need for assistance had been identified. Second, the response to that need was done in an effective and sustainable manner. Third, effective organizations strived to obtain high-quality volunteers. By following the three key characteristics outlined in this research, organizations are more likely to improve the efficiency and quality of their work. In addition, they will be less likely to impede the overall recovery process. Broby N , Lassetter JH , Williams M , Winters BA . Effective international medical disaster relief: a qualitative descriptive study. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(2):119-126.

Panoramic view of the Fifth International Symposium on Stem Cell Therapy and Applied Cardiovascular Biotechnology, April 2008, Madrid (Spain).

Science.gov (United States)

Villa, Adolfo; Sanz, Ricardo; Fernandez, M Eugenia; Elizaga, Jaime; Ludwig, Indrig; Sanchez, Pedro L; Fernandez-Aviles, Francisco

2009-03-01

The Fifth International Symposium on Stem Cell Therapy and Applied Cardiovascular Biotechnology was held on April 24th-25th, 2008, at the Auditorium of the High Council of Scientific Research of Spain (CSIC) in Madrid, as a continuation of a series of yearly meetings, organized in an attempt to encourage translational research in this field and facilitate a positive interaction among experts from several countries, along with industry representatives and journalists. In addition, members of the Task Force of the European Society concerning the clinical investigation of the use of autologous adult stem cells for repair of the heart gathered and discussed an update of the previous consensus, still pending of publication. In this article, we summarize some of the main topics of discussion, the state-of-the-art and latest advances in this field, and new challenges brought up for the near future.

Review of international geothermal activities and assessment of US industry opportunities: Summary report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1987-08-01

This report summarizes a study initiated to review and assess international developments in the geothermal energy field and to define business opportunities for the US geothermal industry. The report establishes data bases on the status of worldwide geothermal development and the competitiveness of US industry. Other factors identified include existing legislation, tax incentives, and government institutions or agencies and private sector organizations that promote geothermal exports. Based on the initial search of 177 countries and geographic entities, 71 countries and areas were selected as the most likely targets for the expansion of the geothermal industry internationally. The study then determined to what extent their geothermal resource had been developed, what countries had aided or participated in this development, and what plans existed for future development. Data on the energy, economic, and financial situations were gathered.

Review of international geothermal activities and assessment of US industry opportunities: Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1987-08-01

This study was initiated to review and assess international developments in the geothermal energy field and to define business opportunities for the US geothermal industry. The report establishes data bases on the status of worldwide geothermal development and the competitiveness of US industry. Other factors identified include existing legislation, tax incentives, and government institutions or agencies and private sector organizations that promote geothermal exports. Based on the initial search of 177 countries and geographic entities, 71 countries and areas were selected as the most likely targets for the expansion of the geothermal industry internationally. The study then determined to what extent their geothermal resource had been developed, what countries had aided or participated in this development, and what plans existed for future development. Data on the energy, economic, and financial situations were gathered.

Market risk stress testing for internationally active financial institutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marković Petar

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The paper develops a comprehensive framework for market risk stress testing in internationally active financial institutions. We begin by defining the scope and type of the stress test and explaining how to select risk factors and the stress time horizon. We then address challenges related to data gathering, followed by in-depth discussion of techniques for developing realistic shock scenarios. Next the process of shock application to a particular portfolio is described, followed by determination of portfolio profit and loss. We conclude by briefly discussing the issue of assigning probability to stress scenarios. We illustrate the framework by considering the development of a ‘worst case’ scenario using global financial market data from Thomson Reuters Datastream.

6th International Conference on Knowledge and Systems Engineering

CERN Document Server

Le, Anh-Cuong; Huynh, Van-Nam

2015-01-01

This volume contains papers presented at the Sixth International Conference on Knowledge and Systems Engineering (KSE 2014), which was held in Hanoi, Vietnam, during 9–11 October, 2014. The conference was organized by the University of Engineering and Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi. Besides the main track of contributed papers, this proceedings  feature the results of four special sessions focusing on specific topics of interest and three invited keynote speeches. The book gathers a total of 51 carefully reviewed papers describing recent advances and development on various topics including knowledge discovery and data mining, natural language processing, expert systems, intelligent decision making, computational biology, computational modeling, optimization algorithms, and industrial applications.

Investigation of Polluted Zones by Lead in North West of Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khodadadi A.

2014-07-01

Full Text Available National project of Important Heavy Metals Identification of Iran (IHMI, following the UNDP and supported by Department of Environment of Iran (DOE, has been completed by Modares Environmental Research Center (MERC. Due to this project the pollution potential sources was investigated by overall distribution maps of any parameters that may cause the lead pollution. Then the sampling points was determined by some geo-statistical analysis and the sampling process was done according to standard methods of sampling, preserving, transferring to lab, measuring and analyzing etc through the 3 months in three phases of materials (effluent and discharges, solid waste, water, soil and sediment samples from natural sources like river etc.. After gathering the final results, overlaying the potential sources and polluted positions (according to violation of national and international standards of sampled points by Geographic Information Systems (GIS led the research to closing to the pollutant sources in north west provinces (Eastern Azerbaijan, Western Azerbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan. The synthetic and natural pollution sources observed were 17 and 20 respectively. Abir River, Niroo Gostar Taban Industrial Complex and Copper Industries were the most important pollution sources in material phases of Natural, effluent and solid waste respectively.

Threats to Validity When Using Open-Ended Items in International Achievement Studies: Coding Responses to the PISA 2012 Problem-Solving Test in Finland

Science.gov (United States)

Arffman, Inga

2016-01-01

Open-ended (OE) items are widely used to gather data on student performance in international achievement studies. However, several factors may threaten validity when using such items. This study examined Finnish coders' opinions about threats to validity when coding responses to OE items in the PISA 2012 problem-solving test. A total of 6…

CERT tribal internship program. Final intern report: Maria Perez, 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-09-01

Historically, American Indian Tribes have lacked sufficient numbers of trained, technical personnel from their communities to serve their communities; tribal expertise in the fields of science, business and engineering being extremely rare and programs to encourage these disciplines almost non-existent. Subsequently, Tribes have made crucial decisions about their land and other facets of Tribal existence based upon outside technical expertise, such as that provided by the United States government and/or private industries. These outside expert opinions rarely took into account the traditional and cultural values of the Tribes being advised. The purpose of this internship was twofold: Create and maintain a working relationship between CERT and Colorado State University (CSU) to plan for the Summit on Tribal human resource development; and Evaluate and engage in current efforts to strengthen the Tribal Resource Institute in Business, Engineering and Science (TRIBES) program. The intern lists the following as the project results: Positive interactions and productive meetings between CERT and CSU; Gathered information from Tribes; CERT database structure modification; Experience as facilitator in participating methods; Preliminary job descriptions for staff of future TRIBES programs; and Additions for the intern`s personal database of professional contacts and resources.

International Workshop on Best Practices in Material Hold-Up Monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pickett, Chris A; Coates, Cameron W.

2008-01-01

In the fall of 2006, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) hosted an INMM-sponsored International Workshop on Best Practices in Material Hold-Up Monitoring. This workshop represented the first time in over 20 years that the international community had gathered to discuss pertinent hold-up topics and needs. More than one hundred people attended the workshop. Their expertise in the field ranged from novice to expert, and they shared their experiences and expertise throughout the week of the workshop. Presenters discussed techniques that have been used worldwide to detect and characterize nuclear materials held up in processes and equipment and the policies used to report quantities detected. The primary goal of the workshop was to compile information on the best practices and lessons learned and to make this information available for sharing throughout the international community. This paper discusses the information that was produced from four separate working groups (each composed of workshop attendees). Each group was tasked to determine what it felt to be the best practices in the field today and what issues needed to be addressed to move the field forward in the 21st century

Utilizing Science to Ensure Safe Access to Cultural Resources on Public Lands: The Portland Native American Community and Traditional Gathering of Camas

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, C.

2017-12-01

Native Americans have been conducting and contributing to science for millenia. We have observed nature and passed on evidence-based Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) from generation to generation. Prior to colonization, this knowledge enabled our people to live with ample nutritional resources. Our long-standing relationship to nature continues today in tribal, rural, and urban communities, yet access to cultural resources (traditional food and medicines) proves challenging due to modern land management practices. The Native American community and public land managers in Portland, Oregon are addressing this challenge through the restoration of cultural resources across the landscape. One focus in these efforts is the camas plant (Camssia quamash), which grows in wetland and prairie ecosystems. The harvested bulbs are traditionally pit roasted, converting the indigestible inulin into carbohydrates of high nutritional value. Access to local natural areas has been granted for Native American community members to gather camas, yet pesticide and herbicide application as land management practices have created uncertainty regarding the safety of ingesting the camas bulbs. The Native American community gathered camas bulbs in November 2015 for analysis, which resulted in glyphosate (pesticide) and triclopyr (herbicide). There are various factors which may influence the uptake of pesticide and herbicide residuals in camas which need further investigation, including pesticide/herbicide application details (date, location), preferential uptake of pesticide/herbicides in camas among the present plant community, the impact of pit roasting bulbs on residuals, and traditional land management practices like prescribed burning. Utilizing TEK and science to ensure safe access to cultural resources is paramount in preserving our cultures and enhancing the value of indigenous perspectives on land management practices and policies.

Remedial investigation/feasibility study for the David Witherspoon, Inc., 901 Site, Knoxville, Tennessee: Volume 1

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1996-10-01

This remedial investigation (RI)/feasibility study (FS) supports the selection of remedial actions for the David Witherspoon, Inc. 901 Maryville Pike Site in Knoxville, Tennessee. Operations at the site, used as a recycling center, have resulted in past, present, and potential future releases of hazardous substances in to the environment. This Site is a Tennessee Superfund site. A phased approach was planned to (1) gather existing data from previous investigations managed by the Tenn. Dept. of Environment and Conservation; (2) perform a preliminary RI, including risk assessments, and an FS with existing data to identify areas where remedial action may be necessary; (3) gather additional field data to adequately define the nature and extent of risk-based contaminants that present identifiable threats to human and/or ecological receptors; and (4) develop remedial action alternatives to reduce risks to acceptable levels.

Remedial investigation/feasibility study for the David Witherspoon, Inc., 901 Site, Knoxville, Tennessee: Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-10-01

This remedial investigation (RI)/feasibility study (FS) supports the selection of remedial actions for the David Witherspoon, Inc. 901 Maryville Pike Site in Knoxville, Tennessee. Operations at the site, used as a recycling center, have resulted in past, present, and potential future releases of hazardous substances in to the environment. This Site is a Tennessee Superfund site. A phased approach was planned to (1) gather existing data from previous investigations managed by the Tenn. Dept. of Environment and Conservation; (2) perform a preliminary RI, including risk assessments, and an FS with existing data to identify areas where remedial action may be necessary; (3) gather additional field data to adequately define the nature and extent of risk-based contaminants that present identifiable threats to human and/or ecological receptors; and (4) develop remedial action alternatives to reduce risks to acceptable levels

Investigation of internalization and cytotoxicity of 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide in NCI-H446 cell line

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Junjie; Fan Wo; Xu Yujie; Zhang Youjiu; Zhu Ran; Hu Mingjiang

2004-01-01

Objective: To investigate the [Tyr 3 ]-octreotide (TOC) internalizing capacity of NCI-H446 cell line, and the cytotoxicity of 125 I-TOC in NCI-H446 cell line. To assess the therapeutic radiopharmaceutical potentiality of 125 I-TOC for the somatostatin receptor (SSTR) positive tumor. Methods: NCI-H446 cells were incubated together with 125 I-TOC for different periods of time, the amount of internalized 125 I-TOC and the 125 I-TOC bound on the cellular nucleus were detected with γ counter, respectively. The viability of the cells was analyzed by a 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay at different time points with various doses of 125 I-TOC, free 125 I and TOC. Results: 125 I-TOC was internalized into the nucleus and bound on the nucleus in a time-dependent manner. 125 I-TOC bound on the nucleus increased to the highest level at 24 h, the amount of nucleus bound 125 I-TOC at 24 h was 7 times higher than that at 0.5 h. Cytotoxicity of 125 I-TOC in SSTR positive NCI-H446 cells was also dose- and time-dependent. The supreme effect of cytotoxicity was found at 96 h with 74 kBq 125 I-TOC, the survival ratio of cells was reduced to (44.8 ± 7.2)%. Conclusions: 125 I-TOC can be internalized into SSTR positive cells mediated by SSTR. The NCI-H446 cells can be killed by Auger electron emitting from 125 I-TOC. Effect of cytotoxicity showed dose- and time-dependent

Development of the NRC's Human Performance Investigation Process (HPIP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paradies, M.; Unger, L.; Haas, P.; Terranova, M.

1993-10-01

The three volumes of this report detail a standard investigation process for use by US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) personnel when investigating human performance related events at nuclear power plants. The process, called the Human Performance Investigation Process (HPIP), was developed to meet the special needs of NRC personnel, especially NRC resident and regional inspectors. HPIP is a systematic investigation process combining current procedures and field practices, expert experience, NRC human performance research, and applicable investigation techniques. The process is easy to learn and helps NRC personnel perform better field investigations of the root causes of human performance problems. The human performance data gathered through such investigations provides a better understanding of the human performance issues that cause events at nuclear power plants. This document, Volume III, is a detailed documentation of the development effort and the pilot training program

Environmental assessment of radiological effluents from data gathering and maintenance operation on Three Mile Island Unit 2: interim criteria approved by the Commission on April 7,1980

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-05-01

The staff is currently in the process of preparing a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for TMI-2 which will address all radiological releases that may occur as a result of the cleanup and recovery operations. These operations will begin after the PEIS is published in final form provided the proposed cleanup programs have been found to be environmentally acceptable. In the interim period it is necessary for the licensee to conduct data gathering and maintenance operations on the damaged reactor. The action of approval of these interim operations does not foreclose any of the options of the PEIS. In addition, regardless of what cleanup choice is made in the PEIS, the approval of these data gathering and maintenance operations enhance the ability of the licensee to maintain the reactor in a safe configuration and to plan effectively for recovery operations. This Environmental Impact Appraisal evaluates the effects on the environment of allowing these data gathering and maintenance operations to be conducted. These data gathering and maintenance operations do not include purging of the containment atmosphere, disposal of EPICOR-II water, or the treatment and disposal of high level radioactively contaminated water in the reactor building

Pengaruh Pemasaran Internal dan Kualitas Layanan Internal Terhadap Kepuasan Pelanggan Internal (Studi Pada Industri Kepariwisataan di Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jumadi Jumadi

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this research is to investigate the implication of internal marketing and internal service quality effectivity towards internal customer satisfaction in Tourism Industry in Yogyakarta Special Territory. This internal marketing studyinvolves variables of motivation and reward system, effective communication, effective employee's selection, effective recruitment, effective development, effective support system, and healthy work environment. While the internal quality service aspects that will be examined in this study are: tangible, emphaty, responsiveness, reliability and assurance, and then their influences on internal customer satisfaction would be analyzed.The sample size is 210 respondents,which is determined using purposive sampling method. The main instrument for data collection in this study is through questionnaire. The analysis tool used to examine the hypothesis of the study is Structural Equation Modeling using AMOS Version 20.0 Software. The result of the study shows that: Internal marketing and internal quality service significantly influence internal customers satisfation. However, the internal quality service influence the internal customers satisfaction more significantly. Therefore the managers in tourism industry should improve the internal marketing more than the internal quality service.

International Immersion in Counselor Education: A Consensual Qualitative Research Investigation

Science.gov (United States)

Barden, Sejal M.; Cashwell, Craig S.

2014-01-01

This study used consensual qualitative research methodology to examine the phenomenon of international immersion on counselor education students' (N = 10) development and growth. Seven domains emerged from the data (cultural knowledge, empathy, personal and professional impact, process/reflection, relationships, personal characteristics, and…

International energy assistance needs and options for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hippel, David F. von; Hayes, Peter; Williams, James H.; Greacen, Chris; Sagrillo, Mick; Savage, Timothy

2008-01-01

Recent agreements between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the other countries involved in the six-party talks on the future of the DPRK's nuclear weapons program have focused attention on the North Korean energy sector, and, specifically, what the international community can or should do to assist the DPRK in energy sector redevelopment. During two visits to North Korea in 1998 and 2000, a team of American and North Korean researchers conducted a unique rural energy use survey in a flood-affected rural village in the DPRK-the farming village of Unhari. The information gathered during the survey has important implications on how to properly approach the ongoing rural energy crisis in the DPRK, and, more broadly, to provide overall energy sector assistance. The results of the Unhari survey are described briefly, followed by suggestions of internal policy and legal reforms, approaches to international cooperation, key and attractive energy sector technologies and processes for energy sector redevelopment in the DPRK

Modelling internal boundary-layer development in a region with a complex coastline

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Batchvarova, E.; Cai, X.; Gryning, Sven-Erik

1999-01-01

, and the Colorado State University Regional Atmospheric Modelling System (CSU-RAMS) are tested by comparison with data gathered during a field study (called Pacific '93) of photochemical pollution in the Lower Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada. The data utilised here are drawn from tethered balloon flights......, free flying balloon ascents, and downlooking lidar operated from an aircraft flown at roughly 3500 m above sea level. Both models are found to represent the temporal and spatial development of the internal boundary-layer depth over the Lower Fraser Valley very well, and reproduce many of the finer...

Assessment of industry views on international business prospects for solar thermal technology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Easterling, J.C.

1984-09-01

This report contains a review of solar thermal industry viewpoints on their prospects for developing international business. The report documents the industry's current involvement in foreign markets, view of foreign competition in overseas applications, and view of federal R and D and policy requirements to strengthen international business prospects. The report is based on discussions with equipment manufacturers and system integrators who have a product or service with potential international demand. Interviews with manufacturers and system integrators were conducted by using a standard format for interview questions. The use of a standard format for questions provided a basis for aggregating similar views expressed by US companies concerning overseas business prospects. A special effort was made to gather responses from the entire solar thermal industry, including manufacturers of line-focus, point-focus, and central receiver systems. General, technical, economic, institutional, and financial findings are provided in this summary. In addition, Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) recommendations are provided (based upon advice from the Solar Thermal Review Panel) for activities to improve US solar thermal business prospects overseas.

A longitudinal investigation of children internationally adopted at school age.

Science.gov (United States)

Helder, Emily J; Mulder, Elizabeth; Gunnoe, Marjorie Linder

2016-01-01

Most existing research on children adopted internationally has focused on those adopted as infants and toddlers. The current study longitudinally tracked several outcomes, including cognitive, behavioral, emotional, attachment, and family functioning, in 25 children who had been internationally adopted at school age (M = 7.7 years old at adoption, SD = 3.4, range = 4–15 years). We examined the incidence of clinically significant impairments, significant change in outcomes over the three study points, and variables that predicted outcomes over time. Clinically significant impairments in sustained attention, full-scale intelligence, reading, language, executive functioning, externalizing problems, and parenting stress were common, with language and executive functioning impairments present at higher levels in the current study compared with past research focusing on children adopted as infants and toddlers. Over the three study points, significant improvements across most cognitive areas and attachment functioning were observed, though significant worsening in executive functioning and internalizing problems was present. Adoptive family-specific variables, such as greater maternal education, smaller family size, a parenting approach that encouraged age-expected behaviors, home schooling, and being the sole adopted child in the family were associated with greater improvement across several cognitive outcomes. In contrast, decreased parenting stress was predicted by having multiple adopted children and smaller family sizes were associated with greater difficulties with executive functioning. Child-specific variables were also linked to outcomes, with girls displaying worse attachment and poorer cognitive performance and with less time in orphanage care resulting in greater adoption success. Implications for future research and clinical applications are discussed.

International diversification and Microfinance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Galema, R.; Lensink, B.W.; Spierdijk, L.

2011-01-01

International commercial banks, institutional investors, and private investors have become increasingly interested in financing microfinance institutions (MFIs). This paper investigates whether adding microfinance funds to a portfolio of risky international assets yields diversification gains. By

International diversification and Microfinance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Galema, Rients; Lensink, Robert; Spierdijk, Laura

International commercial banks, institutional investors, and private investors have become increasingly interested in financing microfinance institutions (MFIs). This paper investigates whether adding microfinance funds to a portfolio of risky international assets yields diversification gains. By

Root Cause Investigation of the Starboard Solar Alpha Rotary Joint Anomaly on the International Space Station

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Deneen; Enriquez, Carlos; McCann, David; McFatter, Justin

2010-01-01

The Solar Alpha Rotary Joint (SARJ) is a single-axis pointing mechanism used to orient the solar power generating arrays relative to the sun for the International Space Station (ISS). Approximately 83 days after its on-orbit installation, one of the two SARJ mechanisms aboard the ISS began to exhibit high current draw. Later inspections via Extravehicular Activity (EVA) discovered that the case hardened steel race ring on the outboard side of the joint had extensive damage to one of its three rolling surfaces. A far-reaching investigation of the anomaly was undertaken, comprising metallurgical inspections, coupon tests, traction kinematics tests, detailed bearing measurements, and thermal and structural analyses. The investigation found that the race ring damage had been caused by high bearing edge stresses that resulted from inadequate lubrication of the rolling contact. The profile of the roller bearings and the metallurgical properties of the race ring were also found to be significant contributing factors.

Personal Wounds, National Scars. Reflections on Individual and Cultural Trauma in Anne Enright’s The Gathering"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ilaria Oddenino

2011-08-01

Full Text Available In her 2007 novel, Enright presents her readers with a complex network of disturbing, ambiguous narratives, woven together – however tentatively – by the grief-stricken voice of Veronica Hegarty. What emerges is a painful chapter of the moral history of contemporary Ireland, one in which  ‘family’ and ‘religion’, the country’s traditional cornerstones, seem to have equally fallen from grace. Indeed, Veronica’s late recollection of the sexual violence that her suicidal brother Liam underwent as a child in a ‘protected’ domestic environment, is mirrored, on a larger scale, by the progressive awakening of her society to a shocking reality of child abuse, not only in people’s homes, but also in the bosom of the Irish Catholic church. Veronica’s personal wounds become thus metonymical of the cultural trauma that has torn her country’s social fabric, and it is precisely the public exposure of those facts that triggers her memories of what went on in her own childhood. Therefore, if the gathering of the title certainly is the coming together of the Hegarthy family for Liam’s wake, it is also and most importantly Veronica’s gathering of distant images of her family’s life, in an attempt to rediscover the long-lost tassels of the puzzle, break the spell of paralysis and, perhaps, let the healing process begin.

The application of statistical and/or non-statistical sampling techniques by internal audit functions in the South African banking industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D.P. van der Nest

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This article explores the use by internal audit functions of audit sampling techniques in order to test the effectiveness of controls in the banking sector. The article focuses specifically on the use of statistical and/or non-statistical sampling techniques by internal auditors. The focus of the research for this article was internal audit functions in the banking sector of South Africa. The results discussed in the article indicate that audit sampling is still used frequently as an audit evidence-gathering technique. Non-statistical sampling techniques are used more frequently than statistical sampling techniques for the evaluation of the sample. In addition, both techniques are regarded as important for the determination of the sample size and the selection of the sample items

Moroccan Mothers' Involvement in Dialogic Literary Gatherings in a Catalan Urban Primary School: Increasing Educative Interactions and Improving Learning

Science.gov (United States)

de Botton, Lena; Girbés, Sandra; Ruiz, Laura; Tellado, Itxaso

2014-01-01

This article analyses a case study on Moroccan mothers' involvement in the Dialogic Literary Gathering (DLG) in an urban primary school in Catalonia (Spain). DLG is a dialogic learning environment that improves reading skills and communicative abilities and promotes school-community links. This activity has been identified in previous European…

Numerical Investigation of Turbulent Natural Convection Heat Transfer in an Internally-Heated Melt Pool and Metallic Layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nourgaliev, R.R.; Dinh, A.T.; Dinh, T.N.; Sehgal, B.R.

1999-01-01

This paper presents results of numerical investigation of turbulent natural convection in an internally-heated oxidic pool, and in a metallic layer heated from below and cooled from top and sidewalls. Emphasis is placed upon applicability of the existing heat transfer correlations (obtained from simulant-material experiments) in assessments of a prototypic severe reactor accident. The objectives of this study are (i) to improve the current understanding of the physics of unstably stratified flows, and (ii) to reduce uncertainties associated with modeling and assessment of natural convection heat transfer in the above configuration. Prediction capabilities of different turbulence modeling approaches are first examined and discussed, based on extensive results of numerical investigations performed by present authors. Findings from numerical modeling of turbulent natural convection flow and heat transfer in melt pools and metallic layers are then described. (authors)

Wild vascular plants gathered for consumption in the Polish countryside: a review

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Szymański Wojciech M

2007-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This paper is an ethnobotanical review of wild edible plants gathered for consumption from the end of the 18th century to the present day, within the present borders of Poland. Methods 42 ethnographic and botanical sources documenting the culinary use of wild plants were analyzed. Results The use of 112 species (3.7% of the flora has been recorded. Only half of them have been used since the 1960s. Three species: Cirsium rivulare, Euphorbia peplus and Scirpus sylvaticus have never before been reported as edible by ethnobotanical literature. The list of wild edible plants which are still commonly gathered includes only two green vegetables (Rumex acetosa leaves for soups and Oxalis acetosella as children's snack, 15 folk species of fruits and seeds (Crataegus spp., Corylus avellana, Fagus sylvatica, Fragaria vesca, Malus domestica, Prunus spinosa, Pyrus spp., Rosa canina, Rubus idaeus, Rubus sect. Rubus, Sambucus nigra, Vaccinium myrtillus, V. oxycoccos, V. uliginosum, V. vitis-idaea and four taxa used for seasoning or as preservatives (Armoracia rusticana root and leaves, Carum carvi seeds, Juniperus communis pseudo-fruits and Quercus spp. leaves. The use of other species is either forgotten or very rare. In the past, several species were used for food in times of scarcity, most commonly Chenopodium album, Urtica dioica, U. urens, Elymus repens, Oxalis acetosella and Cirsium spp., but now the use of wild plants is mainly restricted to raw consumption or making juices, jams, wines and other preserves. The history of the gradual disappearance of the original barszcz, Heracleum sphondylium soup, from Polish cuisine has been researched in detail and two, previously unpublished, instances of its use in the 20th century have been found in the Carpathians. An increase in the culinary use of some wild plants due to media publications can be observed. Conclusion Poland can be characterized as a country where the traditions of culinary

Numerical Investigation of the Internal Flow in a Banki Turbine

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Jesús De Andrade

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The paper refers to the numerical analysis of the internal flow in a hydraulic cross-flow turbine type Banki. A 3D-CFD steady state flow simulation has been performed using ANSYS CFX codes. The simulation includes nozzle, runner, shaft, and casing. The turbine has a specific speed of 63 (metric units, an outside runner diameter of 294 mm. Simulations were carried out using a water-air free surface model and k-ε turbulence model. The objectives of this study were to analyze the velocity and pressure fields of the cross-flow within the runner and to characterize its performance for different runner speeds. Absolute flow velocity angles are obtained at runner entrance for simulations with and without the runner. Flow recirculation in the runner interblade passages and shocks of the internal cross-flow cause considerable hydraulic losses by which the efficiency of the turbine decreases significantly. The CFD simulations results were compared with experimental data and were consistent with global performance parameters.

Attracting International Hotels

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Assaf, A. George; Josiassen, Alexander; Agbola, Frank Wogbe

2015-01-01

With the increased international competition facing hotel chains, it is essential that the next destination they enter is the most attractive option possible. The host destinations too have a keen interest in strategically positioning themselves in order to attract international hotels since...... their presence has several positive effects. Using, for the first time, actual on-location data we investigate the factors that matter most for international hotels when selecting host destinations. Specifically, we identify 23 factors that make a destination an attractive (or unattractive) location...... for international hotels. We then rank these. The results show that welcomeness, infrastructure, and crime rate are the three most important factors that influence the location of international hotels in host destinations....

Cultural impact on the harmonisation of Russian Accounting Standards with the International Financial Reporting Standards: A practitioner's perspective

OpenAIRE

Combs, A; Samy, M; Myachina, A

2013-01-01

Purpose\\ud – The purpose of this paper is to explore cultural impact on the harmonisation of Russian Accounting Standards with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).\\ud \\ud Design/methodology/approach\\ud – A theoretical review established that differences still exist between the two sets of accounting standards. For decades, Russia was a socialist state of planned economy. Accounting was a tool of centralised control, and accountants had a job of gathering information for statist...

Materials of 4. international meeting on pulse investigations in physics, chemistry and biology. PULS'94

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

4. International Meeting on Pulse Investigations in Physics, Chemistry and Biology, PULS'94 has been organized in honor of Professor Jerzy Kroh, the precursor of radiation chemistry in Poland. The meeting has been divided into three sessions: the historical session (H) with four review lectures, lecture session (L) collected 23 papers and poster session (P) with 39 posters. The fundamental studies on early stages of radiolysis have been presented for different systems being irradiated. The pulse radiolysis and flash photolysis methods has been predominantly used in reported experimental works. The reaction of intermediate products of radiolysis and photolysis such a trapped and solvated electrons, ions and radicals has been extensively studied. The reaction mechanisms and kinetics have been also discussed

Amizades internacionais de universitários brasileiros: um estudo exploratório International friendships of Brazilian college students: an exploratory investigation

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Agnaldo Garcia

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Amizades internacionais, entre pessoas de diferentes nacionalidades e culturas, ainda são pouco conhecidas. Este artigo investigou as amizades internacionais de estudantes universitários brasileiros utilizando um questionário contendo questões fechadas e abertas, com a participação de 120 universitários de ambos os sexos. Foram investigados: a rede internacional de amigos, a comunicação com esses amigos, início, interesses comuns e dificuldades nas amizades e a relação com o país do amigo. Ao todo foram citados 331 amigos de 59 países. Estas amizades geralmente se iniciaram por contato pessoal e eram mantidas pela Internet. Os dados foram discutidos à luz das propostas de Robert Hinde. Sugere-se a possibilidade das amizades internacionais servirem de base para a ampliação da cooperação cultural e científica entre diferentes países.International friendships involving individuals from different nations and cultures have not been widely investigated. This paper investigated the international friendships of Brazilian college students with the participation of 120 students, 46 males and 74 females, who answered a questionnaire with open and closed questions on international friends network, communication with friends, friendship beginnings, shared interests and difficulties in friendships and the perception of the friend's country. In sum, 331 friends from 59 countries have been mentioned. Friendships usually started by personal contact but they were maintained by Internet. The theoretical framework proposed by Hinde was used to discuss and interpret data. It is suggested that international friendships should serve as basis for fostering cultural and scientific cooperation among countries.

Investigation of the interaction of carbon dioxide fluid with internal and external single-wall carbon nanotubes by DFT

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M. Oftadeh

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The effective parameters of (5, 0 and (5, 5 single-wall carbon nanotubes during the interaction with carbon dioxide as sensors are determined. The interaction of carbon dioxide  molecules with internal and external walls of the nanotubes is studied using Gaussian 03 coding by density functional theory (DFT at the B3LYP/6-311G level of theory. CO2 rotation around tube axles vertically and parallel to the internal and external walls has been investigated. The carbon dioxide molecule is predicted to bind only weakly to nanotubes, and the tube-molecule interactions can be identified as physisorption. CO2 adsorption is stronger on external wallsthan on internal walls, and adsorption on the external wall of (5, 0 is stronger than on the external wall of (5, 5; the adsorption energies are exothermic and equal to -0.8884 and -0.0528 kcal/mol, respectively. The rotation energy barrier for (5, 5 is lower than that for (5, 0 in all rotations, therefore in these interactions (5, 5 is more active. The energy gap significantly changes in the presence of  carbon  dioxide molecules on the inside surface of (5, 0 and the electric conductivity is affected, but no remarkable change is observed in the electronic structure of (5, 5.

How to gather information from talkative patients in a respectful and efficient manner: a qualitative study of GPs' communication strategies.

Science.gov (United States)

Giroldi, Esther; Veldhuijzen, Wemke; Dijkman, Annika; Rozestraten, Maxime; Muris, Jean; van der Vleuten, Cees; van der Weijden, Trudy

2016-02-01

Gathering information from talkative patients presents a challenge to clinicians. Empirical evidence on how to effectively deal with this challenge is scant. This study explores communication strategies and their underlying mechanisms that GPs consider effective when gathering information from talkative patients in order to inform the development of best practices. We conducted a qualitative study with experienced GPs. We held individual stimulated-recall interviews (SRIs) with six GPs using their videotaped consultations as a stimulus. The transcripts that ensued were triangulated with data from three focus-group discussions (FGs). We performed a thematic network analysis during an iterative process of data collection and analysis. To deal with talkative patients during consultations, GPs first try to pinpoint the cause of patients' talkativeness before deciding on the approach to take. Moreover, they resort to the familiar communication strategies, however, in doing so adopt take a more directive attitude. To prevent such attitude from damaging the relationship, GPs take a stepped approach in which they try not to be overly directive, make the patient co-responsible for efficient time management and make use of empathic interrupting. In the absence of evidence, this description of GPs' communication strategies can guide clinicians, residents and students in gathering information from talkative patients in an efficient, yet empathic and respectful manner. When developing best practices, heed should be paid to the causes of patients' talkativeness and the tension between taking a directive approach and building a doctor-patient relationship. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

European and International Standards on health and safety in welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howe, A

2009-01-01

A number of European and International Standards on health and safety in welding have been published in recent years and work on several more is nearing completion. These standards have been prepared jointly by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). The standards development work has mostly been led by CEN/TC 121/SC 9, with excellent technical input from experts within Europe; but work on the revision of published standards, which has recently gathered pace, is now being carried out by ISO/TC 44/SC 9, with greater international involvement. This paper gives an overview of the various standards that have been published, are being revised or are under development in this field of health and safety in welding, seeking to (i) increase international awareness of published standards, (ii) encourage wider participation in health and safety in welding standards work and (iii) obtain feedback and solicit comments on standards that are currently under development or revision. Such an initiative is particularly timely because work is currently in progress on the revision of one of the more important standards in this field, namely EN ISO 10882:2001 Health and safety in welding and allied processes- Sampling of airborne particles and gases in the operator's breathing zone - Part 1: Sampling of airborne particles.

International Corporate Debt Market

OpenAIRE

Manuela Geranio; Issam Hallak

2012-01-01

Research on international debt markets has chiefly investigated sovereign debt markets. We suggest a review of the different types of borrowers and the differences in the instruments. In particular we show that syndicated loans are an essential tool of international debt markets to monitor international markets borrowers. We also show by looking at the details of these instruments the mechanisms behind such tools.

Development of the NRC's Human Performance Investigation Process (HPIP)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paradies, M.; Unger, L.; Haas, P.; Terranova, M.

1993-10-01

The three volumes of this report detail a standard investigation process for use by US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) personnel when investigating human performance related events at nuclear power plants. The process, called the Human Performance Investigation Process (HPIP), was developed to meet the special needs of NRC personnel, especially NRC resident and regional inspectors. HPIP is a systematic investigation process combining current procedures and field practices, expert experience, NRC human performance research, and applicable investigation techniques. The process is easy to learn and helps NRC personnel perform better field investigations of the root causes of human performance problems. The human performance data gathered through such investigations provides a better understanding of the human performance issues that cause event at nuclear power plants. This document, Volume II, is a field manual for use by investigators when performing event investigations. Volume II includes the HPIP Procedure, the HPIP Modules, and Appendices that provide extensive documentation of each investigation technique

Amotivation and the Occupational Decision: An Investigation of Australian Senior High School Students

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Jae Yup; McCormick, John

2010-01-01

This exploratory study investigated the occupational decision-related processes of senior high school students, in terms of the extent to which they may be amotivated in choosing a future occupation. Data were gathered using a newly developed questionnaire, which was largely adapted from a number of psychometrically proven instruments, and…

International partnership at tourist services market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Volodymyr Mazur

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the following levels of realization of stages of the development of forms of international economic relations: international economic interaction, international economic contacts, international economic cooperation and international economic integration. Publications of modern scholars – investigators of issues of forming and development of partnership relations and the aspects of partnership in international relations.They made a great contribution in the definition of the importance and actuality of the similar way of realization of economic activity and investigation of the forms of its usage. However, it is necessary to emphasize that there is the difference of opinions of scientists concerning theoretical base of forming of partnership relations. The considerable quantity of scientific works was dedicated to the investigation of partnership relations of enterprises with commercial banks, state institutions on the level of foreign economic activity of economic subjects. The development of tourism in Ukraine has been investigated as creating of favorable organizational and legal and economic surrounding of the development to of the sphere, forming competitiveness at the world market of national tourist product on the base of the use of natural and historical and cultural potential of Ukraine and support of its social and economic interests and economic security.

Development and internal structure investigation of the Dimensional Clinical Personality Inventory

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Lucas de Francisco Carvalho

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to develop a dimensional instrument to assess personality disorders based on Millon's theoretical perspective and on DSM-IV-TR diagnoses criteria, and seek validity evidence based on internal structure and reliability indexes of the factors. In order to do that, a self-report test composed of 215 items, the Dimensional Clinical Personality Inventory (DCPI was developed and applied to 561 respondents aged between 18 and 90 years (M = 28,8; SD = 11.4, with 51.8% females. Exploratory factor analysis and verification of reliability were performed using Cronbach's alpha. Data provided validity evidence based on internal structure of the instrument according to the theory of Millon and DSM-IV-TR.

6th International Symposium on Recurrence Plots

CERN Document Server

Jr, Jr; Ioana, Cornel; Marwan, Norbert

2016-01-01

The chapters in this book originate from the research work and contributions presented at the Sixth International Symposium on Recurrence Plots held in Grenoble, France in June 2015. Scientists from numerous disciplines gathered to exchange knowledge on recent applications and developments in recurrence plots and recurrence quantification analysis. This meeting was remarkable because of the obvious expansion of recurrence strategies (theory) and applications (practice) into ever-broadening fields of science. It discusses real-world systems from various fields, including mathematics, strange attractors, applied physics, physiology, medicine, environmental and earth sciences, as well as psychology and linguistics. Even readers not actively researching any of these particular systems will benefit from discovering how other scientists are finding practical non-linear solutions to specific problems. The book is of interest to an interdisciplinary audience of recurrence plot users and researchers interested in time...

14th International Conference on Nonequilibrium Carrier Dynamics in Semiconductors

CERN Document Server

Saraniti, M; Nonequilibrium Carrier Dynamics in Semiconductors

2006-01-01

International experts gather every two years at this established conference to discuss recent developments in theory and experiment in non-equilibrium transport phenomena. These developments have been the driving force behind the spectacular advances in semiconductor physics and devices over the last few decades. Originally known as "Hot Carriers in Semiconductors," the 14th conference in the series covered a wide spectrum of traditional topics dealing with non-equilibrium phenomena, ranging from quantum transport to optical phenomena in mesoscopic and nano-scale structures. Particular attention was given this time to emerging areas of this rapidly evolving field, with many sessions covering terahertz devices, high field transport in nitride semiconductors, spintronics, molecular electronics, and bioelectronics applications.

Highlights of the international consensus statement on major depressive disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Nutt, David J

2011-06-01

The International Consensus Group on Depression gathered to outline a universal treatment algorithm for depression with the purpose of merging the evidence base and standards of clinical practice from various countries, including the United States, Europe, the Middle East, China, and Japan. This brief summary includes the following recommendations made by the consensus group: periodically screen all patients for depression, use measurement-based tools and full psychiatric assessments to complete differential diagnoses, refer patients to psychiatric specialists when appropriate, establish a therapeutic alliance with patients and their families, begin treatment with an antidepressant for moderate or severe depression, treat patients to remission, and continually monitor patients' symptomatic improvement. © Copyright 2011 Physicians Postgraduate Press, Inc.

Bird Conservation Implementation and Integration in the Americas: Proceedings of the Third International Partners in Flight Conference. 2002 March 20-24; Asilomar, California, Volume 1 and 2

Science.gov (United States)

C. John Ralph; Terrell D. Rich

2005-01-01

These two volumes contain in part papers presented at the Third International Partners in Flight Conference: A Workshop on Bird Conservation Implementation and Integration, which was held 20-24 March 2002 at the Asilomar Conference Center in Monterey, California. The conference gathered together researchers, educators, foresters, monitoring specialists, planners, and...

Data gathering in support of phase O program for waste heat utilization from nuclear enrichment facilities, Ohio

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1978-01-01

The gathering of demographic, community development, and economic data for the region impacted by the Pikeville (Ohio) Nuclear Enrichment Facility is described. These data are to be used for establishing possible community uses, e.g., space heating, domestic water heating, and industrial uses, of waste heat from the facility. It was concluded that although the economic feasibility of such waste heat utilization remains to be proven, the community would cooperate in a feasibility demonstration program

Arabic fish names gathered at the fish market in Hurghada (al-Ġardaqah) May 2011

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Provencal, Philippe; Skaarup, Birgit

2016-01-01

This article lists the Arabic names of fish and a few other marine animals, which were gathered by interviewing different people working at the fish market in Hurghada, Egypt in May 2011. The article is intended as a lexical study on the names presently used for these animals on the Red Sea coast...... of Egypt. This name material has been compared with other name materials for marine life in local vernacular Arabic dialects from the Red Sea region, and to a lesser extent with Classical Arabic material. Where possible, the etymology of the names, whether certain or hypothetical, has been provided....

19th International Congress on Project Management and Engineering

CERN Document Server

Blanco, José; Capuz-Rizo, Salvador

2017-01-01

This book gathers the best papers presented at the 19th International Congress on Project Management and Engineering, which was held in Granada, Spain in July 2015. It covers a range of project management and engineering contexts, including: civil engineering and urban planning, product and process engineering, environmental engineering, energy efficiency and renewable energies, rural development, information and communication technologies, safety, labour risks and ergonomics, and training in project engineering. Project management and engineering is taking on increasing importance as projects continue to grow in size, more stakeholders become involved, and environmental, organisational and technological issues become more complex. As such, this book offers a valuable resource for all professionals seeking the latest material on the changing face of project management.

Notification: FY 2017 Update of Proposed Key Management Challenges and Internal Control Weaknesses Confronting the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board

Science.gov (United States)

Jan 5, 2017. The EPA OIG is beginning work to update for fiscal year 2017 its list of proposed key management challenges and internal control weaknesses confronting the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).

Did warfare among ancestral hunter-gatherers affect the evolution of human social behaviors?

Science.gov (United States)

Bowles, Samuel

2009-06-05

Since Darwin, intergroup hostilities have figured prominently in explanations of the evolution of human social behavior. Yet whether ancestral humans were largely "peaceful" or "warlike" remains controversial. I ask a more precise question: If more cooperative groups were more likely to prevail in conflicts with other groups, was the level of intergroup violence sufficient to influence the evolution of human social behavior? Using a model of the evolutionary impact of between-group competition and a new data set that combines archaeological evidence on causes of death during the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene with ethnographic and historical reports on hunter-gatherer populations, I find that the estimated level of mortality in intergroup conflicts would have had substantial effects, allowing the proliferation of group-beneficial behaviors that were quite costly to the individual altruist.

Influence of the Shape of Tube break on the Aerosol retention during severe accident SGTR secuences: An experimental investigation under the International Artist2 Project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Herranz, L. E.; Delgado Tardaguila, R.

2010-01-01

The potential radioactive release to the environment in case of meltdown sequences with steam generator tube ruptures, turns this type of by-pass sequences into an indispensable scenario to model when assessing PWR risk. Despite the recent investigation effort conducted through international projects, like EU-SGTR (Auvinen et al, 2005) and ARTIST (Guntay et al, 2004), the existing data are still scarce and need to be extended to build up a sound database on which to develop further understanding and modelling capabilities. In the case of the lack of water in the secondary side, some radioactive retention is still feasible given the huge amount of structural surfaces available on the particles pathway through towards the environment (tube surfaces, dryers, separators, etc.). Beyond any doubt, the break stage is highly relevant not just because of its own retention capability but also because of its capability of affecting properties of aerosols as important as their size distribution. Nonetheless, the amount of aerosols scrubbed in a dry break stage is a function of some boundary conditions, like the particle size and nature, the gas flow rate and the form of the tube breach. CIEMAT, in collaboration with other ARTIST2 partners and under the sponsorship of the Spanish Nuclear Council (CSN), has launched an experimental program to address some of these issues. The expected final outcome will be a more thorough CIEMAT SGTR database, which supplements the one under construction at PSI, who is actually running the ARTIST projects. This paper presents the experimental Ciemat Artist2 Aerosol Test (CAAT2) campaign with particular emphasis on the effect of breach shape on aerosol retention. In addition, the update of the SGTR-PECA facility of the LASS (Laboratory of Analysis of Safety Systems) at CIEMAT, will be shortly described. In order to illustrate the type of information expected from this second experimental phase at CIEMAT, the results from the first fish-mouth test

Liability for nuclear damage. An international perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopuski, J.

1993-01-01

The book deals with some of the complex issues of liability and compensation for nuclear damage which have been considered in the course of the work of the IAEA concerning the revision of the Vienna Convention on nuclear liability. It presents, in an orderly way, personal reflections of its author based on this experience gathered in years 1989-1992 when participating in this work. Necessarily it contains in some of its parts references to documents of the IAEA Standing Committee on Nuclear Liability; these documents because of their length could not be reproduced. Consequently these parts may be fully intelligible for those who have not participated in or closely followed in Committee's work. The IAEA work on liability for nuclear damage was initiated in the wake of the impact made on the world's public opinion by the Chernobyl incident and its transboundary effects; issues of international state liability and full compensation have been raised. But humanitarian ideas have quickly been confronted with cold calculations of the cost of financial protection for victims and an open unwillingness of some nuclear states the engage their liability; conflict of interests between nuclear and non-nuclear states has been manifested. After three years of discussion no wide consensus could be reached on some basic issues, such as: relationship between international state and civil liability regimes, structures of international legislation, concept of nuclear damage, limits of compensation, role of public funds or jurisdiction. The author presents his approach to these controversial issues, trying to provide at the same time a theoretical outline for the future international legislation on nuclear liability. (author)

From Traditional Accountability to Shared Responsibility: The Benefits and Challenges of Student Consultants Gathering Midcourse Feedback in College Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Cook-Sather, Alison

2009-01-01

The explicit purpose of gathering feedback in college classes is to improve those courses, usually along the lines of structure, organisation, pace, or some other aspect of the course over which the professor typically has control. A potential outcome that is less immediately obvious is the shift that can take place regarding who is responsible…