Separating recognition processes of declarative memory via anodal tDCS: boosting old item recognition by temporal and new item detection by parietal stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pisoni, Alberto; Turi, Zsolt; Raithel, Almuth; Ambrus, Géza Gergely; Alekseichuk, Ivan; Schacht, Annekathrin; Paulus, Walter; Antal, Andrea

2015-01-01

There is emerging evidence from imaging studies that parietal and temporal cortices act together to achieve successful recognition of declarative information; nevertheless, the precise role of these regions remains elusive. To evaluate the role of these brain areas in declarative memory retrieval, we applied bilateral tDCS, with anode over the left and cathode over the right parietal or temporal cortices separately, during the recognition phase of a verbal learning paradigm using a balanced old-new decision task. In a parallel group design, we tested three different groups of healthy adults, matched for demographic and neurocognitive status: two groups received bilateral active stimulation of either the parietal or the temporal cortex, while a third group received sham stimulation. Accuracy, discriminability index (d') and reaction times of recognition memory performance were measurements of interest. The d' sensitivity index and accuracy percentage improved in both active stimulation groups, as compared with the sham one, while reaction times remained unaffected. Moreover, the analysis of accuracy revealed a different effect of tDCS for old and new item recognition. While the temporal group showed enhanced performance for old item recognition, the parietal group was better at correctly recognising new ones. Our results support an active role of both of these areas in memory retrieval, possibly underpinning different stages of the recognition process.

47 CFR 68.320 - Supplier's Declaration of Conformity.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Supplier's Declaration of Conformity. 68.320... Approval § 68.320 Supplier's Declaration of Conformity. (a) Supplier's Declaration of Conformity is a... Supplier's Declaration of Conformity attaches to all items subsequently marketed by the responsible party...

VOP memory management in MPEG-4

Science.gov (United States)

Vaithianathan, Karthikeyan; Panchanathan, Sethuraman

2001-03-01

MPEG-4 is a multimedia standard that requires Video Object Planes (VOPs). Generation of VOPs for any kind of video sequence is still a challenging problem that largely remains unsolved. Nevertheless, if this problem is treated by imposing certain constraints, solutions for specific application domains can be found. MPEG-4 applications in mobile devices is one such domain where the opposite goals namely low power and high throughput are required to be met. Efficient memory management plays a major role in reducing the power consumption. Specifically, efficient memory management for VOPs is difficult because the lifetimes of these objects vary and these life times may be overlapping. Varying life times of the objects requires dynamic memory management where memory fragmentation is a key problem that needs to be addressed. In general, memory management systems address this problem by following a combination of strategy, policy and mechanism. For MPEG4 based mobile devices that lack instruction processors, a hardware based memory management solution is necessary. In MPEG4 based mobile devices that have a RISC processor, using a Real time operating system (RTOS) for this memory management task is not expected to be efficient because the strategies and policies used by the ROTS is often tuned for handling memory segments of smaller sizes compared to object sizes. Hence, a memory management scheme specifically tuned for VOPs is important. In this paper, different strategies, policies and mechanisms for memory management are considered and an efficient combination is proposed for the case of VOP memory management along with a hardware architecture, which can handle the proposed combination.

MPEG-4 interactive image transmission on mobile thin clients

Science.gov (United States)

Joveski, B.; Mitrea, M.; Pr"teux, F.

2010-05-01

The main issue in this paper is to deploy a compressing algorithm for heterogeneous content (text, graphics, image and video) with low-complex decoding. Such an algorithm will be involved in the remote display core problem for mobile thin clients: it allows the graphical content, computed on a remote server, to be displayer on the user's thin terminal, even when the network constraints (bandwidth, errors) are very strict. The paper is structured into three parts. First, a client-server architecture is presented. On the server side, the graphical content is parsed, converted and binary encoded into the MPEG 4 (BiFS, LASeR) format. This content is further streamed to the terminal, where it is played into a simple MPEG player. Secondly, this architecture is considered as a test bed for MPEG 4 performance assessment for various types of content (image, graphics, text). The quantitative results were focussed on bandwidth requirements and quality of experience. Finally, the conclusions are structured as a reference benchmarking of the MPEG (BiFS, LASeR) and outside (VNC) mobile remote display potential solutions.

49 CFR 520.21 - Preparation of environmental reviews, negative declarations, and notices of intent.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Preparation of environmental reviews, negative declarations, and notices of intent. 520.21 Section 520.21 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION PROCEDURES FOR CONSIDERING ENVIRONMENTAL...

An experimental digital consumer recorder for MPEG-coded video signals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Saeijs, R.W.J.J.; With, de P.H.N.; Rijckaert, A.M.A.; Wong, C.

1995-01-01

The concept and real-time implementation of an experimental home-use digital recorder is presented, capable of recording MPEG-compressed video signals. The system has small recording mechanics based on the DVC standard and it uses MPEG compression for trick-mode signals as well

Comparative assessment of H.265/MPEG-HEVC, VP9, and H.264/MPEG-AVC encoders for low-delay video applications

Science.gov (United States)

Grois, Dan; Marpe, Detlev; Nguyen, Tung; Hadar, Ofer

2014-09-01

The popularity of low-delay video applications dramatically increased over the last years due to a rising demand for realtime video content (such as video conferencing or video surveillance), and also due to the increasing availability of relatively inexpensive heterogeneous devices (such as smartphones and tablets). To this end, this work presents a comparative assessment of the two latest video coding standards: H.265/MPEG-HEVC (High-Efficiency Video Coding), H.264/MPEG-AVC (Advanced Video Coding), and also of the VP9 proprietary video coding scheme. For evaluating H.264/MPEG-AVC, an open-source x264 encoder was selected, which has a multi-pass encoding mode, similarly to VP9. According to experimental results, which were obtained by using similar low-delay configurations for all three examined representative encoders, it was observed that H.265/MPEG-HEVC provides significant average bit-rate savings of 32.5%, and 40.8%, relative to VP9 and x264 for the 1-pass encoding, and average bit-rate savings of 32.6%, and 42.2% for the 2-pass encoding, respectively. On the other hand, compared to the x264 encoder, typical low-delay encoding times of the VP9 encoder, are about 2,000 times higher for the 1-pass encoding, and are about 400 times higher for the 2-pass encoding.

MPEG-7 based video annotation and browsing

Science.gov (United States)

Hoeynck, Michael; Auweiler, Thorsten; Wellhausen, Jens

2003-11-01

The huge amount of multimedia data produced worldwide requires annotation in order to enable universal content access and to provide content-based search-and-retrieval functionalities. Since manual video annotation can be time consuming, automatic annotation systems are required. We review recent approaches to content-based indexing and annotation of videos for different kind of sports and describe our approach to automatic annotation of equestrian sports videos. We especially concentrate on MPEG-7 based feature extraction and content description, where we apply different visual descriptors for cut detection. Further, we extract the temporal positions of single obstacles on the course by analyzing MPEG-7 edge information. Having determined single shot positions as well as the visual highlights, the information is jointly stored with meta-textual information in an MPEG-7 description scheme. Based on this information, we generate content summaries which can be utilized in a user-interface in order to provide content-based access to the video stream, but further for media browsing on a streaming server.

Synthesis of Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Modified with MPEG-PEI via Photochemistry as New MRI Contrast Agent

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yancong Zhang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Novel method for synthesis of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs coated with polyethylenimine (PEI and modified with poly(ethylene glycol methyl ether (MPEG, MPEG-PEI-SPIONs, was developed. PEI-SPIONs were successfully prepared in aqueous system via photochemistry, and their surface was modified with poly(ethylene glycol methyl ether (MPEG. The so-obtained MPEG-PEI-SPIONs had a uniform hydrodynamic particle size of 34 nm. The successful coating of MPEG-PEI on the SPIONs was ascertained from FT-IR analysis, and the PEI and MPEG fractions in MPEG-PEI-SPIONs were calculated to account for 31% and 12%, respectively. Magnetic measurement revealed that the saturated magnetization of MPEG-PEI-SPIONs reached 46 emu/g and the nanoparticles showed the characteristic of being superparamagnetic. The stability experiment revealed that the MPEG-PEI modification improved the nanoparticles stability greatly. T2 relaxation measurements showed that MPEG-PEI-SPIONs show similar R2 value to the PEI-SPIONs. The T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI of MPEG-PEI-SPIONs showed that the magnetic resonance signal was enhanced significantly with increasing nanoparticle concentration in water. These results indicated that the MPEG-PEI-SPIONs had great potential for application in MRI.

Efficient processing of MPEG-21 metadata in the binary domain

Science.gov (United States)

Timmerer, Christian; Frank, Thomas; Hellwagner, Hermann; Heuer, Jörg; Hutter, Andreas

2005-10-01

XML-based metadata is widely adopted across the different communities and plenty of commercial and open source tools for processing and transforming are available on the market. However, all of these tools have one thing in common: they operate on plain text encoded metadata which may become a burden in constrained and streaming environments, i.e., when metadata needs to be processed together with multimedia content on the fly. In this paper we present an efficient approach for transforming such kind of metadata which are encoded using MPEG's Binary Format for Metadata (BiM) without additional en-/decoding overheads, i.e., within the binary domain. Therefore, we have developed an event-based push parser for BiM encoded metadata which transforms the metadata by a limited set of processing instructions - based on traditional XML transformation techniques - operating on bit patterns instead of cost-intensive string comparisons.

New Complexity Scalable MPEG Encoding Techniques for Mobile Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephan Mietens

2004-03-01

Full Text Available Complexity scalability offers the advantage of one-time design of video applications for a large product family, including mobile devices, without the need of redesigning the applications on the algorithmic level to meet the requirements of the different products. In this paper, we present complexity scalable MPEG encoding having core modules with modifications for scalability. The interdependencies of the scalable modules and the system performance are evaluated. Experimental results show scalability giving a smooth change in complexity and corresponding video quality. Scalability is basically achieved by varying the number of computed DCT coefficients and the number of evaluated motion vectors but other modules are designed such they scale with the previous parameters. In the experiments using the “Stefan” sequence, the elapsed execution time of the scalable encoder, reflecting the computational complexity, can be gradually reduced to roughly 50% of its original execution time. The video quality scales between 20 dB and 48 dB PSNR with unity quantizer setting, and between 21.5 dB and 38.5 dB PSNR for different sequences targeting 1500 kbps. The implemented encoder and the scalability techniques can be successfully applied in mobile systems based on MPEG video compression.

MPEG-2 Compressed-Domain Algorithms for Video Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hesseler Wolfgang

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents new algorithms for extracting metadata from video sequences in the MPEG-2 compressed domain. Three algorithms for efficient low-level metadata extraction in preprocessing stages are described. The first algorithm detects camera motion using the motion vector field of an MPEG-2 video. The second method extends the idea of motion detection to a limited region of interest, yielding an efficient algorithm to track objects inside video sequences. The third algorithm performs a cut detection using macroblock types and motion vectors.

No-reference analysis of decoded MPEG images for PSNR estimation and post-processing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forchhammer, Søren; Li, Huiying; Andersen, Jakob Dahl

2011-01-01

We propose no-reference analysis and processing of DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) coded images based on estimation of selected MPEG parameters from the decoded video. The goal is to assess MPEG video quality and perform post-processing without access to neither the original stream nor the code...... stream. Solutions are presented for MPEG-2 video. A method to estimate the quantization parameters of DCT coded images and MPEG I-frames at the macro-block level is presented. The results of this analysis is used for deblocking and deringing artifact reduction and no-reference PSNR estimation without...... code stream access. An adaptive deringing method using texture classification is presented. On the test set, the quantization parameters in MPEG-2 I-frames are estimated with an overall accuracy of 99.9% and the PSNR is estimated with an overall average error of 0.3dB. The deringing and deblocking...

47 CFR 2.906 - Declaration of Conformity.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Declaration of Conformity. 2.906 Section 2.906... Conformity. (a) A Declaration of Conformity is a procedure where the responsible party, as defined in § 2.909... of Conformity attaches to all items subsequently marketed by the responsible party which are...

Declarative and Non-declarative Memory Consolidation in Children with Sleep Disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Csábi, Eszter; Benedek, Pálma; Janacsek, Karolina; Zavecz, Zsófia; Katona, Gábor; Nemeth, Dezso

2015-01-01

Healthy sleep is essential in children's cognitive, behavioral, and emotional development. However, remarkably little is known about the influence of sleep disorders on different memory processes in childhood. Such data could give us a deeper insight into the effect of sleep on the developing brain and memory functions and how the relationship between sleep and memory changes from childhood to adulthood. In the present study we examined the effect of sleep disorder on declarative and non-declarative memory consolidation by testing children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) which is characterized by disrupted sleep structure. We used a story recall task to measure declarative memory and Alternating Serial Reaction time (ASRT) task to assess non-declarative memory. This task enables us to measure two aspects of non-declarative memory, namely general motor skill learning and sequence-specific learning. There were two sessions: a learning phase and a testing phase, separated by a 12 h offline period with sleep. Our data showed that children with SDB exhibited a generally lower declarative memory performance both in the learning and testing phase; however, both the SDB and control groups exhibited retention of the previously recalled items after the offline period. Here we showed intact non-declarative consolidation in SDB group in both sequence-specific and general motor skill. These findings suggest that sleep disorders in childhood have a differential effect on different memory processes (online vs. offline) and give us insight into how sleep disturbances affects developing brain.

76 FR 9231 - New Customs Declarations Label Requirements

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-17

... POSTAL SERVICE 39 CFR Part 111 New Customs Declarations Label Requirements AGENCY: Postal Service... goods that enter the Customs Territory of the United States (CTUS), from outside the CTUS, to bear a customs declaration label. Additionally, the Postal Service updates the standards for items weighing 16...

MPEG-4-based 2D facial animation for mobile devices

Science.gov (United States)

Riegel, Thomas B.

2005-03-01

The enormous spread of mobile computing devices (e.g. PDA, cellular phone, palmtop, etc.) emphasizes scalable applications, since users like to run their favorite programs on the terminal they operate at that moment. Therefore appliances are of interest, which can be adapted to the hardware realities without loosing a lot of their functionalities. A good example for this is "Facial Animation," which offers an interesting way to achieve such "scalability." By employing MPEG-4, which provides an own profile for facial animation, a solution for low power terminals including mobile phones is demonstrated. From the generic 3D MPEG-4 face a specific 2D head model is derived, which consists primarily of a portrait image superposed by a suited warping mesh and adapted 2D animation rules. Thus the animation process of MPEG-4 need not be changed and standard compliant facial animation parameters can be used to displace the vertices of the mesh and warp the underlying image accordingly.

Declarative and non-declarative memory consolidation in children with sleep disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eszter eCsabi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Healthy sleep is essential in children’s cognitive, behavioral, and emotional development. However, remarkably little is known about the influence of sleep disorders on different memory processes in childhood. Such data could give us a deeper insight into the effect of sleep on the developing brain and memory functions and how the relationship between sleep and memory changes from childhood to adulthood. In the present study we examined the effect of sleep disorder on declarative and non-declarative memory consolidation by testing children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB which is characterized by disrupted sleep structure. We used a story recall task to measure declarative memory and Alternating Serial Reaction Time (ASRT task to assess non-declarative memory. This task enables us to measure two aspects of non-declarative memory, namely general motor skill learning and sequence-specific learning. There were two sessions: a learning phase and a testing phase, separated by a 12-hour offline period with sleep. Our data showed that children with SDB exhibited a generally lower declarative memory performance both in the learning and testing phase; however, both the SDB and control groups exhibited retention of the previously recalled items after the offline period. Here we showed intact non-declarative consolidation in SDB group in both sequence-specific and general motor skill. These findings suggest that sleep disorders in childhood have a differential effect on different memory processes (online vs. offline and give us insight into how sleep disturbances affects developing brain.

MPEG DASH SRD : Spatial Relationship Description

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Niamut, O.A.; Thomas, E.D.R.; D'Acunto, L.; Concolato, C.; Denoual, F.; Yong Lim, S.

2016-01-01

This paper presents the Spatial Representation Description (SRD)feature of the second amendment of MPEG DASH standard part 1, 23009-1:2014 [1]. SRD is an approach for streaming only spatial sub-parts of a video to display devices, in combination with the form of adaptive multi-rate streaming that is

Deliberate ambiguity in a finite environment: The urban ecology of artificial items

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abraham Akkerman

2000-01-01

Full Text Available A distinction is made between visual declaration and virtual usage of artificial items within a physical environment, such as a street. Visual declaration is a formal pictorial designation, or a function, e.g. “decoration,” of an item, such as a “planter.” Virtual usage refers to the item when it is used in lieu of another item. The formal designation, “sitting,” customarily designated to an item such as “bench,” could also be a virtual usage of the item “planter.” The question asked is, “What is the relationship between items, given their formal, visual declaration and their informal, virtual, usage?” An artificial item, according to its visual declaration, is referred to as a ‘visual’ or ‘real item’. Each visual item has the property of being used as another item by virtue of its undeclared usage. Pending on the item's design and configuration, a visual item can be then substituted for another visual item. An artificial item, thus, attains deliberate ambiguity between its formal designation and its virtual usage. This ambiguity between visual declaration and virtual usage can be quantified. Within the full domain of n possible usages, this relationship can be conveniently presented in a nonnegative matrix. It is shown that the inverse of this matrix belongs to a class of well-known matrices. This being the case, the relationship between visual and virtual properties of items within the environment can be formalized. The formalization throws further light on the emerging opportunities in streetscape design.

Significance of MPEG-7 textural features for improved mass detection in mammography.

Science.gov (United States)

Eltonsy, Nevine H; Tourassi, Georgia D; Fadeev, Aleksey; Elmaghraby, Adel S

2006-01-01

The purpose of the study is to investigate the significance of MPEG-7 textural features for improving the detection of masses in screening mammograms. The detection scheme was originally based on morphological directional neighborhood features extracted from mammographic regions of interest (ROIs). Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) was performed to evaluate the performance of each set of features independently and merged into a back-propagation artificial neural network (BPANN) using the leave-one-out sampling scheme (LOOSS). The study was based on a database of 668 mammographic ROIs (340 depicting cancer regions and 328 depicting normal parenchyma). Overall, the ROC area index of the BPANN using the directional morphological features was Az=0.85+/-0.01. The MPEG-7 edge histogram descriptor-based BPNN showed an ROC area index of Az=0.71+/-0.01 while homogeneous textural descriptors using 30 and 120 channels helped the BPNN achieve similar ROC area indexes of Az=0.882+/-0.02 and Az=0.877+/-0.01 respectively. After merging the MPEG-7 homogeneous textural features with the directional neighborhood features the performance of the BPANN increased providing an ROC area index of Az=0.91+/-0.01. MPEG-7 homogeneous textural descriptor significantly improved the morphology-based detection scheme.

Adaptation of facial synthesis to parameter analysis in MPEG-4 visual communication

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Lu; Zhang, Jingyu; Liu, Yunhai

2000-12-01

In MPEG-4, Facial Definition Parameters (FDPs) and Facial Animation Parameters (FAPs) are defined to animate 1 a facial object. Most of the previous facial animation reconstruction systems were focused on synthesizing animation from manually or automatically generated FAPs but not the FAPs extracted from natural video scene. In this paper, an analysis-synthesis MPEG-4 visual communication system is established, in which facial animation is reconstructed from FAPs extracted from natural video scene.

Fast Watermarking of MPEG-1/2 Streams Using Compressed-Domain Perceptual Embedding and a Generalized Correlator Detector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Briassouli Alexia

2004-01-01

Full Text Available A novel technique is proposed for watermarking of MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 compressed video streams. The proposed scheme is applied directly in the domain of MPEG-1 system streams and MPEG-2 program streams (multiplexed streams. Perceptual models are used during the embedding process in order to avoid degradation of the video quality. The watermark is detected without the use of the original video sequence. A modified correlation-based detector is introduced that applies nonlinear preprocessing before correlation. Experimental evaluation demonstrates that the proposed scheme is able to withstand several common attacks. The resulting watermarking system is very fast and therefore suitable for copyright protection of compressed video.

Computed Quality Assessment of MPEG4-compressed DICOM Video Data.

Science.gov (United States)

Frankewitsch, Thomas; Söhnlein, Sven; Müller, Marcel; Prokosch, Hans-Ulrich

2005-01-01

Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine (DICOM) has become one of the most popular standards in medicine. This standard specifies the exact procedures in which digital images are exchanged between devices, either using a network or storage medium. Sources for images vary; therefore there exist definitions for the exchange for CR, CT, NMR, angiography, sonography and so on. With its spreading, with the increasing amount of sources included, data volume is increasing, too. This affects storage and traffic. While for long-time storage data compression is generally not accepted at the moment, there are many situations where data compression is possible: Telemedicine for educational purposes (e.g. students at home using low speed internet connections), presentations with standard-resolution video projectors, or even the supply on wards combined receiving written findings. DICOM comprises compression: for still image there is JPEG, for video MPEG-2 is adopted. Within the last years MPEG-2 has been evolved to MPEG-4, which squeezes data even better, but the risk of significant errors increases, too. Within the last years effects of compression have been analyzed for entertainment movies, but these are not comparable to videos of physical examinations (e.g. echocardiography). In medical videos an individual image plays a more important role. Erroneous single images affect total quality even more. Additionally, the effect of compression can not be generalized from one test series to all videos. The result depends strongly on the source. Some investigations have been presented, where different MPEG-4 algorithms compressed videos have been compared and rated manually. But they describe only the results in an elected testbed. In this paper some methods derived from video rating are presented and discussed for an automatically created quality control for the compression of medical videos, primary stored in DICOM containers.

Resource-aware complexity scalability for mobile MPEG encoding

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mietens, S.O.; With, de P.H.N.; Hentschel, C.; Panchanatan, S.; Vasudev, B.

2004-01-01

Complexity scalability attempts to scale the required resources of an algorithm with the chose quality settings, in order to broaden the application range. In this paper, we present complexity-scalable MPEG encoding of which the core processing modules are modified for scalability. Scalability is

MPEG-7-based description infrastructure for an audiovisual content analysis and retrieval system

Science.gov (United States)

Bailer, Werner; Schallauer, Peter; Hausenblas, Michael; Thallinger, Georg

2005-01-01

We present a case study of establishing a description infrastructure for an audiovisual content-analysis and retrieval system. The description infrastructure consists of an internal metadata model and access tool for using it. Based on an analysis of requirements, we have selected, out of a set of candidates, MPEG-7 as the basis of our metadata model. The openness and generality of MPEG-7 allow using it in broad range of applications, but increase complexity and hinder interoperability. Profiling has been proposed as a solution, with the focus on selecting and constraining description tools. Semantic constraints are currently only described in textual form. Conformance in terms of semantics can thus not be evaluated automatically and mappings between different profiles can only be defined manually. As a solution, we propose an approach to formalize the semantic constraints of an MPEG-7 profile using a formal vocabulary expressed in OWL, which allows automated processing of semantic constraints. We have defined the Detailed Audiovisual Profile as the profile to be used in our metadata model and we show how some of the semantic constraints of this profile can be formulated using ontologies. To work practically with the metadata model, we have implemented a MPEG-7 library and a client/server document access infrastructure.

Online Studies on Variation in Orthopedic Surgery: Computed Tomography in MPEG4 Versus DICOM Format.

Science.gov (United States)

Mellema, Jos J; Mallee, Wouter H; Guitton, Thierry G; van Dijk, C Niek; Ring, David; Doornberg, Job N

2017-10-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the observer participation and satisfaction as well as interobserver reliability between two online platforms, Science of Variation Group (SOVG) and Traumaplatform Study Collaborative, for the evaluation of complex tibial plateau fractures using computed tomography in MPEG4 and DICOM format. A total of 143 observers started with the online evaluation of 15 complex tibial plateau fractures via either the SOVG or Traumaplatform Study Collaborative websites using MPEG4 videos or a DICOM viewer, respectively. Observers were asked to indicate the absence or presence of four tibial plateau fracture characteristics and to rate their satisfaction with the evaluation as provided by the respective online platforms. The observer participation rate was significantly higher in the SOVG (MPEG4 video) group compared to that in the Traumaplatform Study Collaborative (DICOM viewer) group (75 and 43%, respectively; P video compared to six (range, 1-9) using DICOM viewer (P = 0.11). The interobserver reliability for recognition of fracture characteristics in complex tibial plateau fractures was higher for the evaluation using MPEG4 video. In conclusion, observer participation and interobserver reliability for the characterization of tibial plateau fractures was greater with MPEG4 videos than with a standard DICOM viewer, while there was no difference in observer satisfaction. Future reliability studies should account for the method of delivering images.

A New Method of Viewing Attachment Document of eMail on Various Mobile Devices

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Heeae; Seo, Changwoo; Lim, Yonghwan

As the computing power of the mobile devices is improving rapidly, many kinds of web services are also available in mobile devices just as Email service. Mobile Mail Service began early, but this service is mostly limited in some specified mobile devices such as Smart Phone. That is a limitation that users have to purchase specified phone to be benefited from Mobile Mail Service. In this paper, it uses DIDL (digital item declaration language) markup type defined in MPEG-21 and MobileGate Server, and solved this problem. DIDL could be converted to other markup types which are displayed by mobile devices. By transforming PC Web Mail contents including attachment document to DIDL markup through MobileGate Server, the Mobile Mail Service could be available for all kinds of mobile devices.

77 FR 17055 - Sunshine Act Meeting; Deletion of Agenda Items From March 21, 2012 Open Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-23

... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Sunshine Act Meeting; Deletion of Agenda Items From March 21, 2012 Open Meeting March 20, 2012. The following items have been deleted from the list of Agenda items scheduled for consideration at the Wednesday, March 21, 2012, Open Meeting and previously listed in the...

188Re labeled MPEG-modified superparamagnetic nanogels: preparation and preliminary application in mice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Hanwen; Gong Peijun; Liu Xiuqing; Hong Jun; Xu Dongmei; Zhang Chunfu; Wang Yongxian; Yao Side

2005-01-01

Superparamagnetic poly(acrylamide) magnetic nanogels produced via photochemical method have been developed. After Hoffmann degradation of carbonyl, the nanogels with amino groups, or poly(acrylamide-vinyl amine) magnetic nanogels, were also obtained. And the magnetic nanogels were further modified by methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (MPEG) for higher dispersibility and stability. The MPEG-modified magnetic nanogels were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), photo correlation spectroscopy (PCS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The MPEG-modified magnetic nanogels were labeled by 188 Re radiopharmaceuticals and intravenously injected into tails of mice in the presence and absence of a 0.5 T external magnetic field targeted on the bellies. The radioactivity distribution was monitored in vivo. In the absence of magnetic field, the radioactivity was mainly distributed in liver, spleen, kidney, stomach and lung. In the presence of the magnetic field, the radioactivity was mainly accumulated on the targeted point, verifying the magnetically targeted character. (authors)

Efficient video coding integrating MPEG-2 and picture-rate conversion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bruin, de F.J.; Bruls, W.H.A.; Burazerovic, D.; Haan, de G.

2002-01-01

We present an MPEG-2 compliant video codec using picture-rate upconversion during decoding. The upconversion autonomously regenerates major parts of frames without vectorial and residual data. Consequently, the bitrate is greatly reduced.

Compulsory declaration of the disappearance, loss or theft of property and of serious incidents

CERN Multimedia

Relations with the Host States Service

2006-01-01

New rules and reminder The rules governing internal and external declarations have been modified as follows: internal declarations concerning CERN mobile phones must now be made to the Telecom Lab instead of the Fire Brigade in order to minimise call-outs, declarations concerning valid CERN access cards and CERN vehicle stickers must be made to the competent external authorities in order to make their holders more aware of their responsibilities and to prevent abuse. This notification replaces the notifications published in Bulletin Nos. 38/1999 and 13/2001 (ref. DSU-DO/RH/9198 and 10315 respectively). 1. What has to be declared? The disappearance, loss or theft of property and serious incidents must be declared if they occur: within the fenced part of the CERN site, irrespective of the person and item concerned, outside the fenced part of the CERN site if CERN is the owner or custodian of the item concerned. Definitions: 'fenced part of the CERN site'means all the different fenced areas used by...

Performance of bias corrected MPEG rainfall estimate for rainfall-runoff simulation in the upper Blue Nile Basin, Ethiopia

Science.gov (United States)

Worqlul, Abeyou W.; Ayana, Essayas K.; Maathuis, Ben H. P.; MacAlister, Charlotte; Philpot, William D.; Osorio Leyton, Javier M.; Steenhuis, Tammo S.

2018-01-01

In many developing countries and remote areas of important ecosystems, good quality precipitation data are neither available nor readily accessible. Satellite observations and processing algorithms are being extensively used to produce satellite rainfall products (SREs). Nevertheless, these products are prone to systematic errors and need extensive validation before to be usable for streamflow simulations. In this study, we investigated and corrected the bias of Multi-Sensor Precipitation Estimate-Geostationary (MPEG) data. The corrected MPEG dataset was used as input to a semi-distributed hydrological model Hydrologiska Byråns Vattenbalansavdelning (HBV) for simulation of discharge of the Gilgel Abay and Gumara watersheds in the Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia. The result indicated that the MPEG satellite rainfall captured 81% and 78% of the gauged rainfall variability with a consistent bias of underestimating the gauged rainfall by 60%. A linear bias correction applied significantly reduced the bias while maintaining the coefficient of correlation. The simulated flow using bias corrected MPEG SRE resulted in a simulated flow comparable to the gauge rainfall for both watersheds. The study indicated the potential of MPEG SRE in water budget studies after applying a linear bias correction.

21 CFR 701.13 - Declaration of net quantity of contents.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... shall be expressed in terms of weight, measure, numerical count, or a combination of numerical count and... gallon and labeled in terms of weight or fluid measure: (1) The declaration shall be expressed both in... and labeled in terms of weight or fluid measure, the declaration shall be expressed in pounds for...

IRTPRO 2.1 for Windows (Item Response Theory for Patient-Reported Outcomes)

Science.gov (United States)

Paek, Insu; Han, Kyung T.

2013-01-01

This article reviews a new item response theory (IRT) model estimation program, IRTPRO 2.1, for Windows that is capable of unidimensional and multidimensional IRT model estimation for existing and user-specified constrained IRT models for dichotomously and polytomously scored item response data. (Contains 1 figure and 2 notes.)

SAMPEG: a scene-adaptive parallel MPEG-2 software encoder

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Farin, D.S.; Mache, N.; With, de P.H.N.; Girod, B.; Bouman, C.A.; Steinbach, E.G.

2001-01-01

This paper presents a fully software-based MPEG-2 encoder architecture, which uses scene-change detection to optimize the Group-of-Picture (GOP) structure for the actual video sequence. This feature enables easy, lossless edit cuts at scene-change positions and it also improves overall picture

Enhancing MPEG DASH performance via server and network assistance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomas, E.D.R.; Deventer, M.O. van; Stockhammer, T.; Begen, A.C.; Famaey, J.

2015-01-01

MPEG DASH provides formats that are suitable to stream media content over HTTP. Typically, the DASH client adaptively requests small chunks of media based on the available bandwidth and other resources. This client-pull technology has proven to be more flexible, firewall-friendly and CDN-scalable

Application of MPEG-7 descriptors for content-based indexing of sports videos

Science.gov (United States)

Hoeynck, Michael; Auweiler, Thorsten; Ohm, Jens-Rainer

2003-06-01

The amount of multimedia data available worldwide is increasing every day. There is a vital need to annotate multimedia data in order to allow universal content access and to provide content-based search-and-retrieval functionalities. Since supervised video annotation can be time consuming, an automatic solution is appreciated. We review recent approaches to content-based indexing and annotation of videos for different kind of sports, and present our application for the automatic annotation of equestrian sports videos. Thereby, we especially concentrate on MPEG-7 based feature extraction and content description. We apply different visual descriptors for cut detection. Further, we extract the temporal positions of single obstacles on the course by analyzing MPEG-7 edge information and taking specific domain knowledge into account. Having determined single shot positions as well as the visual highlights, the information is jointly stored together with additional textual information in an MPEG-7 description scheme. Using this information, we generate content summaries which can be utilized in a user front-end in order to provide content-based access to the video stream, but further content-based queries and navigation on a video-on-demand streaming server.

Music classification with MPEG-7

Science.gov (United States)

Crysandt, Holger; Wellhausen, Jens

2003-01-01

Driven by increasing amount of music available electronically the need and possibility of automatic classification systems for music becomes more and more important. Currently most search engines for music are based on textual descriptions like artist or/and title. This paper presents a system for automatic music description, classification and visualization for a set of songs. The system is designed to extract significant features of a piece of music in order to find songs of similar genre or a similar sound characteristics. The description is done with the help of MPEG-7 only. The classification and visualization is done with the self organizing map algorithm.

Codelivery of curcumin and doxorubicin by MPEG-PCL results in improved efficacy of systemically administered chemotherapy in mice with lung cancer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang BL

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Bi-Lan Wang,1,* Yong-mei Shen,1,3,* Qiong-wen Zhang,1,* Yu-li Li,1 Min Luo,1 Ze Liu,1,2 Yan Li,1 Zhi-yong Qian,1 Xiang Gao,1 Hua-shan Shi1,2 1State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, West China Medicine School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 2State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Department of Head and Neck Oncology, West China Hospital, West China Medical School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 3Sichuang Haoyisheng Pharmacy, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Systemic administration of chemotherapy for cancer often has toxic side effects, limiting the doses that can be used in its treatment. In this study, we developed methoxy poly(ethylene glycol-poly(caprolactone (MPEG-PCL micelles loaded with curcumin and doxorubicin (Cur-Dox/MPEG-PCL that were tolerated by recipient mice and had enhanced antitumor effects and fewer side effects. It was shown that these Cur-Dox/MPEG-PCL micelles could release curcumin and doxorubicin slowly in vitro. The long circulation time of MPEG-PCL micelles and the slow rate of release of curcumin and doxorubicin in vivo may help to maintain plasma concentrations of active drug. We also demonstrated that Cur-Dox/MPEG-PCL had improved antitumor effects both in vivo and in vitro. The mechanism by which Cur-Dox/MPEG-PCL micelles inhibit lung cancer might involve increased apoptosis of tumor cells and inhibition of tumor angiogenesis. We found advantages using Cur-Dox/MPEG-PCL micelles in the treatment of cancer, with Cur-Dox/MPEG-PCL achieving better inhibition of LL/2 lung cancer growth in vivo and in vitro. Our study indicates that Cur-Dox/MPEG-PCL micelles may be an effective treatment strategy for cancer in the future. Keywords: methoxy poly(ethylene glycol, poly(caprolactone, curcumin, doxorubicin, micelles, cancer, treatment

Enabling MPEG-2 video playback in embedded systems through improved data cache efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Soderquist, Peter; Leeser, Miriam E.

1999-01-01

Digital video decoding, enabled by the MPEG-2 Video standard, is an important future application for embedded systems, particularly PDAs and other information appliances. Many such system require portability and wireless communication capabilities, and thus face severe limitations in size and power consumption. This places a premium on integration and efficiency, and favors software solutions for video functionality over specialized hardware. The processors in most embedded system currently lack the computational power needed to perform video decoding, but a related and equally important problem is the required data bandwidth, and the need to cost-effectively insure adequate data supply. MPEG data sets are very large, and generate significant amounts of excess memory traffic for standard data caches, up to 100 times the amount required for decoding. Meanwhile, cost and power limitations restrict cache sizes in embedded systems. Some systems, including many media processors, eliminate caches in favor of memories under direct, painstaking software control in the manner of digital signal processors. Yet MPEG data has locality which caches can exploit if properly optimized, providing fast, flexible, and automatic data supply. We propose a set of enhancements which target the specific needs of the heterogeneous types within the MPEG decoder working set. These optimizations significantly improve the efficiency of small caches, reducing cache-memory traffic by almost 70 percent, and can make an enhanced 4 KB cache perform better than a standard 1 MB cache. This performance improvement can enable high-resolution, full frame rate video playback in cheaper, smaller system than woudl otherwise be possible.

Biodegradable mixed MPEG-SS-2SA/TPGS micelles for triggered intracellular release of paclitaxel and reversing multidrug resistance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dong K

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Kai Dong,1 Yan Yan,2 Pengchong Wang,2 Xianpeng Shi,2 Lu Zhang,2 Ke Wang,2 Jianfeng Xing,2 Yalin Dong1 1Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, 2School of Pharmacy, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China Abstract: In this study, a type of multifunctional mixed micelles were prepared by a novel biodegradable amphiphilic polymer (MPEG-SS-2SA and a multidrug resistance (MDR reversal agent (D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate, TPGS. The mixed micelles could achieve rapid intracellular drug release and reversal of MDR. First, the amphiphilic polymer, MPEG-SS-2SA, was synthesized through disulfide bonds between poly (ethylene glycol monomethyl ether (MPEG and stearic acid (SA. The structure of the obtained polymer was similar to poly (ethylene glycol-phosphatidylethanolamine (PEG-PE. Then the mixed micelles, MPEG-SS-2SA/TPGS, were prepared by MPEG-SS-2SA and TPGS through the thin film hydration method and loaded paclitaxel (PTX as the model drug. The in vitro release study revealed that the mixed micelles could rapidly release PTX within 24 h under a reductive environment because of the breaking of disulfide bonds. In cell experiments, the mixed micelles significantly inhibited the activity of mitochondrial respiratory complex II, also reduced the mitochondrial membrane potential, and the content of adenosine triphosphate, thus effectively inhibiting the efflux of PTX from cells. Moreover, in the confocal laser scanning microscopy, cellular uptake and 3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide assays, the MPEG-SS-2SA/TPGS micelles achieved faster release and more uptake of PTX in Michigan Cancer Foundation-7/PTX cells and showed better antitumor effects as compared with the insensitive control. In conclusion, the biodegradable mixed micelles, MPEG-SS-2SA/TPGS, could be potential vehicles for delivering hydrophobic chemotherapeutic drugs in

Visual saliency in MPEG-4 AVC video stream

Science.gov (United States)

Ammar, M.; Mitrea, M.; Hasnaoui, M.; Le Callet, P.

2015-03-01

Visual saliency maps already proved their efficiency in a large variety of image/video communication application fields, covering from selective compression and channel coding to watermarking. Such saliency maps are generally based on different visual characteristics (like color, intensity, orientation, motion,…) computed from the pixel representation of the visual content. This paper resumes and extends our previous work devoted to the definition of a saliency map solely extracted from the MPEG-4 AVC stream syntax elements. The MPEG-4 AVC saliency map thus defined is a fusion of static and dynamic map. The static saliency map is in its turn a combination of intensity, color and orientation features maps. Despite the particular way in which all these elementary maps are computed, the fusion techniques allowing their combination plays a critical role in the final result and makes the object of the proposed study. A total of 48 fusion formulas (6 for combining static features and, for each of them, 8 to combine static to dynamic features) are investigated. The performances of the obtained maps are evaluated on a public database organized at IRCCyN, by computing two objective metrics: the Kullback-Leibler divergence and the area under curve.

Xingnaojing mPEG2000-PLA modified microemulsion for transnasal delivery: pharmacokinetic and brain-targeting evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Ran; Zhang, Qing; Xu, Pan; Bai, Jie; Li, Pengyue; Du, Shouying; Lu, Yang

2016-01-01

Xingnaojing microemulsion (XNJ-M) administered intranasally is used for stroke treatment. In order to decrease the XNJ-M-induced mucosal irritation, XNJ-M modified by mPEG2000-PLA (XNJ-MM) were prepared in a previous work. The present work aimed to assess the impact of mPEG2000-PLA on pharmacokinetic features and brain-targeting ability of XNJ-M. The bioavailability and brain-target effects of borneol and geniposide in XNJ-M and XNJ-MM were compared in mice after intravenous (i.v.) and intranasal (i.n.) administrations. Gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, and ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry methods were developed for the quantification of borneol and geniposide. Blood and brain samples were collected from mice at different time points after i.v. and i.n. treatments with borneol at 8.0 mg/kg, geniposide at 4.12 mg/kg. In addition, near-infrared fluorescence dye, 1,1'-dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethyl indotricarbocyanine iodide was loaded into microemulsions to evaluate the brain-targeting ability of XNJ-M and XNJ-MM by near-infrared fluorescence imaging in vivo and ex vivo. For XNJ-M and XNJ-MM, the relative brain targeted coefficients (Re) were 134.59% and 198.09% (borneol), 89.70% and 188.33% (geniposide), respectively. Besides, significant near-infrared fluorescent signal was detected in the brain after i.n. administration of microemulsions, compared with that of groups for i.v. administration. These findings indicated that mPEG2000-PLA modified microemulsion improved drug entry into blood and brain compared with normal microemulsion: the introduction of mPEG2000-PLA in microemulsion resulted in brain-targeting enhancement of both fat-soluble and water-soluble drugs. These findings provide a basis for the significance of mPEG2000-PLA addition in microemulsion, defining its effects on the drugs in microemulsion.

The Stockholm declaration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-03-01

The Stockholm Declaration was adopted on 21 January 1988 in Stockholm by the President of Argentina, the Prime Minister of Greece, the Prime Minister of India, the President of Mexico, the Prime Minister of Sweden and the President of the United Republic of Tanzania and it expresses the position of these states concerning nuclear disarmament

Binary Format for Scene (BIFS): combining MPEG-4 media to build rich multimedia services

Science.gov (United States)

Signes, Julien

1998-12-01

In this paper, we analyze the design concepts and some technical details behind the MPEG-4 standard, particularly the scene description layer, commonly known as the Binary Format for Scene (BIFS). We show how MPEG-4 may ease multimedia proliferation by offering a unique, optimized multimedia platform. Lastly, we analyze the potential of the technology for creating rich multimedia applications on various networks and platforms. An e-commerce application example is detailed, highlighting the benefits of the technology. Compression results show how rich applications may be built even on very low bit rate connections.

21 CFR 101.30 - Percentage juice declaration for foods purporting to be beverages that contain fruit or vegetable...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Percentage juice declaration for foods purporting to be beverages that contain fruit or vegetable juice. 101.30 Section 101.30 Food and Drugs FOOD AND... purporting to be beverages that contain fruit or vegetable juice. (a) This section applies to any food that...

MPEG-4 solutions for virtualizing RDP-based applications

Science.gov (United States)

Joveski, Bojan; Mitrea, Mihai; Ganji, Rama-Rao

2014-02-01

The present paper provides the proof-of-concepts for the use of the MPEG-4 multimedia scene representations (BiFS and LASeR) as a virtualization tool for RDP-based applications (e.g. MS Windows applications). Two main applicative benefits are thus granted. First, any legacy application can be virtualized without additional programming effort. Second, heterogeneous mobile devices (different manufacturers, OS) can collaboratively enjoy full multimedia experiences. From the methodological point of view, the main novelty consists in (1) designing an architecture allowing the conversion of the RDP content into a semantic multimedia scene-graph and its subsequent rendering on the client and (2) providing the underlying scene graph management and interactivity tools. Experiments consider 5 users and two RDP applications (MS Word and Internet Explorer), and benchmark our solution against two state-of-the-art technologies (VNC and FreeRDP). The visual quality is evaluated by six objective measures (e.g. PSNRVNC by a factor 1.8 while being 2 times heavier then the FreeRDP; (2) for Internet browsing, the MPEG solutions outperform both VNC and FreeRDP by factors of 1.9 and 1.5, respectively. The average round-trip times (less than 40ms) cope with real-time application constraints.

Adaptive decoding of MPEG-4 sprites for memory-constrained embedded systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pastrnak, M.; Farin, D.S.; With, de P.H.N.; Cardinal, J.; Cerf, N.; Delgrnage, O.

2005-01-01

Background sprite decoding is an essential part of object-based video coding.The composition and rendering of a final scene involves the placing of individual video objects in a predefined way superimposed on the decoded background image. The MPEG-4 standard includes the decoding algorithm for

Drift-free MPEG-4 AVC semi-fragile watermarking

Science.gov (United States)

Hasnaoui, M.; Mitrea, M.

2014-02-01

While intra frame drifting is a concern for all types of MPEG-4 AVC compressed-domain video processing applications, it has a particular negative impact in watermarking. In order to avoid the drift drawbacks, two classes of solutions are currently considered in the literature. They try either to compensate the drift distortions at the expense of complex decoding/estimation algorithms or to restrict the insertion to the blocks which are not involved in the prediction, thus reducing the data payload. The present study follows a different approach. First, it algebraically models the drift distortion spread problem by considering the analytic expressions of the MPEG-4 AVC encoding operations. Secondly, it solves the underlying algebraic system under drift-free constraints. Finally, the advanced solution is adapted to take into account the watermarking peculiarities. The experiments consider an m-QIM semi-fragile watermarking method and a video surveillance corpus of 80 minutes. For prescribed data payload (100 bit/s), robustness (BER < 0.1 against transcoding at 50% in stream size), fragility (frame modification detection with accuracies of 1/81 from the frame size and 3s) and complexity constraints, the modified insertion results in gains in transparency of 2 dB in PSNR, of 0.4 in AAD, of 0.002 in IF, of 0.03 in SC, of 0.017 NCC and 22 in DVQ.

MPEG-1 low-cost encoder solution

Science.gov (United States)

Grueger, Klaus; Schirrmeister, Frank; Filor, Lutz; von Reventlow, Christian; Schneider, Ulrich; Mueller, Gerriet; Sefzik, Nicolai; Fiedrich, Sven

1995-02-01

A solution for real-time compression of digital YCRCB video data to an MPEG-1 video data stream has been developed. As an additional option, motion JPEG and video telephone streams (H.261) can be generated. For MPEG-1, up to two bidirectional predicted images are supported. The required computational power for motion estimation and DCT/IDCT, memory size and memory bandwidth have been the main challenges. The design uses fast-page-mode memory accesses and requires only one single 80 ns EDO-DRAM with 256 X 16 organization for video encoding. This can be achieved only by using adequate access and coding strategies. The architecture consists of an input processing and filter unit, a memory interface, a motion estimation unit, a motion compensation unit, a DCT unit, a quantization control, a VLC unit and a bus interface. For using the available memory bandwidth by the processing tasks, a fixed schedule for memory accesses has been applied, that can be interrupted for asynchronous events. The motion estimation unit implements a highly sophisticated hierarchical search strategy based on block matching. The DCT unit uses a separated fast-DCT flowgraph realized by a switchable hardware unit for both DCT and IDCT operation. By appropriate multiplexing, only one multiplier is required for: DCT, quantization, inverse quantization, and IDCT. The VLC unit generates the video-stream up to the video sequence layer and is directly coupled with an intelligent bus-interface. Thus, the assembly of video, audio and system data can easily be performed by the host computer. Having a relatively low complexity and only small requirements for DRAM circuits, the developed solution can be applied to low-cost encoding products for consumer electronics.

21 CFR 501.105 - Declaration of net quantity of contents when exempt.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... established general consumer usage and trade custom of declaring the contents of a liquid by weight, or a... usage and trade custom of employing different common fractions in the net quantity declaration of a... molded on a glass or plastic surface is permissible when all label information is so formed on the...

Preparation and characterization of PVDF separators for lithium ion cells using hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene grafted methoxyl polyethylene glycol (HTPB-g-MPEG) as additive

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Hao; Niu, Dong-Hui; Zhou, Hui; Chao, Chun-Ying; Wu, Li-Jun; Han, Pei-Lin

2018-05-01

Hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene grafted methoxyl polyethylene glycol (HTPB-g-MPEG) with different arm length were synthesized by grafting methoxyl poly(ethylene glycol)s (MPEGs, Mn = 350, 750, 1900 and 5000, respectively) to the hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) molecule using isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) as the coupling agent, and blended with PVDF to fabricate porous separators via phase inversion process. By measuring the composition, morphology and ion conductivity etc., the influence of HTPB-g-MPEG on structure and property of blend separators were discussed. Compared with pure PVDF separator with comparable porous structure, the adoption of HTPB-g-MPEG could not only decrease the crystallinity, but also enhance the stability of entrapped liquid electrolyte and corresponding ion conductivity. The cells assembled with such separators showed good initial discharge capacity and cyclic stability.

Disentangling the roles of arousal and amygdala activation in emotional declarative memory.

Science.gov (United States)

de Voogd, Lycia D; Fernández, Guillén; Hermans, Erno J

2016-09-01

A large body of evidence in animals and humans implicates the amygdala in promoting memory for arousing experiences. Although the amygdala can trigger threat-related noradrenergic-sympathetic arousal, in humans amygdala activation and noradrenergic-sympathetic arousal do not always concur. This raises the question how these two processes play a role in enhancing emotional declarative memory. This study was designed to disentangle these processes in a combined subsequent-memory/fear-conditioning paradigm with neutral items belonging to two conceptual categories as conditioned stimuli. Functional MRI, skin conductance (index of sympathetic activity), and pupil dilation (indirect index of central noradrenergic activity) were acquired throughout procedures. Recognition memory for individual items was tested 24 h later. We found that pupil dilation and skin conductance responses were higher on CS+ (associated with a shock) compared with CS- trials, irrespective of later memory for those items. By contrast, amygdala activity was only higher for CS+ items that were later confidently remembered compared with CS+ items that were later forgotten. Thus, amygdala activity and not noradrenergic-sympathetic arousal, predicted enhanced declarative item memory. This dissociation is in line with animal models stating that the amygdala integrates arousal-related neuromodulatory changes to alter mnemonic processes elsewhere in the brain. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A novel method for efficient archiving and retrieval of biomedical images using MPEG-7

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Joerg; Pahwa, Ash

2004-10-01

Digital archiving and efficient retrieval of radiological scans have become critical steps in contemporary medical diagnostics. Since more and more images and image sequences (single scans or video) from various modalities (CT/MRI/PET/digital X-ray) are now available in digital formats (e.g., DICOM-3), hospitals and radiology clinics need to implement efficient protocols capable of managing the enormous amounts of data generated daily in a typical clinical routine. We present a method that appears to be a viable way to eliminate the tedious step of manually annotating image and video material for database indexing. MPEG-7 is a new framework that standardizes the way images are characterized in terms of color, shape, and other abstract, content-related criteria. A set of standardized descriptors that are automatically generated from an image is used to compare an image to other images in a database, and to compute the distance between two images for a given application domain. Text-based database queries can be replaced with image-based queries using MPEG-7. Consequently, image queries can be conducted without any prior knowledge of the keys that were used as indices in the database. Since the decoding and matching steps are not part of the MPEG-7 standard, this method also enables searches that were not planned by the time the keys were generated.

The impact of levodopa on non-declarative and declarative learning

OpenAIRE

Fuhrer, Hannah

2015-01-01

We aim to assess the role of levodopa in non-declarative and declarative learning. Patients with Parkinson’s disease are known to suffer from striatal dopamine depletion and to be impaired in non- declarative memory tasks. We therefore hypothesized that the intake of levodopa may improve non- declarative learning. Furthermore, as declarative memory is represented in medial temporal lobe structures, we anticipated patients with Parkinson’s disease not to be impaired in declarative tests. We st...

No-Reference Video Quality Assessment using MPEG Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Søgaard, Jacob; Forchhammer, Søren; Korhonen, Jari

2013-01-01

We present a method for No-Reference (NR) Video Quality Assessment (VQA) for decoded video without access to the bitstream. This is achieved by extracting and pooling features from a NR image quality assessment method used frame by frame. We also present methods to identify the video coding...... and estimate the video coding parameters for MPEG-2 and H.264/AVC which can be used to improve the VQA. The analysis differs from most other video coding analysis methods since it is without access to the bitstream. The results show that our proposed method is competitive with other recent NR VQA methods...

MPEG-V bridging the virtual and real world

CERN Document Server

Yoon, Kyoungro; Han, Jae Joon; Han, Seungju; Preda, Marius

2015-01-01

This book is the first to cover the recently developed MPEG-V standard, explaining the fundamentals of each part of the technology and exploring potential applications. Written by experts in the field who were instrumental in the development of the standard, this book goes beyond the scope of the official standard documentation, describing how to use the technology in a practical context and how to combine it with other information such as audio, video, images, and text. Each chapter follows an easy-to-understand format, first examining how each part of the standard is composed, then covers i

IMPORTANT -Declaration of income for 2001-

CERN Multimedia

Human Resources Division

2002-01-01

The local French tax authorities confirm that, in view of the particular procedure for income declaration for CERN members of the personnel, this year CERN income (as stated in the certificate of CERN remuneration provided by the Organization) may be exceptionally declared in either French Francs, or Euros (clearly specifying the currency selected). Practical information concerning the procedure for income declaration may be obtained at the following local information desks : Trésorerie de Gex: Tuesday 12 March 9 a.m. to 122 to 4 p.m. Trésoreriede Ferney: Monday 18 March 9 a.m. to 122 to 4 p.m. Trésoreriede Divonne: Thursday 21 March 9 a.m. to 122 to 4 p.m. French tax authorities have also organised the following information services:Web site Minitel: 3615 IR Service Vocal Server: 08 36 67 10 10 Telephone information: 08 20 32 42 52 Human Resources Division Tel. 72838

Significant event of patient radiation protection in radiotherapy (criterion 2.1): declaration and rating on the ASN-SFRO scale - ASN guide no. 16 - Release of 17/07/2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

This document is an update of the previous version from October 2010. It brings together all the tools for the management of a significant event in radiation protection concerning a patient in radiotherapy. It contains the declaration form, a model for the reporting of significant events, and the ASN-SFRO scale which allows the event to be rated. After a presentation of the regulatory context and references, of the scope of application, this guide addresses the declaration of a significant event: general principles, definition of the 2.1 criterion, examples, delays and modalities of declaration, addressees of a declaration. It addresses the reporting of a significant event: general principles, sending delays and modalities. It addresses the rating on the ASN-SFRO scale: general principles, scale, and rating process. The last part deals with public information

Significant event of patient radiation protection in radiotherapy (criterion 2.1): declaration and rating on the ASN-SFRO scale - ASN guide nr 16 - Release of the 01/01/2010

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

This document brings together all the tools for the management of a significant event in radiation protection concerning a patient in radiotherapy. It contains the declaration form, a model for the reporting of significant events, and the ASN-SFRO scale which allows the event to be rated. After a presentation of the regulatory context and references, of the scope of application, this guide addresses the declaration of a significant event: general principles, definition of the 2.1 criterion, examples, delays and modalities of declaration, addressees of a declaration. It addresses the reporting of a significant event: general principles, sending delays and modalities. It addresses the rating on the ASN-SFRO scale: general principles, scale, and rating process. The last part deals with public information

Feasibility study of a real-time operating system for a multichannel MPEG-4 encoder

Science.gov (United States)

Lehtoranta, Olli; Hamalainen, Timo D.

2005-03-01

Feasibility of DSP/BIOS real-time operating system for a multi-channel MPEG-4 encoder is studied. Performances of two MPEG-4 encoder implementations with and without the operating system are compared in terms of encoding frame rate and memory requirements. The effects of task switching frequency and number of parallel video channels to the encoding frame rate are measured. The research is carried out on a 200 MHz TMS320C6201 fixed point DSP using QCIF (176x144 pixels) video format. Compared to a traditional DSP implementation without an operating system, inclusion of DSP/BIOS reduces total system throughput only by 1 QCIF frames/s. The operating system has 6 KB data memory overhead and program memory requirement of 15.7 KB. Hence, the overhead is considered low enough for resource critical mobile video applications.

MPEG-compliant joint source/channel coding using discrete cosine transform and substream scheduling for visual communication over packet networks

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seong-Whan; Suthaharan, Shan; Lee, Heung-Kyu; Rao, K. R.

2001-01-01

Quality of Service (QoS)-guarantee in real-time communication for multimedia applications is significantly important. An architectural framework for multimedia networks based on substreams or flows is effectively exploited for combining source and channel coding for multimedia data. But the existing frame by frame approach which includes Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG) cannot be neglected because it is a standard. In this paper, first, we designed an MPEG transcoder which converts an MPEG coded stream into variable rate packet sequences to be used for our joint source/channel coding (JSCC) scheme. Second, we designed a classification scheme to partition the packet stream into multiple substreams which have their own QoS requirements. Finally, we designed a management (reservation and scheduling) scheme for substreams to support better perceptual video quality such as the bound of end-to-end jitter. We have shown that our JSCC scheme is better than two other two popular techniques by simulation and real video experiments on the TCP/IP environment.

Fast mode decision algorithm in MPEG-2 to H.264/AVC transcoding including group of picture structure conversion

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Kangjun; Jeon, Gwanggil; Jeong, Jechang

2009-05-01

The H.264/AVC baseline profile is used in many applications, including digital multimedia broadcasting, Internet protocol television, and storage devices, while the MPEG-2 main profile is widely used in applications, such as high-definition television and digital versatile disks. The MPEG-2 main profile supports B pictures for bidirectional motion prediction. Therefore, transcoding the MPEG-2 main profile to the H.264/AVC baseline is necessary for universal multimedia access. In the cascaded pixel domain transcoder architecture, the calculation of the rate distortion cost as part of the mode decision process in the H.264/AVC encoder requires extremely complex computations. To reduce the complexity inherent in the implementation of a real-time transcoder, we propose a fast mode decision algorithm based on complexity information from the reference region that is used for motion compensation. In this study, an adaptive mode decision process was used based on the modes assigned to the reference regions. Simulation results indicated that a significant reduction in complexity was achieved without significant degradation of video quality.

Declarative Networking

CERN Document Server

Loo, Boon Thau

2012-01-01

Declarative Networking is a programming methodology that enables developers to concisely specify network protocols and services, which are directly compiled to a dataflow framework that executes the specifications. Declarative networking proposes the use of a declarative query language for specifying and implementing network protocols, and employs a dataflow framework at runtime for communication and maintenance of network state. The primary goal of declarative networking is to greatly simplify the process of specifying, implementing, deploying and evolving a network design. In addition, decla

38 CFR 21.219 - Supplies consisting of clothing, magazines and periodicals, and items which may be personally...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... clothing, magazines and periodicals, and items which may be personally used by the veteran. 21.219 Section....219 Supplies consisting of clothing, magazines and periodicals, and items which may be personally used... will be supplied. (b) Furnishing magazines and periodicals. Appropriate past issues of magazines...

21 CFR 201.62 - Declaration of net quantity of contents.

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2010-04-01

..., 250 milligrams each”: Provided, That: (1) In the case of a firmly established, general consumer usage... firmly established, general consumer usage and trade custom of employing different common fractions in... a declaration of net quantity blown, embossed, or molded on a glass or plastic surface is...

Mapping of MPEG-4 decoding on a flexible architecture platform

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van der Tol, Erik B.; Jaspers, Egbert G.

2001-12-01

In the field of consumer electronics, the advent of new features such as Internet, games, video conferencing, and mobile communication has triggered the convergence of television and computers technologies. This requires a generic media-processing platform that enables simultaneous execution of very diverse tasks such as high-throughput stream-oriented data processing and highly data-dependent irregular processing with complex control flows. As a representative application, this paper presents the mapping of a Main Visual profile MPEG-4 for High-Definition (HD) video onto a flexible architecture platform. A stepwise approach is taken, going from the decoder application toward an implementation proposal. First, the application is decomposed into separate tasks with self-contained functionality, clear interfaces, and distinct characteristics. Next, a hardware-software partitioning is derived by analyzing the characteristics of each task such as the amount of inherent parallelism, the throughput requirements, the complexity of control processing, and the reuse potential over different applications and different systems. Finally, a feasible implementation is proposed that includes amongst others a very-long-instruction-word (VLIW) media processor, one or more RISC processors, and some dedicated processors. The mapping study of the MPEG-4 decoder proves the flexibility and extensibility of the media-processing platform. This platform enables an effective HW/SW co-design yielding a high performance density.

Compulsory declaration of the loss or theft of property and of serious events: New rules and reminder

CERN Document Server

2014-01-01

This notification cancels and replaces the notifications published in Bulletins Nos. 13-14/2006 and 28-29/2009 and the update of 18 November 2011.   1.     Definitions "fenced part of the CERN site" means all the different fenced areas used by the Organization, including remote buildings and underground facilities, "serious event" means any event infringing the rules designed to protect people and property (e.g. attacks, threats, acts of sabotage, vandalism).   2.   Internal declarations The loss or theft of property and serious events must be declared internally if they occur: within the fenced part of the CERN site, irrespective of the person and item concerned, outside the fenced part of the CERN site if CERN is the owner or custodian of the item concerned.   3.   Who must make the declaration? In principle, the loss or theft of property and serious events m...

21 CFR 161.30 - Declaration of quantity of contents on labels for canned oysters.

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2010-04-01

... canned oysters. 161.30 Section 161.30 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH....30 Declaration of quantity of contents on labels for canned oysters. (a) For many years packers of canned oysters in the Gulf area of the United States have labeled their output with a declaration of the...

Experimental Study of Concealment Data in Video Sequences MPEG-2

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A. A. Alimov

2011-03-01

Full Text Available MPEG-2 uses video compression with loses based on the use of discrete cosine transformation (DCT to small blocks of encoded image. As a result, there is range of factors, each of which corresponds to a frequency index of the encoded block. The human eye, due to natural approximation, does not perceive the difference when the high-frequency DCT coefficients change. The investigated algorithm uses this feature of the human vision to embed required data in video stream invisibly.

21 CFR 801.62 - Declaration of net quantity of contents.

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2010-04-01

... the case of a firmly established general consumer usage and trade custom of declaring the quantity of... there exists a firmly established, general consumer usage and trade custom of employing different common..., embossed, or molded on a glass or plastic surface is permissible when all label information is so formed on...

26 CFR 301.6231(a)(2)-1 - Persons whose tax liability is determined indirectly by partnership items.

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2010-04-01

... in a partnership. (b) Shareholder of C corporation. A shareholder of a C corporation (as defined in... indirectly by partnership items. 301.6231(a)(2)-1 Section 301.6231(a)(2)-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE... Assessment In General § 301.6231(a)(2)-1 Persons whose tax liability is determined indirectly by partnership...

Transmission Algorithm with QoS Considerations for a Sustainable MPEG Streaming Service

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Sang-Hyong Kim

2017-03-01

Full Text Available With the proliferation of heterogeneous networks, there is a need to provide multimedia stream services in a sustainable manner. It is especially critical to maintain the Quality of Service (QoS standards. Existing multimedia streaming services have been studied to guarantee QoS on the receiving side. QoS has not been ensured due to the fact that the loss of streaming data to be transmitted has not been considered in network conditions. With an algorithm that considers the QoS and can reduce the overhead of the network, it will be possible to reduce the transmission error and wastage of communication network resources. In this paper, we propose a scheme that improves the reliability of multimedia transmissions by using an adaptive algorithm that switches between UDP (User Datagram Protocol and TCP (Transmission Control Protocol based on the size of the data. In addition, we present a method that retransmits essential portions of the multimedia data, thus improving transmission efficiency. We simulate an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group stream service and evaluate the performance of the proposed adaptive MPEG stream service.

Postprocessing MPEG based on estimated quantization parameters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forchhammer, Søren

2009-01-01

the case where the coded stream is not accessible, or from an architectural point of view not desirable to use, and instead estimate some of the MPEG stream parameters based on the decoded sequence. The I-frames are detected and the quantization parameters are estimated from the coded stream and used...... in the postprocessing. We focus on deringing and present a scheme which aims at suppressing ringing artifacts, while maintaining the sharpness of the texture. The goal is to improve the visual quality, so perceptual blur and ringing metrics are used in addition to PSNR evaluation. The performance of the new `pure......' postprocessing compares favorable to a reference postprocessing filter which has access to the quantization parameters not only for I-frames but also on P and B-frames....

Surface modification of MPEG-b-PCL-based nanoparticles via oxidative self-polymerization of dopamine for malignant melanoma therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiong W

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Wei Xiong,1,2 Lixia Peng,1,2 Hongbo Chen,3 Qin Li1,2 1Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 2Department of Plastic Surgery, General Hospital of Guangzhou Military Command of PLA, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 3Division of Life Sciences and Health, Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China Abstract: To enhance the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy on malignant melanoma, paclitaxel (PTX-loaded methoxy poly(ethylene glycol-b-poly(ε-caprolactone nanoparticles (MPEG-b-PCL NPs that had their surfaces modified with polydopamine (PTX-loaded MPEG-b-PCL NPs@PDA were prepared as drug vehicles. The block copolymer MPEG-b-PCL was synthesized by ring-opening polymerization and characterized by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography. The PTX-loaded NPs were prepared by a modified nanoprecipitation technique. The PTX-loaded NPs and PTX-loaded NPs@PDA were characterized in terms of size and size distribution, zeta potential, surface morphology, drug encapsulation efficiency, and drug release. Confocal laser scanning microscopy showed that coumarin-6-loaded NPs@PDA could be internalized by human melanoma cell line A875 cells. The cellular uptake efficiency of NPs was greatly enhanced after PDA modification. The antitumor efficacy of the PTX-loaded NPs@PDA was investigated in vitro by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT assay and in vivo by a xenograft tumor model. The PTX-loaded NPs@PDA could significantly inhibit tumor growth compared to Taxol® and precursor PTX-loaded NPs. All the results suggested that the PTX-loaded MPEG-b-PCL NPs that had their surfaces modified with PDA are promising nanocarriers for malignant melanoma therapy. Keywords: cancer nanotechnology, drug delivery, surface modification, polydopamine, malignant melanoma

Schizophrenia patients demonstrate a dissociation on declarative and non-declarative memory tests.

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Perry, W; Light, G A; Davis, H; Braff, D L

2000-12-15

Declarative memory refers to the recall and recognition of factual information. In contrast, non-declarative memory entails a facilitation of memory based on prior exposure and is typically assessed with priming and perceptual-motor sequencing tasks. In this study, schizophrenia patients were compared to normal comparison subjects on two computerized memory tasks: the Word-stem Priming Test (n=30) and the Pattern Sequence Learning Test (n=20). Word-stem Priming includes recall, recognition (declarative) and priming (non-declarative) components of memory. The schizophrenia patients demonstrated an impaired performance on recall of words with relative improvement during the recognition portion of the test. Furthermore, they performed normally on the priming portion of the test. Thus, on tests of declarative memory, the patients had retrieval deficits with intact performance on the non-declarative memory component. The Pattern Sequence Learning Test utilizes a serial reaction time paradigm to assess non-declarative memory. The schizophrenia patients' serial reaction time was significantly slower than that of comparison subjects. However, the patients' rate of acquisition was not different from the normal comparison group. The data suggest that patients with schizophrenia process more slowly than normal, but have an intact non-declarative memory. The schizophrenia patients' dissociation on declarative vs. non-declarative memory tests is discussed in terms of possible underlying structural impairment.

Advanced digital image archival system using MPEG technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Wo

2009-08-01

Digital information and records are vital to the human race regardless of the nationalities and eras in which they were produced. Digital image contents are produced at a rapid pace from cultural heritages via digitalization, scientific and experimental data via high speed imaging sensors, national defense satellite images from governments, medical and healthcare imaging records from hospitals, personal collection of photos from digital cameras. With these mass amounts of precious and irreplaceable data and knowledge, what standards technologies can be applied to preserve and yet provide an interoperable framework for accessing the data across varieties of systems and devices? This paper presents an advanced digital image archival system by applying the international standard of MPEG technologies to preserve digital image content.

IMPORTANT — Declaration of income for 2001 —

CERN Multimedia

Human Resources Division

2002-01-01

The local French tax authorities confirm that, in view of the particular procedure for income declaration for CERN members of the personnel, this year CERN income (as stated in the certificate of CERN remuneration provided by the Organization) may be exceptionally declared in either French Francs, or Euros (clearly specifying the currency selected). Practical information concerning the procedure for income declaration may be obtained at the following local information desks : Trésorerie deGex: Tuesday12 March 9 a.m. to 122 to 4 p.m. Trésorerie deFerney: Monday18 March 9 a.m. to 122 to 4 p.m. Trésorerie deDivonne: Thursday21 March 9 a.m. to 122 to 4 p.m. French tax authorities have also organised the following information services: Web site: http://www.impots.gouv.fr/ Minitel: 3615 IR Service Vocal Server: 08 36 67 10 10 Telephone information: 08 20 32 42 52 Human Resources Division Tel. 72838

FEMA Disaster Declarations Summary

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Department of Homeland Security — The FEMA Disaster Declarations Summary is a summarized dataset describing all federally declared disasters, starting with the first disaster declaration in 1953,...

78 FR 59624 - Guidance for Industry #223: Small Entity Compliance Guide-Declaring Color Additives in Animal...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-27

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Part 501 [Docket No. FDA-2013-D-1088] Guidance for Industry 223: Small Entity Compliance Guide--Declaring Color Additives... industry 223 entitled ``Small Entity Compliance Guide--Declaring Color Additives in Animal Foods.'' This...

Declarative programming in PROLOG

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Felician ALECU

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The declarative programming by declarative languages is clearly the best option a programmer can have for a completely readable, flexible and extensible code. Today, the economics of programming is clearly focused on the declarative paradigm while most imperative languages are trying to become cost effective by using new added declarative features for productivity and ease of use, like the Java 8. This paper tries to demonstrate a declarative language like PROLOG is perfectly suitable to be used to solve even common programming issue, like deciding an element is part of an array or not.

Fast and efficient search for MPEG-4 video using adjacent pixel intensity difference quantization histogram feature

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Lee, Feifei; Kotani, Koji; Chen, Qiu; Ohmi, Tadahiro

2010-02-01

In this paper, a fast search algorithm for MPEG-4 video clips from video database is proposed. An adjacent pixel intensity difference quantization (APIDQ) histogram is utilized as the feature vector of VOP (video object plane), which had been reliably applied to human face recognition previously. Instead of fully decompressed video sequence, partially decoded data, namely DC sequence of the video object are extracted from the video sequence. Combined with active search, a temporal pruning algorithm, fast and robust video search can be realized. The proposed search algorithm has been evaluated by total 15 hours of video contained of TV programs such as drama, talk, news, etc. to search for given 200 MPEG-4 video clips which each length is 15 seconds. Experimental results show the proposed algorithm can detect the similar video clip in merely 80ms, and Equal Error Rate (ERR) of 2 % in drama and news categories are achieved, which are more accurately and robust than conventional fast video search algorithm.

Declarative memory.

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Riedel, Wim J; Blokland, Arjan

2015-01-01

Declarative Memory consists of memory for events (episodic memory) and facts (semantic memory). Methods to test declarative memory are key in investigating effects of potential cognition-enhancing substances--medicinal drugs or nutrients. A number of cognitive performance tests assessing declarative episodic memory tapping verbal learning, logical memory, pattern recognition memory, and paired associates learning are described. These tests have been used as outcome variables in 34 studies in humans that have been described in the literature in the past 10 years. Also, the use of episodic tests in animal research is discussed also in relation to the drug effects in these tasks. The results show that nutritional supplementation of polyunsaturated fatty acids has been investigated most abundantly and, in a number of cases, but not all, show indications of positive effects on declarative memory, more so in elderly than in young subjects. Studies investigating effects of registered anti-Alzheimer drugs, cholinesterase inhibitors in mild cognitive impairment, show positive and negative effects on declarative memory. Studies mainly carried out in healthy volunteers investigating the effects of acute dopamine stimulation indicate enhanced memory consolidation as manifested specifically by better delayed recall, especially at time points long after learning and more so when drug is administered after learning and if word lists are longer. The animal studies reveal a different picture with respect to the effects of different drugs on memory performance. This suggests that at least for episodic memory tasks, the translational value is rather poor. For the human studies, detailed parameters of the compositions of word lists for declarative memory tests are discussed and it is concluded that tailored adaptations of tests to fit the hypothesis under study, rather than "off-the-shelf" use of existing tests, are recommended.

A Unified Approach to Restoration, Deinterlacing and Resolution Enhancement in Decoding MPEG-2 Video

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forchhammer, Søren; Martins, Bo

2002-01-01

to the desired format. The processing involves an estimated quality of individual pixels based on MPEG image type and local quantization value. The mean-squared error (MSE) is reduced, compared to the directly decoded sequence, and annoying ringing artifacts, including mosquito noise, are effectively suppressed....... The superresolution pictures obtained by the algorithm are of much higher visual quality and have lower MSE than superresolution pictures obtained by simple spatial interpolation....

Binaural Rendering in MPEG Surround

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Kristofer Kjörling

2008-04-01

Full Text Available This paper describes novel methods for evoking a multichannel audio experience over stereo headphones. In contrast to the conventional convolution-based approach where, for example, five input channels are filtered using ten head-related transfer functions, the current approach is based on a parametric representation of the multichannel signal, along with either a parametric representation of the head-related transfer functions or a reduced set of head-related transfer functions. An audio scene with multiple virtual sound sources is represented by a mono or a stereo downmix signal of all sound source signals, accompanied by certain statistical (spatial properties. These statistical properties of the sound sources are either combined with statistical properties of head-related transfer functions to estimate “binaural parameters” that represent the perceptually relevant aspects of the auditory scene or used to create a limited set of combined head-related transfer functions that can be applied directly on the downmix signal. Subsequently, a binaural rendering stage reinstates the statistical properties of the sound sources by applying the estimated binaural parameters or the reduced set of combined head-related transfer functions directly on the downmix. If combined with parametric multichannel audio coders such as MPEG Surround, the proposed methods are advantageous over conventional methods in terms of perceived quality and computational complexity.

21 CFR 21.75 - Rights of legal guardians.

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2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Rights of legal guardians. 21.75 Section 21.75... Individual § 21.75 Rights of legal guardians. For the purposes of this part, the parent of any individual who is a minor or the legal guardian of any individual who has been declared to be incompetent due to...

Cognitive foundations of organizational learning: re-introducing the distinction between declarative and non-declarative knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Kump, Barbara; Moskaliuk, Johannes; Cress, Ulrike; Kimmerle, Joachim

2015-01-01

Contemporary research into socio-cognitive foundations of organizational learning tends to disregard the distinction between declarative and non-declarative knowledge. By reviewing the literature from organizational learning research and cognitive psychology we explain that this distinction is crucial. We describe the foundations of organizational learning by referring to models that consider the interplay between individual and collective knowledge-related processes in organizations. We highlight the existence of a research gap resulting from the finding that these approaches have widely neglected the existence of different types of knowledge. We then elaborate on characteristics of declarative and non-declarative knowledge in general, consider organizations as structures of distributed cognition, and discuss the relationship between organizational knowledge and practice. Subsequently, we examine the role of declarative and non-declarative knowledge in the context of organizational learning. Here, we analyze (1) the cognitive and social mechanisms underlying the development of declarative and non-declarative knowledge within structures of distributed cognition; and (2) the relationship between alterations in declarative and non-declarative types of knowledge on the one hand and changes in organizational practice on the other. Concluding, we discuss implications of our analysis for organizational learning research. We explain how our integrative perspective may offer starting points for a refined understanding of the sub-processes involved in organizational learning and unlearning and may support a better understanding of practical problems related to organizational learning and change.

Cognitive foundations of organizational learning: re-introducing the distinction between declarative and non-declarative knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Kump, Barbara; Moskaliuk, Johannes; Cress, Ulrike; Kimmerle, Joachim

2015-01-01

Contemporary research into socio-cognitive foundations of organizational learning tends to disregard the distinction between declarative and non-declarative knowledge. By reviewing the literature from organizational learning research and cognitive psychology we explain that this distinction is crucial. We describe the foundations of organizational learning by referring to models that consider the interplay between individual and collective knowledge-related processes in organizations. We highlight the existence of a research gap resulting from the finding that these approaches have widely neglected the existence of different types of knowledge. We then elaborate on characteristics of declarative and non-declarative knowledge in general, consider organizations as structures of distributed cognition, and discuss the relationship between organizational knowledge and practice. Subsequently, we examine the role of declarative and non-declarative knowledge in the context of organizational learning. Here, we analyze (1) the cognitive and social mechanisms underlying the development of declarative and non-declarative knowledge within structures of distributed cognition; and (2) the relationship between alterations in declarative and non-declarative types of knowledge on the one hand and changes in organizational practice on the other. Concluding, we discuss implications of our analysis for organizational learning research. We explain how our integrative perspective may offer starting points for a refined understanding of the sub-processes involved in organizational learning and unlearning and may support a better understanding of practical problems related to organizational learning and change. PMID:26483739

Music Identification System Using MPEG-7 Audio Signature Descriptors

Science.gov (United States)

You, Shingchern D.; Chen, Wei-Hwa; Chen, Woei-Kae

2013-01-01

This paper describes a multiresolution system based on MPEG-7 audio signature descriptors for music identification. Such an identification system may be used to detect illegally copied music circulated over the Internet. In the proposed system, low-resolution descriptors are used to search likely candidates, and then full-resolution descriptors are used to identify the unknown (query) audio. With this arrangement, the proposed system achieves both high speed and high accuracy. To deal with the problem that a piece of query audio may not be inside the system's database, we suggest two different methods to find the decision threshold. Simulation results show that the proposed method II can achieve an accuracy of 99.4% for query inputs both inside and outside the database. Overall, it is highly possible to use the proposed system for copyright control. PMID:23533359

Music Identification System Using MPEG-7 Audio Signature Descriptors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shingchern D. You

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a multiresolution system based on MPEG-7 audio signature descriptors for music identification. Such an identification system may be used to detect illegally copied music circulated over the Internet. In the proposed system, low-resolution descriptors are used to search likely candidates, and then full-resolution descriptors are used to identify the unknown (query audio. With this arrangement, the proposed system achieves both high speed and high accuracy. To deal with the problem that a piece of query audio may not be inside the system’s database, we suggest two different methods to find the decision threshold. Simulation results show that the proposed method II can achieve an accuracy of 99.4% for query inputs both inside and outside the database. Overall, it is highly possible to use the proposed system for copyright control.

Declarative and Procedural Working Memory: Common Principles, Common Capacity Limits?

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Klus Oberauer

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Working memory is often described as a system for simultaneous storage and processing. Much research – and most measures of working-memory capacity – focus on the storage component only, that is, people's ability to recall or recognize items after short retention intervals. The mechanisms of processing information are studied in a separate research tradition, concerned with the selection and control of actions in simple choice situations, dual-task constellations, or task-switching setups. both research traditions investigate performance based on representations that are temporarily maintained in an active, highly accessible state, and constrained by capacity limits. In this article an integrated theoretical framework of declarative and procedural working memory is presented that relates the two domains of research to each other. Declarative working memory is proposed to hold representations available for processing (including recall and recognition, whereas procedural working memory holds representations that control processing (i. e., task sets, stimulus-response mappings, and executive control settings. The framework motivates two hypotheses: Declarative and procedural working memory have separate capacity limits, and they operate by analogous principles. The framework also suggests a new characterization of executive functions as the subset of processes governed by procedural working memory that has as its output a change in the conditions of operation of the working-memory system.

Analysis of the MPEG-1 Layer III (MP3) Algorithm using MATLAB

CERN Document Server

Thiagarajan, Jayaraman

2011-01-01

The MPEG-1 Layer III (MP3) algorithm is one of the most successful audio formats for consumer audio storage and for transfer and playback of music on digital audio players. The MP3 compression standard along with the AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) algorithm are associated with the most successful music players of the last decade. This book describes the fundamentals and the MATLAB implementation details of the MP3 algorithm. Several of the tedious processes in MP3 are supported by demonstrations using MATLAB software. The book presents the theoretical concepts and algorithms used in the MP3 stand

Assessment of Conflicts of Interest in Robotic Surgical Studies: Validating Author's Declarations With the Open Payments Database.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Sunil V; Yu, David; Elsolh, Basheer; Goldacre, Ben M; Nash, Garrett M

2017-07-11

Accurate conflict of interest (COI) statements are important, as a known COI may invalidate study results due to the potential risk of bias. To determine the accuracy of self-declared COI statements in robotic studies and identify risk factors for undeclared payments. Robotic surgery studies were identified through EMBASE and MEDLINE and included if published in 2015 and had at least one American author. Undeclared COI were determined by comparing the author's declared COI with industry reported payments found in the "Open Payments" database for 2013 and 2014. Undeclared payments and discrepancies in the COI statement were determined. Risk factors were assessed for an association with undeclared payments at the author and study level. A total of 458 studies (2253 authors) were included. Approximately, 240 (52%) studies had 1 or more author receive undeclared payments and included 183 where "no COI" was explicitly declared, and 57 with no declaration statement present. Moreover, 21% of studies and 18% of authors with a COI declared it so in a COI statement. Studies that had undeclared payments from Intuitive were more likely to recommend robotic surgery compared with those that declared funding (odds ratio 4.29, 95% confidence interval 2.55-7.21). We found that it was common for payments from Intuitive to be undeclared in robotic surgery articles. Mechanisms for accountability in COI reporting need to be put into place by journals to achieve appropriate transparency to those reading the journal article.

Extreme compression for extreme conditions: pilot study to identify optimal compression of CT images using MPEG-4 video compression.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, P Gabriel; Pak, Sung K; Nguyen, Binh; Jacobs, Genevieve; Folio, Les

2012-12-01

This study aims to evaluate the utility of compressed computed tomography (CT) studies (to expedite transmission) using Motion Pictures Experts Group, Layer 4 (MPEG-4) movie formatting in combat hospitals when guiding major treatment regimens. This retrospective analysis was approved by Walter Reed Army Medical Center institutional review board with a waiver for the informed consent requirement. Twenty-five CT chest, abdomen, and pelvis exams were converted from Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine to MPEG-4 movie format at various compression ratios. Three board-certified radiologists reviewed various levels of compression on emergent CT findings on 25 combat casualties and compared with the interpretation of the original series. A Universal Trauma Window was selected at -200 HU level and 1,500 HU width, then compressed at three lossy levels. Sensitivities and specificities for each reviewer were calculated along with 95 % confidence intervals using the method of general estimating equations. The compression ratios compared were 171:1, 86:1, and 41:1 with combined sensitivities of 90 % (95 % confidence interval, 79-95), 94 % (87-97), and 100 % (93-100), respectively. Combined specificities were 100 % (85-100), 100 % (85-100), and 96 % (78-99), respectively. The introduction of CT in combat hospitals with increasing detectors and image data in recent military operations has increased the need for effective teleradiology; mandating compression technology. Image compression is currently used to transmit images from combat hospital to tertiary care centers with subspecialists and our study demonstrates MPEG-4 technology as a reasonable means of achieving such compression.

Event-Related Potential Correlates of Declarative and Non-Declarative Sequence Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Ferdinand, Nicola K.; Runger, Dennis; Frensch, Peter A.; Mecklinger, Axel

2010-01-01

The goal of the present study was to demonstrate that declarative and non-declarative knowledge acquired in an incidental sequence learning task contributes differentially to memory retrieval and leads to dissociable ERP signatures in a recognition memory task. For this purpose, participants performed a sequence learning task and were classified…

Revising psychoanalytic interpretations of the past. An examination of declarative and non-declarative memory processes.

Science.gov (United States)

Davis, J T

2001-06-01

The author reviews a contemporary cognitive psychology perspective on memory that views memory as being composed of multiple separate systems. Most researchers draw a fundamental distinction between declarative/explicit and non-declarative/implicit forms of memory. Declarative memory is responsible for the conscious recollection of facts and events--what is typically meant by the everyday and the common psychoanalytic use of the word 'memory'. Non-declarative forms of memory, in contrast, are specialised processes that influence experience and behaviour without representing the past in terms of any consciously accessible content. They operate outside of an individual's awareness, but are not repressed or otherwise dynamically unconscious. Using this theoretical framework, the question of how childhood relationship experiences are carried forward from the past to influence the present is examined. It is argued that incorporating a conceptualisation of non-declarative memory processing into psychoanalytic theory is essential. Non-declarative memory processes are capable of forming complex and sophisticated representations of the interpersonal world. These non-declarative memory processes exert a major impact on interpersonal experience and behaviour that needs to be analysed on its own terms and not mistakenly viewed as a form of resistance.

Influence of reward motivation on human declarative memory.

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Miendlarzewska, Ewa A; Bavelier, Daphne; Schwartz, Sophie

2016-02-01

Motivational relevance can prioritize information for memory encoding and consolidation based on reward value. In this review, we pinpoint the possible psychological and neural mechanisms by which reward promotes learning, from guiding attention to enhancing memory consolidation. We then discuss how reward value can spill-over from one conditioned stimulus to a non-conditioned stimulus. Such generalization can occur across perceptually similar items or through more complex relations, such as associative or logical inferences. Existing evidence suggests that the neurotransmitter dopamine boosts the formation of declarative memory for rewarded information and may also control the generalization of reward values. In particular, temporally-correlated activity in the hippocampus and in regions of the dopaminergic circuit may mediate value-based decisions and facilitate cross-item integration. Given the importance of generalization in learning, our review points to the need to study not only how reward affects later memory but how learned reward values may generalize to related representations and ultimately alter memory structure. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rate Control for MPEG-4 Bit Stream

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王振洲; 李桂苓

2003-01-01

For a very long time video processing dealt exclusively with fixed-rate sequences of rectangular shaped images. However, interest has been recently moving toward a more flexible concept in which the subject of the processing and encoding operations is a set of visual elements organized in both time and space in a flexible and arbitrarily complex way. The moving picture experts group (MPEG-4) standard supports this concept and its verification model (VM) encoder has adopted scalable rate control (SRC) as the rate control scheme, which is based on the spatial domain and compatible with constant bit rate (CBR) and variable bit rate (VBR). In this paper,a new rate control algorithm based on the DCT domain instead of the pixel domain is presented. More-over, macroblock level rate control scheme to compute the quantization step for each macroblock has been adopted. The experimental results show that the new algorithm can achieve a much better result than the original one in both peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and the coding bits, and that the new algorithm is more flexible than test model 5 (TM5) rate control algorithm.

Video coding standards AVS China, H.264/MPEG-4 PART 10, HEVC, VP6, DIRAC and VC-1

CERN Document Server

Rao, K R; Hwang, Jae Jeong

2014-01-01

Review by Ashraf A. Kassim, Professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Associate Dean, School of Engineering, National University of Singapore.     The book consists of eight chapters of which the first two provide an overview of various video & image coding standards, and video formats. The next four chapters present in detail the Audio & video standard (AVS) of China, the H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced video coding (AVC) standard, High efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard and the VP6 video coding standard (now VP10) respectively. The performance of the wavelet based Dirac video codec is compared with H.264/MPEG-4 AVC in chapter 7. Finally in chapter 8, the VC-1 video coding standard is presented together with VC-2 which is based on the intra frame coding of Dirac and an outline of a H.264/AVC to VC-1 transcoder.   The authors also present and discuss relevant research literature such as those which document improved methods & techniques, and also point to other related reso...

Sign language indexation within the MPEG-7 framework

Science.gov (United States)

Zaharia, Titus; Preda, Marius; Preteux, Francoise J.

1999-06-01

In this paper, we address the issue of sign language indexation/recognition. The existing tools, like on-like Web dictionaries or other educational-oriented applications, are making exclusive use of textural annotations. However, keyword indexing schemes have strong limitations due to the ambiguity of the natural language and to the huge effort needed to manually annotate a large amount of data. In order to overcome these drawbacks, we tackle sign language indexation issue within the MPEG-7 framework and propose an approach based on linguistic properties and characteristics of sing language. The method developed introduces the concept of over time stable hand configuration instanciated on natural or synthetic prototypes. The prototypes are indexed by means of a shape descriptor which is defined as a translation, rotation and scale invariant Hough transform. A very compact representation is available by considering the Fourier transform of the Hough coefficients. Such an approach has been applied to two data sets consisting of 'Letters' and 'Words' respectively. The accuracy and robustness of the result are discussed and a compete sign language description schema is proposed.

Does the cholinesterase inhibitor, donepezil, benefit both declarative and non-declarative processes in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease?

Science.gov (United States)

Winstein, Carolee J; Bentzen, Kirk R; Boyd, Lara; Schneider, Lon S

2007-07-01

Previous research suggests separate neural networks for implicit (non-declarative) and explicit (declarative) memory processes. A core cognitive impairment in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a pronounced declarative memory and learning deficit with relative preservation of non-declarative memory. Cholinesterase inhibitors has been purported to enhance cognitive function, and previous clinical trials consistently showed that donepezil, a reversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), led to statistically significant improvements in cognition and patient function. This prospective pilot study is a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial investigating 10 patients with AD. Our purpose was to examine the relationship between declarative and non-declarative capability with particular emphasis on implicit sequence learning. Patients were assessed at baseline and again at 4-weeks. After participants' baseline data were obtained, each was double-blindly randomized to one of two groups: donepezil or placebo. At baseline participants were tested with two outcome measures (Serial Reaction Time Task, Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale). Participants were given either 5 mg donepezil or an identically appearing placebo to be taken nightly for 4 weeks (28 tablets), and then retested. The donepezil group demonstrated a greater likelihood of increases in both non-declarative and declarative processes. The placebo group was mixed without clearly definable trends or patterns. When the data were examined for coincidental changes in the two outcome measures together they are suggestive of a benefit from donepezil treatment for non-declarative and declarative processes.

The Historical Significance of the Universal Declaration.

Science.gov (United States)

Eide, Asbjorn

1998-01-01

Explains the historical significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Focuses on the initiative for the Declaration and its elaboration, the precursors to modern human rights, the foundation of the Declaration, the rights contained in the Universal Declaration, three modes of human rights analysis, and global governance and human…

Construction of non-viral vector (mPEG5k-PCL1.2k)1.4-g-PEI10k and its gene delivery efficacy in vitro

OpenAIRE

Wei HUANG; Ming LV; Zhong-gao GAO; Ming-ji JIN; Fei-fei YANG; Yu-li WANG

2011-01-01

Objective To construct(mPEG5k-PCL1.2k)1.4-g-PEI10k,a copolymer designed as delivery vector for non-viral gene therapy,and explore its cytotoxicity and efficacy in delivery of plasmid DNA(pDNA).Methods The copolymer,mPEG5k-PCL1.2k-OH,was prepared by ring-opening polymerization and then followed by a conversion of hydroxyl terminal(-OH) into N-hydroxysuccinimide(NHS) to prepare mPEG5k-PCL1.2k-NHS.One of the branches,PEI10k,was then reacted with mPEG5k-PCL1.2k-NHS to synthesize a ternary copolym...

Exploring the effect of sleep and reduced interference on different forms of declarative memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Schönauer, Monika; Pawlizki, Annedore; Köck, Corinna; Gais, Steffen

2014-12-01

Many studies have found that sleep benefits declarative memory consolidation. However, fundamental questions on the specifics of this effect remain topics of discussion. It is not clear which forms of memory are affected by sleep and whether this beneficial effect is partly mediated by passive protection against interference. Moreover, a putative correlation between the structure of sleep and its memory-enhancing effects is still being discussed. In three experiments, we tested whether sleep differentially affects various forms of declarative memory. We varied verbal content (verbal/nonverbal), item type (single/associate), and recall mode (recall/recognition, cued/free recall) to examine the effect of sleep on specific memory subtypes. We compared within-subject differences in memory consolidation between intervals including sleep, active wakefulness, or quiet meditation, which reduced external as well as internal interference and rehearsal. Forty healthy adults aged 18-30 y, and 17 healthy adults aged 24-55 y with extensive meditation experience participated in the experiments. All types of memory were enhanced by sleep if the sample size provided sufficient statistical power. Smaller sample sizes showed an effect of sleep if a combined measure of different declarative memory scales was used. In a condition with reduced external and internal interference, performance was equal to one with high interference. Here, memory consolidation was significantly lower than in a sleep condition. We found no correlation between sleep structure and memory consolidation. Sleep does not preferentially consolidate a specific kind of declarative memory, but consistently promotes overall declarative memory formation. This effect is not mediated by reduced interference. © 2014 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Operator declarations (OPD) for Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzuki, Masataka; Yamazaki, Yoshihiro; Hiruta, Kazuhiko; Fujimaki, Kazunori; Wuester, Jan; Gerrein, Greg; Chesnay, Bruno; ); Takeda, Seiichi; Yoshida, Hideki

2004-01-01

The OPD scheme is outlined with the OPD rules, data format, the structure of computer system related to OPD, how and when OPD data is submitted in this paper. Currently, the OPD overall data structure and data items for all OPD types are almost determined and agreed. But for OPD Type 31 and 32, detail checks continue as to which data should be declared based on the specific material accounting procedure for each KMP. The MACS (Material accounting computer system) has already been manufactured and installed, but the current MACS does not have the OPD generation and submission functions. OPD type, OPD class, OPD status, XML format, XML schema, OPD relevant computer systems, OPD data flow and OPD submission are explained. The target data for using OPD generation and submission functions is the start of the RRP active test. (S.Y.)

Psychovisual masks and intelligent streaming RTP techniques for the MPEG-4 standard

Science.gov (United States)

Mecocci, Alessandro; Falconi, Francesco

2003-06-01

In today multimedia audio-video communication systems, data compression plays a fundamental role by reducing the bandwidth waste and the costs of the infrastructures and equipments. Among the different compression standards, the MPEG-4 is becoming more and more accepted and widespread. Even if one of the fundamental aspects of this standard is the possibility of separately coding video objects (i.e. to separate moving objects from the background and adapt the coding strategy to the video content), currently implemented codecs work only at the full-frame level. In this way, many advantages of the flexible MPEG-4 syntax are missed. This lack is due both to the difficulties in properly segmenting moving objects in real scenes (featuring an arbitrary motion of the objects and of the acquisition sensor), and to the current use of these codecs, that are mainly oriented towards the market of DVD backups (a full-frame approach is enough for these applications). In this paper we propose a codec for MPEG-4 real-time object streaming, that codes separately the moving objects and the scene background. The proposed codec is capable of adapting its strategy during the transmission, by analysing the video currently transmitted and setting the coder parameters and modalities accordingly. For example, the background can be transmitted as a whole or by dividing it into "slightly-detailed" and "highly detailed" zones that are coded in different ways to reduce the bit-rate while preserving the perceived quality. The coder can automatically switch in real-time, from one modality to the other during the transmission, depending on the current video content. Psychovisual masks and other video-content based measurements have been used as inputs for a Self Learning Intelligent Controller (SLIC) that changes the parameters and the transmission modalities. The current implementation is based on the ISO 14496 standard code that allows Video Objects (VO) transmission (other Open Source Codes

Product declaration for cars

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gruetter, J.M.

2000-01-01

This reports for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a study made on the possible ways of declaring product information on cars. The basic elements of such a declaration are discussed and a recommendation for an energy label for cars is presented. The report discusses the fundamental questions posed such as how long a label should be valid, if comparisons should be made and if it is to be based on CO 2 -emissions or on fuel consumption. Also, the criteria to be used for comparisons - such as vehicle weight, size or power - are looked at and methods of classification are examined along with data fundamentals. Further, the expectations placed on the product declarations with respect to their energetic and economic impact are discussed. The design of the label and the legislature on which it is based are discussed and initial reactions of the automobile industry are noted. The report is rounded off by a discussion of the effects of the declaration in relation to other instruments that have been proposed

Stress enhances reconsolidation of declarative memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Bos, Marieke G N; Schuijer, Jantien; Lodestijn, Fleur; Beckers, Tom; Kindt, Merel

2014-08-01

Retrieval of negative emotional memories is often accompanied by the experience of stress. Upon retrieval, a memory trace can temporarily return into a labile state, where it is vulnerable to change. An unresolved question is whether post-retrieval stress may affect the strength of declarative memory in humans by modulating the reconsolidation process. Here, we tested in two experiments whether post-reactivation stress may affect the strength of declarative memory in humans. In both experiments, participants were instructed to learn neutral, positive and negative words. Approximately 24h later, participants received a reminder of the word list followed by exposure to the social evaluative cold pressor task (reactivation/stress group, nexp1=20; nexp2=18) or control task (reactivation/no-stress group, nexp1=23; nexp2=18). An additional control group was solely exposed to the stress task, without memory reactivation (no-reactivation/stress group, nexp1=23; nexp2=21). The next day, memory performance was tested using a free recall and a recognition task. In the first experiment we showed that participants in the reactivation/stress group recalled more words than participants in the reactivation/no-stress and no-reactivation/stress group, irrespective of valence of the word stimuli. Furthermore, participants in the reactivation/stress group made more false recognition errors. In the second experiment we replicated our observations on the free recall task for a new set of word stimuli, but we did not find any differences in false recognition. The current findings indicate that post-reactivation stress can improve declarative memory performance by modulating the process of reconsolidation. This finding contributes to our understanding why some memories are more persistent than others. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Recommendations for Enhancing Implementation of Additional Protocol Declarations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niina, Toshiaki; Nidaira, Kazuo; Aono, Yosuke

2010-01-01

Japan signed the Additional Protocol (hereafter, AP) in December 1998. The domestic law and regulation had been revised to implement the initial and annual declarations for the Agency and the Additional Protocol came into force in December 1999. Since initial declaration in 2000, Japan has submitted the annual declaration in every May. Until 2010, Japan has made 10 annual declarations. This paper gives recommendations to enhance implementation of Additional Protocol declarations based on 10-year experience in Japan and addresses the following: Current status of additional protocol declaration in Japan; Outline of processing method; AP Information Management System; Recommendations for improving quality of declaration. Preparation of additional protocol declaration in NMCC has been conducted in the course of contract with Japan Safeguards Office (hereafter, JSGO) for safeguards information treatment. (author)

Concurrency & Asynchrony in Declarative Workflows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Debois, Søren; Hildebrandt, Thomas; Slaats, Tijs

2015-01-01

of concurrency in DCR Graphs admits asynchronous execution of declarative workflows both conceptually and by reporting on a prototype implementation of a distributed declarative workflow engine. Both the theoretical development and the implementation is supported by an extended example; moreover, the theoretical....... In this paper, we pro- pose a notion of concurrency for declarative process models, formulated in the context of Dynamic Condition Response (DCR) graphs, and exploiting the so-called “true concurrency” semantics of Labelled Asynchronous Transition Systems. We demonstrate how this semantic underpinning...

Declarations on euthanasia and assisted dying.

Science.gov (United States)

Inbadas, Hamilton; Zaman, Shahaduz; Whitelaw, Sandy; Clark, David

2017-10-01

Declarations on end-of-life issues are advocacy interventions that seek to influence policy, raise awareness and call others to action. Despite increasing prominence, they have attracted little attention from researchers. This study tracks the emergence, content, and purpose of declarations concerned with assisted dying and euthanasia, in the global context. The authors identified 62 assisted dying/euthanasia declarations covering 1974-2016 and analyzed them for originating organization, geographic scope, format, and stated viewpoint on assisted dying/euthanasia. The declarations emerged from diverse organizational settings and became more frequent over time. Most opposed assisted dying/euthanasia.

Declarations on euthanasia and assisted dying

Science.gov (United States)

Inbadas, Hamilton; Zaman, Shahaduz; Whitelaw, Sandy; Clark, David

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Declarations on end-of-life issues are advocacy interventions that seek to influence policy, raise awareness and call others to action. Despite increasing prominence, they have attracted little attention from researchers. This study tracks the emergence, content, and purpose of declarations concerned with assisted dying and euthanasia, in the global context. The authors identified 62 assisted dying/euthanasia declarations covering 1974–2016 and analyzed them for originating organization, geographic scope, format, and stated viewpoint on assisted dying/euthanasia. The declarations emerged from diverse organizational settings and became more frequent over time. Most opposed assisted dying/euthanasia. PMID:28398131

Successful declarative memory formation is associated with ongoing activity during encoding in a distributed neocortical network related to working memory: a magnetoencephalography study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Takashima, A.; Jensen, O.; Oostenveld, R.; Maris, E.G.G.; Coevering, M. van de; Fernandez, G.S.E.

2006-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the spatio-temporal characteristics of the neural correlates of declarative memory formation as assessed by the subsequent memory effect, i.e. the difference in encoding activity between subsequently remembered and subsequently forgotten items.

Successful declarative memory formation is associated with ongoing activity during encoding in a distributed neocortical network related to working memory: A magnetoencephalography study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Takashima, A.; Jensen, O.; Oostenveld, R.; Maris, E.G.G.; Coevering, M. van de; Fernandez, G.S.E.

2006-01-01

The aim of the present study was to investigate the spatio-temporal characteristics of the neural correlates of declarative memory formation as assessed by the subsequent memory effect, i.e. the difference in encoding activity between subsequently remembered and subsequently forgotten items.

Three-Dimensional Facial Adaptation for MPEG-4 Talking Heads

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikos Grammalidis

2002-10-01

Full Text Available This paper studies a new method for three-dimensional (3D facial model adaptation and its integration into a text-to-speech (TTS system. The 3D facial adaptation requires a set of two orthogonal views of the user′s face with a number of feature points located on both views. Based on the correspondences of the feature points′ positions, a generic face model is deformed nonrigidly treating every facial part as a separate entity. A cylindrical texture map is then built from the two image views. The generated head models are compared to corresponding models obtained by the commonly used adaptation method that utilizes 3D radial bases functions. The generated 3D models are integrated into a talking head system, which consists of two distinct parts: a multilingual text to speech sub-system and an MPEG-4 compliant facial animation sub-system. Support for the Greek language has been added, while preserving lip and speech synchronization.

Improved Bit Rate Control for Real-Time MPEG Watermarking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pranata Sugiri

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The alteration of compressed video bitstream due to embedding of digital watermark tends to produce unpredictable video bit rate variations which may in turn lead to video playback buffer overflow/underflow or transmission bandwidth violation problems. This paper presents a novel bit rate control technique for real-time MPEG watermarking applications. In our experiments, spread spectrum watermarks are embedded in the quantized DCT domain without requantization and motion reestimation to achieve fast watermarking. The proposed bit rate control scheme evaluates the combined bit lengths of a set of multiple watermarked VLC codewords, and successively replaces watermarked VLC codewords having the largest increase in bit length with their corresponding unmarked VLC codewords until a target bit length is achieved. The proposed method offers flexibility and scalability, which are neglected by similar works reported in the literature. Experimental results show that the proposed bit rate control scheme is effective in meeting the bit rate targets and capable of improving the watermark detection robustness for different video contents compressed at different bit rates.

Moving to continuous facial expression space using the MPEG-4 facial definition parameter (FDP) set

Science.gov (United States)

Karpouzis, Kostas; Tsapatsoulis, Nicolas; Kollias, Stefanos D.

2000-06-01

Research in facial expression has concluded that at least six emotions, conveyed by human faces, are universally associated with distinct expressions. Sadness, anger, joy, fear, disgust and surprise are categories of expressions that are recognizable across cultures. In this work we form a relation between the description of the universal expressions and the MPEG-4 Facial Definition Parameter Set (FDP). We also investigate the relation between the movement of basic FDPs and the parameters that describe emotion-related words according to some classical psychological studies. In particular Whissel suggested that emotions are points in a space, which seem to occupy two dimensions: activation and evaluation. We show that some of the MPEG-4 Facial Animation Parameters (FAPs), approximated by the motion of the corresponding FDPs, can be combined by means of a fuzzy rule system to estimate the activation parameter. In this way variations of the six archetypal emotions can be achieved. Moreover, Plutchik concluded that emotion terms are unevenly distributed through the space defined by dimensions like Whissel's; instead they tend to form an approximately circular pattern, called 'emotion wheel,' modeled using an angular measure. The 'emotion wheel' can be defined as a reference for creating intermediate expressions from the universal ones, by interpolating the movement of dominant FDP points between neighboring basic expressions. By exploiting the relation between the movement of the basic FDP point and the activation and angular parameters we can model more emotions than the primary ones and achieve efficient recognition in video sequences.

The declaration regime: An efficient tool to improve control and protection of nuclear materials in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pillette-Cousin, L.

2001-01-01

kept under lock and key, and keys should be accessible to authorized personnel only. Alarm and gardiennage are not mandatory, but in some special cases, an alarm system has been required by the authority. It should be noted that these requirements are very often the same than those set by national authorities dealing with sealed radioactive sources. In the case of operators using gamma radiography devices, several regulations regarding licensing of sealed radioactive sources users, radiation protection of public and workers, and environmental protection, require physical protection measures in order to prevent theft of radioactive sources and to ensure their protection against fire or other damages. Usually, the arrangements made by the operator for the protection of devices containing both a radioactive source and nuclear material comply with the requirements related to physical protection of depleted uranium. This is not the case for empty devices whose radioactive source has been removed and for the accessories such as directional and panoramic collimators, transfer casks, trimmers, which contain DU and are not submitted to other regulations. Declarants are rended sensitive to that point in order they ensure the same level of physical protection to all devices containing DU, both used, useless or damaged. As an example, gammagraphy operators should not store and leave without surveillance these type of accessories inside vehicles, as the risk of theft is significant. In the medical field, trimmers may have been removed from the radiotherapy unit, and very often, shaping block made of DU, delivered with the unit, are not used by the medical personnel, because of their radioactivity. These items, containing a few kilograms of DU, have to be inventoried by the operators, labelled and kept under lock and key. When possible, operators are invited to return unused and damaged equipment to the manufacturer. In order to implement the declaration regime requirements, IPSN

Implementación de un sistema de streaming de contenidos multimedia con tecnología MPEG-DASH basado en la plataforma Gstreamer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

D. Gómez (David)

2015-01-01

htmlabstractIn this Master Thesis, an end-to-end media framework for the delivery of MPEG-DASH content has been developed. This framework includes and allows the configuration of all the required steps along the end-to-end media delivery chain, from the generation, encoding, segmentation and storage

Self-assembled micelles based on pH-sensitive PAE-g-MPEG-cholesterol block copolymer for anticancer drug delivery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhang CY

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Can Yang Zhang, Di Xiong, Yao Sun, Bin Zhao, Wen Jing Lin, Li Juan Zhang School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China Abstract: A novel amphiphilic triblock pH-sensitive poly(ß-amino ester-g-poly(ethylene glycol methyl ether-cholesterol (PAE-g-MPEG-Chol was designed and synthesized via the Michael-type step polymerization and esterification condensation method. The synthesized copolymer was determined with proton nuclear magnetic resonance and gel permeation chromatography. The grafting percentages of MPEG and cholesterol were determined as 10.93% and 62.02%, calculated from the area of the characteristic peaks, respectively. The amphiphilic copolymer was confirmed to self-assemble into core/shell micelles in aqueous solution at low concentrations. The critical micelle concentrations were 6.92 and 15.14 mg/L at pH of 7.4 and 6.0, respectively, obviously influenced by the changes of pH values. The solubility of pH-responsive PAE segment could be transformed depending on the different values of pH because of protonation–deprotonation of the amino groups, resulting in pH sensitivity of the copolymer. The average particle size of micelles increased from 125 nm to 165 nm with the pH decreasing, and the zeta potential was also significantly changed. Doxorubicin (DOX was entrapped into the polymeric micelles with a high drug loading level. The in vitro DOX release from the micelles was distinctly enhanced with the pH decreasing from 7.4 to 6.0. Toxicity testing proved that the DOX-loaded micelles exhibited high cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells, whereas the copolymer showed low toxicity. The results demonstrated how pH-sensitive PAE-g-MPEG-Chol micelles were proved to be a potential vector in hydrophobic drug delivery for tumor therapy. Keywords: micelle, pH-sensitive, cholesterol, poly(ß-amino ester, drug delivery

[The Helsinki Declaration: relativism and vulnerability].

Science.gov (United States)

Diniz, D; Corrêa, M

2001-01-01

The Helsinki Declaration is a crucial ethical landmark for clinical research involving human beings. Since the Declaration was issued, a series of revisions and modifications have been introduced into the original text, but they have not altered its humanist approach or its international force for regulating clinical research. A proposal for an extensive revision of the Declaration's underlying ethical principles has been debated for the past four years. If the proposal is approved, international clinical research involving human beings will be modified, further increasing the vulnerability of certain social groups. This article discusses the historical process involved in passing the Helsinki Declaration and the most recent debate on the new draft. The article analyzes the new text's social implications for underdeveloped countries, arguing for a political approach to the vulnerability concept.

Declarative capacity does not trade-off with procedural capacity in children with specific language impairment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sengottuvel Kuppuraj

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Background and aims The procedural deficit hypothesis attributes the language phenotype in children with specific language impairment to an impaired procedural and relatively intact declarative memory system. The declarative compensatory hypothesis is an extension of the procedural deficit hypothesis which claims that the declarative system in specific language impairment compensates for the procedural deficit. The present study’s aim was to examine the claims of the procedural deficit hypothesis and declarative compensatory hypothesis by examining these memory systems and relation between them in specific language impairment. Methods Participants were children aged 8–13 years, 30 with specific language impairment and 30 typically developing controls, who spoke Kannada (an agglutinating language of the Dravidian family. Procedural learning was assessed using a serial reaction time task. Declarative memory was assessed using two non-verbal tasks that differed at the level of encoding and retrieval: a recognition memory task after incidental encoding using real and novel object images and a recall task after intentional encoding using visual paired associates. Retrieval was examined after short (10 min and long (60 min delays after encoding on both declarative tasks. Results Findings confirmed that children with specific language impairment (SLI have impaired procedural memory on a non-verbal serial reaction time task. On recognition memory task after incidental encoding though children with specific language impairment encoded less well, they recognized items as well as typically developing controls. Both the groups retrieved more at short compared to long intervals and retrieved real (verbalizable objects better than novel objects. On visual paired associates (recall task with intentional encoding children with specific language impairment retrieved less than typically developing children (even after controlling for non-verbal ability

Making sense of site declarations: Canadian declarations under article 2.a. (iii) of the Additional Protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cameron, J.K.; Benjamin, R.; Ghosh, A.

2001-01-01

Full text: While this paper will provide an overview of Additional Protocol implementation activities in Canada, this paper will also deal with a specific, albeit important, component of Canada's initial declaration under the Additional Protocol: site definitions and declarations. A clear description of the problems, solutions and compromises in making site declarations across a variety of sites in Canada would provide a useful insight into the process as other States prepare to do the same. Through the Model Protocol Additional to Safeguards Agreements Between Member States and the International Atomic Energy Agency, provisions exist to fulfil a longstanding gap in the coverage of international safeguards. The success of these new provisions are dependent on the extent to which declarations balance the intent of expanded declarations and the practical difficulties in making such declarations. The prerogative to delineate site boundaries lies with the Member State. In doing so, four factors merit careful consideration. First, Article 18.b of the Additional Protocol draws connections between facility definition and site delineation. Under comprehensive safeguards, information on facilities has already been submitted to the IAEA specifying site layouts in the design information questionnaire. Consistency between the site layouts specifications of the design information and site definition under the Additional Protocol is important, as differences will lead to inconsistencies, which will have to be resolved during implementation. Second, while Article 18.b specified that specific essential services, co-located in close geographic proximity, should be considered as part of the same site, there are instances where site definition is complicated by close proximity of other, but separate, safeguarded facilities and the existence of services related, but not essentials according to the definitions of the Additional Protocol, to the site. Third, practical limitations come

Nonhuman Primates do Declare! A Comparison of Declarative Symbol and Gesture Use in Two Children, Two Bonobos, and A Chimpanzee

Science.gov (United States)

Lyn, Heidi; Greenfield, Patricia M.; Savage-Rumbaugh, Sue; Gillespie-Lynch, Kristen; Hopkins, William D.

2011-01-01

While numerous publications have shown that apes can learn some aspects of human language, one frequently cited difference between humans and apes is the relative infrequency of declaratives (comments and statements) as opposed to imperatives (requests) in ape symbol use. This paper describes the use of declaratives in three language-competent apes and two children. The apes produced a lower proportion of spontaneous declaratives than did the children. However, both groups used declaratives to name objects, to interact and negotiate, and to make comments about other individuals. Both apes and children also made comments about past and future events. However, showing/offering/giving, attention getting, and comments on possession were declarative types made by the children but rarely by the apes. PMID:21516208

Improved lossless intra coding for H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Yung-Lyul; Han, Ki-Hun; Sullivan, Gary J

2006-09-01

A new lossless intra coding method based on sample-by-sample differential pulse code modulation (DPCM) is presented as an enhancement of the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC standard. The H.264/AVC design includes a multidirectional spatial prediction method to reduce spatial redundancy by using neighboring samples as a prediction for the samples in a block of data to be encoded. In the new lossless intra coding method, the spatial prediction is performed based on samplewise DPCM instead of in the block-based manner used in the current H.264/AVC standard, while the block structure is retained for the residual difference entropy coding process. We show that the new method, based on samplewise DPCM, does not have a major complexity penalty, despite its apparent pipeline dependencies. Experiments show that the new lossless intra coding method reduces the bit rate by approximately 12% in comparison with the lossless intra coding method previously included in the H.264/AVC standard. As a result, the new method is currently being adopted into the H.264/AVC standard in a new enhancement project.

47 CFR 2.1072 - Limitation on Declaration of Conformity.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Limitation on Declaration of Conformity. 2.1072... Conformity § 2.1072 Limitation on Declaration of Conformity. (a) The Declaration of Conformity signifies that...'s rules. (b) A Declaration of Conformity by the responsible party is effective until a termination...

A shared resource between declarative memory and motor memory

Science.gov (United States)

Keisler, Aysha; Shadmehr, Reza

2010-01-01

The neural systems that support motor adaptation in humans are thought to be distinct from those that support the declarative system. Yet, during motor adaptation changes in motor commands are supported by a fast adaptive process that has important properties (rapid learning, fast decay) that are usually associated with the declarative system. The fast process can be contrasted to a slow adaptive process that also supports motor memory, but learns gradually and shows resistance to forgetting. Here we show that after people stop performing a motor task, the fast motor memory can be disrupted by a task that engages declarative memory, but the slow motor memory is immune from this interference. Furthermore, we find that the fast/declarative component plays a major role in the consolidation of the slow motor memory. Because of the competitive nature of declarative and non-declarative memory during consolidation, impairment of the fast/declarative component leads to improvements in the slow/non-declarative component. Therefore, the fast process that supports formation of motor memory is not only neurally distinct from the slow process, but it shares critical resources with the declarative memory system. PMID:21048140

Signed reward prediction errors drive declarative learning.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther De Loof

Full Text Available Reward prediction errors (RPEs are thought to drive learning. This has been established in procedural learning (e.g., classical and operant conditioning. However, empirical evidence on whether RPEs drive declarative learning-a quintessentially human form of learning-remains surprisingly absent. We therefore coupled RPEs to the acquisition of Dutch-Swahili word pairs in a declarative learning paradigm. Signed RPEs (SRPEs; "better-than-expected" signals during declarative learning improved recognition in a follow-up test, with increasingly positive RPEs leading to better recognition. In addition, classic declarative memory mechanisms such as time-on-task failed to explain recognition performance. The beneficial effect of SRPEs on recognition was subsequently affirmed in a replication study with visual stimuli.

Signed reward prediction errors drive declarative learning.

Science.gov (United States)

De Loof, Esther; Ergo, Kate; Naert, Lien; Janssens, Clio; Talsma, Durk; Van Opstal, Filip; Verguts, Tom

2018-01-01

Reward prediction errors (RPEs) are thought to drive learning. This has been established in procedural learning (e.g., classical and operant conditioning). However, empirical evidence on whether RPEs drive declarative learning-a quintessentially human form of learning-remains surprisingly absent. We therefore coupled RPEs to the acquisition of Dutch-Swahili word pairs in a declarative learning paradigm. Signed RPEs (SRPEs; "better-than-expected" signals) during declarative learning improved recognition in a follow-up test, with increasingly positive RPEs leading to better recognition. In addition, classic declarative memory mechanisms such as time-on-task failed to explain recognition performance. The beneficial effect of SRPEs on recognition was subsequently affirmed in a replication study with visual stimuli.

Visual content highlighting via automatic extraction of embedded captions on MPEG compressed video

Science.gov (United States)

Yeo, Boon-Lock; Liu, Bede

1996-03-01

Embedded captions in TV programs such as news broadcasts, documentaries and coverage of sports events provide important information on the underlying events. In digital video libraries, such captions represent a highly condensed form of key information on the contents of the video. In this paper we propose a scheme to automatically detect the presence of captions embedded in video frames. The proposed method operates on reduced image sequences which are efficiently reconstructed from compressed MPEG video and thus does not require full frame decompression. The detection, extraction and analysis of embedded captions help to capture the highlights of visual contents in video documents for better organization of video, to present succinctly the important messages embedded in the images, and to facilitate browsing, searching and retrieval of relevant clips.

Non-declarative sequence learning does not show savings in relearning.

Science.gov (United States)

Keisler, Aysha; Willingham, Daniel T

2007-04-01

Researchers have utilized the savings in relearning paradigm in a variety of settings since Ebbinghaus developed the tool over a century ago. In spite of its widespread use, we do not yet understand what type(s) of memory are measurable by savings. Specifically, can savings measure both declarative and non-declarative memories? The lack of conscious recollection of the encoded material in some studies indicates that non-declarative memories may show savings effects, but as all studies to date have used declarative tasks, we cannot be certain. Here, we administer a non-declarative task and then measure savings in relearning the material declaratively. Our results show that while material outside of awareness may show savings effects, non-declarative sequence memory does not. These data highlight the important distinction between memory without awareness and non-declarative memory.

32 CFR 701.43 - Fee declarations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 5 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Fee declarations. 701.43 Section 701.43 National... OFFICIAL RECORDS AVAILABILITY OF DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY RECORDS AND PUBLICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY DOCUMENTS AFFECTING THE PUBLIC FOIA Fees § 701.43 Fee declarations. Requesters should submit a fee...

Effect and Analysis of Sustainable Cell Rate using MPEG video Traffic in ATM Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sakshi Kaushal

2006-04-01

Full Text Available The broadband networks inhibit the capability to carry multiple types of traffic – voice, video and data, but these services need to be controlled according to the traffic contract negotiated at the time of the connection to maintain desired Quality of service. Such control techniques use traffic descriptors to evaluate its performance and effectiveness. In case of Variable Bit Rate (VBR services, Peak Cell Rate (PCR and its Cell Delay Variation Tolerance (CDVTPCR are mandatory descriptors. In addition to these, ATM Forum proposed Sustainable Cell Rate (SCR and its Cell delay variation tolerance (CDVTSCR. In this paper, we evaluated the impact of specific SCR and CDVTSCR values on the Usage Parameter Control (UPC performance in case of measured MPEG traffic for improving the efficiency

19 CFR 148.13 - Written declarations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

...) When required. Unless an oral declaration is accepted under § 148.12, the declaration required of a..., HTSUS, for articles to be disposed of as bona fide gifts; or subheading 9804.00.40, HTSUS, for articles... passenger shall state either: (1) The price actually paid for the article in the currency of purchase, or...

Automatic facial animation parameters extraction in MPEG-4 visual communication

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Chenggen; Gong, Wanwei; Yu, Lu

2002-01-01

Facial Animation Parameters (FAPs) are defined in MPEG-4 to animate a facial object. The algorithm proposed in this paper to extract these FAPs is applied to very low bit-rate video communication, in which the scene is composed of a head-and-shoulder object with complex background. This paper addresses the algorithm to automatically extract all FAPs needed to animate a generic facial model, estimate the 3D motion of head by points. The proposed algorithm extracts human facial region by color segmentation and intra-frame and inter-frame edge detection. Facial structure and edge distribution of facial feature such as vertical and horizontal gradient histograms are used to locate the facial feature region. Parabola and circle deformable templates are employed to fit facial feature and extract a part of FAPs. A special data structure is proposed to describe deformable templates to reduce time consumption for computing energy functions. Another part of FAPs, 3D rigid head motion vectors, are estimated by corresponding-points method. A 3D head wire-frame model provides facial semantic information for selection of proper corresponding points, which helps to increase accuracy of 3D rigid object motion estimation.

Subthalamic stimulation differentially modulates declarative and nondeclarative memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Hälbig, Thomas D; Gruber, Doreen; Kopp, Ute A; Scherer, Peter; Schneider, Gerd-Helge; Trottenberg, Thomas; Arnold, Guy; Kupsch, Andreas

2004-03-01

Declarative memory has been reported to rely on the medial temporal lobe system, whereas non-declarative memory depends on basal ganglia structures. We investigated the functional role of the subthalamic nucleus (STN), a structure closely connected with the basal ganglia for both types of memory. Via deep brain high frequency stimulation (DBS) we manipulated neural activity of the STN in humans. We found that DBS-STN differentially modulated memory performance: declarative memory was impaired, whereas non-declarative memory was improved in the presence of STN-DBS indicating a specific role of the STN in the activation of memory systems. Copyright 2004 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Differential item functioning analysis with ordinal logistic regression techniques. DIFdetect and difwithpar.

Science.gov (United States)

Crane, Paul K; Gibbons, Laura E; Jolley, Lance; van Belle, Gerald

2006-11-01

We present an ordinal logistic regression model for identification of items with differential item functioning (DIF) and apply this model to a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) dataset. We employ item response theory ability estimation in our models. Three nested ordinal logistic regression models are applied to each item. Model testing begins with examination of the statistical significance of the interaction term between ability and the group indicator, consistent with nonuniform DIF. Then we turn our attention to the coefficient of the ability term in models with and without the group term. If including the group term has a marked effect on that coefficient, we declare that it has uniform DIF. We examined DIF related to language of test administration in addition to self-reported race, Hispanic ethnicity, age, years of education, and sex. We used PARSCALE for IRT analyses and STATA for ordinal logistic regression approaches. We used an iterative technique for adjusting IRT ability estimates on the basis of DIF findings. Five items were found to have DIF related to language. These same items also had DIF related to other covariates. The ordinal logistic regression approach to DIF detection, when combined with IRT ability estimates, provides a reasonable alternative for DIF detection. There appear to be several items with significant DIF related to language of test administration in the MMSE. More attention needs to be paid to the specific criteria used to determine whether an item has DIF, not just the technique used to identify DIF.

A shared resource between declarative memory and motor memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Keisler, Aysha; Shadmehr, Reza

2010-11-03

The neural systems that support motor adaptation in humans are thought to be distinct from those that support the declarative system. Yet, during motor adaptation changes in motor commands are supported by a fast adaptive process that has important properties (rapid learning, fast decay) that are usually associated with the declarative system. The fast process can be contrasted to a slow adaptive process that also supports motor memory, but learns gradually and shows resistance to forgetting. Here we show that after people stop performing a motor task, the fast motor memory can be disrupted by a task that engages declarative memory, but the slow motor memory is immune from this interference. Furthermore, we find that the fast/declarative component plays a major role in the consolidation of the slow motor memory. Because of the competitive nature of declarative and nondeclarative memory during consolidation, impairment of the fast/declarative component leads to improvements in the slow/nondeclarative component. Therefore, the fast process that supports formation of motor memory is not only neurally distinct from the slow process, but it shares critical resources with the declarative memory system.

29 CFR 18.804 - Hearsay exceptions; declarant unavailable.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... believing that the declarant's death was imminent, concerning the cause or circumstances of what the... concerning the declarant's own birth, adoption, marriage, divorce, legitimacy, relationship by blood...

To prevent the diversion of chemical products or installations. CWC - An international regulation on chemical products. Handbook of PCOD declaration. Handbook for Table 1 declaration. Handbook for Table 2 declaration. Handbook for Table 3 declaration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) aims at preventing risks of diversion of chemical products and installations, and therefore may concern various types of companies. A first document, illustrated by graphs, figures and tables proposes an overview of concerned actors, sectors, products and usages, of involved chemical reactions and associated production thresholds, and of levels of concerned international trade for a country. It mentions obligations and indicates some of the concerned products which are classified in four categories: Discrete Organic Chemicals, Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3. The four other documents are handbooks aimed at defining and describing whether and how to make associated declarations about these four categories. They recall the definition of the concerned products, indicate the concerned establishments, describe how to assess whether a declaration must be made, present the associated declarations and describe how to complete them in terms of method (paper form or through the internet) and of content

The Brussels Declaration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holgate, S; Bisgaard, H; Bjermer, L

2008-01-01

on Asthma, sponsored by The Asthma, Allergy and Inflammation Research Charity, was developed to call attention to the shortfalls in asthma management and to urge European policy makers to recognise that asthma is a public health problem that should be a political priority. The Declaration urges recognition...

Declaration of income for 2005

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2006-01-01

Information from the Legal Service and the HR Department Information for members of the personnel residing in France Following the introduction of the internal taxation of salaries and emoluments of members of the CERN personnel on 1st January 2005 (cf. Bulletin No. 48-49/2005), the French Finance Ministry has communicated the following information on the procedure for completing the 2005 declaration of income form, which must be returned by 31 May 2006 at the latest. All members of the personnel*) residing in France, whether or not they are of French nationality, are required to complete a declaration of income for 2005 according to the following instructions and to return a signed copy to their local tax office by 31 May 2006 at the latest. Members of the personnel should receive an income declaration form for 2005 at the beginning of May. Those who do not receive a form directly should obtain one from their local 'Centre des Impôts', Trésorerie' or 'Mairie', or download one from the Finance Ministry...

1998 Annual Study Report. Standardization of image processing for digital home equipment; 1998 nendo seika hokokusho. Kateiyo digital denshi kiki ni okeru digital gazo shori no hyojunka

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1999-03-01

The electronic industry should invariably correspond to MPEG-4, when considering the essential conditions for home information equipment of the next generation to be used massively. This project is aimed at formulation of the standard platform for MPEG-4, and identification of the necessary examples and corresponding the necessary tools/functions thereto, to give an impetus for the future development, and to positively provide the additional aids to the tools which strengthen MPEG-4 in the arena of promoting the international standardization. The efforts in this year began with investigations on the assumption of the concrete application examples, considered from the standards' structures, and were concentrated on investigations on characteristic problems involved in each of the system, server and client blocks which constitute the system, and then on identification of the products application, based on the analysis of the MPEG-4 profiles and levels. These have led to selection of an MPEG-4 receiver as the case study item for extracting problems possibly involved in assembling works. (NEDO)

IAEA receives Iraq's nuclear-related declaration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

Full text: The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, announced that the IAEA received this evening, Sunday, 8 December 2002, at its Headquarters in Vienna, an approximately 2400 page declaration on Iraq's nuclear programme. The declaration consists of about 2100 pages in English and 300 pages in Arabic. The declaration was submitted by the Government of Iraq in response to paragraph 3 of Security Council resolution 1441 (8 November 2002), which requires Iraq to provide to UNMOVIC, the IAEA and to the Security Council, not later than 30 days of the date of that resolution, with 'currently accurate, full, and complete declaration of all aspects of its programmes to develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, and other delivery systems... as well as all other chemical, biological, and nuclear programmes, including any which it claims are for purposes not related to weapon production or material'. 'The IAEA will immediately begin to assess this important new document,' said Mr. ElBaradei, 'including the painstaking and systematic cross-checking of the information provided by Iraq against information which the IAEA already has, information that it expects to receive from other Member States, as contemplated in resolution 1441, and results of past and present Agency verification activities.' Complete assessment of the declaration will be time consuming, particularly in light of the need to translate the 300 pages of Arabic text into English. However, the IAEA expects to be able to provide a preliminary analysis of the document to the Security Council within the next ten days, with a fuller assessment to be provided when it reports to the Council at the end of January. (IAEA)

UNESCO: Agenda 21 and UNCED Follow-Up.

Science.gov (United States)

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, Paris (France). Bureau for the Coordination of Environmental Programme.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) took place in Rio de Janeiro in June, 1992. The main results of UNCED were the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21, Convention on Biological Diversity, Framework Convention on Climate Change, and Statement of Forest Principles. Agenda 21 is the international program of action for global…

Product declaration for cars; Warendeklaration fuer Personenwagen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gruetter, J.M.

2000-07-01

This reports for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a study made on the possible ways of declaring product information on cars. The basic elements of such a declaration are discussed and a recommendation for an energy label for cars is presented. The report discusses the fundamental questions posed such as how long a label should be valid, if comparisons should be made and if it is to be based on CO{sub 2}-emissions or on fuel consumption. Also, the criteria to be used for comparisons - such as vehicle weight, size or power - are looked at and methods of classification are examined along with data fundamentals. Further, the expectations placed on the product declarations with respect to their energetic and economic impact are discussed. The design of the label and the legislature on which it is based are discussed and initial reactions of the automobile industry are noted. The report is rounded off by a discussion of the effects of the declaration in relation to other instruments that have been proposed.

Construct validity and internal consistency reliability of the Malay version of the 21-item depression anxiety stress scale (Malay-DASS-21) among male outpatient clinic attendees in Johor.

Science.gov (United States)

Rusli, B N; Amrina, K; Trived, S; Loh, K P; Shashi, M

2017-10-01

The 21-item English version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) has been proposed as a method for assessing self-perceived depression, anxiety and stress over the past week in various clinical and nonclinical populations. Several Malay versions of the DASS-21 have been validated in various populations with varying success. One particular Malay version has been validated in various occupational groups (such as nurses and automotive workers) but not among male clinic outpatient attendees in Malaysia. To validate the Malay version of the DASS-21 (Malay-DASS-21) among male outpatient clinic attendees in Johor. A validation study with a random sample of 402 male respondents attending the outpatient clinic of a major public outpatient clinic in Johor Bahru and Segamat was carried out from January to March 2016. Construct validity of the Malay-DASS-21 was examined using Exploratory Factor Analysis (KMO = 0.947; Bartlett's test of sphericity is significant, pDASS- 21 and the internal consistency reliability using Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity of the Malay-DASS-21 based on eigenvalues and factor loadings to confirm the three factor structure (depression, anxiety, and stress) was acceptable. The internal consistency reliability of the factor construct was very impressive with Cronbach's alpha values in the range of 0.837 to 0.863. The present study showed that the Malay- DASS-21 has acceptable psychometric construct and high internal consistency reliability to measure self-perceived depression, anxiety and stress over the past week in male outpatient clinic attendees in Johor. Further studies are necessary to revalidate the Malay-DASS-21 across different populations and cultures, and using confirmatory factor analyses.

Exformatics Declarative Case Management Workflows as DCR Graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slaats, Tijs; Mukkamala, Raghava Rao; Hildebrandt, Thomas

2013-01-01

Declarative workflow languages have been a growing research subject over the past ten years, but applications of the declarative approach in industry are still uncommon. Over the past two years Exformatics A/S, a Danish provider of Electronic Case Management systems, has been cooperating...... with researchers at IT University of Copenhagen (ITU) to create tools for the declarative workflow language Dynamic Condition Response Graphs (DCR Graphs) and incorporate them into their products and in teaching at ITU. In this paper we give a status report over the work. We start with an informal introduction...

Rapid Prototyping for Heterogeneous Multicomponent Systems: An MPEG-4 Stream over a UMTS Communication Link

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sorel Y

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Future generations of mobile phones, including advanced video and digital communication layers, represent a great challenge in terms of real-time embedded systems. Programmable multicomponent architectures can provide suitable target solutions combining flexibility and computation power. The aim of our work is to develop a fast and automatic prototyping methodology dedicated to signal processing application implementation on parallel heterogeneous architectures, two major features required by future systems. This paper presents the whole methodology based on the SynDEx CAD tool that directly generates a distributed implementation onto various platforms from a high-level application description, taking real-time aspects into account. It illustrates the methodology in the context of real-time distributed executives for multilayer applications based on an MPEG-4 video codec and a UMTS telecommunication link.

The DCR Workbench: Declarative Choreographies for Collaborative Processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Debois, Søren; Hildebrandt, Thomas

2017-01-01

analysis, time analysis, enforcement, declarative subprocesses, data dependencies, translation to other declarative models, and more. This chapter introduces the Workbench and, through the features of the Workbench, surveys the DCR formalism. The Workbench is available on-line at http: //dcr.tools....

Working, declarative and procedural memory in specific language impairment

Science.gov (United States)

Lum, Jarrad A.G.; Conti-Ramsden, Gina; Page, Debra; Ullman, Michael T.

2012-01-01

According to the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH), abnormalities of brain structures underlying procedural memory largely explain the language deficits in children with specific language impairment (SLI). These abnormalities are posited to result in core deficits of procedural memory, which in turn explain the grammar problems in the disorder. The abnormalities are also likely to lead to problems with other, non-procedural functions, such as working memory, that rely at least partly on the affected brain structures. In contrast, declarative memory is expected to remain largely intact, and should play an important compensatory role for grammar. These claims were tested by examining measures of working, declarative and procedural memory in 51 children with SLI and 51 matched typically-developing (TD) children (mean age 10). Working memory was assessed with the Working Memory Test Battery for Children, declarative memory with the Children’s Memory Scale, and procedural memory with a visuo-spatial Serial Reaction Time task. As compared to the TD children, the children with SLI were impaired at procedural memory, even when holding working memory constant. In contrast, they were spared at declarative memory for visual information, and at declarative memory in the verbal domain after controlling for working memory and language. Visuo-spatial short-term memory was intact, whereas verbal working memory was impaired, even when language deficits were held constant. Correlation analyses showed neither visuo-spatial nor verbal working memory was associated with either lexical or grammatical abilities in either the SLI or TD children. Declarative memory correlated with lexical abilities in both groups of children. Finally, grammatical abilities were associated with procedural memory in the TD children, but with declarative memory in the children with SLI. These findings replicate and extend previous studies of working, declarative and procedural memory in SLI. Overall, we

A better anti-diabetic recombinant human fibroblast growth factor 21 (rhFGF21 modified with polyethylene glycol.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhifeng Huang

Full Text Available As one of fibroblast growth factor (FGF family members, FGF21 has been extensively investigated for its potential as a drug candidate to combat metabolic diseases. In the present study, recombinant human FGF21 (rhFGF21 was modified with polyethylene glycol (PEGylation in order to increase its in vivo biostabilities and therapeutic potency. At N-terminal residue rhFGF21 was site-selectively PEGylated with mPEG20 kDa-butyraldehyde. The PEGylated rhFGF21 was purified to near homogeneity by Q Sepharose anion-exchange chromatography. The general structural and biochemical features as well as anti-diabetic effects of PEGylated rhFGF21 in a type 2 diabetic rat model were evaluated. By N-terminal sequencing and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, we confirmed that PEG molecule was conjugated only to the N-terminus of rhFGF21. The mono-PEGylated rhFGF21 retained the secondary structure, consistent with the native rhFGF21, but its biostabilities, including the resistance to physiological temperature and trypsinization, were significantly enhanced. The in vivo immunogenicity of PEGylated rhFGF21 was significantly decreased, and in vivo half-life time was significantly elongated. Compared to the native form, the PEGylated rhFGF21 had a similar capacity of stimulating glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 cells in vitro, but afforded a significantly long effect on reducing blood glucose and triglyceride levels in the type 2 diabetic animals. These results suggest that the PEGylated rhFGF21 is a better and more effective anti-diabetic drug candidate than the native rhFGF21 currently available. Therefore, the PEGylated rhFGF21 may be potentially applied in clinics to improve the metabolic syndrome for type 2 diabetic patients.

Temporal Scalability through Adaptive -Band Filter Banks for Robust H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video Coding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pau G

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents different structures that use adaptive -band hierarchical filter banks for temporal scalability. Open-loop and closed-loop configurations are introduced and illustrated using existing video codecs. In particular, it is shown that the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec allows us to introduce scalability by frame shuffling operations, thus keeping backward compatibility with the standard. The large set of shuffling patterns introduced here can be exploited to adapt the encoding process to the video content features, as well as to the user equipment and transmission channel characteristics. Furthermore, simulation results show that this scalability is obtained with no degradation in terms of subjective and objective quality in error-free environments, while in error-prone channels the scalable versions provide increased robustness.

Confidential Declaration of Family Situation (CDFS)

CERN Document Server

Human Resources Department

2005-01-01

The Confidential Declaration of Family Situation (CDFS) becomes a new computerized EDH form from October 2005 In accordance with Article R IV 1.17 of the Staff Regulations, Staff Members and Fellows, married or separated, must notify any changes in their spouse's income or health insurance cover in writing to CERN, within 30 calendar days of the change. This is necessary for the Organization to determine if a supplementary contribution is payable to the CERN Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS) for the spouse's coverage and, if so, the amount. Until now a paper form called « Confidential Declaration of Family Situation » (CDFS) was used for that purpose.  From early October 2005 the CDFS will be computerized for the whole Organization. Henceforth, any changes in a spouse's income or health insurance cover must be notified using EDH (Electronic Document Handling). Additionally, annual updates of the declaration will be required and will be requested by automatic e-mail. Early October an email will be sent to...

Declarative language design for interactive visualization.

Science.gov (United States)

Heer, Jeffrey; Bostock, Michael

2010-01-01

We investigate the design of declarative, domain-specific languages for constructing interactive visualizations. By separating specification from execution, declarative languages can simplify development, enable unobtrusive optimization, and support retargeting across platforms. We describe the design of the Protovis specification language and its implementation within an object-oriented, statically-typed programming language (Java). We demonstrate how to support rich visualizations without requiring a toolkit-specific data model and extend Protovis to enable declarative specification of animated transitions. To support cross-platform deployment, we introduce rendering and event-handling infrastructures decoupled from the runtime platform, letting designers retarget visualization specifications (e.g., from desktop to mobile phone) with reduced effort. We also explore optimizations such as runtime compilation of visualization specifications, parallelized execution, and hardware-accelerated rendering. We present benchmark studies measuring the performance gains provided by these optimizations and compare performance to existing Java-based visualization tools, demonstrating scalability improvements exceeding an order of magnitude.

19 CFR 4.75 - Incomplete manifest; incomplete export declarations; bond.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 1302-A (see § 4.63) in accordance with 46 U.S.C. 91, or all required shipper's export declarations (see... declarations; bond. 4.75 Section 4.75 Customs Duties U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND... export declarations have been filed with the port director: Albania Bulgaria Cambodia China, People's...

Declarative vs. Procedural Memory: Roles in Second Language Acquisition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laleh Fakhraee Faruji

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Memory is not a single faculty but is a combination of multiple distinct abilities (Schacter, 1987. The declarative-procedural distinction is used both with regard to knowledge and memory that stores this knowledge. Ellis (2008 used the terms explicit/implicit, and declarative/procedural interchangeably. In this article the researcher aims at identifying the different aspects of declarative/procedural memory, interaction between these two types of memory, and the role they may play in second language acquisition.

22 CFR 192.1 - Declarations of hostile action.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 192.1 Foreign Relations DEPARTMENT OF STATE HOSTAGE RELIEF VICTIMS OF TERRORISM COMPENSATION General § 192.1 Declarations of hostile action. (a)(1) The Secretary of State shall declare when and where individuals in the Civil Service of the United States, including members of the Foreign Service and foreign...

Audio-Visual Speech Recognition Using MPEG-4 Compliant Visual Features

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petar S. Aleksic

2002-11-01

Full Text Available We describe an audio-visual automatic continuous speech recognition system, which significantly improves speech recognition performance over a wide range of acoustic noise levels, as well as under clean audio conditions. The system utilizes facial animation parameters (FAPs supported by the MPEG-4 standard for the visual representation of speech. We also describe a robust and automatic algorithm we have developed to extract FAPs from visual data, which does not require hand labeling or extensive training procedures. The principal component analysis (PCA was performed on the FAPs in order to decrease the dimensionality of the visual feature vectors, and the derived projection weights were used as visual features in the audio-visual automatic speech recognition (ASR experiments. Both single-stream and multistream hidden Markov models (HMMs were used to model the ASR system, integrate audio and visual information, and perform a relatively large vocabulary (approximately 1000 words speech recognition experiments. The experiments performed use clean audio data and audio data corrupted by stationary white Gaussian noise at various SNRs. The proposed system reduces the word error rate (WER by 20% to 23% relatively to audio-only speech recognition WERs, at various SNRs (0–30 dB with additive white Gaussian noise, and by 19% relatively to audio-only speech recognition WER under clean audio conditions.

75 FR 65696 - Ohio Disaster #OH-00025 Declaration of Economic Injury

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-26

... Counties: Auglaize, Mercer. Contiguous Counties: Ohio: Allen, Darke, Hardin, Logan, Shelby, Van Wert... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 12359] Ohio Disaster OH-00025 Declaration of... Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) declaration for the State of Ohio, dated 10/19/2010. Incident: Toxic...

76 FR 11254 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

... Activities: Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP... collection requirement concerning the Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles (CBP Form 255). This request for...: Title: Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles. OMB Number: 1651-0030. Form Number: CBP Form 255. Abstract...

FEMA Disaster Declaration Summary -shp

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — This dataset lists all official FEMA Disaster Declarations. This is raw, unedited data from FEMA's National Emergency Management Information System (NEMIS) and as...

FEMA Disaster Declaration Summary - API

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — This dataset lists all official FEMA Disaster Declarations. This is raw, unedited data from FEMA's National Emergency Management Information System (NEMIS) and as...

78 FR 44186 - Colorado Disaster # CO-00058 Declaration of Economic Injury

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-23

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration 13662] Colorado Disaster CO-00058 Declaration... notice of an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) declaration for the State of Colorado, dated 07/15/2013... areas have been determined to be adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: Hinsdale, Mineral...

Confidential Declaration of Family Situation (CDFS)

CERN Multimedia

Human Resources Department

2005-01-01

The Confidential Declaration of Family Situation (CDFS) becomes a new computerized EDH form from October 2005 In accordance with Article R IV 1.17 of the Staff Regulations, Staff Members and Fellows, married or separated, must notify any changes in their spouse's income or health insurance cover in writing to CERN, within 30 calendar days of the change. This is necessary for the Organization to determine if a supplementary contribution is payable to the CERN Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS) for the spouse's coverage and, if so, the amount. Until now a paper form called « Confidential Declaration of Family Situation » (CDFS) was used for that purpose.  From early October 2005 the CDFS will be computerized for the whole Organization. Henceforth, any changes in a spouse's income or health insurance cover must be notified using EDH (Electronic Document Handling). Additionally, annual updates of the declaration will be required and will be requested by automatic e-mail. Early October an email will be...

FEMA Current Disaster Declarations -shp

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — This dataset lists the current Disaster Declarations in Shapefile. This data was compiled and distributed by FEMA Mapping and Analysis Center (MAC). Metadata file...

FEMA Historical Disaster Declarations - shp

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The Historical Disaster Declarations provides geospatial view to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (referred to as the Stafford Act...

Thematic development of declarations on Sustainability in Higher Education

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grindsted, Thomas Skou; Holm, Tove

2012-01-01

think should be given top priority in order to develop a sustainable society. Hence, the article addresses the following issues: (1) a thematic analysis of the relation between declarations developed by the university sector and those developed by governmental and intergovernmental institutions; (2...... of the international SHE literature reveals no study that deals specifically with the interaction between declarations developed by the university sector and declarations developed by governmental and intergovernmental institutions. An analysis of this type can give us important insights in what themes these parties......) an analysis of themes the two types of declarations might have in common; and if so (3) an analysis of how they have developed during the past decade. The article finds four new themes that previous research has not identified, and shows how the valuation of nature is under reconfiguration in higher education...

REMINDER : Changes in family situation are to be declared promptly

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2012-01-01

All changes in the family situation of members of the personnel (employed or associated) have to be declared without delay and in writing to the Organization.   Among the changes that shall be notified within 30 calendar days of their occurrence, the most frequent ones are: • marriage; • divorce; • entering into a partnership officially registered in a Member State; • dissolution of such a partnership; • death of the spouse or partner; and • birth or death of a child. For more information, in particular on how to declare any of the above changes, please see the CERN Admin e-guide. In addition, any change to the health insurance situation, the income or retirement pension of the spouse or partner of any staff member or fellow also has to be declared to the Organization in writing within 30 calendar days of its occurrence. Such changes shall be declared using the EDH “CHIS Declaration of health insurance situation spouse/partner&...

Item-focussed Trees for the Identification of Items in Differential Item Functioning.

Science.gov (United States)

Tutz, Gerhard; Berger, Moritz

2016-09-01

A novel method for the identification of differential item functioning (DIF) by means of recursive partitioning techniques is proposed. We assume an extension of the Rasch model that allows for DIF being induced by an arbitrary number of covariates for each item. Recursive partitioning on the item level results in one tree for each item and leads to simultaneous selection of items and variables that induce DIF. For each item, it is possible to detect groups of subjects with different item difficulties, defined by combinations of characteristics that are not pre-specified. The way a DIF item is determined by covariates is visualized in a small tree and therefore easily accessible. An algorithm is proposed that is based on permutation tests. Various simulation studies, including the comparison with traditional approaches to identify items with DIF, show the applicability and the competitive performance of the method. Two applications illustrate the usefulness and the advantages of the new method.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 40th Anniversary.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Juanita, Ed.

December 10, 1988, marks the 40th anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration represents the first comprehensive, global statement on basic human rights, embracing many of the values long held by U.S. citizens; and it urges all peoples and all nations to promote respect for the…

Neither self-reported ethnicity nor declared family origin are reliable indicators of genomic ancestry.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Bruna Ribeiro de Andrade; D'Elia, Maria Paula Barbieri; Amador, Marcos Antônio Trindade; Santos, Ney Pereira Carneiro; Santos, Sidney Emanuel Batista; da Cruz Castelli, Erick; Witkin, Steven S; Miot, Hélio Amante; Miot, Luciane Donida Bartoli; da Silva, Márcia Guimarães

2016-06-01

Ancestry information can be useful in investigations of diseases with a genetic or infectious background. As the Brazilian population is highly admixed physical traits tend to be poor indicators of ancestry. The assessment of ancestry by ancestry informative markers (AIMs) can exclude the subjectivity of self-declared ethnicity and reported family origin. We aimed to evaluate the reliability of self-reported ethnicity or reported family origin as indicators of genomic ancestry in a female population from the Southeast of Brazil. Two cohorts were included: 404 women asked to self-report their ethnicity (Pop1) and 234 women asked to report their family's origin (Pop2). Identification of AIMs was performed using a panel of 61 markers and results were plotted against parental populations-Amerindian, Western European and Sub-Saharan African-using Structure v2.3.4. In Pop1 57.4 % of women self-reported as white, 34.6 % as brown and 8.0 % as black. Median global European, Amerindian and African contributions were 66.8, 12.6 and 16.6 %. In Pop2, 66.4 % of women declared European origin, 23.9 % African origin and 26.9 % Amerindian. Median global European, Amerindian and African contributions were 80.8, 7.3 and 7.6 %, respectively. Only 31.0 and 21.0 % of the global variation in African and European contributions, respectively, could be explained by self-reported ethnicity and reported family origin only accounted for 20.0 and 5.0 % of the variations observed in African and European ancestries, respectively. Amerindian ancestry did not influence self-reported ethnicity or declared family origin. Neither self-reported ethnicity nor declared family origin are reliable indicators of genomic ancestry in these Brazilian populations.

New procedure for declaring accidents resulting in bodily injuries

CERN Document Server

2014-01-01

The HR Department would like to remind members of personnel that, according to Administrative Circular No. 14 (Rev. 3), entitled “Protection of members of the personnel against the financial consequences of illness, accident and incapacity for work”, accidents resulting in bodily injuries and presumed to be of an occupational nature should, under normal circumstances, be declared within 10 working days of the accident having occurred, accompanied by a medical certificate. In an effort to streamline procedures, occupational accident declarations should be made via EDH using the “declaration of occupational accident” electronic form. For the declaration of non-occupational accidents resulting in bodily injuries of members of the CERN Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS), a new paper form has been elaborated that can be downloaded from the CHIS website and is also available from the UNIQA Helpdesk in the Main Building. If you encounter technical difficulties with these new ...

The Organization of Nanoporous Structure Using Controlled Micelle Size from MPEG-b-PDLLA Block Copolymers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Jeong Ho; Kim, Kyung Ja; Shin, Young Kook

2004-01-01

Selected MPEG-b-PDLLA block copolymers have been synthesized by ring-opening polymerization with systematic variation of the chain lengths of the resident hydrophilic and hydrophobic blocks. The size and shape of the micelles that spontaneously form in solution are then controlled by the characteristics of the block copolymer template. All the materials prepared in this study showed the tunable pore size of 20-80 A with the increase of hydrophobic chain lengths and up to 660 m 2 /g of specific surface area. The formation mechanism of these nanoporous structures obtained by controlling the micelle size has been confirmed using both liquid and solid state 13 C and 29 Si NMR techniques. This work verifies the formation mechanism of nanoporous structures in which the pore size and wall thickness are closely dependent on the size of hydrophobic cores and hydrophilic shells of the block copolymer templates

Preliminary Research on the Verification Task of North Korea's Plutonium Declaration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Hyun Chul; Park, Il Jin

2009-01-01

The denuclearization of North Korea seems challenging. North Korea has recognized itself as a nuclear weapon state by carrying out two nuclear tests while many other nations including South Korea have opposed North Korea's nuclear proliferation. As a result of longstanding negotiations, North Korea provided nearly 19,000 pages of operation history of three Yongbyon nuclear facilities on May 8, 2008 and a 60-page declaration of its nuclear activities and programs on June 26, 2008. However, one should notice that declaration documents are by themselves meaningless without their verification. To completely dismantle North Korea's nuclear programs, the verification task based on its declaration documents should be performed very thoroughly, considering the possibility of the presence of the undeclared nuclear materials and facilities. The verification task of North Korea's nuclear declaration consists of many broad themes to deal with, such as the review of declaration documents, the interview with facility operators, the sampling in the field, the laboratory analysis of the sample, data interpretation, and so on. One of the important themes is to verify North Korea's declared plutonium stockpile by comparing the declaration documents with measurement data which can be obtained from the sampling in the field and laboratory analysis. To prepare for the possible future verification of the declared plutonium stockpile, it is meaningful to give a thought on what data can be compared and what samples need to be taken and analyzed. In this study, we focus on the data to be compared and samples to be taken and analyzed for the plutonium accounting, as a preliminary research. To give a quantitative example, the nuclear material of the most recent North Korea's spent fuel rods discharged from the 5 MWe reactor is analyzed. On June 13, 2009, North Korea declared that more than one-third of the spent fuel rods had been reprocessed

Non-Declarative Sequence Learning does not Show Savings in Relearning

OpenAIRE

Keisler, Aysha; Willingham, Daniel T.

2007-01-01

Researchers have utilized the savings in relearning paradigm in a variety of settings since Ebbinghaus developed the tool over a century ago. In spite of its widespread use, we do not yet understand what type(s) of memory are measurable by savings. Specifically, can savings measure both declarative and non-declarative memories? The lack of conscious recollection of the encoded material in some studies indicates that non-declarative memories may show savings effects, but as all studies to date...

28 CFR 8.8 - Advertisement and declaration of forfeiture.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Advertisement and declaration of forfeiture. 8.8 Section 8.8 Judicial Administration DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FBI FORFEITURE AUTHORITY FOR CERTAIN STATUTES § 8.8 Advertisement and declaration of forfeiture. (a) The notice required by customs...

The Dublin Declaration on Maternal Health Care and Anti-Abortion Activism

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

Abstract The Dublin Declaration on Maternal Healthcare—issued by self-declared pro-life activists in Ireland in 2012—states unequivocally that abortion is never medically necessary, even to save the life of a pregnant woman. This article examines the influence of the Dublin Declaration on abortion politics in Latin America, especially El Salvador and Chile, where it has recently been used in pro-life organizing to cast doubt on the notion that legalizing abortion will reduce maternal mortality. Its framers argue that legalizing abortion will not improve maternal mortality rates, but reproductive rights advocates respond that the Dublin Declaration is junk science designed to preserve the world’s most restrictive abortion laws. Analyzing the strategy and impact of the Dublin Declaration brings to light one of the tactics used in anti-abortion organizing. PMID:28630540

An Assessment of the UN's Millennium Development Goals and its Millennium Declaration

OpenAIRE

Tisdell, Clement A.

2006-01-01

The United Nations’ Millennium Declaration, passed by the General Assembly in September 2000, is assessed with particular attention being given to the Millennium Development Goals and associated targets outlined in the Declaration. The focus of the article is not so much on the extent to which these goals are being met but on the adequacy of the Declaration itself. The fundamental values outlined in the Declaration are listed and assessed. The Millennium Development Goals are means for the at...

19 CFR 148.111 - Written declaration for unaccompanied articles.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Written declaration for unaccompanied articles... of the United States § 148.111 Written declaration for unaccompanied articles. The baggage... covers articles which do not accompany him and: (a) The articles are entitled to free entry under the $1...

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Only a Foundation.

Science.gov (United States)

Reichert, Elisabeth

2002-01-01

Explains provisions contained within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, tracing historical beginnings of human rights to 1945, detailing events after 1945 up to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, and explaining essential terminology used in describing human rights instruments that have been…

Declarative and nondeclarative memory: multiple brain systems supporting learning and memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Squire, L R

1992-01-01

Abstract The topic of multiple forms of memory is considered from a biological point of view. Fact-and-event (declarative, explicit) memory is contrasted with a collection of non conscious (non-declarative, implicit) memory abilities including skills and habits, priming, and simple conditioning. Recent evidence is reviewed indicating that declarative and non declarative forms of memory have different operating characteristics and depend on separate brain systems. A brain-systems framework for understanding memory phenomena is developed in light of lesion studies involving rats, monkeys, and humans, as well as recent studies with normal humans using the divided visual field technique, event-related potentials, and positron emission tomography (PET).

75 FR 16810 - Determination and Declarations Regarding Emergency Use of Certain In vitro Diagnostic, Antiviral...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-02

... specified that these declarations are declarations of emergency as defined by former Secretary Michael O... essence in detecting, preventing, and treating illness and death by getting in vitro diagnostic, antiviral... that the declaration is a declaration of emergency, as defined in the December 17, 2008 Declaration...

21 CFR 163.135 - Buttermilk chocolate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Buttermilk chocolate. 163.135 Section 163.135 Food... Buttermilk chocolate. (a) Description. Buttermilk chocolate is the food that conforms to the standard of identity, and is subject to the requirements for label declaration of ingredients for milk chocolate in...

Re-evaluating a vision-related quality of life questionnaire with item response theory (IRT and differential item functioning (DIF analyses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Knol Dirk L

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background For the Low Vision Quality Of Life questionnaire (LVQOL it is unknown whether the psychometric properties are satisfactory when an item response theory (IRT perspective is considered. This study evaluates some essential psychometric properties of the LVQOL questionnaire in an IRT model, and investigates differential item functioning (DIF. Methods Cross-sectional data were used from an observational study among visually-impaired patients (n = 296. Calibration was performed for every dimension of the LVQOL in the graded response model. Item goodness-of-fit was assessed with the S-X2-test. DIF was assessed on relevant background variables (i.e. age, gender, visual acuity, eye condition, rehabilitation type and administration type with likelihood-ratio tests for DIF. The magnitude of DIF was interpreted by assessing the largest difference in expected scores between subgroups. Measurement precision was assessed by presenting test information curves; reliability with the index of subject separation. Results All items of the LVQOL dimensions fitted the model. There was significant DIF on several items. For two items the maximum difference between expected scores exceeded one point, and DIF was found on multiple relevant background variables. Item 1 'Vision in general' from the "Adjustment" dimension and item 24 'Using tools' from the "Reading and fine work" dimension were removed. Test information was highest for the "Reading and fine work" dimension. Indices for subject separation ranged from 0.83 to 0.94. Conclusions The items of the LVQOL showed satisfactory item fit to the graded response model; however, two items were removed because of DIF. The adapted LVQOL with 21 items is DIF-free and therefore seems highly appropriate for use in heterogeneous populations of visually impaired patients.

49 CFR 395.13 - Drivers declared out of service.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... materials requirements prescribed in § 397.5 pertaining to attendance and surveillance of commercial motor... shall: (i) Require or permit a driver who has been declared out of service to operate a commercial motor... been declared out of service for failure to prepare a record of duty status to operate a commercial...

Toronto 2001 Inter-governmental Declaration on Clean Air

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-01-01

This formal declaration commits the municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area, the provincial government of Ontario, and the federal government in Ottawa to undertake certain specific actions to improve air quality in their respective areas of jurisdiction, recognizing the validity of claims made by experts in numerous studies, linking air pollution to premature deaths, illnesses and hospitalization in major Canadian cities. The declaration also recognizes the validity of scientific claims as to the relationship between solar radiation, ambient heat, ground level ozone and global climate change, and the role played in air pollution by fossil fuel combustion. The Declaration calls for cooperation of all governments operating in the Greater Toronto Area to take inter-governmental actions to improve air quality by following up on key issues identified at annual Summits and by supporting the planning of future Summits, by working together with the Toronto Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games to ensure that the 2008 Olympic Games will contribute to a legacy of clean air for the Toronto region, and by implementing a social marketing campaign to help householders reduce both home energy use and vehicle kilometres travelled by 20 per cent. Beyond these inter-governmental commitments, special commitments of individual municipalities, and the provincial and federal governments also form part of the Declaration

Adaptation to Cognitive Context and Item Information in the Medial Temporal Lobes

Science.gov (United States)

Diana, Rachel A.; Yonelinas, Andrew P.; Ranganath, Charan

2012-01-01

The medial temporal lobes (MTL) play an essential role in episodic memory, and accumulating evidence indicates that two MTL subregions--the perirhinal (PRc) and parahippocampal (PHc) cortices--might have different functions. According to the binding of item and context theory ( [16] and [21]), PRc is involved in processing item information, the…

Item validity vs. item discrimination index: a redundancy?

Science.gov (United States)

Panjaitan, R. L.; Irawati, R.; Sujana, A.; Hanifah, N.; Djuanda, D.

2018-03-01

In several literatures about evaluation and test analysis, it is common to find that there are calculations of item validity as well as item discrimination index (D) with different formula for each. Meanwhile, other resources said that item discrimination index could be obtained by calculating the correlation between the testee’s score in a particular item and the testee’s score on the overall test, which is actually the same concept as item validity. Some research reports, especially undergraduate theses tend to include both item validity and item discrimination index in the instrument analysis. It seems that these concepts might overlap for both reflect the test quality on measuring the examinees’ ability. In this paper, examples of some results of data processing on item validity and item discrimination index were compared. It would be discussed whether item validity and item discrimination index can be represented by one of them only or it should be better to present both calculations for simple test analysis, especially in undergraduate theses where test analyses were included.

Declaration on action for environment and health in Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-06-01

The Ministers of the Environment and the Ministers of Health of the European Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Members of the European Commission have met in Helsinki, Finland, and issued this declaration on Action for Environment and Health in Europe. The declaration primarily deals with environmental pollution protection, public health

Declarative Modeling–An Academic Dream or the Future for BPM?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reijers, Hajo; Slaats, Tijs; Stahl, Christian

2014-01-01

Declarative modeling has attracted much attention over the last years, resulting in the development of several academic declarative modeling techniques and tools. The absence of empirical evaluations on their use and usefulness, however, raises the question whether practitioners are attracted to ...

Sound taxation? On the use of self-declared value

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haan, Marco A.; Heijnen, Pim; Schoonbeek, Lambert; Toolsema-Veldman, Linda

In the 16th century, foreign ships passing through the Sound had to pay ad valorem taxes, known as the Sound Dues. To give skippers an incentive to declare the true value of their cargo, the Danish Crown reserved the right to purchase it at the declared value. We show that this rule does not induce

Sound taxation? On the use of self-declared value

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Haan, M.A.; Heijnen, P.; Schoonbeek, L.; Toolsema, L.A.

2008-01-01

In the 16th century, foreign ships passing through the Sound had to pay ad valorem taxes, known as the Sound Dues. To give skippers an incentive to declare the true value of their cargo, the Danish Crown reserved the right to purchase it at the declared value. We show that it is an equilibrium for

A declaration of eco-ethics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Cairns Jr.

2002-11-01

Full Text Available Eco-ethics is the essential foundation for sustainable use of the planet. Such a foundation must consist of a series of value judgments to which humanity is committed. This declaration is a tentative attempt to provide some illustrative examples.

47 CFR 68.350 - Revocation of Supplier's Declaration of Conformity.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Conformity. 68.350 Section 68.350 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) COMMON... Terminal Equipment Approval § 68.350 Revocation of Supplier's Declaration of Conformity. (a) The Commission may revoke any Supplier's Declaration of Conformity for cause in accordance with the provisions of...

From Paper Based Clinical Practice Guidelines to Declarative Workflow Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lyng, Karen Marie; Hildebrandt, Thomas; Mukkamala, Raghava Rao

2009-01-01

a sub workflow can be described in a declarative workflow management system: the Resultmaker Online Consultant (ROC). The example demonstrates that declarative primitives allow to naturally extend the paper based flowchart to an executable model without introducing a complex cyclic control flow graph....

Declarative and Non-declarative Memory Consolidation in Children with Sleep Disorder

OpenAIRE

Cs?bi, Eszter; Benedek, P?lma; Janacsek, Karolina; Zavecz, Zs?fia; Katona, G?bor; Nemeth, Dezso

2016-01-01

Healthy sleep is essential in children’s cognitive, behavioral, and emotional development. However, remarkably little is known about the influence of sleep disorders on different memory processes in childhood. Such data could give us a deeper insight into the effect of sleep on the developing brain and memory functions and how the relationship between sleep and memory changes from childhood to adulthood. In the present study we examined the effect of sleep disorder on declarative and non-decl...

76 FR 13655 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Ship's Store Declaration

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-14

... Activities: Ship's Store Declaration AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act: Ship's Stores Declaration...

78 FR 27984 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Ship's Store Declaration

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-13

... Activities: Ship's Store Declaration AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act: Ship's Stores Declaration...

Directed forgetting of complex pictures in an item method paradigm

OpenAIRE

Hauswald, Anne; Kissler, Johanna

2008-01-01

An item-cued directed forgetting paradigm was used to investigate the ability to control episodic memory and selectively encode complex coloured pictures. A series of photographs was presented to 21 participants who were instructed to either remember or forget each picture after it was presented. Memory performance was later tested with a recognition task where all presented items had to be retrieved, regardless of the initial instructions. A directed forgetting effect that is, better recogni...

Soviet Cybernetics: Recent News Items, Number Thirteen.

Science.gov (United States)

Holland, Wade B.

An issue of "Soviet Cybernetics: Recent News Items" consists of English translations of the leading recent Soviet contributions to the study of cybernetics. Articles deal with cybernetics in the 21st Century; the Soviet State Committee on Science and Technology; economic reforms in Rudnev's ministry; an interview with Rudnev; Dnepr-2; Dnepr-2…

9 CFR 93.305 - Declaration and other documents for horses.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... horses. 93.305 Section 93.305 Animals and Animal Products ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE...; REQUIREMENTS FOR MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS Horses § 93.305 Declaration and other documents for horses. (a) The certificates, declarations, and affidavits required by the regulations in this...

9 CFR 381.119 - Declaration of artificial flavoring or coloring.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Declaration of artificial flavoring or..., DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCY ORGANIZATION AND TERMINOLOGY; MANDATORY MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS INSPECTION... Containers § 381.119 Declaration of artificial flavoring or coloring. (a) When an artificial smoke flavoring...

Prosodic differences between declaratives and interrogatives in infant-directed speech.

Science.gov (United States)

Geffen, Susan; Mintz, Toben H

2017-07-01

In many languages, declaratives and interrogatives differ in word order properties, and in syntactic organization more broadly. Thus, in order to learn the distinct syntactic properties of the two sentence types, learners must first be able to distinguish them using non-syntactic information. Prosodic information is often assumed to be a useful basis for this type of discrimination, although no systematic studies of the prosodic cues available to infants have been reported. Analysis of maternal speech in three Standard American English-speaking mother-infant dyads found that polar interrogatives differed from declaratives on the patterning of pitch and duration on the final two syllables, but wh-questions did not. Thus, while prosody is unlikely to aid discrimination of declaratives from wh-questions, infant-directed speech provides prosodic information that infants could use to distinguish declaratives and polar interrogatives. We discuss how learners could leverage this information to identify all question forms, in the context of syntax acquisition.

The Brussels Declaration: the need for change in asthma management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holgate, S.; Bisgaard, H.; Bjermer, L.

2008-01-01

Asthma is a highly prevalent condition across Europe and numerous guidelines have been developed to optimise management. However, asthma can be neither cured nor prevented, treatment choices are limited and many patients have poorly controlled or uncontrolled asthma. The Brussels Declaration on A...... reviews the evidence supporting the need for change in asthma management and summarises the ten key points contained in the Brussels Declaration Udgivelsesdato: 2008/12......Asthma is a highly prevalent condition across Europe and numerous guidelines have been developed to optimise management. However, asthma can be neither cured nor prevented, treatment choices are limited and many patients have poorly controlled or uncontrolled asthma. The Brussels Declaration...... on Asthma, sponsored by The Asthma, Allergy and Inflammation Research Charity, was developed to call attention to the shortfalls in asthma management and to urge European policy makers to recognise that asthma is a public health problem that should be a political priority. The Declaration urges recognition...

Saul: Towards Declarative Learning Based Programming.

Science.gov (United States)

Kordjamshidi, Parisa; Roth, Dan; Wu, Hao

2015-07-01

We present Saul , a new probabilistic programming language designed to address some of the shortcomings of programming languages that aim at advancing and simplifying the development of AI systems. Such languages need to interact with messy, naturally occurring data, to allow a programmer to specify what needs to be done at an appropriate level of abstraction rather than at the data level, to be developed on a solid theory that supports moving to and reasoning at this level of abstraction and, finally, to support flexible integration of these learning and inference models within an application program. Saul is an object-functional programming language written in Scala that facilitates these by (1) allowing a programmer to learn, name and manipulate named abstractions over relational data; (2) supporting seamless incorporation of trainable (probabilistic or discriminative) components into the program, and (3) providing a level of inference over trainable models to support composition and make decisions that respect domain and application constraints. Saul is developed over a declaratively defined relational data model, can use piecewise learned factor graphs with declaratively specified learning and inference objectives, and it supports inference over probabilistic models augmented with declarative knowledge-based constraints. We describe the key constructs of Saul and exemplify its use in developing applications that require relational feature engineering and structured output prediction.

76 FR 2403 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Ship's Store Declaration

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-13

... Activities: Ship's Store Declaration AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland... requirement concerning the Ship's Stores Declaration (CBP Form 1303). This request for comment is being made... request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All comments will become a matter of public...

78 FR 15031 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Ship's Store Declaration

Science.gov (United States)

2013-03-08

... Activities: Ship's Store Declaration AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland... requirement concerning the Ship's Stores Declaration (CBP Form 1303). This request for comment is being made... Management and Budget (OMB) approval. All comments will become a matter of public record. In this document...

WTO ministerial conference adopts declaration on TRIPS and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Elliott, Richard

2002-03-01

In November 2001, the 4th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization adopted a Ministerial Declaration on public health and the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (the "TRIPS Agreement"). The declaration represents a modest advance in addressing concerns that strict patent laws, and threats of trade sanctions, will be a barrier to most of the world's people with HIV/AIDS accessing affordable medicines. The full significance of the declaration remains to be seen, as it depends on what political impact it has at the WTO and on its member countries, and what legal impact it will have in the interpretation of the TRIPS Agreement.

Working, declarative and procedural memory in specific language impairment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lum, J. A. G.; Conti-Ramsden, G.; Page, D.

2012-01-01

at declarative memory for visual information, and at declarative memory in the verbal domain after controlling for working memory and language. Visuo-spatial short-term memory was intact, whereas verbal working memory was impaired, even when language deficits were held constant. Correlation analyses showed......According to the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis (PDH), abnormalities of brain structures underlying procedural memory largely explain the language deficits in children with specific language impairment (SLI). These abnormalities are posited to result in core deficits of procedural memory, which...... in turn explain the grammar problems in the disorder. The abnormalities are also likely to lead to problems with other, non-procedural functions, such as working memory, that rely at least partly on the affected brain structures. In contrast, declarative memory is expected to remain largely intact...

Declarative camera control for automatic cinematography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christianson, D.B.; Anderson, S.E.; Li-wei He [Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)] [and others

1996-12-31

Animations generated by interactive 3D computer graphics applications are typically portrayed either from a particular character`s point of view or from a small set of strategically-placed viewpoints. By ignoring camera placement, such applications fail to realize important storytelling capabilities that have been explored by cinematographers for many years. In this paper, we describe several of the principles of cinematography and show how they can be formalized into a declarative language, called the Declarative Camera Control Language (DCCL). We describe the application of DCCL within the context of a simple interactive video game and argue that DCCL represents cinematic knowledge at the same level of abstraction as expert directors by encoding 16 idioms from a film textbook. These idioms produce compelling animations, as demonstrated on the accompanying videotape.

Teaching the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in a U.S. Government Course.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosen, Philip

1990-01-01

Discusses the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a vehicle for learning democratic and humanistic values. Provides goals for instruction about the Declaration. Compares the Declaration to U.S. Supreme Court cases and congressional acts, and suggests classroom activities using it. Includes an appendix on Supreme Court cases and…

21 CFR 163.140 - Skim milk chocolate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Skim milk chocolate. 163.140 Section 163.140 Food... milk chocolate. (a) Description. Skim milk chocolate is the food that conforms to the standard of identity, and is subject to the requirements for label declaration of ingredients for milk chocolate in...

Using automatic item generation to create multiple-choice test items.

Science.gov (United States)

Gierl, Mark J; Lai, Hollis; Turner, Simon R

2012-08-01

Many tests of medical knowledge, from the undergraduate level to the level of certification and licensure, contain multiple-choice items. Although these are efficient in measuring examinees' knowledge and skills across diverse content areas, multiple-choice items are time-consuming and expensive to create. Changes in student assessment brought about by new forms of computer-based testing have created the demand for large numbers of multiple-choice items. Our current approaches to item development cannot meet this demand. We present a methodology for developing multiple-choice items based on automatic item generation (AIG) concepts and procedures. We describe a three-stage approach to AIG and we illustrate this approach by generating multiple-choice items for a medical licensure test in the content area of surgery. To generate multiple-choice items, our method requires a three-stage process. Firstly, a cognitive model is created by content specialists. Secondly, item models are developed using the content from the cognitive model. Thirdly, items are generated from the item models using computer software. Using this methodology, we generated 1248 multiple-choice items from one item model. Automatic item generation is a process that involves using models to generate items using computer technology. With our method, content specialists identify and structure the content for the test items, and computer technology systematically combines the content to generate new test items. By combining these outcomes, items can be generated automatically. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012.

Declarative Programming in Java

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Razvan DINA

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Despite the code is rarely self-explanatory, the imperative programming languages are the most commonly used in our days by the programmers all over the world and Java is definitely the lead language in popularity. This paper tries to conclude if there are any chances to use the most popular programming language of the moment in a declarative manner, even if Java itself is an intrinsic imperative language.

75 FR 60133 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-29

... Activities: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or... the Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...: Title: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...

77 FR 6135 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Cargo Manifest/Declaration, Stow Plan, Container Status...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-07

... Activities: Cargo Manifest/ Declaration, Stow Plan, Container Status Messages and Importer Security Filing... the Paperwork Reduction Act: Cargo Manifest/Declaration, Stow Plan, Container Status Messages and.../Declaration, Stow Plan, Container Status Messages and Importer Security Filing. OMB Number: 1651-0001. Form...

A compensatory role for declarative memory in neurodevelopmental disorders

Science.gov (United States)

Ullman, Michael T.; Pullman, Mariel Y.

2015-01-01

Most research on neurodevelopmental disorders has focused on their abnormalities. However, what remains intact may also be important. Increasing evidence suggests that declarative memory, a critical learning and memory system in the brain, remains largely functional in a number of neurodevelopmental disorders. Because declarative memory remains functional, and because this system can learn and retain numerous types of information, functions, and tasks, it should be able to play compensatory roles for multiple types of impairments across the disorders. Here, we examine this hypothesis for specific language impairment, dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder, Tourette syndrome, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. We lay out specific predictions for the hypothesis and review existing behavioral, electrophysiological, and neuroimaging evidence. Overall, the evidence suggests that declarative memory indeed plays compensatory roles for a range of impairments across all five disorders. Finally, we discuss diagnostic, therapeutic and other implications. PMID:25597655

The Arabic Version of The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21: Cumulative scaling and discriminant-validation testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Ali, Amira Mohammed; Ahmed, Anwar; Sharaf, Amira; Kawakami, Norito; Abdeldayem, Samia M; Green, Joseph

2017-12-01

This study aimed to examine the validity of the Arabic version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) in 149 illicit drug users. We calculated α coefficient, inter-item and item-total correlations, coefficients of reproducibility and scalability (CR and CS), item difficulty and discrimination indices. The DASS-21 had an acceptable reliability; but values of the CR and the CS were less than acceptable. Items varied in difficulty and discrimination; some items are candidates for elimination. The DASS-21 is a probabilistic and not a deterministic measure of distress; it has problematic items and needs further investigations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

37 CFR 251.72 - Declaration of controversy: Initiation of arbitration proceeding.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... OFFICE, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS COPYRIGHT ARBITRATION ROYALTY PANEL RULES AND PROCEDURES COPYRIGHT ARBITRATION ROYALTY PANEL RULES OF PROCEDURE Royalty Fee Distribution Proceedings § 251.72 Declaration of... royalties, the Librarian shall publish in the Federal Register a declaration of controversy along with a...

The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21): further examination of dimensions, scale reliability, and correlates.

Science.gov (United States)

Osman, Augustine; Wong, Jane L; Bagge, Courtney L; Freedenthal, Stacey; Gutierrez, Peter M; Lozano, Gregorio

2012-12-01

We conducted two studies to examine the dimensions, internal consistency reliability estimates, and potential correlates of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). Participants in Study 1 included 887 undergraduate students (363 men and 524 women, aged 18 to 35 years; mean [M] age = 19.46, standard deviation [SD] = 2.17) recruited from two public universities to assess the specificity of the individual DASS-21 items and to evaluate estimates of internal consistency reliability. Participants in a follow-up study (Study 2) included 410 students (168 men and 242 women, aged 18 to 47 years; M age = 19.65, SD = 2.88) recruited from the same universities to further assess factorial validity and to evaluate potential correlates of the original DASS-21 total and scale scores. Item bifactor and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a general factor accounted for the greatest proportion of common variance in the DASS-21 item scores (Study 1). In Study 2, the fit statistics showed good fit for the bifactor model. In addition, the DASS-21 total scale score correlated more highly with scores on a measure of mixed depression and anxiety than with scores on the proposed specific scales of depression or anxiety. Coefficient omega estimates for the DASS-21 scale scores were good. Further investigations of the bifactor structure and psychometric properties of the DASS-21, specifically its incremental and discriminant validity, using known clinical groups are needed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

77 FR 76063 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-26

... Activities: Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection... collection requirement concerning the Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles (Form 3299). This... concerning the following information collection: Title: Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles...

78 FR 69101 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee That Articles...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-18

... Activities: Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or... the Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee that Articles were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...: Title: Declaration of the Ultimate Consignee that Articles were Exported for Temporary Scientific or...

Development of Automatic Quality Check Software in Mailbox Declaration For Nuclear Fuel Fabrication Plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Minsu; Shim, Hye Won; Jo, Seong Yeon; Lee, Kwang Yeol; Ban, Myoung Jin

2014-01-01

Short Notice Random Inspection (SNRI) is a new IAEA safeguards inspection regime for bulk handing facility, which utilities random inspection through a mailbox system. Its main objective is to verify 100% of the flow components of the safeguarded nuclear material at such a facility. To achieve the SNRI objective, it is required to provide daily mailbox declaration, by a facility's operator, to the IAEA with regard to information, such as the receipt and shipment of nuclear materials. Mailbox declarations are then later compared with accounting records so as to examine the accuracy and consistency of the facility operator's declaration at the time of the SNRI. The IAEA has emphasized the importance of accurate mailbox declarations and recommended that the ROK initiate its own independent quality control system in order to improve and maintain its mailbox declarations as a part of the SSAC activities. In an effort to improve the transparency of operational activities at fuel fabrication plants and to satisfy IAEA recommendation, an automatic quality check software application has been developed to improve mailbox declarations at fabrication plants in Korea. The ROK and the IAEA have recognized the importance of providing good quality mailbox declaration for an effective and efficient SNRI at fuel fabrication plants in Korea. The SRA developed an automatic quality check software program in order to provide an independent QC system of mailbox declaration, as well as to improve the quality of mailbox declaration. Once the automatic QC system is implemented, it will improve the quality of an operator's mailbox declaration by examining data before sending it to the IAEA. The QC system will be applied to fuel fabrication plants in the first half of 2014

Oscillatory Reinstatement Enhances Declarative Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Javadi, Amir-Homayoun; Glen, James C; Halkiopoulos, Sara; Schulz, Mei; Spiers, Hugo J

2017-10-11

Declarative memory recall is thought to involve the reinstatement of neural activity patterns that occurred previously during encoding. Consistent with this view, greater similarity between patterns of activity recorded during encoding and retrieval has been found to predict better memory performance in a number of studies. Recent models have argued that neural oscillations may be crucial to reinstatement for successful memory retrieval. However, to date, no causal evidence has been provided to support this theory, nor has the impact of oscillatory electrical brain stimulation during encoding and retrieval been assessed. To explore this we used transcranial alternating current stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of human participants [ n = 70, 45 females; age mean (SD) = 22.12 (2.16)] during a declarative memory task. Participants received either the same frequency during encoding and retrieval (60-60 or 90-90 Hz) or different frequencies (60-90 or 90-60 Hz). When frequencies matched there was a significant memory improvement (at both 60 and 90 Hz) relative to sham stimulation. No improvement occurred when frequencies mismatched. Our results provide support for the role of oscillatory reinstatement in memory retrieval. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Recent neurobiological models of memory have argued that large-scale neural oscillations are reinstated to support successful memory retrieval. Here we used transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to test these models. tACS has recently been shown to induce neural oscillations at the frequency stimulated. We stimulated over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during a declarative memory task involving learning a set of words. We found that tACS applied at the same frequency during encoding and retrieval enhances memory. We also find no difference between the two applied frequencies. Thus our results are consistent with the proposal that reinstatement of neural oscillations during retrieval

7 CFR 1540.21 - Definition.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Definition. 1540.21 Section 1540.21 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF... cut flowers provided for in items 192.17, 192.18, and 192.21 of the TSUS; and (f) Concentrated citrus...

The Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo's Declaration of Independence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Besnik MURATI

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The question raised by Serbia at the ICJ that, “Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?”, is my main focus in this study. The purpose of the paper is the study and analysis of the advisory opinion of the ICJ on Kosovo's declaration of independence. In the beginning, I will make a brief chronology of the process up to the Declaration of Independence, offering historical and legal facts that this way of declaration of independence was the only option for Kosovo. Later, I will focus on contesting the declaration of independence from Serbia at the ICJ of UN. After contesting the Declaration of Independence, will analyze the review and its judgment the ICJ, whether ICJ had jurisdiction in the treatment and trial of the case, countries with their statements that were in support of Kosovo and countries which they were against it and in favor of Serbia. After review and trial at the ICJ, I would analyze the decision of the ICJ that Kosovo's declaration of independence was in accordance with International Law? In conclusion, I would summarize the whole of the paper, the process through which Kosovo went during this period. Was also an undeniable fact that the Declaration of Independence was the only remaining option for Kosovo and its people?

Declarative interpretations of session-based concurrency

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cano, Mauricio; Rueda, Camilo; López-Acosta, Hugo-Andrés

2015-01-01

Session-based concurrency is a type-based approach to the analysis of communication-intensive systems. Correct behavior in these systems may be specified in an operational or declarative style: the former defines how interactions are structured; the latter defines governing conditions...

A shared resource between declarative memory and motor memory

OpenAIRE

Keisler, Aysha; Shadmehr, Reza

2010-01-01

The neural systems that support motor adaptation in humans are thought to be distinct from those that support the declarative system. Yet, during motor adaptation changes in motor commands are supported by a fast adaptive process that has important properties (rapid learning, fast decay) that are usually associated with the declarative system. The fast process can be contrasted to a slow adaptive process that also supports motor memory, but learns gradually and shows resistance to forgetting....

Not to declare dead someone still alive: Case reports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anđelić Slađana

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Diagnosing death represents an activity that carries a great deal of public responsibility for medical professionals and is continually exposed to the control of citizens and media. Although this is a taboo subject in medical circles, unfortunately in medical practice there are situations when the physician issues a death diagnosis form without even examining the person or for an already buried person. Such physician’s action is impermissible and it leads to the possibility of professional and criminal law punishment. Case Outline. By giving examples from practice, we wish to point out the need for exceptional caution when confirming and diagnosing death in order to diagnose the true, i.e. rule out apparent death and consequently avoid the mistake of declaring dead someone still alive. Conclusion. When confirming and declaring death, exceptional caution of the physician is necessary so as not to declare dead someone still alive!

76 FR 27079 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-10

... Activities: Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles AGENCY: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of...: Declaration of Unaccompanied Articles (CBP Form 255). This is a proposed extension of an information... Articles. OMB Number: 1651-0030. Form Number: CBP Form 255. Abstract: CBP Form 255 is completed by...

The Role of Item Models in Automatic Item Generation

Science.gov (United States)

Gierl, Mark J.; Lai, Hollis

2012-01-01

Automatic item generation represents a relatively new but rapidly evolving research area where cognitive and psychometric theories are used to produce tests that include items generated using computer technology. Automatic item generation requires two steps. First, test development specialists create item models, which are comparable to templates…

Hippocampal declarative memory supports gesture production: Evidence from amnesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilverman, Caitlin; Cook, Susan Wagner; Duff, Melissa C

2016-12-01

Spontaneous co-speech hand gestures provide a visuospatial representation of what is being communicated in spoken language. Although it is clear that gestures emerge from representations in memory for what is being communicated (De Ruiter, 1998; Wesp, Hesse, Keutmann, & Wheaton, 2001), the mechanism supporting the relationship between gesture and memory is unknown. Current theories of gesture production posit that action - supported by motor areas of the brain - is key in determining whether gestures are produced. We propose that when and how gestures are produced is determined in part by hippocampally-mediated declarative memory. We examined the speech and gesture of healthy older adults and of memory-impaired patients with hippocampal amnesia during four discourse tasks that required accessing episodes and information from the remote past. Consistent with previous reports of impoverished spoken language in patients with hippocampal amnesia, we predicted that these patients, who have difficulty generating multifaceted declarative memory representations, may in turn have impoverished gesture production. We found that patients gestured less overall relative to healthy comparison participants, and that this was particularly evident in tasks that may rely more heavily on declarative memory. Thus, gestures do not just emerge from the motor representation activated for speaking, but are also sensitive to the representation available in hippocampal declarative memory, suggesting a direct link between memory and gesture production. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing item fit for unidimensional item response theory models using residuals from estimated item response functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Haberman, Shelby J; Sinharay, Sandip; Chon, Kyong Hee

2013-07-01

Residual analysis (e.g. Hambleton & Swaminathan, Item response theory: principles and applications, Kluwer Academic, Boston, 1985; Hambleton, Swaminathan, & Rogers, Fundamentals of item response theory, Sage, Newbury Park, 1991) is a popular method to assess fit of item response theory (IRT) models. We suggest a form of residual analysis that may be applied to assess item fit for unidimensional IRT models. The residual analysis consists of a comparison of the maximum-likelihood estimate of the item characteristic curve with an alternative ratio estimate of the item characteristic curve. The large sample distribution of the residual is proved to be standardized normal when the IRT model fits the data. We compare the performance of our suggested residual to the standardized residual of Hambleton et al. (Fundamentals of item response theory, Sage, Newbury Park, 1991) in a detailed simulation study. We then calculate our suggested residuals using data from an operational test. The residuals appear to be useful in assessing the item fit for unidimensional IRT models.

Problems with the factor analysis of items: Solutions based on item response theory and item parcelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gideon P. De Bruin

2004-10-01

Full Text Available The factor analysis of items often produces spurious results in the sense that unidimensional scales appear multidimensional. This may be ascribed to failure in meeting the assumptions of linearity and normality on which factor analysis is based. Item response theory is explicitly designed for the modelling of the non-linear relations between ordinal variables and provides a strong alternative to the factor analysis of items. Items may also be combined in parcels that are more likely to satisfy the assumptions of factor analysis than do the items. The use of the Rasch rating scale model and the factor analysis of parcels is illustrated with data obtained with the Locus of Control Inventory. The results of these analyses are compared with the results obtained through the factor analysis of items. It is shown that the Rasch rating scale model and the factoring of parcels produce superior results to the factor analysis of items. Recommendations for the analysis of scales are made. Opsomming Die faktorontleding van items lewer dikwels misleidende resultate op, veral in die opsig dat eendimensionele skale as meerdimensioneel voorkom. Hierdie resultate kan dikwels daaraan toegeskryf word dat daar nie aan die aannames van lineariteit en normaliteit waarop faktorontleding berus, voldoen word nie. Itemresponsteorie, wat eksplisiet vir die modellering van die nie-liniêre verbande tussen ordinale items ontwerp is, bied ’n aantreklike alternatief vir die faktorontleding van items. Items kan ook in pakkies gegroepeer word wat meer waarskynlik aan die aannames van faktorontleding voldoen as individuele items. Die gebruik van die Rasch beoordelingskaalmodel en die faktorontleding van pakkies word aan die hand van data wat met die Lokus van Beheervraelys verkry is, gedemonstreer. Die resultate van hierdie ontledings word vergelyk met die resultate wat deur ‘n faktorontleding van die individuele items verkry is. Die resultate dui daarop dat die Rasch

Declarative Process Mining for DCR Graphs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Debois, Søren; Hildebrandt, Thomas T.; Laursen, Paw Høvsgaard

2017-01-01

We investigate process mining for the declarative Dynamic Condition Response (DCR) graphs process modelling language. We contribute (a) a process mining algorithm for DCR graphs, (b) a proposal for a set of metrics quantifying output model quality, and (c) a preliminary example-based comparison...

Stress enhances reconsolidation of declarative memory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bos, M.G.N.; Schuijer, J.; Lodestijn, F.; Beckers, T.; Kindt, M.

2014-01-01

Retrieval of negative emotional memories is often accompanied by the experience of stress. Upon retrieval, a memory trace can temporarily return into a labile state, where it is vulnerable to change. An unresolved question is whether post-retrieval stress may affect the strength of declarative

Item information and discrimination functions for trinary PCM items

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Akkermans, Wies; Muraki, Eiji

1997-01-01

For trinary partial credit items the shape of the item information and the item discrimination function is examined in relation to the item parameters. In particular, it is shown that these functions are unimodal if δ2 – δ1 < 4 ln 2 and bimodal otherwise. The locations and values of the maxima are

Normative foundations of technology transfer and transnational benefit principles in the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights.

Science.gov (United States)

Faunce, Thomas Alured; Nasu, Hitoshi

2009-06-01

The United Nations Scientific, Education, and Cultural Organization Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (UDBHR) expresses in its title and substance a controversial linkage of two normative systems: international human rights law and bioethics. The UDBHR has the status of what is known as a "nonbinding" declaration under public international law. The UDBHR's foundation within bioethics (and association, e.g., with virtue-based or principlist bioethical theories) is more problematic. Nonetheless, the UDBHR contains socially important principles of technology transfer and transnational benefit (articles 14, 15, and 21). This paper is one of the first to explore how the disciplines of bioethics and international human rights law may interact in the UDBHR to advance the policy relevance and health impact of such principles. It investigates their normative ancestry in the UDBHR, as well as relevant conceptual differences between bioethics and public international law in this respect, and how these may be relevant to their conceptual evolution and application.

Efficient MPEG-2 to H.264/AVC Transcoding of Intra-Coded Video

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vetro Anthony

2007-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an efficient transform-domain architecture and corresponding mode decision algorithms for transcoding intra-coded video from MPEG-2 to H.264/AVC. Low complexity is achieved in several ways. First, our architecture employs direct conversion of the transform coefficients, which eliminates the need for the inverse discrete cosine transform (DCT and forward H.264/AVC transform. Then, within this transform-domain architecture, we perform macroblock-based mode decisions based on H.264/AVC transform coefficients, which is possible using a novel method of calculating distortion in the transform domain. The proposed method for distortion calculation could be used to make rate-distortion optimized mode decisions with lower complexity. Compared to the pixel-domain architecture with rate-distortion optimized mode decision, simulation results show that there is a negligible loss in quality incurred by the direct conversion of transform coefficients and the proposed transform-domain mode decision algorithms, while complexity is significantly reduced. To further reduce the complexity, we also propose two fast mode decision algorithms. The first algorithm ranks modes based on a simple cost function in the transform domain, then computes the rate-distortion optimal mode from a reduced set of ranked modes. The second algorithm exploits temporal correlations in the mode decision between temporally adjacent frames. Simulation results show that these algorithms provide additional computational savings over the proposed transform-domain architecture while maintaining virtually the same coding efficiency.

Accounting for change in declarative memory: A cognitive neuroscience perspective

OpenAIRE

Richmond, Jenny; Nelson, Charles A.

2007-01-01

The medial temporal lobe memory system matures relatively early and supports rudimentary declarative memory in young infants. There is considerable development, however, in the memory processes that underlie declarative memory performance during infancy. Here we consider age-related changes in encoding, retention, and retrieval in the context of current knowledge about the brain systems that may underlie these memory processes. While changes in infants’ encoding may be attributed to rapid mye...

7 CFR 2902.21 - Disposable containers.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Disposable containers. 2902.21 Section 2902.21... Items § 2902.21 Disposable containers. (a) Definition. Products designed to be used for temporary... paragraph (d): Disposable containers can include boxes and packaging made from paper. Under the Resource...

Adults Living with Type 2 Diabetes: Kept Personal Health Information Items as Expressions of Need

Science.gov (United States)

Whetstone, Melinda

2013-01-01

This study investigated personal information behavior and information needs that 21 adults managing life with Type 2 diabetes identify explicitly and implicitly during discussions of item acquisition and use of health information items that are kept in their homes. Research drew upon a naturalistic lens, in that semi-structured interviews were…

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1968-01-01

Human Rights Year, so designated by the United Nations, is now coming to an end. The full text of the Universal Declaration, proclaimed in 1946, is given as a reminder of its ideals. In 1966 Covenants for acceptance by States were drawn up and opened for signature. (author)

Item level diagnostics and model - data fit in item response theory ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Item response theory (IRT) is a framework for modeling and analyzing item response data. Item-level modeling gives IRT advantages over classical test theory. The fit of an item score pattern to an item response theory (IRT) models is a necessary condition that must be assessed for further use of item and models that best fit ...

21 CFR 201.21 - Declaration of presence of phenylalanine as a component of aspartame in over-the-counter and...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... component of aspartame in over-the-counter and prescription drugs for human use. 201.21 Section 201.21 Food... component of aspartame in over-the-counter and prescription drugs for human use. (a) Aspartame is the... acids are so combined to form aspartame (1-methyl N-L-α-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine), they produce an...

The Jakarta Declaration on health promotion in the 21st century.

Science.gov (United States)

1998-01-01

The Fourth International Conference on Health Promotion, held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in July 1997, focused on the theme: New Players for a New Era--Leading Health Promotion into the 21st Century. Health promotion strategies can change life-styles as well as the social, economic, and environmental conditions that determine health. Most effective are comprehensive approaches that combine public policy efforts, the creation of supportive environments, community action, the development of personal skills, and a reorientation of health services. Also required is the creation of new partnerships for health between different sectors at all levels of society and government. The conference identified five priorities for health promotion in the 21st century: 1) promote social responsibility for health; 2) increase investments for health development, especially for groups such as women, children, older persons, the indigenous, the poor, and marginalized populations; 3) consolidate and expand partnerships for health to enable the sharing of expertise, skills, and resources; 4) increase community capacity and empower the individual; and 5) secure an infrastructure for health promotion through new funding mechanisms, intersectoral collaboration, and training of local leadership.

The International Lunar Decade Declaration

Science.gov (United States)

Beldavs, V.; Foing, B.; Bland, D.; Crisafulli, J.

2015-10-01

The International Lunar Decade Declaration was discussed at the conference held November 9-13, 2014 in Hawaii "The Next Giant Leap: Leveraging Lunar Assets for Sustainable Pathways to Space" - http://2014giantleap.aerospacehawaii.info/ and accepted by a core group that forms the International Lunar Decade Working Group (ILDWG) that is seeking to make the proposed global event and decade long process a reality. The Declaration will be updated from time to time by members of the ILDWreflecting new knowledge and fresh perspectives that bear on building a global consortium with a mission to progress from lunar exploration to the transformation of the Moon into a wealth gene rating platform for the expansion of humankind into the solar system. When key organizations have endorsed the idea and joined the effort the text of the Declaration will be considered final. An earlier International Lunar Decade proposal was issued at the 8th ICEUM Conference in 2006 in Beijing together with 13 specific initiatives for lunar exploration[1,2,3]. These initiatives have been largely implemented with coordination among the different space agencies involved provided by the International Lunar Exploration Working Group[2,3]. The Second International Lunar Decade from 2015 reflects current trends towards increasing involvement of commercial firms in space, particularly seeking opportunities beyond low Earth orbit. The central vision of the International Lunar Decade is to build the foundations for a sustainable space economy through international collaboration concurrently addressing Lunar exploration and building a shared knowledge base;Policy development that enables collabo rative research and development leading to lunar mining and industrial and commercial development;Infrastructure on the Moon and in cislunar space (communications, transport, energy systems, way-stations, other) that reduces costs, lowers risks and speeds up the time to profitable operations;Enabling technologies

A Formal Model For Declarative Workflows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mukkamala, Raghava Rao

it as a general formal model for specification and execution of declarative, event-based business processes, as a generalization of a concurrency model, the classic event structures. The model allows for an intuitive operational semantics and mapping of execution state by a notion of markings of the graphs and we...

The Amstersam declaration on fungal nomenclature

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hawksworth, David L.; Crous, Pedro W.; Redhead, Scott A.

2011-01-01

The Amsterdam Declaration on Fungal Nomenclature was agreed at an international symposium convened in Amsterdam on 19–20 April 2011 under the auspices of the International Commission on the Taxonomy of Fungi (ICTF). The purpose of the symposium was to address the issue of whether or how the current...

Declarative memory performance is associated with the number of sleep spindles in elderly women.

Science.gov (United States)

Seeck-Hirschner, Mareen; Baier, Paul Christian; Weinhold, Sara Lena; Dittmar, Manuela; Heiermann, Steffanie; Aldenhoff, Josef B; Göder, Robert

2012-09-01

Recent evidence suggests that the sleep-dependent consolidation of declarative memory relies on the nonrapid eye movement rather than the rapid eye movement phase of sleep. In addition, it is known that aging is accompanied by changes in sleep and memory processes. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the overnight consolidation of declarative memory in healthy elderly women. Sleep laboratory of University. Nineteen healthy elderly women (age range: 61-74 years). We used laboratory-based measures of sleep. To test declarative memory, the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test was performed. Declarative memory performance in elderly women was associated with Stage 2 sleep spindle density. Women characterized by high memory performance exhibited significantly higher numbers of sleep spindles and higher spindle density compared with women with generally low memory performance. The data strongly support theories suggesting a link between sleep spindle activity and declarative memory consolidation.

Argentine-Brazilian declaration on common nuclear policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-12-01

The document reproduces the texts of the speeches made by the Presidents of Argentina and Brazil at Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, on 28 November 1990, at the signing of the Argentine-Brazilian Declaration on Common Nuclear Policy

77 FR 52379 - Disaster Declaration #13239 and #13240; OHIO Disaster # H-00030

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-29

... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Disaster Declaration 13239 and 13240; OHIO Disaster H-00030 AGENCY... declaration of a major disaster for Public Assistance Only for the State of OHIO (FEMA-4077- DR), dated 08/20..., Perry, Pickaway, Pike, Putnam, Shelby, Van Wert, Washington. The Interest Rates are: Percent For...

Normal-range verbal-declarative memory in schizophrenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Heinrichs, R Walter; Parlar, Melissa; Pinnock, Farena

2017-10-01

Cognitive impairment is prevalent and related to functional outcome in schizophrenia, but a significant minority of the patient population overlaps with healthy controls on many performance measures, including declarative-verbal-memory tasks. In this study, we assessed the validity, clinical, and functional implications of normal-range (NR), verbal-declarative memory in schizophrenia. Performance normality was defined using normative data for 8 basic California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II; Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 2000) recall and recognition trials. Schizophrenia patients (n = 155) and healthy control participants (n = 74) were assessed for performance normality, defined as scores within 1 SD of the normative mean on all 8 trials, and assigned to normal- and below-NR memory groups. NR schizophrenia patients (n = 26) and control participants (n = 51) did not differ in general verbal ability, on a reading-based estimate of premorbid ability, across all 8 CVLT-II-score comparisons or in terms of intrusion and false-positive errors and auditory working memory. NR memory patients did not differ from memory-impaired patients (n = 129) in symptom severity, and both patient groups were significantly and similarly disabled in terms of functional status in the community. These results confirm a subpopulation of schizophrenia patients with normal, verbal-declarative-memory performance and no evidence of decline from higher premorbid ability levels. However, NR patients did not experience less severe psychopathology, nor did they show advantage in community adjustment relative to impaired patients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Cairo youth declaration.

Science.gov (United States)

Ladjali, M

1995-01-01

More than 100 young people from 56 countries voiced their needs and concerns in a Youth Consultation held just before the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), August 31 to September 4, 1994. Many journalists from the international press followed the consultation and interviewed the youths, with a short film even produced on the proceedings. After discussing the main topics of the ICPD, participants produced a Youth Declaration with recommendations for action and conclusions for partnership. More than 20 participants remained in Cairo to present consultation conclusions in well-attended workshops and role play at the ICPD NGO Forum. One representative presented the Youth Declaration in ICPD plenary session. These young men and women from all regions of the world, from a diversity of cultural, religious, and political backgrounds found common ground on the need for population concerns to be explicitly and consistently integrated with development in the context of a just and equitable international economic system; a strong focus upon youth education and mobilization in the areas of adolescent health, sexual and reproductive health, the environment, human rights, and political and economic systems; and the sense that now is the time to act at the individual, organizational, national, and national levels. Education and safe sexual behavior do not encourage promiscuity. On the contrary, they promote and enhance healthy, responsible relationships, minimizing the incidence of unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections when sex does take place. Participants recommend promoting peer education; involving and educating peers through artistic activities such as music and drama; implementing peer counseling and raising awareness through one-on-one interaction, group discussions, printed media, and radio programs; organizing services for youths in a variety of settings; creating jobs for youths in cooperatives and businesses; educating

Prevalence and predictors of orthorexia nervosa among German students using the 21-item-DOS.

Science.gov (United States)

Depa, Julia; Schweizer, Jenny; Bekers, Sandra-Kristin; Hilzendegen, Carolin; Stroebele-Benschop, Nanette

2017-03-01

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) describes the constant pathological preoccupation with "healthy" nutrition. The current results regarding the prevalence of ON differ widely possibly because of invalid measurement tools. This study aimed to investigate ON prevalence in a sample of German students and to examine age, gender, semester, and nutritional knowledge as potential predictors of ON by comparing nutrition science (NS) with economics (ES) students. A total of 446 university students participated in the survey (NS 188, ES 268). ON was determined using the 21-item-DOS, which is a well-constructed, validated, and reliability-tested questionnaire. Age, gender, and semester were also assessed. Of the total sample, 3.3 % were classified as having ON and 9.0 % were at risk of developing ON. Older students scored significantly higher on the subscale "avoidance of additives" compared with younger students and students of lower semester suffered significantly more often from ON than students of higher semester. In addition, comparing field of study showed no significant difference in the prevalence of ON or the risk of developing ON between female NS and ES students. However, mean values for the three DOS subscales were higher among female NS students, albeit far below values indicating pathological behavior. The prevalence of ON appears to be low in this sample of German university students. Female NS students do not seem to have higher prevalence of ON or risk of developing ON.

Long-term consolidation of declarative memory: insight from temporal lobe epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Tramoni, Eve; Felician, Olivier; Barbeau, Emmanuel J; Guedj, Eric; Guye, Maxime; Bartolomei, Fabrice; Ceccaldi, Mathieu

2011-03-01

Several experiments carried out with a subset of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy have demonstrated normal memory performance at standard delays of recall (i.e. minutes to hours) but impaired performance over longer delays (i.e. days or weeks), suggesting altered long-term consolidation mechanisms. These mechanisms were specifically investigated in a group of five adult-onset pharmaco-sensitive patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, exhibiting severe episodic memory complaints despite normal performance at standardized memory assessment. In a first experiment, the magnitude of autobiographical memory loss was evaluated using retrograde personal memory tasks based on verbal and visual cues. In both conditions, results showed an unusual U-shaped pattern of personal memory impairment, encompassing most of the patients' life, sparing however, periods of the childhood, early adulthood and past several weeks. This profile was suggestive of a long-term consolidation impairment of personal episodes, adequately consolidated over 'short-term' delays but gradually forgotten thereafter. Therefore, in a subsequent experiment, patients were submitted to a protocol specifically devised to investigate short and long-term consolidation of contextually-bound experiences (episodic memory) and context-free information (semantic knowledge and single-items). In the short term (1 h), performance at both contextually-free and contextually-bound memory tasks was intact. After a 6-week delay, however, contextually-bound memory performance was impaired while contextually-free memory performance remained preserved. This effect was independent of task difficulty and the modality of retrieval (recall and recognition). Neuroimaging studies revealed the presence of mild metabolic changes within medial temporal lobe structures. Taken together, these results show the existence of different consolidation systems within declarative memory. They suggest that mild medial temporal lobe dysfunction

Signed reward prediction errors drive declarative learning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Loof, E.; Ergo, K.; Naert, L.; Janssens, C.; Talsma, D.; van Opstal, F.; Verguts, T.

2018-01-01

Reward prediction errors (RPEs) are thought to drive learning. This has been established in procedural learning (e.g., classical and operant conditioning). However, empirical evidence on whether RPEs drive declarative learning–a quintessentially human form of learning–remains surprisingly absent. We

Better assessment of physical function: item improvement is neglected but essential.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruce, Bonnie; Fries, James F; Ambrosini, Debbie; Lingala, Bharathi; Gandek, Barbara; Rose, Matthias; Ware, John E

2009-01-01

Physical function is a key component of patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessment in rheumatology. Modern psychometric methods, such as Item Response Theory (IRT) and Computerized Adaptive Testing, can materially improve measurement precision at the item level. We present the qualitative and quantitative item-evaluation process for developing the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function item bank. The process was stepwise: we searched extensively to identify extant Physical Function items and then classified and selectively reduced the item pool. We evaluated retained items for content, clarity, relevance and comprehension, reading level, and translation ease by experts and patient surveys, focus groups, and cognitive interviews. We then assessed items by using classic test theory and IRT, used confirmatory factor analyses to estimate item parameters, and graded response modeling for parameter estimation. We retained the 20 Legacy (original) Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) and the 10 SF-36's PF-10 items for comparison. Subjects were from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, and healthy aging cohorts (n = 1,100) and a national Internet sample of 21,133 subjects. We identified 1,860 items. After qualitative and quantitative evaluation, 124 newly developed PROMIS items composed the PROMIS item bank, which included revised Legacy items with good fit that met IRT model assumptions. Results showed that the clearest and best-understood items were simple, in the present tense, and straightforward. Basic tasks (like dressing) were more relevant and important versus complex ones (like dancing). Revised HAQ-DI and PF-10 items with five response options had higher item-information content than did comparable original Legacy items with fewer response options. IRT analyses showed that the Physical Function domain satisfied general criteria for unidimensionality with one-, two-, three-, and four-factor models

Bifactor and Item Response Theory Analyses of Interviewer Report Scales of Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia

Science.gov (United States)

Reise, Steven P.; Ventura, Joseph; Keefe, Richard S. E.; Baade, Lyle E.; Gold, James M.; Green, Michael F.; Kern, Robert S.; Mesholam-Gately, Raquelle; Nuechterlein, Keith H.; Seidman, Larry J.; Bilder, Robert

2011-01-01

A psychometric analysis of 2 interview-based measures of cognitive deficits was conducted: the 21-item Clinical Global Impression of Cognition in Schizophrenia (CGI-CogS; Ventura et al., 2008), and the 20-item Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS; Keefe et al., 2006), which were administered on 2 occasions to a sample of people with…

Left hemisphere EEG coherence in infancy predicts infant declarative pointing and preschool epistemic language.

Science.gov (United States)

Kühn-Popp, N; Kristen, S; Paulus, M; Meinhardt, J; Sodian, B

2016-01-01

Pointing plays a central role in preverbal communication. While imperative pointing aims at influencing another person's behavior, declarative gestures serve to convey epistemic information and to share interest in an object. Further, the latter are hypothesized to be a precursor ability of epistemic language. So far, little is known about their underlying brain maturation processes. Therefore, the present study investigated the relation between brain maturation processes and the production of imperative and declarative motives as well as epistemic language in N = 32 infants. EEG coherence scores were measured at 14 months, imperative and declarative point production at 15 months and epistemic language at 48 months. Results of correlational analyses suggest distinct behavioral and neural patterns for imperative and declarative pointing, with declarative pointing being associated with the maturation of the left hemisphere. Further, EEG coherence measures of the left hemisphere at 14 months and declarative pointing at 15 months are related to individual differences in epistemic language skills at 48 months, independently of child IQ. In regression analyses, coherence measures of the left hemisphere prove to be the most important predictor of epistemic language skills. Thus, neural processes of the left hemisphere seem particularly relevant to social communication.

47 CFR 68.348 - Changes in equipment and circuitry subject to a Supplier's Declaration of Conformity.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Supplier's Declaration of Conformity. 68.348 Section 68.348 Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS... a Supplier's Declaration of Conformity. (a) No change shall be made in terminal equipment or... Declaration of Conformity Statement furnished to users. (b) Any other changes in terminal equipment or...

Structural Validation of a French Food Frequency Questionnaire of 94 Items.

Science.gov (United States)

Gazan, Rozenn; Vieux, Florent; Darmon, Nicole; Maillot, Matthieu

2017-01-01

Food frequency questionnaires (FFQs) are used to estimate the usual food and nutrient intakes over a period of time. Such estimates can suffer from measurement errors, either due to bias induced by respondent's answers or to errors induced by the structure of the questionnaire (e.g., using a limited number of food items and an aggregated food database with average portion sizes). The "structural validation" presented in this study aims to isolate and quantify the impact of the inherent structure of a FFQ on the estimation of food and nutrient intakes, independently of respondent's perception of the questionnaire. A semi-quantitative FFQ ( n  = 94 items, including 50 items with questions on portion sizes) and an associated aggregated food composition database (named the item-composition database) were developed, based on the self-reported weekly dietary records of 1918 adults (18-79 years-old) in the French Individual and National Dietary Survey 2 (INCA2), and the French CIQUAL 2013 food-composition database of all the foods ( n  = 1342 foods) declared as consumed in the population. Reference intakes of foods ("REF_FOOD") and nutrients ("REF_NUT") were calculated for each adult using the food-composition database and the amounts of foods self-reported in his/her dietary record. Then, answers to the FFQ were simulated for each adult based on his/her self-reported dietary record. "FFQ_FOOD" and "FFQ_NUT" intakes were estimated using the simulated answers and the item-composition database. Measurement errors (in %), spearman correlations and cross-classification were used to compare "REF_FOOD" with "FFQ_FOOD" and "REF_NUT" with "FFQ_NUT". Compared to "REF_NUT," "FFQ_NUT" total quantity and total energy intake were underestimated on average by 198 g/day and 666 kJ/day, respectively. "FFQ_FOOD" intakes were well estimated for starches, underestimated for most of the subgroups, and overestimated for some subgroups, in particular vegetables. Underestimation were

Linking Existing Instruments to Develop an Activity of Daily Living Item Bank.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chih-Ying; Romero, Sergio; Bonilha, Heather S; Simpson, Kit N; Simpson, Annie N; Hong, Ickpyo; Velozo, Craig A

2018-03-01

This study examined dimensionality and item-level psychometric properties of an item bank measuring activities of daily living (ADL) across inpatient rehabilitation facilities and community living centers. Common person equating method was used in the retrospective veterans data set. This study examined dimensionality, model fit, local independence, and monotonicity using factor analyses and fit statistics, principal component analysis (PCA), and differential item functioning (DIF) using Rasch analysis. Following the elimination of invalid data, 371 veterans who completed both the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) and minimum data set (MDS) within 6 days were retained. The FIM-MDS item bank demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .98) and met three rating scale diagnostic criteria and three of the four model fit statistics (comparative fit index/Tucker-Lewis index = 0.98, root mean square error of approximation = 0.14, and standardized root mean residual = 0.07). PCA of Rasch residuals showed the item bank explained 94.2% variance. The item bank covered the range of θ from -1.50 to 1.26 (item), -3.57 to 4.21 (person) with person strata of 6.3. The findings indicated the ADL physical function item bank constructed from FIM and MDS measured a single latent trait with overall acceptable item-level psychometric properties, suggesting that it is an appropriate source for developing efficient test forms such as short forms and computerized adaptive tests.

New procedure for declaring changes in family and personal situation

CERN Multimedia

2014-01-01

On taking up their appointment, Members of the Personnel (employed and associated) are required to provide official documents as evidence of their family situation. Any subsequent change in their personal situation, or that of their family members, must be declared in writing to the Organization within 30 calendar days.   As part of their efforts to simplify procedures, the Administrative Processes Section (DG-RPC-PA) and the HR and GS Departments have produced a new EDH form entitled “Change of family and personal situation", which must be used to declare the following changes: birth or adoption of a child; marriage; divorce; entry into a civil partnership officially registered in a Member State; dissolution of such a partnership; change of name; change of nationality or new nationality.   Members of the Personnel must create the form themselves and provide the information required for the type of declaration concerned, indicating, if applicable, any benefit...

A Bifactor Multidimensional Item Response Theory Model for Differential Item Functioning Analysis on Testlet-Based Items

Science.gov (United States)

Fukuhara, Hirotaka; Kamata, Akihito

2011-01-01

A differential item functioning (DIF) detection method for testlet-based data was proposed and evaluated in this study. The proposed DIF model is an extension of a bifactor multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) model for testlets. Unlike traditional item response theory (IRT) DIF models, the proposed model takes testlet effects into…

Evaluation of five guidelines for option development in multiple-choice item-writing.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, Rafael J; Moreno, Rafael; Martín, Irene; Trigo, M Eva

2009-05-01

This paper evaluates certain guidelines for writing multiple-choice test items. The analysis of the responses of 5013 subjects to 630 items from 21 university classroom achievement tests suggests that an option should not differ in terms of heterogeneous content because such error has a slight but harmful effect on item discrimination. This also occurs with the "None of the above" option when it is the correct one. In contrast, results do not show the supposedly negative effects of a different-length option, the use of specific determiners, or the use of the "All of the above" option, which not only decreases difficulty but also improves discrimination when it is the correct option.

Gender-Based Differential Item Performance in Mathematics Achievement Items.

Science.gov (United States)

Doolittle, Allen E.; Cleary, T. Anne

1987-01-01

Eight randomly equivalent samples of high school seniors were each given a unique form of the ACT Assessment Mathematics Usage Test (ACTM). Signed measures of differential item performance (DIP) were obtained for each item in the eight ACTM forms. DIP estimates were analyzed and a significant item category effect was found. (Author/LMO)

Evaluation of psychometric properties and differential item functioning of 8-item Child Perceptions Questionnaires using item response theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Yau, David T W; Wong, May C M; Lam, K F; McGrath, Colman

2015-08-19

Four-factor structure of the two 8-item short forms of Child Perceptions Questionnaire CPQ11-14 (RSF:8 and ISF:8) has been confirmed. However, the sum scores are typically reported in practice as a proxy of Oral health-related Quality of Life (OHRQoL), which implied a unidimensional structure. This study first assessed the unidimensionality of 8-item short forms of CPQ11-14. Item response theory (IRT) was employed to offer an alternative and complementary approach of validation and to overcome the limitations of classical test theory assumptions. A random sample of 649 12-year-old school children in Hong Kong was analyzed. Unidimensionality of the scale was tested by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), principle component analysis (PCA) and local dependency (LD) statistic. Graded response model was fitted to the data. Contribution of each item to the scale was assessed by item information function (IIF). Reliability of the scale was assessed by test information function (TIF). Differential item functioning (DIF) across gender was identified by Wald test and expected score functions. Both CPQ11-14 RSF:8 and ISF:8 did not deviate much from the unidimensionality assumption. Results from CFA indicated acceptable fit of the one-factor model. PCA indicated that the first principle component explained >30 % of the total variation with high factor loadings for both RSF:8 and ISF:8. Almost all LD statistic items suggesting little contribution of information to the scale and item removal caused little practical impact. Comparing the TIFs, RSF:8 showed slightly better information than ISF:8. In addition to oral symptoms items, the item "Concerned with what other people think" demonstrated a uniform DIF (p Items related to oral symptoms were not informative to OHRQoL and deletion of these items is suggested. The impact of DIF across gender on the overall score was minimal. CPQ11-14 RSF:8 performed slightly better than ISF:8 in measurement precision. The 6-item short forms

9 CFR 93.219 - Declaration for poultry.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 9 Animals and Animal Products 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Declaration for poultry. 93.219... AGRICULTURE EXPORTATION AND IMPORTATION OF ANIMALS (INCLUDING POULTRY) AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS IMPORTATION OF CERTAIN ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISH, AND POULTRY, AND CERTAIN ANIMAL, BIRD, AND POULTRY PRODUCTS; REQUIREMENTS...

9 CFR 93.804 - Declaration upon arrival.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... FOR MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS Elephants, Hippopotami, Rhinoceroses, and Tapirs § 93.804 Declaration upon arrival. Upon arrival of an elephant, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, or tapir at a..., rhinoceros, or tapir was shipped; (h) The number, species, and purpose of importation of the elephant...

Effects of dividing attention on memory for declarative and procedural aspects of tool use.

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Shumita; Park, Norman W

2016-07-01

Tool-related knowledge and skills are supported by a complex set of memory processes that are not well understood. Some aspects of tools are mediated by either declarative or procedural memory, while other aspects may rely on an interaction of both systems. Although motor skill learning is believed to be primarily supported by procedural memory, there is debate in the current literature regarding the role of declarative memory. Growing evidence suggests that declarative memory may be involved during early stages of motor skill learning, although findings have been mixed. In the current experiment, healthy, younger adults were trained to use a set of novel complex tools and were tested on their memory for various aspects of the tools. Declarative memory encoding was interrupted by dividing attention during training. Findings showed that dividing attention during training was detrimental for subsequent memory for tool attributes as well as accurate demonstration of tool use and tool grasping. However, dividing attention did not interfere with motor skill learning, suggesting that declarative memory is not essential for skill learning associated with tools.

44 CFR 204.23 - Processing a request for a fire management assistance declaration.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... management assistance declaration. The Principal Advisor may consult with State agencies, usually emergency... 44 Emergency Management and Assistance 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Processing a request for a fire management assistance declaration. 204.23 Section 204.23 Emergency Management and Assistance...

The Significance of UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on the Human Genome & Human Rights

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shawn H.E. Harmon

2005-03-01

Full Text Available Modern medical research, particularly genetic research, is changing the nature of medicine. Concerns surrounding these changes and their potential negative impact on human rights led UNESCO to spearhead collaboration by experts in the creation of an international instrument intended to provide guidance for the promotion of bioethics and the protection of human rights in the genetic context. The result was the Universal Declaration of the Human Genome and Human Rights. This article briefly highlights the scientific and social setting into which the Declaration was injected. This is followed by a consideration of the drafting body (the IBC so as to assess whether UNESCO was the appropriate body to lead this project. The process by which the Declaration was created is also considered so as to assess whether it represents an example of ethical and democratic drafting. Finally, the substantive content of the Declaration is considered and measured against the pre-existing regime so as to assess whether it represents an intelligible and coherent response to the concerns raised capable of offering guidance now and into the future. By assessing these procedural and substantive matters, one can draw some tentative conclusions about the utility and significance of the Declaration.

Declarative and procedural learning in children and adolescents with posterior fossa tumours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Casares Encarnación

2006-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This quasi-experimental study was designed to assess two important learning types – procedural and declarative – in children and adolescents affected by posterior fossa tumours (astrocytoma vs. medulloblastoma, given that memory has an important impact on the child's academic achievement and personal development. Methods We had three groups: two clinical (eighteen subjects and one control (twelve subjects. The learning types in these groups were assessed by two experimental tasks evaluating procedural-implicit and declarative memory. A Serial Reaction-Time Task was used to measure procedural sequence learning, and the Spanish version 1 of the California Verbal Learning Test-Children's Version- CVLT- 2 to measure declarative-explicit learning. The learning capacity was assessed considering only the blocks that represent learning, and were compared with MANOVA in clinical and normal subjects. The Raven, simple reaction-time, finger-tapping test, and grooved pegboard tests were used to assess the overall functioning of subjects. The results were compared with those from a control group of the same age, and with Spanish norm-referenced tools where available Results The results indicate the absence of procedural-implicit learning in both clinical groups, whereas declarative-explicit learning is maintained in both groups. Conclusion The clinical groups showed a conservation of declarative learning and a clear impairment of procedural learning. The results support the role of the cerebellum in the early phase of procedural learning.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Science.gov (United States)

Landorf, Hilary

2012-01-01

A study of human rights prepares students for their role as global citizens and their study of practices in the world's countries that relate to the rights of human beings. Today, when one talks of human rights it is usually with reference to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It is the task of teachers to give students the…

9 CFR 93.425 - Declaration for ruminants.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... CERTAIN ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISH, AND POULTRY, AND CERTAIN ANIMAL, BIRD, AND POULTRY PRODUCTS; REQUIREMENTS FOR MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS Ruminants Mexico 10 § 93.425 Declaration for ruminants. For all ruminants offered for importation from Mexico, the importer or his or her agent shall present...

7 CFR 361.3 - Declarations and labeling.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... declaration must state the kind, variety, and origin of each lot of seed or screenings and the use for which... names used on the label shall be the commonly accepted coined, chemical (generic), or abbreviated... distinctly contrasting color. Mercurials and similarly toxic substances include the following: Aldrin...

Fast bi-directional prediction selection in H.264/MPEG-4 AVC temporal scalable video coding.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Hung-Chih; Hang, Hsueh-Ming; Peng, Wen-Hsiao

2011-12-01

In this paper, we propose a fast algorithm that efficiently selects the temporal prediction type for the dyadic hierarchical-B prediction structure in the H.264/MPEG-4 temporal scalable video coding (SVC). We make use of the strong correlations in prediction type inheritance to eliminate the superfluous computations for the bi-directional (BI) prediction in the finer partitions, 16×8/8×16/8×8 , by referring to the best temporal prediction type of 16 × 16. In addition, we carefully examine the relationship in motion bit-rate costs and distortions between the BI and the uni-directional temporal prediction types. As a result, we construct a set of adaptive thresholds to remove the unnecessary BI calculations. Moreover, for the block partitions smaller than 8 × 8, either the forward prediction (FW) or the backward prediction (BW) is skipped based upon the information of their 8 × 8 partitions. Hence, the proposed schemes can efficiently reduce the extensive computational burden in calculating the BI prediction. As compared to the JSVM 9.11 software, our method saves the encoding time from 48% to 67% for a large variety of test videos over a wide range of coding bit-rates and has only a minor coding performance loss. © 2011 IEEE

2. The Amsterdam Declaration on fungal nomenclature

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hawksworth, David L.; Crous, Pedro W.; Redhead, Scott A.

2011-01-01

The Amsterdam Declaration on Fungal Nomenclature was agreed at an international symposium convened in Amsterdam on 19-20 April 2011 under the auspices of the International Commission on the Taxonomy of Fungi (ICTF). The purpose of the symposium was to address the issue of whether or how the current...... to advise on the problem. The Declaration recognizes the need for an orderly transition to a single-name nomenclatural system for all fungi, and to provide mechanisms to protect names that otherwise then become endangered. That is, meaning that priority should be given to the first described name, except...... where there is a younger name in general use when the first author to select a name of a pleomorphic monophyletic genus is to be followed, and suggests controversial cases are referred to a body, such as the ICTF, which will report to the Committee for Fungi. If appropriate, the ICTF could be mandated...

Non-declarative memory in the rehabilitation of amnesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavaco, S; Malec, J F; Bergquist, T

2005-09-01

The ability of amnesic patients to learn and retain non-declarative information has been consistently demonstrated in the literature. This knowledge provided by basic cognitive neuroscience studies has been widely neglected in neuropsychological rehabilitation of memory impaired patients. This study reports the case of a 43 year old man with severe amnesia following an anterior communicating artery (ACoA) aneurysm rupture. The patient integrated a comprehensive (holistic) day treatment programme for rehabilitation of brain injury. The programme explored the advantages of using preserved non-declarative memory capacities, in the context of commonly used rehabilitation approaches (i.e. compensation for lost function and domain-specific learning). The patient's ability to learn and retain new cognitive and perceptual-motor skills was found to be critical for the patient's improved independence and successful return to work.

Item response theory, computerized adaptive testing, and PROMIS: assessment of physical function.

Science.gov (United States)

Fries, James F; Witter, James; Rose, Matthias; Cella, David; Khanna, Dinesh; Morgan-DeWitt, Esi

2014-01-01

Patient-reported outcome (PRO) questionnaires record health information directly from research participants because observers may not accurately represent the patient perspective. Patient-reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) is a US National Institutes of Health cooperative group charged with bringing PRO to a new level of precision and standardization across diseases by item development and use of item response theory (IRT). With IRT methods, improved items are calibrated on an underlying concept to form an item bank for a "domain" such as physical function (PF). The most informative items can be combined to construct efficient "instruments" such as 10-item or 20-item PF static forms. Each item is calibrated on the basis of the probability that a given person will respond at a given level, and the ability of the item to discriminate people from one another. Tailored forms may cover any desired level of the domain being measured. Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) selects the best items to sharpen the estimate of a person's functional ability, based on prior responses to earlier questions. PROMIS item banks have been improved with experience from several thousand items, and are calibrated on over 21,000 respondents. In areas tested to date, PROMIS PF instruments are superior or equal to Health Assessment Questionnaire and Medical Outcome Study Short Form-36 Survey legacy instruments in clarity, translatability, patient importance, reliability, and sensitivity to change. Precise measures, such as PROMIS, efficiently incorporate patient self-report of health into research, potentially reducing research cost by lowering sample size requirements. The advent of routine IRT applications has the potential to transform PRO measurement.

Commercial satellite data as support to the additional protocol declarations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joensson, Camilla; Andersson, Christer

2001-01-01

Full text: Objectives - The overall objective of the project is to show how commercial satellite data can be used for safeguard purposes both at SKI and the International Atomic Energy Agency. Furthermore this project will support IAEA in its process to develop methods to make the best use of provided information such as digitised maps and satellite images. Finally it will give IAEA a case study of the usefulness of satellite data for change detection purposes. Background - The protocol calls among others for an extended/complete declaration of all nuclear fuel cycle-related research and development activities as well as sites where nuclear material is or was customarily used. The declaration shall include descriptions of all buildings at the sites as well as maps. In parallel to the development of the additional protocol IAEA has started to use a variety of measures/techniques both to verify that declarations are complete and correct but also to be able to come to the conclusion that a state has no undeclared nuclear material or undeclared nuclear activities. One such technique is the use of commercial satellite data. The IAEA is now in the process of evaluating the usefulness and effectiveness of such data for safeguard purposes. In order to come to a decision on how to use satellite data IAEA is highly dependant on support from member states which can provide results from case studies etc. Analysis - This project shall provide SKI with digitised maps and commercial satellite data by the means of GIS to verify the descriptions provided by two of the nuclear operators. Furthermore those digital data can be included in the declaration given to IAEA. The overall aim is to enhance the quality of the Swedish declaration including support to IAEA to develop methods to use commercial satellite data. Results - The paper will present experiences and mapping results made during the work. (author)

21 CFR 163.153 - Sweet chocolate and vegetable fat coating.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Sweet chocolate and vegetable fat coating. 163.153... § 163.153 Sweet chocolate and vegetable fat coating. (a) Description. Sweet chocolate and vegetable fat... requirements for label declaration of ingredients for sweet chocolate in § 163.123, except that one or more...

21 CFR 163.155 - Milk chocolate and vegetable fat coating.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Milk chocolate and vegetable fat coating. 163.155... § 163.155 Milk chocolate and vegetable fat coating. (a) Description. Milk chocolate and vegetable fat... label declaration of ingredients for milk chocolate in § 163.130 or skim milk chocolate in § 163.140...

A Method for Generating Educational Test Items That Are Aligned to the Common Core State Standards

Science.gov (United States)

Gierl, Mark J.; Lai, Hollis; Hogan, James B.; Matovinovic, Donna

2015-01-01

The demand for test items far outstrips the current supply. This increased demand can be attributed, in part, to the transition to computerized testing, but, it is also linked to dramatic changes in how 21st century educational assessments are designed and administered. One way to address this growing demand is with automatic item generation.…

Qualitative Development and Content Validation of the PROMIS Pediatric Sleep Health Items.

Science.gov (United States)

Bevans, Katherine B; Meltzer, Lisa J; De La Motte, Anna; Kratchman, Amy; Viél, Dominique; Forrest, Christopher B

2018-04-25

To develop the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pediatric Sleep Health item pool and evaluate its content validity. Participants included 8 expert sleep clinician-researchers, 64 children ages 8-17 years, and 54 parents of children ages 5-17 years. We started with item concepts and expressions from the PROMIS Sleep Disturbance and Sleep Related Impairment adult measures. Additional pediatric sleep health concepts were generated by expert (n = 8), child (n = 28), and parent (n = 33) concept elicitation interviews and a systematic review of existing pediatric sleep health questionnaires. Content validity of the item pool was evaluated with item translatability review, readability analysis, and child (n = 36) and parent (n = 21) cognitive interviews. The final pediatric Sleep Health item pool includes 43 items that assess sleep disturbance (children's capacity to fall and stay asleep, sleep quality, dreams, and parasomnias) and sleep-related impairments (daytime sleepiness, low energy, difficulty waking up, and the impact of sleep and sleepiness on cognition, affect, behavior, and daily activities). Items are translatable and relevant and well understood by children ages 8-17 and parents of children ages 5-17. Rigorous qualitative procedures were used to develop and evaluate the content validity of the PROMIS Pediatric Sleep Health item pool. Once the item pool's psychometric properties are established, the scales will be useful for measuring children's subjective experiences of sleep.

9 CFR 93.322 - Declaration for horses.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... CERTAIN ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISH, AND POULTRY, AND CERTAIN ANIMAL, BIRD, AND POULTRY PRODUCTS; REQUIREMENTS FOR MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS Horses Mexico 18 § 93.322 Declaration for horses. For all horses offered for importation from Mexico, the importer or his or her agent shall present two...

Argentine-Brazilian declaration on common nuclear policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-12-01

The document reproduces the text of the Argentine-Brazilian Declaration on Common Nuclear Policy, signed by the Presidents of Argentina and Brazil at Foz do Ignacu, Brazil, on 28 November 1990. At the invitation of the Governments of Argentina and Brazil, the Agency's Director General attended the signing ceremony

STUDI KOMPARATIF ANTARA UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS 1948 DAN THE CAIRO DECLARATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN ISLAM 1990

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunaryo Sunaryo

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Diskusi Hak Asasi Manusia (HAM merupakan salah satu topik yang tetap aktual dan mengglobal di samping masalah demokrasi dan lingkungan hidup. Manusia sebagai makhluk Tuhan dan makhluk sosial memiliki hak-hak asasi yang mesti dihormati dan dilindungi oleh siapapun. Di dalam Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 (UDHR dan di dalam The Cairo Declaration on Human Rights In Islam 1990 (CD, berbagai macam hak-hak asasi dimaksud telah diatur secara general dan komprehensif. Meskipun demikian, di antara kedua deklarasi tersebut di samping mempunyai persamaan juga memiliki perbedaan. Perbedaan-perbedaan tersebut antara lain tentang asal atau sumber dari masing-masing deklarasi yang tidak sama, hak atas kebebasan beragama dan hak untuk menikah, serta hak atas kewarganegaraan seseorang. Sementara itu ada juga ketentuan-ketentuan yang diatur di dalam CD tetapi tidak diatur dalam UDHR atau sebaliknya, seperti tentang riba (Pasal 14 CD tidak diatur di dalam UDHR, sebaliknya ketentuan tentang kebebasan berserikat dan berkumpul (Pasal 20 UDHR tidak diatur di dalam CD

High variation in manufacturer-declared serving size of packaged discretionary foods in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Haskelberg, Hila; Neal, Bruce; Dunford, Elizabeth; Flood, Victoria; Rangan, Anna; Thomas, Beth; Cleanthous, Xenia; Trevena, Helen; Zheng, Jazzmin Miaobing; Louie, Jimmy Chun Yu; Gill, Timothy; Wu, Jason H Y

2016-05-28

Despite the potential of declared serving size to encourage appropriate portion size consumption, most countries including Australia have not developed clear reference guidelines for serving size. The present study evaluated variability in manufacturer-declared serving size of discretionary food and beverage products in Australia, and how declared serving size compared with the 2013 Australian Dietary Guideline (ADG) standard serve (600 kJ). Serving sizes were obtained from the Nutrition Information Panel for 4466 packaged, discretionary products in 2013 at four large supermarkets in Sydney, Australia, and categorised into fifteen categories in line with the 2013 ADG. For unique products that were sold in multiple package sizes, the percentage difference between the minimum and the maximum serving size across different package sizes was calculated. A high variation in serving size was found within the majority of food and beverage categories - for example, among 347 non-alcoholic beverages (e.g. soft drinks), the median for serving size was 250 (interquartile range (IQR) 250, 355) ml (range 100-750 ml). Declared serving size for unique products that are available in multiple package sizes also showed high variation, particularly for chocolate-based confectionery, with median percentage difference between minimum and maximum serving size of 183 (IQR 150) %. Categories with a high proportion of products that exceeded the 600 kJ ADG standard serve included cakes and muffins, pastries and desserts (≥74 % for each). High variability in declared serving size may confound interpretation and understanding of consumers interested in standardising and controlling their portion selection. Future research is needed to assess if and how standardising declared serving size might affect consumer behaviour.

Post-trial obligations in the Declaration of Helsinki 2013: classification, reconstruction and interpretation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mastroleo, Ignacio

2016-08-01

The general aim of this article is to give a critical interpretation of post-trial obligations towards individual research participants in the Declaration of Helsinki 2013. Transitioning research participants to the appropriate health care when a research study ends is a global problem. The publication of a new version of the Declaration of Helsinki is a great opportunity to discuss it. In my view, the Declaration of Helsinki 2013 identifies at least two clearly different types of post-trial obligations, specifically, access to care after research and access to information after research. The agents entitled to receive post-trial access are the individual participants in research studies. The Declaration identifies the sponsors, researchers and host country governments as the main agents responsible for complying with the post-trial obligations mentioned above. To justify this interpretation of post-trial obligations, I first introduce a classification of post-trial obligations and illustrate its application with examples from post-trial ethics literature. I then make a brief reconstruction of the formulations of post-trial obligations of the Declaration of Helsinki from 2000 to 2008 to correlate the changes with some of the most salient ethical arguments. Finally I advance a critical interpretation of the latest formulation of post-trial obligations. I defend the view that paragraph 34 of 'Post-trial provisions' is an improved formulation by comparison with earlier versions, especially for identifying responsible agents and abandoning ambiguous 'fair benefit' language. However, I criticize the disappearance of 'access to other appropriate care' present in the Declaration since 2004 and the narrow scope given to obligations of access to information after research. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Use and declaration of additives in meat products: New legal regulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vuković Ilija

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the more important additives used in meat products, their functional characteristics, the permitted quantities and declaration in keeping with the new legal regulations. Additives important for meat products, according to their functional characteristics, can be preservatives, antioxidants, stabilizers, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, acidity regulators, sequestrants, thickeners, gelling agents, modified starches, acids, colours, aroma enhancers, packaging gases and coating powders, and it must be pointed out that many additives have several functional characteristics at the same time. In stating additives in the list of contents of a product, the elementary functional characteristic of the additive is given with the E number or name of the additive in brackets; modified starches are declared as „starch" without giving the E number. The declaration does not state the quantity of the additive added to the product, or the biggest permitted quantity of the additive in the given product.

Preliminary study on the establishment of the radionuclide declaration methods for radionuclides in LILW radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, K. H.; Lee, K. J.; Jung, C. W.

2003-01-01

The preliminary study on declaration methods has been done for each radionuclide in LILW radwaste drum in Korean NPPs. View from the preliminary establishment of radio nuclide declaration methods, The selection of assessment target nuclide through the qualitative method and preliminary criteria for routine declaration methods in each radio nuclide was derived. First of all, selection criteria and preliminary assessment method for each target radionuclide was surveyed and investigated. And, the selection criteria and selected the target radio nuclides from the basis on criteria was derived. And the preliminary suggestion about the declaration methods for each target radio nuclide was established

9 CFR 93.521 - Declaration for swine.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... CERTAIN ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISH, AND POULTRY, AND CERTAIN ANIMAL, BIRD, AND POULTRY PRODUCTS; REQUIREMENTS FOR MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS Swine Mexico 9 § 93.521 Declaration for swine. For all swine offered for importation from Mexico, the importer or his or her agent shall present two copies of...

Methylphenidate produces selective enhancement of declarative memory consolidation in healthy volunteers.

Science.gov (United States)

Linssen, A M W; Vuurman, E F P M; Sambeth, A; Riedel, W J

2012-06-01

Methylphenidate inhibits the reuptake of dopamine and noradrenaline and is used to treat children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Besides reducing behavioral symptoms, it improves their cognitive function. There are also observations of methylphenidate-induced cognition enhancement in healthy adults, although studies in this area are relatively sparse. We assessed the possible memory-enhancing properties of methylphenidate. In the current study, the possible enhancing effects of three doses of methylphenidate on declarative and working memory, attention, response inhibition and planning were investigated in healthy volunteers. In a double blind placebo-controlled crossover study, 19 healthy young male volunteers were tested after a single dose of placebo or 10, 20 or 40 mg of methylphenidate. Cognitive performance testing included a word learning test as a measure of declarative memory, a spatial working memory test, a set-shifting test, a stop signal test and a computerized version of the Tower of London planning test. Declarative memory consolidation was significantly improved relative to placebo after 20 and 40 mg of methylphenidate. Methylphenidate also improved set shifting and stopped signal task performance but did not affect spatial working memory or planning. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study reporting enhanced declarative memory consolidation after methylphenidate in a dose-related fashion over a dose range that is presumed to reflect a wide range of dopamine reuptake inhibition.

Study on the System Requirements and Structures of Mailbox Declaration System for Reference Pyroprocessing Facility in the ROK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeon, Jong Kyu

2011-01-01

The mailbox declaration system applied for the implementation of Safeguards at the Reference Pyroprocessing Facility (REPF) plays important role to support the declared information provided from Near-Real Time Accountancy (NRTA) and provides reference data to confirm the measurement results generated from the Unattended Monitoring System (UMS) for the purposes of verification and real-time monitoring of the movements and changes of nuclear materials (NM) at the processes in the REPF. In order to install and operate the mailbox declaration system at the REPF, this study focused on the operation, security, transmission of confidential information, procedure for transmission of mailbox declaration system as system requirements, and structure of mailbox declaration system to review the declared information through the mailbox by the national authority and to transmit the revised information to the IAEA

75 FR 76746 - Agency Information Collection Activities: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-09

... Activities: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or... That Articles Were Exported for Temporary Scientific or Educational Purposes. This is a proposed... forms of information. Title: Declaration of Ultimate Consignee That Articles Were Exported for Temporary...

75 FR 51834 - Mississippi; Amendment No. 3 to Notice of a Major Disaster Declaration

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-23

... concerning Federal funds provided under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency... Management Assistance Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and Households In Presidentially Declared Disaster Areas; 97.049, Presidentially Declared Disaster Assistance--Disaster Housing...

The Analysis of a Real Life Declarative Process

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Debois, Søren; Slaats, Tijs

2015-01-01

This paper reports on a qualitative study of the use of declarative process notations used in a commercial setting. Specifically, we investigate the actual use of a system implemented in terms of DCR graphs for the Danish "Dreyer Foundation" by our industry partner Exformatics A/S. The study...... by the declarative model, and (2) use process discovery techniques to examine if a perfect-fitness flow-based model representing the main business constraints is in fact easy to come by. For (1), we find evidence in various forms, most notably an apparent change in best practices by end-users allowed by the model....... For (2), we find no such model. We leave as a challenge to the community the construction of a flow-based model adequately representing the business constraints and supporting all observed behaviour by the users, whether by hand or by mining....

Environmental Labels and Declarations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frydendal, Jeppe; Hansen, Lisbeth; Bonou, Alexandra

2018-01-01

Based on the terminology and structure developed by the International Organization for Standardization, a description is given on the types of ecolabels that build on life cycle assessments. Focus is on type I labels that point out products and services with an overall environmental preferability...... of labelling, the use of ecolabels in marketing, and the way ecolabels help build a market for “greener products”. Type III labels—or Environmental Product Declarations—are also briefly described with indicative examples from the building sector, a declaration for office furniture, and an introduction is given...... to the European Commission’s programme for product—and organisational environmental footprints ....

Directed forgetting of complex pictures in an item method paradigm.

Science.gov (United States)

Hauswald, Anne; Kissler, Johanna

2008-11-01

An item-cued directed forgetting paradigm was used to investigate the ability to control episodic memory and selectively encode complex coloured pictures. A series of photographs was presented to 21 participants who were instructed to either remember or forget each picture after it was presented. Memory performance was later tested with a recognition task where all presented items had to be retrieved, regardless of the initial instructions. A directed forgetting effect--that is, better recognition of "to-be-remembered" than of "to-be-forgotten" pictures--was observed, although its size was smaller than previously reported for words or line drawings. The magnitude of the directed forgetting effect correlated negatively with participants' depression and dissociation scores. The results indicate that, at least in an item method, directed forgetting occurs for complex pictures as well as words and simple line drawings. Furthermore, people with higher levels of dissociative or depressive symptoms exhibit altered memory encoding patterns.

15 CFR 713.4 - Advance declaration requirements for additionally planned production, processing, or consumption...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... additionally planned production, processing, or consumption of Schedule 2 chemicals. 713.4 Section 713.4..., processing, or consumption of Schedule 2 chemicals. (a) Declaration requirements for additionally planned activities. (1) You must declare additionally planned production, processing, or consumption of Schedule 2...

Integrating declarative knowledge programming styles and tools for building expert systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barbuceanu, M; Trausan-Matu, S; Molnar, B

1987-01-01

The XRL system reported in this paper is an integrated knowledge programming environment whose major research theme is the investigation of declarative knowledge programming styles and features and of the way they can be effectively integrated and used to support AI programming. This investigation is carried out in the context of the structured-object representation paradigm which provides the glue keeping XRL components together. The paper describes several declarative programming styles and associated support tools available in XRL. These include an instantiation system supporting a generalized view of the ubiquous frame installation process, a description based programming system providing a novel declarative programming style which embeds a mathematical oriented description language in the structured object environment and a transformational interpreter for using it, a semantics oriented programming framework which offers a specific semantic construct based approach supporting maintenance and evolution and a self description and self generation tool which applies the latter approach to XRL itself. 29 refs., 16 figs.

Temporal binding function of dorsal CA1 is critical for declarative memory formation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sellami, Azza; Al Abed, Alice Shaam; Brayda-Bruno, Laurent; Etchamendy, Nicole; Valério, Stéphane; Oulé, Marie; Pantaléon, Laura; Lamothe, Valérie; Potier, Mylène; Bernard, Katy; Jabourian, Maritza; Herry, Cyril; Mons, Nicole; Piazza, Pier-Vincenzo; Eichenbaum, Howard; Marighetto, Aline

2017-09-19

Temporal binding, the process that enables association between discontiguous stimuli in memory, and relational organization, a process that enables the flexibility of declarative memories, are both hippocampus-dependent and decline in aging. However, how these two processes are related in supporting declarative memory formation and how they are compromised in age-related memory loss remain hypothetical. We here identify a causal link between these two features of declarative memory: Temporal binding is a necessary condition for the relational organization of discontiguous events. We demonstrate that the formation of a relational memory is limited by the capability of temporal binding, which depends on dorsal (d)CA1 activity over time intervals and diminishes in aging. Conversely, relational representation is successful even in aged individuals when the demand on temporal binding is minimized, showing that relational/declarative memory per se is not impaired in aging. Thus, bridging temporal intervals by dCA1 activity is a critical foundation of relational representation, and a deterioration of this mechanism is responsible for the age-associated memory impairment.

Radioactive waste management and the Rio Conference of 1992

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tourtellotte, James R.

1995-01-01

Among other items adopted by the Plenary of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, were Agenda 21, Chapter 22, entitled Safe and Environmentally Sound Management of Radioactive Wastes and Agenda 9, The Rio Declaration of Environment and Development. This report presents an overview and relevant text concerning these two Agendas, with the objectives, activities, international and regional cooperation and coordination, implementation and principles

75 FR 82241 - Technical Correction: Completion of Entry and Entry Summary-Declaration of Value

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-30

... Entry Summary-- Declaration of Value AGENCY: Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland... manner by which the declared transaction value on imported merchandise was determined. This requirement... whether the transaction value of imported merchandise is determined on the basis of the price paid by the...

Structural Validation of a French Food Frequency Questionnaire of 94 Items

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rozenn Gazan

2017-12-01

Full Text Available BackgroundFood frequency questionnaires (FFQs are used to estimate the usual food and nutrient intakes over a period of time. Such estimates can suffer from measurement errors, either due to bias induced by respondent’s answers or to errors induced by the structure of the questionnaire (e.g., using a limited number of food items and an aggregated food database with average portion sizes. The “structural validation” presented in this study aims to isolate and quantify the impact of the inherent structure of a FFQ on the estimation of food and nutrient intakes, independently of respondent’s perception of the questionnaire.MethodsA semi-quantitative FFQ (n = 94 items, including 50 items with questions on portion sizes and an associated aggregated food composition database (named the item-composition database were developed, based on the self-reported weekly dietary records of 1918 adults (18–79 years-old in the French Individual and National Dietary Survey 2 (INCA2, and the French CIQUAL 2013 food-composition database of all the foods (n = 1342 foods declared as consumed in the population. Reference intakes of foods (“REF_FOOD” and nutrients (“REF_NUT” were calculated for each adult using the food-composition database and the amounts of foods self-reported in his/her dietary record. Then, answers to the FFQ were simulated for each adult based on his/her self-reported dietary record. “FFQ_FOOD” and “FFQ_NUT” intakes were estimated using the simulated answers and the item-composition database. Measurement errors (in %, spearman correlations and cross-classification were used to compare “REF_FOOD” with “FFQ_FOOD” and “REF_NUT” with “FFQ_NUT”.ResultsCompared to “REF_NUT,” “FFQ_NUT” total quantity and total energy intake were underestimated on average by 198 g/day and 666 kJ/day, respectively. “FFQ_FOOD” intakes were well estimated for starches, underestimated for most of the subgroups, and

Memorandum from the HR Department and the Legal Service concerning income tax declarations for 2006 in SWITZERLAND

CERN Document Server

2007-01-01

As the Swiss authorities have yet to make known their instructions on how to complete the income tax declaration forms for 2006, members of the CERN personnel who have received or may receive an income tax declaration form must request an extension of the deadline for returning the form to their tax office. Canton of Geneva Declaration forms must be returned by 31 March. An extension to 30 June can be obtained by telephone (stating your tax number) by calling 022 327 49 00 before 31 March. Canton of Vaud Declaration forms must be returned by 15 March. An extension to 15 June can be obtained by telephone (stating your tax number) by calling 021 316 00 00 before 15 March. Canton of Valais Declaration forms must be returned by 31 March. An extension to 31 July can be obtained from the relevant tax office. Please contact the HR Department for further information. Canton of Fribourg Declaration forms must be returned by 31 March. Requests for extensions should be submitted in writing (stating your tax num...

Declarative flow control for distributed instrumentation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Parvin, Bahram; Taylor, John; Fontenay, Gerald; Callahan, Daniel

2001-06-01

We have developed a 'microscopy channel' to advertise a unique set of on-line scientific instruments and to let users join a particular session, perform an experiment, collaborate with other users, and collect data for further analysis. The channel is a collaborative problem solving environment (CPSE) that allows for both synchronous and asynchronous collaboration, as well as flow control for enhanced scalability. The flow control is a declarative feature that enhances software functionality at the experimental scale. Our testbed includes several unique electron and optical microscopes with applications ranging from material science to cell biology. We have built a system that leverages current commercial CORBA services, Web Servers, and flow control specifications to meet diverse requirements for microscopy and experimental protocols. In this context, we have defined and enhanced Instrument Services (IS), Exchange Services (ES), Computational Services (CS), and Declarative Services (DS) that sit on top of CORBA and its enabling services (naming, trading, security, and notification) IS provides a layer of abstraction for controlling any type of microscope. ES provides a common set of utilities for information management and transaction. CS provides the analytical capabilities needed for online microscopy. DS provides mechanisms for flow control for improving the dynamic behavior of the system.

Evaluation of item candidates for a diabetic retinopathy quality of life item bank.

Science.gov (United States)

Fenwick, Eva K; Pesudovs, Konrad; Khadka, Jyoti; Rees, Gwyn; Wong, Tien Y; Lamoureux, Ecosse L

2013-09-01

We are developing an item bank assessing the impact of diabetic retinopathy (DR) on quality of life (QoL) using a rigorous multi-staged process combining qualitative and quantitative methods. We describe here the first two qualitative phases: content development and item evaluation. After a comprehensive literature review, items were generated from four sources: (1) 34 previously validated patient-reported outcome measures; (2) five published qualitative articles; (3) eight focus groups and 18 semi-structured interviews with 57 DR patients; and (4) seven semi-structured interviews with diabetes or ophthalmic experts. Items were then evaluated during 3 stages, namely binning (grouping) and winnowing (reduction) based on key criteria and panel consensus; development of item stems and response options; and pre-testing of items via cognitive interviews with patients. The content development phase yielded 1,165 unique items across 7 QoL domains. After 3 sessions of binning and winnowing, items were reduced to a minimally representative set (n = 312) across 9 domains of QoL: visual symptoms; ocular surface symptoms; activity limitation; mobility; emotional; health concerns; social; convenience; and economic. After 8 cognitive interviews, 42 items were amended resulting in a final set of 314 items. We have employed a systematic approach to develop items for a DR-specific QoL item bank. The psychometric properties of the nine QoL subscales will be assessed using Rasch analysis. The resulting validated item bank will allow clinicians and researchers to better understand the QoL impact of DR and DR therapies from the patient's perspective.

Development of a subjective cognitive decline questionnaire using item response theory: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gifford, Katherine A; Liu, Dandan; Romano, Raymond; Jones, Richard N; Jefferson, Angela L

2015-12-01

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) may indicate unhealthy cognitive changes, but no standardized SCD measurement exists. This pilot study aims to identify reliable SCD questions. 112 cognitively normal (NC, 76±8 years, 63% female), 43 mild cognitive impairment (MCI; 77±7 years, 51% female), and 33 diagnostically ambiguous participants (79±9 years, 58% female) were recruited from a research registry and completed 57 self-report SCD questions. Psychometric methods were used for item-reduction. Factor analytic models assessed unidimensionality of the latent trait (SCD); 19 items were removed with extreme response distribution or trait-fit. Item response theory (IRT) provided information about question utility; 17 items with low information were dropped. Post-hoc simulation using computerized adaptive test (CAT) modeling selected the most commonly used items (n=9 of 21 items) that represented the latent trait well (r=0.94) and differentiated NC from MCI participants (F(1,146)=8.9, p=0.003). Item response theory and computerized adaptive test modeling identified nine reliable SCD items. This pilot study is a first step toward refining SCD assessment in older adults. Replication of these findings and validation with Alzheimer's disease biomarkers will be an important next step for the creation of a SCD screener.

The role of attention in item-item binding in visual working memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Dwight J; Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe

2017-09-01

An important yet unresolved question regarding visual working memory (VWM) relates to whether or not binding processes within VWM require additional attentional resources compared with processing solely the individual components comprising these bindings. Previous findings indicate that binding of surface features (e.g., colored shapes) within VWM is not demanding of resources beyond what is required for single features. However, it is possible that other types of binding, such as the binding of complex, distinct items (e.g., faces and scenes), in VWM may require additional resources. In 3 experiments, we examined VWM item-item binding performance under no load, articulatory suppression, and backward counting using a modified change detection task. Binding performance declined to a greater extent than single-item performance under higher compared with lower levels of concurrent load. The findings from each of these experiments indicate that processing item-item bindings within VWM requires a greater amount of attentional resources compared with single items. These findings also highlight an important distinction between the role of attention in item-item binding within VWM and previous studies of long-term memory (LTM) where declines in single-item and binding test performance are similar under divided attention. The current findings provide novel evidence that the specific type of binding is an important determining factor regarding whether or not VWM binding processes require attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

State of emergency declared for Gran Sasso

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

"On June 27th the Council of Ministers has declared the state of socioeconomic and environmental emergency in the territory of L'Aquila and Teramo, the provinces involved in the safety of the Gran Sasso system. The measure includes the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratories, the high-way tunnels, the environment in general and water in particular" (1 page).

Item analysis of ADAS-Cog: effect of baseline cognitive impairment in a clinical AD trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Sevigny, Jeffrey J; Peng, Yahong; Liu, Lian; Lines, Christopher R

2010-03-01

We explored the association of Alzheimer's disease (AD) Assessment Scale (ADAS-Cog) item scores with AD severity using cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the same study. Post hoc analyses were performed using placebo data from a 12-month trial of patients with mild-to-moderate AD (N =281 randomized, N =209 completed). Baseline distributions of ADAS-Cog item scores by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) sum of boxes score (measures of dementia severity) were estimated using local and nonparametric regressions. Mixed-effect models were used to characterize ADAS-Cog item score changes over time by dementia severity (MMSE: mild =21-26, moderate =14-20; global CDR: mild =0.5-1, moderate =2). In the cross-sectional analysis of baseline ADAS-Cog item scores, orientation was the most sensitive item to differentiate patients across levels of cognitive impairment. Several items showed a ceiling effect, particularly in milder AD. In the longitudinal analysis of change scores over 12 months, orientation was the only item with noticeable decline (8%-10%) in mild AD. Most items showed modest declines (5%-20%) in moderate AD.

An Agreement to Disagree: The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and the Absence of Regional Identity in Southeast Asia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mathew Davies

2014-01-01

Full Text Available ASEAN’s engagement with human rights culminated in the creation of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration in 2012. The Declaration is fascinating in three ways: Its institutional origins are surprising, it was agreed upon by states with very different positions on the role of human rights domestically, and it both contains commitments far in advance of some members and is at the same time dangerously regressive. The three leading frameworks that currently interrogate the Declaration fail to provide convincing insights into all three of those dimensions. To correct these shortcomings, this article applies the notion of an “incompletely theorized agreement” to the study of the Declaration, arguing that member states understand the Declaration in very different ways and agreed to it for similarly diverse reasons. Further, I argue that the Declaration neither articulates a shared regional identity relating to respect for human rights, nor can it be understood as marking an early point towards the creation of this identity. Instead, the current diversity of regional opinions on human rights and democracy is perceived as legitimate and will endure. The article concludes by considering whether this denudes the Declaration of value, arguing that its importance will vary: The more progressive the member state, the more important the Declaration will be in the future.

Trends in Sodium Content of Menu Items in Large Chain Restaurants in the U.S.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfson, Julia A; Moran, Alyssa J; Jarlenski, Marian P; Bleich, Sara N

2018-01-01

Consuming too much sodium is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease, and restaurant foods are a primary source of sodium. This study assessed recent trends in sodium content of menu items in U.S. chain restaurants. Data from 21,557 menu items in 66 top-earning chain restaurants available from 2012 to 2016 were obtained from the MenuStat project and analyzed in 2017. Generalized linear models were used to examine changes in calorie-adjusted, per-item sodium content of menu items offered in all years (2012-2016) and items offered in 2012 only compared with items newly introduced in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Overall, calorie-adjusted sodium content in newly introduced menu items declined by 104 mg from 2012 to 2016 (prestaurant type; sodium content, particularly for main course items, was high. Sodium declined by 83 mg in fast food restaurants, 19 mg in fast casual restaurants, and 163 mg in full service restaurants. Sodium in appetizer and side items newly introduced in 2016 increased by 266 mg compared with items on the menu in 2012 only (prestaurants. However, sodium content of core and new menu items remain high, and reductions are inconsistent across menu categories and restaurant types. Copyright © 2018 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Interfering with theories of sleep and memory: sleep, declarative memory, and associative interference.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellenbogen, Jeffrey M; Hulbert, Justin C; Stickgold, Robert; Dinges, David F; Thompson-Schill, Sharon L

2006-07-11

Mounting behavioral evidence in humans supports the claim that sleep leads to improvements in recently acquired, nondeclarative memories. Examples include motor-sequence learning; visual-discrimination learning; and perceptual learning of a synthetic language. In contrast, there are limited human data supporting a benefit of sleep for declarative (hippocampus-mediated) memory in humans (for review, see). This is particularly surprising given that animal models (e.g.,) and neuroimaging studies (e.g.,) predict that sleep facilitates hippocampus-based memory consolidation. We hypothesized that we could unmask the benefits of sleep by challenging the declarative memory system with competing information (interference). This is the first study to demonstrate that sleep protects declarative memories from subsequent associative interference, and it has important implications for understanding the neurobiology of memory consolidation.

Refinement of the Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale: Recommendation for a 14-item EBIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Maria Segall-Corrêa

2014-04-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To review and refine Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale structure. METHODS: The study analyzed the impact of removing the item "adult lost weight" and one of two possibly redundant items on Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale psychometric behavior using the one-parameter logistic (Rasch model. Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale psychometric behavior was analyzed with respect to acceptable adjustment values ranging from 0.7 to 1.3, and to severity scores of the items with theoretically expected gradients. The socioeconomic and food security indicators came from the 2004 National Household Sample Survey, which obtained complete answers to Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale items from 112,665 households. RESULTS: Removing the items "adult reduced amount..." followed by "adult ate less..." did not change the infit of the remaining items, except for "adult lost weight", whose infit increased from 1.21 to 1.56. The internal consistency and item severity scores did not change when "adult ate less" and one of the two redundant items were removed. CONCLUSION: Brazilian Household Food Insecurity Measurement Scale reanalysis reduced the number of scale items from 16 to 14 without changing its internal validity. Its use as a nationwide household food security measure is strongly recommended.

Item Response Theory Analyses of the Cambridge Face Memory Test (CFMT)

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Sun-Joo; Wilmer, Jeremy; Herzmann, Grit; McGugin, Rankin; Fiset, Daniel; Van Gulick, Ana E.; Ryan, Katie; Gauthier, Isabel

2014-01-01

We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Cambridge face memory test (CFMT; Duchaine & Nakayama, 2006). First, we assessed the dimensionality of the test with a bi-factor exploratory factor analysis (EFA). This EFA analysis revealed a general factor and three specific factors clustered by targets of CFMT. However, the three specific factors appeared to be minor factors that can be ignored. Second, we fit a unidimensional item response model. This item response model showed that the CFMT items could discriminate individuals at different ability levels and covered a wide range of the ability continuum. We found the CFMT to be particularly precise for a wide range of ability levels. Third, we implemented item response theory (IRT) differential item functioning (DIF) analyses for each gender group and two age groups (Age ≤ 20 versus Age > 21). This DIF analysis suggested little evidence of consequential differential functioning on the CFMT for these groups, supporting the use of the test to compare older to younger, or male to female, individuals. Fourth, we tested for a gender difference on the latent facial recognition ability with an explanatory item response model. We found a significant but small gender difference on the latent ability for face recognition, which was higher for women than men by 0.184, at age mean 23.2, controlling for linear and quadratic age effects. Finally, we discuss the practical considerations of the use of total scores versus IRT scale scores in applications of the CFMT. PMID:25642930

75 FR 51836 - Rhode Island; Amendment No. 6 to Notice of a Major Disaster Declaration

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-23

... concerning Federal funds provided under the authority of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency... Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and Households in Presidentially Declared Disaster Areas; 97.049, Presidentially Declared Disaster Assistance--Disaster Housing Operations for...

Validation and psychometric properties of the Somatic and Psychological HEalth REport (SPHERE) in a young Australian-based population sample using non-parametric item response theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Couvy-Duchesne, Baptiste; Davenport, Tracey A; Martin, Nicholas G; Wright, Margaret J; Hickie, Ian B

2017-08-01

The Somatic and Psychological HEalth REport (SPHERE) is a 34-item self-report questionnaire that assesses symptoms of mental distress and persistent fatigue. As it was developed as a screening instrument for use mainly in primary care-based clinical settings, its validity and psychometric properties have not been studied extensively in population-based samples. We used non-parametric Item Response Theory to assess scale validity and item properties of the SPHERE-34 scales, collected through four waves of the Brisbane Longitudinal Twin Study (N = 1707, mean age = 12, 51% females; N = 1273, mean age = 14, 50% females; N = 1513, mean age = 16, 54% females, N = 1263, mean age = 18, 56% females). We estimated the heritability of the new scores, their genetic correlation, and their predictive ability in a sub-sample (N = 1993) who completed the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. After excluding items most responsible for noise, sex or wave bias, the SPHERE-34 questionnaire was reduced to 21 items (SPHERE-21), comprising a 14-item scale for anxiety-depression and a 10-item scale for chronic fatigue (3 items overlapping). These new scores showed high internal consistency (alpha > 0.78), moderate three months reliability (ICC = 0.47-0.58) and item scalability (Hi > 0.23), and were positively correlated (phenotypic correlations r = 0.57-0.70; rG = 0.77-1.00). Heritability estimates ranged from 0.27 to 0.51. In addition, both scores were associated with later DSM-IV diagnoses of MDD, social anxiety and alcohol dependence (OR in 1.23-1.47). Finally, a post-hoc comparison showed that several psychometric properties of the SPHERE-21 were similar to those of the Beck Depression Inventory. The scales of SPHERE-21 measure valid and comparable constructs across sex and age groups (from 9 to 28 years). SPHERE-21 scores are heritable, genetically correlated and show good predictive ability of mental health in an Australian-based population

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 50 Years Old but Still Coming of Age.

Science.gov (United States)

Flowers, Nancy

1998-01-01

Highlights the events of the past 50 years concerning the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is the first document in human history to codify rights that apply to every person regardless of citizenship in a particular country. Explains why the United States does not comprehend the value of the declaration. (CMK)

Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21): psychometric analysis across four racial groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Norton, Peter J

2007-09-01

Growing cross-cultural awareness has led researchers to examine frequently used research instruments and assessment tools in racially diverse populations. The present study was conducted to assess the psychometric characteristics of the 21-item version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-21) among different racial groups. The DASS-21 was chosen because it appears to be a reliable and easy to administer measure, ideal for both clinical and research purposes. Results suggest that the internal consistency, and convergent and divergent validity of the DASS-21 are similar across racial groups. Multigroup CFA, however, indicated that item loadings were invariant, while scale covariances were not invariant. This suggests that, although the items may load similarly on the depression, anxiety and stress constructs, these constructs may be differentially inter-related across groups. Implications for application in clinical practice are discussed.

Cartagena declaration on renunciation of weapons of mass destruction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-02-01

The document reproduces the text of the Cartagena Declaration on Renunciation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, signed by the Presidents of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela at Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, on 4 December 1991

On the tenth anniversary of the "Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights".

Science.gov (United States)

Petrini, C

2015-01-01

In 2005 the representatives of 191 states meeting for the General Conference of UNESCO unanimously approved the "Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights". The Declaration is the only instrument of its kind: it was the first document adopted by a global organisation that addressed the whole range of issues with which bioethics is concerned and that is a legal instrument. Many of the principles affirmed in the Declaration had already been amply absorbed into the discipline of bioethics. All of them can be traced to the dignity and equality of every individual. The most evident novelty is to be found less in the content of the principles than in the balancing of individual and societal perspectives. Also in evidence are several compromises that were adopted in order to promote dialogue and mutual understanding.

Proving termination of logic programs with delay declarations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E. Marchiori; F. Teusink (Frank)

1996-01-01

textabstractIn this paper we propose a method for proving termination of logic programs with delay declarations. The method is based on the notion of recurrent logic program, which is used to prove programs terminating wrt an arbitrary selection rule. Most importantly, we use the notion of bound

The Influence of Task Demands, Verbal Ability and Executive Functions on Item and Source Memory in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Semino, Sara; Ring, Melanie; Bowler, Dermot M.; Gaigg, Sebastian B.

2018-01-01

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is generally associated with difficulties in contextual source memory but not single item memory. There are surprising inconsistencies in the literature, however, that the current study seeks to address by examining item and source memory in age and ability matched groups of 22 ASD and 21 comparison adults. Results…

Local Agenda 21 - from global idea to local action

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoffmann, Birgitte

1999-01-01

The article give a status of the Danish works with Local Agenda 21 and discusses Local Agenda 21 as a planning tool. It describes the idea of Local Agenda 21 as a large meeting, which everybody attends. This picture is elaborated and discussed form different angles: the items on the agenda...

15 CFR 715.1 - Annual declaration requirements for production by synthesis of unscheduled discrete organic...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... production by synthesis of unscheduled discrete organic chemicals (UDOCs). 715.1 Section 715.1 Commerce and... DISCRETE ORGANIC CHEMICALS (UDOCs) § 715.1 Annual declaration requirements for production by synthesis of unscheduled discrete organic chemicals (UDOCs). (a) Declaration of production by synthesis of UDOCs for...

EU 2004 Declaration. EU policy workshop development of offshore wind energy. Background document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Bruijne, R.

2004-09-01

Participants of the Dutch EU Presidency's 'EU Policy Workshop on the development of offshore wind energy' published this Declaration that called for action at the EU Transport, Energy and Telecom Council on November 29, 2004. The Declaration lists a series of action points on three main issues relating to the development of offshore wind energy in Europe: market development; environment; and grid integration of large scale offshore wind

Differential item functioning magnitude and impact measures from item response theory models.

Science.gov (United States)

Kleinman, Marjorie; Teresi, Jeanne A

2016-01-01

Measures of magnitude and impact of differential item functioning (DIF) at the item and scale level, respectively are presented and reviewed in this paper. Most measures are based on item response theory models. Magnitude refers to item level effect sizes, whereas impact refers to differences between groups at the scale score level. Reviewed are magnitude measures based on group differences in the expected item scores and impact measures based on differences in the expected scale scores. The similarities among these indices are demonstrated. Various software packages are described that provide magnitude and impact measures, and new software presented that computes all of the available statistics conveniently in one program with explanations of their relationships to one another.

ITEM LEVEL DIAGNOSTICS AND MODEL - DATA FIT IN ITEM ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Global Journal

Item response theory (IRT) is a framework for modeling and analyzing item response ... data. Though, there is an argument that the evaluation of fit in IRT modeling has been ... National Council on Measurement in Education ... model data fit should be based on three types of ... prediction should be assessed through the.

The role of sleep in human declarative memory consolidation.

Science.gov (United States)

Alger, Sara E; Chambers, Alexis M; Cunningham, Tony; Payne, Jessica D

2015-01-01

Through a variety of methods, researchers have begun unraveling the mystery of why humans spend one-third of their lives asleep. Though sleep likely serves multiple functions, it has become clear that the sleeping brain offers an ideal environment for solidifying newly learned information in the brain. Sleep , which comprises a complex collection of brain states, supports the consolidation of many different types of information. It not only promotes learning and memory stabilization, but also memory reorganization that can lead to various forms of insightful behavior. As this chapter will describe, research provides ample support for these crucial cognitive functions of sleep . Focusing on the declarative memory system in humans, we review the literature regarding the benefits of sleep for both neutral and emotionally salient declarative memory. Finally, we discuss the literature regarding the impact of sleep on emotion regulation.

U.S. Army Concept of Operations and Standard Operating Procedure for Acquisition Program Managers Using Item Unique Identification

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-01

a pop up screen will ask to file save as Figure 88. the form on my documents or desktop . Source: Department of the Army (n.d.-e...77 Open the form from desktop or mydocuments in Adobe Acrobat...policy was published as Army Directive 2016–21 in May 2016. Army items requiring serial number management will require IUID. This includes items

Asenapine effects on individual Young Mania Rating Scale items in bipolar disorder patients with acute manic or mixed episodes: a pooled analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cazorla P

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Pilar Cazorla, Jun Zhao, Mary Mackle, Armin Szegedi Merck, Rahway, NJ, USA Background: An exploratory post hoc analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential differential effects over time of asenapine and olanzapine compared with placebo on the eleven individual items comprising the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS in patients with manic or mixed episodes in bipolar I disorder. Methods: Data were pooled from two 3-week randomized, controlled trials in which the eleven individual items comprising the YMRS were measured over 21 days. An analysis of covariance model adjusted by baseline value was used to test for differences in changes from baseline in YMRS scores between groups. Results: Each of the eleven individual YMRS item scores was significantly reduced compared with placebo at day 21. After 2 days of treatment, asenapine and olanzapine were superior to placebo for six of the YMRS items: disruptive/aggressive behavior, content, irritability, elevated mood, sleep, and speech. Conclusion: Reduction in manic symptoms over 21 days was associated with a broad-based improvement across all symptom domains with no subset of symptoms predominating. Keywords: asenapine, Young Mania Rating Scale, bipolar disorder, YMRS, antipsychotic, olanzapine

Declarative memory and skill-related knowledge: Evidence from a case study of amnesia and implications for theories of memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, Emma; McCloskey, Michael; Ovans, Zoe; Landau, Barbara

2016-01-01

Theoretical and empirical studies of memory have long been framed by a distinction between declarative and non-declarative memory. We question the sharpness of the distinction by reporting evidence from amnesic L.S.J., who despite retrograde memory losses in declarative knowledge domains, shows sparing of declarative knowledge related to premorbid skill (e.g., playing an instrument). We previously showed that L.S.J. had severe losses of retrograde declarative knowledge across areas of premorbid expertise (e.g., artists of famous works) and everyday knowledge (e.g., company names for logos). Here we present evidence that L.S.J. has sparing of what we call skill-related declarative knowledge, in four domains in which she had premorbid skill (art, music, aviation, driving). L.S.J.'s pattern of loss and sparing raises questions about the strict separation between classically-defined memory types and aligns with a recent proposal by Stanley and Krakauer [2013. Motor skill depends on knowledge of facts. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7,1-11].

Alma-0: an imperative language that supports declarative programming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

K.R. Apt (Krzysztof); J. Brunekreef; V. Partinton; A. Schaerf

1997-01-01

textabstractWe describe here an implemented small programming language, called Alma, that augments the expressive power of imperative programming by a limited number of features inspired by the logic programming paradigm. These additions encourage declarative programming and make it a more

18 CFR 367.4380 - Account 438, Dividends declared-common stock.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... GAS ACT Retained Earnings Accounts § 367.4380 Account 438, Dividends declared—common stock. (a) This account must include amounts declared payable out of retained earnings as dividends on actually...

The Psychometric Properties of Turkish Version of Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) in Community and Clinical Samples

OpenAIRE

Hakan SARICAM

2018-01-01

This paper presented the Turkish version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) in community and clinical samples, examined its psychometric properties. Construct validity and concurrent validity were conducted in validity studies. Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-42 (DASS-42) was used for concurrent validity. In reliability analysis, the instruments internal consistency and re-test reliability were studied. Results of explanatory factor analyses demonstrated that 21 items yielded...

A Review of State Public Health Emergency Declarations in Peru: 2014-2016.

Science.gov (United States)

Bambarén, Celso; Alatrista, Maria Del Socorro

2018-04-01

Peru has different legal mechanisms of emergency, one of which is the Public Health Emergency that is applicable when: there is high-risk for, or the existence of an outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic; the occurrence of cases of a disease classified as eliminated or eradicated; the occurrence of emerging or re-emerging infectious diseases with high epidemic potential; the occurrence of rapid disseminated epidemics that simultaneously affect more than one department; as well as the existence of an event that affects the continuity of health services. From July 2014 to December 2016, 23 Public Health Emergencies were declared, out of which 57% were in the high-risk or existence of epidemics, 30% were due to some natural or anthropic events that generate a sudden decrease in the operative capacity of health services, and 13% were due to the existence of a rapid spreading epidemic that could affect more than one department in the country. The risk or occurrence of epidemiological outbreaks, mainly of Dengue, was the main cause of emergency declaration. One-hundred and forty million US dollars were allocated to implement the action plans that were part of the declaration, of which 72% was used to keep the operational capacity of health services and 28% to vector and epidemiological control measures. Bambarén C , Alatrista MdS . A review of state public health emergency declarations in Peru: 2014-2016. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(2):197-200.

Test-retest reliability of Eurofit Physical Fitness items for children with visual impairments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Houwen, Suzanne; Visscher, Chris; Hartman, Esther; Lemmink, Koen A. P. M.

The purpose of this study was to examine the test-retest reliability of physical fitness items from the European Test of Physical Fitness (Eurofit) for children with visual impairments. A sample of 21 children, ages 6-12 years, that were recruited from a special school for children with visual

18 CFR 367.4370 - Account 437, Dividends declared-preferred stock.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... NATURAL GAS ACT Retained Earnings Accounts § 367.4370 Account 437, Dividends declared—preferred stock. (a) This account must include amounts declared payable out of retained earnings as dividends on actually...

Review of declarations received by the AFSSAPS and the ASN on the account of radio-vigilance (external radiotherapy). July 2007 - June 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-09-01

After a presentation of the procedure of declaration of significant radiation protection events, of the ASN-SFRO event scale, and of the indication procedure related to material vigilance, this report proposes a review and an analysis of significant radioprotection and material vigilance events which have been declared between July 2007 and June 2008. The assessment of radiation protection events declared to the ASN is as well quantitative (distribution in time, geographical distribution, status of declaring centres, declaration delays, classification according to the ASN-SFRO scale) as qualitative (origin, event typology, stage of the treatment process at which the event occurred and has been detected, personnel having detected the event, communication about events). The analysis of material vigilance events addresses the evolution of their number, their distribution in terms of declarer type, of radiotherapy equipment, or of criticality level, and so on. A review of hybrid accidents is proposed (concerned equipment, declarer origin, consequences of the declarations, classification on the ASN-SFRO scale)

Evolution of a Test Item

Science.gov (United States)

Spaan, Mary

2007-01-01

This article follows the development of test items (see "Language Assessment Quarterly", Volume 3 Issue 1, pp. 71-79 for the article "Test and Item Specifications Development"), beginning with a review of test and item specifications, then proceeding to writing and editing of items, pretesting and analysis, and finally selection of an item for a…

MOCQL: A Declarative Language for Ad-Hoc Model Querying

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Störrle, Harald

2013-01-01

Language (MOCQL), an experimental declarative textual language to express queries (and constraints) on models. We introduce MOCQL by examples and its grammar, evaluate its usability by means of controlled experiments, and find that modelers perform better and experience less cognitive load when working...

Application of declarative modeling approaches for external events

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anoba, R.C.

2005-01-01

Probabilistic Safety Assessments (PSAs) are increasingly being used as a tool for supporting the acceptability of design, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance activities at Nuclear Power Plants. Since the issuance of Generic Letter 88-20 and subsequent IPE/IPEEE assessments, the NRC has issued several Regulatory Guides such as RG 1.174 to describe the use of PSA in risk-informed regulation activities. Most PSA have the capability to address internal events including internal floods. As the more demands are being placed for using the PSA to support risk-informed applications, there has been a growing need to integrate other eternal events (Seismic, Fire, etc.) into the logic models. Most external events involve spatial dependencies and usually impact the logic models at the component level. Therefore, manual insertion of external events impacts into a complex integrated fault tree model may be too cumbersome for routine uses of the PSA. Within the past year, a declarative modeling approach has been developed to automate the injection of external events into the PSA. The intent of this paper is to introduce the concept of declarative modeling in the context of external event applications. A declarative modeling approach involves the definition of rules for injection of external event impacts into the fault tree logic. A software tool such as the EPRI's XInit program can be used to interpret the pre-defined rules and automatically inject external event elements into the PSA. The injection process can easily be repeated, as required, to address plant changes, sensitivity issues, changes in boundary conditions, etc. External event elements may include fire initiating events, seismic initiating events, seismic fragilities, fire-induced hot short events, special human failure events, etc. This approach has been applied at a number of US nuclear power plants including a nuclear power plant in Romania. (authors)

Which Technique Is Most Effective for Learning Declarative Concepts--Provided Examples, Generated Examples, or Both?

Science.gov (United States)

Zamary, Amanda; Rawson, Katherine A.

2018-01-01

Students in many courses are commonly expected to learn declarative concepts, which are abstract concepts denoted by key terms with short definitions that can be applied to a variety of scenarios as reported by Rawson et al. ("Educational Psychology Review" 27:483-504, 2015). Given that declarative concepts are common and foundational in…

[Cultural diversity and pluralism in the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights].

Science.gov (United States)

Romeo Casabona, Carlos María

2011-01-01

The Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights represents a significant milestone in the history of Law, particularly in the application of International Law to an important area of human activity, namely the medical sciences, the life sciences and the technologies which, linked to both, can be applied to human relations. In parallel with this, and as will be analysed in this article, the Declaration has involved adopting a clear position regarding cultural diversity and pluralism in relation to Biomedicine. In this paper the author highlights the fact that perspectives have been opened which have hardly been explored concerning Biomedicine, such as the recognition of the value and respect which cultural diversity (multiculturalism), economic and social diversity deserve in relation to the issues covered by the Declaration, and the acceptance that the owners of the rights are not only individuals, but can also be groups.

Applications of Multidimensional Item Response Theory Models with Covariates to Longitudinal Test Data. Research Report. ETS RR-16-21

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Jianbin

2016-01-01

The multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) models with covariates proposed by Haberman and implemented in the "mirt" program provide a flexible way to analyze data based on item response theory. In this report, we discuss applications of the MIRT models with covariates to longitudinal test data to measure skill differences at the…

Development and validation of an item response theory-based Social Responsiveness Scale short form.

Science.gov (United States)

Sturm, Alexandra; Kuhfeld, Megan; Kasari, Connie; McCracken, James T

2017-09-01

Research and practice in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) rely on quantitative measures, such as the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), for characterization and diagnosis. Like many ASD diagnostic measures, SRS scores are influenced by factors unrelated to ASD core features. This study further interrogates the psychometric properties of the SRS using item response theory (IRT), and demonstrates a strategy to create a psychometrically sound short form by applying IRT results. Social Responsiveness Scale analyses were conducted on a large sample (N = 21,426) of youth from four ASD databases. Items were subjected to item factor analyses and evaluation of item bias by gender, age, expressive language level, behavior problems, and nonverbal IQ. Item selection based on item psychometric properties, DIF analyses, and substantive validity produced a reduced item SRS short form that was unidimensional in structure, highly reliable (α = .96), and free of gender, age, expressive language, behavior problems, and nonverbal IQ influence. The short form also showed strong relationships with established measures of autism symptom severity (ADOS, ADI-R, Vineland). Degree of association between all measures varied as a function of expressive language. Results identified specific SRS items that are more vulnerable to non-ASD-related traits. The resultant 16-item SRS short form may possess superior psychometric properties compared to the original scale and emerge as a more precise measure of ASD core symptom severity, facilitating research and practice. Future research using IRT is needed to further refine existing measures of autism symptomatology. © 2017 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

How Effective Is Example Generation for Learning Declarative Concepts?

Science.gov (United States)

Rawson, Katherine A.; Dunlosky, John

2016-01-01

Declarative concepts (i.e., key terms and corresponding definitions for abstract concepts) represent foundational knowledge that students learn in many content domains. Thus, investigating techniques to enhance concept learning is of critical importance. Various theoretical accounts support the expectation that example generation will serve this…

Cue-independent memory impairment by reactivation-coupled interference in human declarative memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Zijian; Wang, Yingying; Cao, Zhijun; Chen, Biqing; Cai, Huaqian; Wu, Yanhong; Rao, Yi

2016-10-01

Memory is a dynamic process. While memory becomes increasingly resistant to interference after consolidation, a brief reactivation renders it unstable again. Previous studies have shown that interference, when applied upon reactivation, impairs the consolidated memory, presumably by disrupting the reconsolidation of the memory. However, attempts have failed in disrupting human declarative memory, raising a question about whether declarative memory becomes unstable upon reactivation. Here, we used a double-cue/one-target paradigm, which associated the same target with two different cues in initial memory formation. Only one cue/target association was later reactivated and treated with behavioral interference. Our results showed, for the first time, that reactivation-coupled interference caused cue-independent memory impairment that generalized to other cues associated with the memory. Critically, such memory impairment appeared immediately after interference, before the reconsolidation process was completed, suggesting that common manipulations of reactivation-coupled interference procedures might disrupt other processes in addition to the reconsolidation process in human declarative memory. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

SECRETARIAT AND TEXTUAL PRODUCTION: ARGUMENTATION IN THE TEXTUAL GENRE LETTER OF DECLARATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erivaldo Pereira do Nascimento

2012-05-01

Full Text Available This article aims at describing the semantic argumentative structure of the textual/discursive genre Letter of Declaration, one of the documents with which the executive secretary frequently deals. This investigation is based on the Argumention Theory in the Language proposed by Ducrot (1988,1987. We also used the studies about Discursive Modalization proposed by Koch (2002, Castilho e Castilho (1993, Nascimento (2005, among others. Modalization is considered here as a semantic argumentative strategy, as it enables the speaker to make a statement or to express a point of view about the content of his/her enunciation, according to the interlocution. This study about the previously mentioned gender is qualitative, quantitative and descriptive. The corpus used is composed of 20 (twenty Letters of Declaration issued by different organizations or private and public institutions. We perceived that in the Letters of Declaration analysed argumentation is achieved by the use of modalizers and argumentative operators, used by the speaker to produce different effects of meaning in the texts.

Altered intrinsic hippocmapus declarative memory network and its association with impulsivity in abstinent heroin dependent subjects.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhai, Tian-Ye; Shao, Yong-Cong; Xie, Chun-Ming; Ye, En-Mao; Zou, Feng; Fu, Li-Ping; Li, Wen-Jun; Chen, Gang; Chen, Guang-Yu; Zhang, Zheng-Guo; Li, Shi-Jiang; Yang, Zheng

2014-10-01

Converging evidence suggests that addiction can be considered a disease of aberrant learning and memory with impulsive decision-making. In the past decades, numerous studies have demonstrated that drug addiction is involved in multiple memory systems such as classical conditioned drug memory, instrumental learning memory and the habitual learning memory. However, most of these studies have focused on the contributions of non-declarative memory, and declarative memory has largely been neglected in the research of addiction. Based on a recent finding that hippocampus, as a core functioning region of declarative memory, was proved biased the decision-making process based on past experiences by spreading associated reward values throughout memory. Our present study focused on the hippocampus. By utilizing seed-based network analysis on the resting-state functional MRI datasets with the seed hippocampus we tested how the intrinsic hippocampal memory network altered toward drug addiction, and examined how the functional connectivity strength within the altered hippocampal network correlated with behavioral index 'impulsivity'. Our results demonstrated that HD group showed enhanced coherence between hippocampus which represents declarative memory system and non-declarative reward-guided learning memory system, and also showed attenuated intrinsic functional link between hippocampus and top-down control system, compared to the CN group. This alteration was furthered found to have behavioral significance over the behavioral index 'impulsivity' measured with Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS). These results provide insights into the mechanism of declarative memory underlying the impulsive behavior in drug addiction. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Declarative Modeling for Production Order Portfolio Scheduling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Banaszak Zbigniew

2014-12-01

Full Text Available A declarative framework enabling to determine conditions as well as to develop decision-making software supporting small- and medium-sized enterprises aimed at unique, multi-project-like and mass customized oriented production is discussed. A set of unique production orders grouped into portfolio orders is considered. Operations executed along different production orders share available resources following a mutual exclusion protocol. A unique product or production batch is completed while following a given activity’s network order. The problem concerns scheduling a newly inserted project portfolio subject to constraints imposed by a multi-project environment The answers sought are: Can a given project portfolio specified by its cost and completion time be completed within the assumed time period in a manufacturing system in hand? Which manufacturing system capability guarantees the completion of a given project portfolio ordered under assumed cost and time constraints? The considered problems regard finding a computationally effective approach aimed at simultaneous routing and allocation as well as batching and scheduling of a newly ordered project portfolio subject to constraints imposed by a multi-project environment. The main objective is to provide a declarative model enabling to state a constraint satisfaction problem aimed at multi-project-like and mass customized oriented production scheduling. Multiple illustrative examples are discussed.

Compulsory declaration of the disappearance, loss or theft of property and of serious events

CERN Multimedia

DG Unit

2009-01-01

Change The rules governing internal and external declarations have been modified as follows. Incidents concerning CERN access cards and CERN vehicle stickers must be reported as follows: in the case of theft, to the competent authorities of the country in which the theft was committed; in the case of loss or disappearance, to the Reception and Access Control Service. The Services responsible for issuing replacement documents will henceforth require the presentation of proof of declaration to the competent authorities (in the case of theft) or a declaration by the holder of the card or sticker, signed on his/her honour (in the case of loss). In both cases specific reference to the card or sticker concerned must be made. Relations with the Host States Service Tel.: 72848 mailto:relations.secretariat@cern.ch

Instructional Topics in Educational Measurement (ITEMS) Module: Using Automated Processes to Generate Test Items

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Gierl, Mark J.; Lai, Hollis

2013-01-01

Changes to the design and development of our educational assessments are resulting in the unprecedented demand for a large and continuous supply of content-specific test items. One way to address this growing demand is with automatic item generation (AIG). AIG is the process of using item models to generate test items with the aid of computer…

A 67-Item Stress Resilience item bank showing high content validity was developed in a psychosomatic sample.

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Obbarius, Nina; Fischer, Felix; Obbarius, Alexander; Nolte, Sandra; Liegl, Gregor; Rose, Matthias

2018-04-10

To develop the first item bank to measure Stress Resilience (SR) in clinical populations. Qualitative item development resulted in an initial pool of 131 items covering a broad theoretical SR concept. These items were tested in n=521 patients at a psychosomatic outpatient clinic. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), as well as other state-of-the-art item analyses and IRT were used for item evaluation and calibration of the final item bank. Out of the initial item pool of 131 items, we excluded 64 items (54 factor loading .3, 2 non-discriminative Item Response Curves, 4 Differential Item Functioning). The final set of 67 items indicated sufficient model fit in CFA and IRT analyses. Additionally, a 10-item short form with high measurement precision (SE≤.32 in a theta range between -1.8 and +1.5) was derived. Both the SR item bank and the SR short form were highly correlated with an existing static legacy tool (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale). The final SR item bank and 10-item short form showed good psychometric properties. When further validated, they will be ready to be used within a framework of Computer-Adaptive Tests for a comprehensive assessment of the Stress-Construct. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Long-Term Treatment with Paroxetine Increases Verbal Declarative Memory and Hippocampal Volume in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

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Vermetten, Eric; Vythilingam, Meena; Southwick, Steven M.; Charney, Dennis S.; Bremner, J. Douglas

2011-01-01

Background Animal studies have shown that stress is associated with damage to the hippocampus, inhibition of neurogenesis, and deficits in hippocampal-based memory dysfunction. Studies in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) found deficits in hippocampal-based declarative verbal memory and smaller hippocampal volume, as measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Recent preclinical evidence has shown that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors promote neurogenesis and reverse the effects of stress on hippocampal atrophy. This study assessed the effects of long-term treatment with paroxetine on hippocampal volume and declarative memory performance in PTSD. Methods Declarative memory was assessed with the Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised and Selective Reminding Test before and after 9–12 months of treatment with paroxetine in PTSD. Hippocampal volume was measured with MRI. Of the 28 patients who started the protocol, 23 completed the full course of treatment and neuropsychological testing. Twenty patients were able to complete MRI imaging. Results Patients with PTSD showed a significant improvement in PTSD symptoms with treatment. Treatment resulted in significant improvements in verbal declarative memory and a 4.6% increase in mean hippocampal volume. Conclusions These findings suggest that long-term treatment with paroxetine is associated with improvement of verbal declarative memory deficits and an increase in hippocampal volume in PTSD. PMID:14512209

Teoria da Resposta ao Item Teoria de la respuesta al item Item response theory

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Eutalia Aparecida Candido de Araujo

2009-12-01

Full Text Available A preocupação com medidas de traços psicológicos é antiga, sendo que muitos estudos e propostas de métodos foram desenvolvidos no sentido de alcançar este objetivo. Entre os trabalhos propostos, destaca-se a Teoria da Resposta ao Item (TRI que, a princípio, veio completar limitações da Teoria Clássica de Medidas, empregada em larga escala até hoje na medida de traços psicológicos. O ponto principal da TRI é que ela leva em consideração o item particularmente, sem relevar os escores totais; portanto, as conclusões não dependem apenas do teste ou questionário, mas de cada item que o compõe. Este artigo propõe-se a apresentar esta Teoria que revolucionou a teoria de medidas.La preocupación con las medidas de los rasgos psicológicos es antigua y muchos estudios y propuestas de métodos fueron desarrollados para lograr este objetivo. Entre estas propuestas de trabajo se incluye la Teoría de la Respuesta al Ítem (TRI que, en principio, vino a completar las limitaciones de la Teoría Clásica de los Tests, ampliamente utilizada hasta hoy en la medida de los rasgos psicológicos. El punto principal de la TRI es que se tiene en cuenta el punto concreto, sin relevar las puntuaciones totales; por lo tanto, los resultados no sólo dependen de la prueba o cuestionario, sino que de cada ítem que lo compone. En este artículo se propone presentar la Teoría que revolucionó la teoría de medidas.The concern with measures of psychological traits is old and many studies and proposals of methods were developed to achieve this goal. Among these proposed methods highlights the Item Response Theory (IRT that, in principle, came to complete limitations of the Classical Test Theory, which is widely used until nowadays in the measurement of psychological traits. The main point of IRT is that it takes into account the item in particular, not relieving the total scores; therefore, the findings do not only depend on the test or questionnaire

Design of an accounting system that legally optimizes the IVA declaration in Ecuador

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Díaz Montenegro

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Most of Ecuador’s contributors don’t prepare a well elaborate tax credit application form for their IVA declarations, which lead them to give a payment that goes unnecessary above the actual value, due to the inadequate form filling. In this article, we can see that through the implementation of a simple accounting system, taxpayers can optimize their IVA declaration without breaking any current tax provision, even more, going side by side with our country’s established law.

Hierarchical video summarization based on context clustering

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Tseng, Belle L.; Smith, John R.

2003-11-01

A personalized video summary is dynamically generated in our video personalization and summarization system based on user preference and usage environment. The three-tier personalization system adopts the server-middleware-client architecture in order to maintain, select, adapt, and deliver rich media content to the user. The server stores the content sources along with their corresponding MPEG-7 metadata descriptions. In this paper, the metadata includes visual semantic annotations and automatic speech transcriptions. Our personalization and summarization engine in the middleware selects the optimal set of desired video segments by matching shot annotations and sentence transcripts with user preferences. Besides finding the desired contents, the objective is to present a coherent summary. There are diverse methods for creating summaries, and we focus on the challenges of generating a hierarchical video summary based on context information. In our summarization algorithm, three inputs are used to generate the hierarchical video summary output. These inputs are (1) MPEG-7 metadata descriptions of the contents in the server, (2) user preference and usage environment declarations from the user client, and (3) context information including MPEG-7 controlled term list and classification scheme. In a video sequence, descriptions and relevance scores are assigned to each shot. Based on these shot descriptions, context clustering is performed to collect consecutively similar shots to correspond to hierarchical scene representations. The context clustering is based on the available context information, and may be derived from domain knowledge or rules engines. Finally, the selection of structured video segments to generate the hierarchical summary efficiently balances between scene representation and shot selection.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, A Lay Version for the Common Man, Woman and Child.

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Tankard, Alice Doumanian

This lay version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the original version was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948) has been written in simplified vocabulary to make it understandable to a wider range of ages and reading abilities. The declaration consists of a preamble followed by a listing of 30 goals common to…

Declaration of Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners.

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Cosman, J. W.

1989-01-01

Education does not flourish in prisons because of prevailing notions about the punitive and retributive purposes of prisons. The United Nations is considering a Declaration of Basic Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners that is intended to bring education to the forefront of criminal justice policy. (SK)

Declarations, accusations and judgement: examining conflict of interest discourses as performative speech-acts.

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Mayes, Christopher; Lipworth, Wendy; Kerridge, Ian

2016-09-01

Concerns over conflicts of interest (COI) in academic research and medical practice continue to provoke a great deal of discussion. What is most obvious in this discourse is that when COIs are declared, or perceived to exist in others, there is a focus on both the descriptive question of whether there is a COI and, subsequently, the normative question of whether it is good, bad or neutral. We contend, however, that in addition to the descriptive and normative, COI declarations and accusations can be understood as performatives. In this article, we apply J.L. Austin's performative speech-act theory to COI discourses and illustrate how this works using a contemporary case study of COI in biomedical publishing. We argue that using Austin's theory of performative speech-acts serves to highlight the social arrangements and role of authorities in COI discourse and so provides a rich framework to examine declarations, accusations and judgements of COI that often arise in the context of biomedical research and practice.

Computerized Adaptive Test (CAT) Applications and Item Response Theory Models for Polytomous Items

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Aybek, Eren Can; Demirtasli, R. Nukhet

2017-01-01

This article aims to provide a theoretical framework for computerized adaptive tests (CAT) and item response theory models for polytomous items. Besides that, it aims to introduce the simulation and live CAT software to the related researchers. Computerized adaptive test algorithm, assumptions of item response theory models, nominal response…

Language-related differential item functioning between English and German PROMIS Depression items is negligible.

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Fischer, H Felix; Wahl, Inka; Nolte, Sandra; Liegl, Gregor; Brähler, Elmar; Löwe, Bernd; Rose, Matthias

2017-12-01

To investigate differential item functioning (DIF) of PROMIS Depression items between US and German samples we compared data from the US PROMIS calibration sample (n = 780), a German general population survey (n = 2,500) and a German clinical sample (n = 621). DIF was assessed in an ordinal logistic regression framework, with 0.02 as criterion for R 2 -change and 0.096 for Raju's non-compensatory DIF. Item parameters were initially fixed to the PROMIS Depression metric; we used plausible values to account for uncertainty in depression estimates. Only four items showed DIF. Accounting for DIF led to negligible effects for the full item bank as well as a post hoc simulated computer-adaptive test (German general population sample was considerably lower compared to the US reference value of 50. Overall, we found little evidence for language DIF between US and German samples, which could be addressed by either replacing the DIF items by items not showing DIF or by scoring the short form in German samples with the corrected item parameters reported. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Selecting Items for Criterion-Referenced Tests.

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Mellenbergh, Gideon J.; van der Linden, Wim J.

1982-01-01

Three item selection methods for criterion-referenced tests are examined: the classical theory of item difficulty and item-test correlation; the latent trait theory of item characteristic curves; and a decision-theoretic approach for optimal item selection. Item contribution to the standardized expected utility of mastery testing is discussed. (CM)

Geriatric Anxiety Scale: item response theory analysis, differential item functioning, and creation of a ten-item short form (GAS-10).

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Mueller, Anne E; Segal, Daniel L; Gavett, Brandon; Marty, Meghan A; Yochim, Brian; June, Andrea; Coolidge, Frederick L

2015-07-01

The Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS; Segal et al. (Segal, D. L., June, A., Payne, M., Coolidge, F. L. and Yochim, B. (2010). Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 24, 709-714. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.05.002) is a self-report measure of anxiety that was designed to address unique issues associated with anxiety assessment in older adults. This study is the first to use item response theory (IRT) to examine the psychometric properties of a measure of anxiety in older adults. A large sample of older adults (n = 581; mean age = 72.32 years, SD = 7.64 years, range = 60 to 96 years; 64% women; 88% European American) completed the GAS. IRT properties were examined. The presence of differential item functioning (DIF) or measurement bias by age and sex was assessed, and a ten-item short form of the GAS (called the GAS-10) was created. All GAS items had discrimination parameters of 1.07 or greater. Items from the somatic subscale tended to have lower discrimination parameters than items on the cognitive or affective subscales. Two items were flagged for DIF, but the impact of the DIF was negligible. Women scored significantly higher than men on the GAS and its subscales. Participants in the young-old group (60 to 79 years old) scored significantly higher on the cognitive subscale than participants in the old-old group (80 years old and older). Results from the IRT analyses indicated that the GAS and GAS-10 have strong psychometric properties among older adults. We conclude by discussing implications and future research directions.

Asymptotic Standard Errors for Item Response Theory True Score Equating of Polytomous Items

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Cher Wong, Cheow

2015-01-01

Building on previous works by Lord and Ogasawara for dichotomous items, this article proposes an approach to derive the asymptotic standard errors of item response theory true score equating involving polytomous items, for equivalent and nonequivalent groups of examinees. This analytical approach could be used in place of empirical methods like…

40 CFR 62.7860 - Identification of sources-negative declaration.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... lands under the jurisdiction of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo county Air Quality Control Board subject to 40 CFR part 60, subpart Cb. [68 FR 35302, June 13, 2003] Emissions From Existing Hospital/Medical...—negative declaration. Letter from the City of Albuquerque Air Pollution Control Division dated September 10...

MIMIC Methods for Assessing Differential Item Functioning in Polytomous Items

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Wang, Wen-Chung; Shih, Ching-Lin

2010-01-01

Three multiple indicators-multiple causes (MIMIC) methods, namely, the standard MIMIC method (M-ST), the MIMIC method with scale purification (M-SP), and the MIMIC method with a pure anchor (M-PA), were developed to assess differential item functioning (DIF) in polytomous items. In a series of simulations, it appeared that all three methods…

Psychometric evaluation and normative data for the depression, anxiety, and stress scales-21 (DASS-21) in a nonclinical sample of U.S. adults.

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Sinclair, Samuel Justin; Siefert, Caleb J; Slavin-Mulford, Jenelle M; Stein, Michelle B; Renna, Megan; Blais, Mark A

2012-09-01

Health care professionals are coming under increased pressure to empirically monitor patient outcomes across settings as a means of improving clinical practice. Within the psychiatric and primary care communities, many have begun utilizing brief psychometric measures of psychological functioning to accomplish these goals. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21-item version (DASS-21), and contribute normative data to facilitate interpretation using a sample of U.S. adults (N = 503). Item-scale convergence was generally supported, although assumptions of item-scale divergence were not met. Only 86%, 50%, and 43% of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress items, respectively, correlated significantly greater with their hypothesized scales than other scales. Internal consistency reliability was acceptable for all scales and comparable to existing research (αs = .91, .80, and .84 for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress, respectively). Scale-level correlations were greater than what has been reported elsewhere (range of rs = .68 to .73), and principal components analysis supported the extraction of only one component accounting for 47% of the item-level variance. However, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) favored a three-factor structure when compared to a one-factor model. The implications for the health care professions are discussed.

Evaluation of Northwest University, Kano Post-UTME Test Items Using Item Response Theory

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Bichi, Ado Abdu; Hafiz, Hadiza; Bello, Samira Abdullahi

2016-01-01

High-stakes testing is used for the purposes of providing results that have important consequences. Validity is the cornerstone upon which all measurement systems are built. This study applied the Item Response Theory principles to analyse Northwest University Kano Post-UTME Economics test items. The developed fifty (50) economics test items was…

Using Differential Item Functioning Procedures to Explore Sources of Item Difficulty and Group Performance Characteristics.

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Scheuneman, Janice Dowd; Gerritz, Kalle

1990-01-01

Differential item functioning (DIF) methodology for revealing sources of item difficulty and performance characteristics of different groups was explored. A total of 150 Scholastic Aptitude Test items and 132 Graduate Record Examination general test items were analyzed. DIF was evaluated for males and females and Blacks and Whites. (SLD)

Item Response Data Analysis Using Stata Item Response Theory Package

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Yang, Ji Seung; Zheng, Xiaying

2018-01-01

The purpose of this article is to introduce and review the capability and performance of the Stata item response theory (IRT) package that is available from Stata v.14, 2015. Using a simulated data set and a publicly available item response data set extracted from Programme of International Student Assessment, we review the IRT package from…

Item Banking with Embedded Standards

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MacCann, Robert G.; Stanley, Gordon

2009-01-01

An item banking method that does not use Item Response Theory (IRT) is described. This method provides a comparable grading system across schools that would be suitable for low-stakes testing. It uses the Angoff standard-setting method to obtain item ratings that are stored with each item. An example of such a grading system is given, showing how…

The Birth of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Cooper, Michael

1998-01-01

Outlines the history of the ideals and enactment of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Includes a discussion of the origins of the concept of human rights, the impact of World War II, the role of nongovernmental organizations, and the process of drafting and adopting the UDHR. (DSK)

Convention on the physical protection of nuclear material. Status list as of 12 September 2000. Signature, ratification, acceptance, approval, accession or succession. Declarations/reservations made upon expressing consent to be bound and objections thereto. Declarations/reservations made upon signature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2000-01-01

This document contains signatures, ratifications, acceptance, approval, accession or succession of the Convention on the physical protection of nuclear material as well as declarations/reservations made upon expressing consent to be bound and objections thereto and declarations made upon signature

76 FR 5236 - 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Form DS-4071, Export Declaration of Defense...

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2011-01-28

... Information Collection: Export Declaration of Defense Technical Data or Services. OMB Control Number: 1405... of technology. Abstract of proposed collection: Actual export of defense technical data and defense... DS-4071, Export Declaration of Defense Technical Data or Services; OMB Control Number 1405-0157...

Pitch peak alignment in an outside focus realization : Frisian-Dutch bilingual speakers’ declarative and imperative intonation patterns

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nota, Amber; Hilton, Nanna; Coler, Matthew

2016-01-01

This paper investigates intonational pitch variations and pitch peak alignment in declarative sentences and is part of a larger study of declarative, interrogative and imperative grammatical constructions in the Frisian-Dutch contact situation. Frisian is a minority language spoken in the province

Methylphenidate significantly improves declarative memory functioning of adults with ADHD.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verster, J.C.; Bekker, E.M.; Kooij, J.J.; Buitelaar, J.K.; Verbaten, M.N.; Volkerts, E.R.; Olivier, B.

2010-01-01

BACKGROUND: Declarative memory deficits are common in untreated adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but limited evidence exists to support improvement after treatment with methylphenidate. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of methylphenidate on memory

Benthic marine debris, with an emphasis on fishery-related items, surrounding Kodiak Island, Alaska, 1994-1996

Science.gov (United States)

Hess, N.A.; Ribic, C.A.; Vining, I.

1999-01-01

Composition and abundance of benthic marine debris were investigated during three bottom trawl surveys in inlet and offshore locations surrounding Kodiak Island, Alaska, 1994-1996. Debris items were primarily plastic and metal regardless of trawl location. Plastic bait jars, fishing line, and crab pots were the most common fishery-related debris items and were encountered in large amounts in inlets (20-25 items km-2), but were less abundant outside of inlets (4.5-11 items km-2). Overall density of debris was also significantly greater in inlets than outside of inlets. Plastic debris densities in inlets ranged 22-31.5 items km-2, 7.8-18.8 items km-2 outside of inlets. Trawls in inlets contained almost as much metal debris as plastic debris. Density of metal debris ranged from 21.2 to 23.7 items km-2 in inlets, a maximum of 2.7 items km-2 outside of inlets. Inlets around the town of Kodiak had the highest densities of fishery-related and total benthic debris. Differences in benthic debris density between inlets and outside of inlets and differences by area may be due to differences in fishing activity and water circulation patterns. At the current reduced levels of fishing activity, however, yearly monitoring of benthic debris appears unnecessary. Copyright (C) 1999.

P2-19: The Effect of item Repetition on Item-Context Association Depends on the Prior Exposure of Items

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Hongmi Lee

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Previous studies have reported conflicting findings on whether item repetition has beneficial or detrimental effects on source memory. To reconcile such contradictions, we investigated whether the degree of pre-exposure of items can be a potential modulating factor. The experimental procedures spanned two consecutive days. On Day 1, participants were exposed to a set of unfamiliar faces. On Day 2, the same faces presented on the previous day were used again in half of the participants, whereas novel faces were used for the other half. Day 2 procedures consisted of three successive phases: item repetition, source association, and source memory test. In the item repetition phase, half of the face stimuli were repeatedly presented while participants were making male/female judgments. During the source association phase, both the repeated and the unrepeated faces appeared in one of the four locations on the screen. Finally, participants were tested on the location in which a given face was presented during the previous phase and reported the confidence of their memory. Source memory accuracy was measured as the percentage of correct non-guess trials. As results, we found a significant interaction between prior exposure and repetition. Repetition impaired source memory when the items had been pre-exposed on Day 1, while it led to greater accuracy in novel ones. These results show that pre-experimental exposure can modulate the effects of repetition on associative binding between an item and its contextual information, suggesting that pre-existing representation and novelty signal interact to form new episodic memory.

Assessment of the Item Selection and Weighting in the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score for Wegener's Granulomatosis

Science.gov (United States)

MAHR, ALFRED D.; NEOGI, TUHINA; LAVALLEY, MICHAEL P.; DAVIS, JOHN C.; HOFFMAN, GARY S.; MCCUNE, W. JOSEPH; SPECKS, ULRICH; SPIERA, ROBERT F.; ST.CLAIR, E. WILLIAM; STONE, JOHN H.; MERKEL, PETER A.

2013-01-01

Objective To assess the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score for Wegener's Granulomatosis (BVAS/WG) with respect to its selection and weighting of items. Methods This study used the BVAS/WG data from the Wegener's Granulomatosis Etanercept Trial. The scoring frequencies of the 34 predefined items and any “other” items added by clinicians were calculated. Using linear regression with generalized estimating equations in which the physician global assessment (PGA) of disease activity was the dependent variable, we computed weights for all predefined items. We also created variables for clinical manifestations frequently added as other items, and computed weights for these as well. We searched for the model that included the items and their generated weights yielding an activity score with the highest R2 to predict the PGA. Results We analyzed 2,044 BVAS/WG assessments from 180 patients; 734 assessments were scored during active disease. The highest R2 with the PGA was obtained by scoring WG activity based on the following items: the 25 predefined items rated on ≥5 visits, the 2 newly created fatigue and weight loss variables, the remaining minor other and major other items, and a variable that signified whether new or worse items were present at a specific visit. The weights assigned to the items ranged from 1 to 21. Compared with the original BVAS/WG, this modified score correlated significantly more strongly with the PGA. Conclusion This study suggests possibilities to enhance the item selection and weighting of the BVAS/WG. These changes may increase this instrument's ability to capture the continuum of disease activity in WG. PMID:18512722

Reliability of the Core Items in the General Social Survey: Estimates from the Three-Wave Panels, 2006–2014

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Michael Hout

2016-11-01

Full Text Available We used standard and multilevel models to assess the reliability of core items in the General Social Survey panel studies spanning 2006 to 2014. Most of the 293 core items scored well on the measure of reliability: 62 items (21 percent had reliability measures greater than 0.85; another 71 (24 percent had reliability measures between 0.70 and 0.85. Objective items, especially facts about demography and religion, were generally more reliable than subjective items. The economic recession of 2007–2009, the slow recovery afterward, and the election of Barack Obama in 2008 altered the social context in ways that may look like unreliability of items. For example, unemployment status, hours worked, and weeks worked have lower reliability than most work-related items, reflecting the consequences of the recession on the facts of peoples lives. Items regarding racial and gender discrimination and racial stereotypes scored as particularly unreliable, accounting for most of the 15 items with reliability coefficients less than 0.40. Our results allow scholars to more easily take measurement reliability into consideration in their own research, while also highlighting the limitations of these approaches.

A GIS support system for declaration and verification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poucet, A.; Contini, S.; Bellezza, F.

2001-01-01

Full text: The timely detection of a diversion of a significant amount of nuclear material from the civil cycle represents a complex activity that requires the use of powerful support systems. In this field the authors developed SIT (Safeguards Inspection Tool), an integrated platform for collecting, managing and analysing data from a variety of sources to support declarations and verification activities. Information dealt with is that requested by both INFCIRC/153 and INFCIRC/540 protocols. SIT is based on a low-cost Geographic Information System platform and extensive use is made of commercial software to reduce maintenance costs. The system has been developed using ARCVIEW GIS for Windows NT platforms. SIT is conceived as an integrator of multimedia information stored into local and remote databases; efforts have been focused on the automation of several tasks in order to produce a user-friendly system. Main characteristics of SIT are: Capability to deal with multimedia data, e.g. text, images, video, using user-selected COTS; Easy access to external databases, e.g. Oracle, Informix, Sybase, MS-Access, directly from the site map; Selected access to open source information via Internet; Capability to easily geo-reference site maps, to generate thematic layers of interest and to perform spatial analysis; Capability of performing aerial and satellite image analysis operations, e.g. rectification, change detection, feature extraction; Capability to easily add and run external models for e.g. material data accounting, completeness check, air dispersion models, material flow graph generation and to describe results in graphical form; Capability to use a Geo-positioning systems (GPS) with a portable computer, SIT is at an advanced stage of development and will be very soon interfaced with VERITY, a powerful Web search engine in order to allow open source information retrieval from geographical maps. The paper will describe the main features of SIT and the advantages of

A GIS support system for declaration and verification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poucet, A; Contini, S; Bellezza, F [European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Systems Informatics and Safety (ISIS), Ispra (Italy)

2001-07-01

Full text: The timely detection of a diversion of a significant amount of nuclear material from the civil cycle represents a complex activity that requires the use of powerful support systems. In this field the authors developed SIT (Safeguards Inspection Tool), an integrated platform for collecting, managing and analysing data from a variety of sources to support declarations and verification activities. Information dealt with is that requested by both INFCIRC/153 and INFCIRC/540 protocols. SIT is based on a low-cost Geographic Information System platform and extensive use is made of commercial software to reduce maintenance costs. The system has been developed using ARCVIEW GIS for Windows NT platforms. SIT is conceived as an integrator of multimedia information stored into local and remote databases; efforts have been focused on the automation of several tasks in order to produce a user-friendly system. Main characteristics of SIT are: Capability to deal with multimedia data, e.g. text, images, video, using user-selected COTS; Easy access to external databases, e.g. Oracle, Informix, Sybase, MS-Access, directly from the site map; Selected access to open source information via Internet; Capability to easily geo-reference site maps, to generate thematic layers of interest and to perform spatial analysis; Capability of performing aerial and satellite image analysis operations, e.g. rectification, change detection, feature extraction; Capability to easily add and run external models for e.g. material data accounting, completeness check, air dispersion models, material flow graph generation and to describe results in graphical form; Capability to use a Geo-positioning systems (GPS) with a portable computer, SIT is at an advanced stage of development and will be very soon interfaced with VERITY, a powerful Web search engine in order to allow open source information retrieval from geographical maps. The paper will describe the main features of SIT and the advantages of

Investigating the Impact of Item Parameter Drift for Item Response Theory Models with Mixture Distributions

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Yoon Soo ePark

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This study investigates the impact of item parameter drift (IPD on parameter and ability estimation when the underlying measurement model fits a mixture distribution, thereby violating the item invariance property of unidimensional item response theory (IRT models. An empirical study was conducted to demonstrate the occurrence of both IPD and an underlying mixture distribution using real-world data. Twenty-one trended anchor items from the 1999, 2003, and 2007 administrations of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS were analyzed using unidimensional and mixture IRT models. TIMSS treats trended anchor items as invariant over testing administrations and uses pre-calibrated item parameters based on unidimensional IRT. However, empirical results showed evidence of two latent subgroups with IPD. Results showed changes in the distribution of examinee ability between latent classes over the three administrations. A simulation study was conducted to examine the impact of IPD on the estimation of ability and item parameters, when data have underlying mixture distributions. Simulations used data generated from a mixture IRT model and estimated using unidimensional IRT. Results showed that data reflecting IPD using mixture IRT model led to IPD in the unidimensional IRT model. Changes in the distribution of examinee ability also affected item parameters. Moreover, drift with respect to item discrimination and distribution of examinee ability affected estimates of examinee ability. These findings demonstrate the need to caution and evaluate IPD using a mixture IRT framework to understand its effect on item parameters and examinee ability.

Investigating the Impact of Item Parameter Drift for Item Response Theory Models with Mixture Distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Yoon Soo; Lee, Young-Sun; Xing, Kuan

2016-01-01

This study investigates the impact of item parameter drift (IPD) on parameter and ability estimation when the underlying measurement model fits a mixture distribution, thereby violating the item invariance property of unidimensional item response theory (IRT) models. An empirical study was conducted to demonstrate the occurrence of both IPD and an underlying mixture distribution using real-world data. Twenty-one trended anchor items from the 1999, 2003, and 2007 administrations of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) were analyzed using unidimensional and mixture IRT models. TIMSS treats trended anchor items as invariant over testing administrations and uses pre-calibrated item parameters based on unidimensional IRT. However, empirical results showed evidence of two latent subgroups with IPD. Results also showed changes in the distribution of examinee ability between latent classes over the three administrations. A simulation study was conducted to examine the impact of IPD on the estimation of ability and item parameters, when data have underlying mixture distributions. Simulations used data generated from a mixture IRT model and estimated using unidimensional IRT. Results showed that data reflecting IPD using mixture IRT model led to IPD in the unidimensional IRT model. Changes in the distribution of examinee ability also affected item parameters. Moreover, drift with respect to item discrimination and distribution of examinee ability affected estimates of examinee ability. These findings demonstrate the need to caution and evaluate IPD using a mixture IRT framework to understand its effects on item parameters and examinee ability.

The Title and Three Core Values from the First Three Lines of The Declaration of Independence

Science.gov (United States)

White, Kenneth Michael

2013-01-01

Teaching the Declaration of Independence can be a challenge. This article presents a lesson plan based on an explication of the title and the first three lines of the Declaration intended to make the American founding era relevant to today's college students. Assuming civic education is a major goal of teaching American Government, assuming…

Organ trafficking and transplant tourism: the role of global professional ethical standards-the 2008 Declaration of Istanbul.

Science.gov (United States)

Danovitch, Gabriel M; Chapman, Jeremy; Capron, Alexander M; Levin, Adeera; Abbud-Filho, Mario; Al Mousawi, Mustafa; Bennett, William; Budiani-Saberi, Debra; Couser, William; Dittmer, Ian; Jha, Vivek; Lavee, Jacob; Martin, Dominique; Masri, Marwan; Naicker, Saraladevi; Takahara, Shiro; Tibell, Annika; Shaheen, Faissal; Anantharaman, Vathsala; Delmonico, Francis L

2013-06-15

By 2005, human organ trafficking, commercialization, and transplant tourism had become a prominent and pervasive influence on transplantation therapy. The most common source of organs was impoverished people in India, Pakistan, Egypt, and the Philippines, deceased organ donors in Colombia, and executed prisoners in China. In response, in May 2008, The Transplantation Society and the International Society of Nephrology developed the Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism consisting of a preamble, a set of principles, and a series of proposals. Promulgation of the Declaration of Istanbul and the formation of the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group to promote and uphold its principles have demonstrated that concerted, strategic, collaborative, and persistent actions by professionals can deliver tangible changes. Over the past 5 years, the Declaration of Istanbul Custodian Group organized and encouraged cooperation among professional bodies and relevant international, regional, and national governmental organizations, which has produced significant progress in combating organ trafficking and transplant tourism around the world. At a fifth anniversary meeting in Qatar in April 2013, the DICG took note of this progress and set forth in a Communiqué a number of specific activities and resolved to further engage groups from many sectors in working toward the Declaration's objectives.

Field test of short-notice random inspections for inventory-change verification at a low-enriched-uranium fuel-fabrication plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fishbone, L.G.; Moussalli, G.; Naegele, G.

1995-01-01

An approach of short-notice random inspections (SNRIs) for inventory-change verification can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of international safeguards at natural or low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel fabrication plants. According to this approach, the plant operator declares the contents of nuclear material items before knowing if an inspection will occur to verify them. Additionally, items about which declarations are newly made should remain available for verification for an agreed time. Then a statistical inference can be made from verification results for items verified during SNRIs to the entire populations, i.e. the entire strata, even if inspectors were not present when many items were received or produced. A six-month field test of the feasibility of such SNRIs took place at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation Commercial Nuclear Fuel Division during 1993. Westinghouse personnel made daily declarations about both feed and product items, uranium hexafluoride cylinders and finished fuel assemblies, using a custom-designed computer ''mailbox''. Safeguards inspectors from the IAEA conducted eight SNRIs to verify these declarations. They arrived unannounced at the plant, in most cases immediately after travel from Canada, where the IAEA maintains a regional office. Items from both strata were verified during the SNRIs by meant of nondestructive assay equipment

Declarative versus imperative process modeling languages : the issue of maintainability

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fahland, D.; Mendling, J.; Reijers, H.A.; Weber, B.; Weidlich, M.; Zugal, S.; Rinderle-Ma, S.; Sadiq, S.; Leymann, F.

2010-01-01

The rise of interest in declarative languages for process modeling both justifies and demands empirical investigations into their presumed advantages over more traditional, imperative alternatives. Our concern in this paper is with the ease of maintaining business process models, for example due to

Action for declaration of annulment of reactor construction permit dismissed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1982-01-01

The Higher Administrative Court of Rheinland Pfalz has confirmed two decisions by the Koblenz Administrative Court dismissing an actions to declare the annulment of the partial construction permit issued for the Muelheim-Kaerlich reactor. Appeal was not admitted. The plaintiffs, who are under age and were represented by their father, are permanently resident in Schleswig-Holstein, at about 470 km from the site and have a further residence in Mainz, about 60 km away from the site. They plead to have a legitimate interest in the declaration of nullity on the grounds of the uncertainty created in legal matters by the delivery of the permit and its being unconstitutional as well as for ideological and religious reasons. The ruling deals also with the importance of the distance from the site of a nuclear reactor, which is considered to be such as to exclude the 'necessary spatial relation'. (orig./HP) [de

78 FR 36012 - 30-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: Export Declaration of Defense Technical Data or...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-06-14

... Collection: Export Declaration of Defense Technical Data or Services. OMB Control Number: 1405-0157. Type of... Declaration of Defense Technical Data or Services ACTION: Notice of request for public comment and submission... and brokering of defense articles, defense services and related technical data are licensed by the...

Measuring the Declared SDK Versions and Their Consistency with API Calls in Android Apps

OpenAIRE

Wu, Daoyuan; Liu, Ximing; Xu, Jiayun; Lo, David; Gao, Debin

2017-01-01

Android has been the most popular smartphone system, with multiple platform versions (e.g., KITKAT and Lollipop) active in the market. To manage the application's compatibility with one or more platform versions, Android allows apps to declare the supported platform SDK versions in their manifest files. In this paper, we make a first effort to study this modern software mechanism. Our objective is to measure the current practice of the declared SDK versions (which we term as DSDK versions aft...

Short Sleep Makes Declarative Memories Vulnerable to Stress in Humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Cedernaes, Jonathan; Rångtell, Frida H; Axelsson, Emil K; Yeganeh, Adine; Vogel, Heike; Broman, Jan-Erik; Dickson, Suzanne L; Schiöth, Helgi B; Benedict, Christian

2015-12-01

This study sought to investigate the role of nocturnal sleep duration for the retrieval of oversleep consolidated memories, both prior to and after being cognitively stressed for ∼30 minutes the next morning. Participants learned object locations (declarative memory task comprising 15 card pairs) and a finger tapping sequence (procedural memory task comprising 5 digits) in the evening. After learning, participants either had a sleep opportunity of 8 hours (between ∼23:00 and ∼07:00, full sleep condition) or they could sleep between ∼03:00 and ∼07:00 (short sleep condition). Retrieval of both memory tasks was tested in the morning after each sleep condition, both before (∼08:30) and after being stressed (∼09:50). Sleep laboratory. 15 healthy young men. The analyses demonstrated that oversleep memory changes did not differ between sleep conditions. However, in their short sleep condition, following stress hallmarked by increased subjective stress feelings, the men were unable to maintain their pre-stress performance on the declarative memory task, whereas their performance on the procedural memory task remained unchanged. While men felt comparably subjectively stressed by the stress intervention, overall no differences between pre- and post-stress recalls were observed following a full night of sleep. The findings suggest that 8-h sleep duration, within the range recommended by the US National Sleep Foundation, may not only help consolidate newly learned procedural and declarative memories, but also ensure full access to both during periods of subjective stress. © 2015 Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC.

Revolutionary thoughts on taxonomy: declarations of independence and interdependence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quentin D. Wheeler

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Credible biological research depends on accurate species identifications, reliable scientific names, and an evolutionary context provided by a phylogeny or phylogenetic classification. The emphasis on such taxonomic services has detracted from the fundamental taxonomic research necessary to create and sustain such knowledge systems. A taxonomic declaration of independence is presented, emphasizing the unique mission, goals, and needs of taxonomists and taxonomic (collection-based institutions and the non-experimental yet scientifically rigorous epistemology of taxonomy. At the same time taxonomic interdependence is declared. Questions pursued by taxonomists are planetary in scale and can only be answered given international collaboration and coordination in the growth and development of natural history collections and taxonomic hypotheses. Reciprocity of open access is urged between all nations and the taxonomic community creating information. Countries home to species diversity should allow access to taxon experts so that the world's species are discovered and described. In exchange all specimens collected should be in publicly accessible museums and all resultant taxonomic data, information, and knowledge should be openly available to all who can use them.

Exploring Language and Diplomatic Thinking through Process Types: A Contrastive Study on Sino-British Diplomatic Thinking Based on the China-UK Joint Declaration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Song Chen

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The China-UK Joint Declaration on Building a Global Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 21st Century is one of the fruits of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent official state visit to the Great Britain. As a typical and important diplomatic language document, the Joint Declaration deserves scientific research. In this paper, based on the six process types of Halliday’s Transitivity system, we attempt to disclose the diplomatic thinking underlying the employment of process types and make a contrastive study of the diplomatic thinking of both China and the UK. The research leads to three findings. Firstly, the high frequency of material process clause in both Chinese and English versions reflects the “Action thinking”, a shared diplomatic thinking adopted by the two nations. Secondly, the Chinese version employs more relational process clauses than the English version, which is an indication of the “Relationality thinking” underlying Chinese diplomacy and it is much less emphasized or even absent in British diplomacy. Thirdly, the analysis of the mental process clauses reveals that China has an “Inclusive thinking” in its diplomatic exchange with Britain whereas the UK a “Friendship thinking”.

Impaired Emotional Declarative Memory Following Unilateral Amygdala Damage

OpenAIRE

Adolphs, Ralph; Tranel, Daniel; Denburg, Natalie

2000-01-01

Case studies of patients with bilateral amygdala damage and functional imaging studies of normal individuals have demonstrated that the amygdala plays a critical role in encoding emotionally arousing stimuli into long-term declarative memory. However, several issues remain poorly understood: the separate roles of left and right amygdala, the time course over which the amygdala participates in memory consolidation, and the type of knowledge structures it helps consolidate. We investigated thes...

Patterns for a log-based strengthening of declarative compliance models

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schunselaar, Dennis M.M.; Maggi, Fabrizio M.; Sidorova, Natalia

2012-01-01

LTL-based declarative process models are very effective when modelling loosely structured processes or working in environments with a lot of variability. A process model is represented by a set of constraints that must be satisfied during the process execution. An important application of such

Analogous Mechanisms of Selection and Updating in Declarative and Procedural Working Memory: Experiments and a Computational Model

Science.gov (United States)

Oberauer, Klaus; Souza, Alessandra S.; Druey, Michel D.; Gade, Miriam

2013-01-01

The article investigates the mechanisms of selecting and updating representations in declarative and procedural working memory (WM). Declarative WM holds the objects of thought available, whereas procedural WM holds representations of what to do with these objects. Both systems consist of three embedded components: activated long-term memory, a…

77 FR 981 - Changes To Implement the Inventor's Oath or Declaration Provisions of the Leahy-Smith America...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-06

... the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act; Proposed Rule #0;#0;Federal Register / Vol. 77 , No. 4 / Friday... Inventor's Oath or Declaration Provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act AGENCY: United States... inventor's oath or declaration provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. The Office proposes to...

Modalities of declaration and codification of criteria related to significant events in the field of radioprotection besides base nuclear installations and transports of radioactive substances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-01-01

This document specifies provisions which must be applied by those in charge of a nuclear activity when declaring significant events regarding radioprotection. It describes the general principles, evokes the declaration criteria (they are more precisely presented in appendix), the declaration delay, and the declaration modalities (the informant, the documents, the addressee). It also evokes obligations regarding population information. A declaration form and a model of event report are provided in appendix

Local agenda 21. The French experience; Agendas 21 locaux. L'experience francaise

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2002-07-01

In keeping with the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and with the ''Agenda 21'' Action program for the 21 Century, the French Minister of the Environment, in January 1993, and again on 11 May 1994, set up new mechanisms, entitled ''Urban Ecology Charters'' or ''Environmental Charters'', also described as ''Partnership Programmes for Sustainable Development''. Their purpose is to implement a new economic approach which, in the Rio spirit, encourages a sustainable form of development, characterized by the integration of environmental costs. Since 1999, a broad new legal text, the ''Act on Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development Policy'' encourages urban and rural local government to define and run development projects that refer to Chapter 28 of the Action 21 program of Rio. The development of Agenda 21 is now supported by contracts between the State and local authorities of various character, such as the large ''Regions'' (of which there are only 21 in France), local institutions responsible for managing urban agglomerations, smaller ad-hoc rural areas called ''Pays'', and some of the regional natural parks or reserves. Such development projects are required broadly to call upon the participation of, and partnership with concerned private and public stakeholders. They must support modes of production and consumption that are thrifty in resources (energy, water, soil, air, biodiversity), and also socially responsible towards populations of other countries and future generations. (author)

New EDH declaration form concerning dependent children aged 18 to 25

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2006-01-01

As part of the ongoing simplification of procedures and rationalisation of administrative formalities, the HR and IT Departments have designed and developed a new EDH form for declaring the situation of dependent children aged 18 to 25. This new electronic form, which will be brought on line during the month of July, will make it easier for members of the personnel to enter and send data as well as allowing the HR Department to optimise its administrative follow-up. Members of the personnel required to complete a declaration will receive an individual e-mail notification containing a link to the EDH form and useful information on the procedure to be followed. Human Resources Department, Organisation, Procedures and Services Group, School Fees ServiceInformation Technology Department, AIS (Administrative Information Services)

New EDH declaration form concerning dependent children aged 18 to 25

CERN Multimedia

HR Department

2006-01-01

As part of the ongoing simplification of procedures and rationalisation of administrative formalities, the HR and IT Departments have designed and developed a new EDH form for declaring the situation of dependent children aged 18 to 25. This new electronic form, which will be brought on line during the month of July, will make it easier for members of the personnel to enter and send data as well as allowing the HR Department to optimise its administrative follow-up. Members of the personnel required to complete a declaration form will receive an individual e-mail notification containing a link to the EDH form and useful information on the procedure to be followed. Human Resources Department, Organisation, Procedures and Services Group, School Fees Service Information Technology Department, AIS (Administrative Information Services)

An agent architecture with on-line learning of both procedural and declarative knowledge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun, R.; Peterson, T.; Merrill, E. [Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States)

1996-12-31

In order to develop versatile cognitive agents that learn in situated contexts and generalize resulting knowledge to different environments, we explore the possibility of learning both declarative and procedural knowledge in a hybrid connectionist architecture. The architecture is based on the two-level idea proposed earlier by the author. Declarative knowledge is represented symbolically, while procedural knowledge is represented subsymbolically. The architecture integrates reactive procedures, rules, learning, and decision-making in a unified framework, and structures different learning components (including Q-learning and rule induction) in a synergistic way to perform on-line and integrated learning.

Local agenda 21. The French experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

In keeping with the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and with the ''Agenda 21'' Action program for the 21 Century, the French Minister of the Environment, in January 1993, and again on 11 May 1994, set up new mechanisms, entitled ''Urban Ecology Charters'' or ''Environmental Charters'', also described as ''Partnership Programmes for Sustainable Development''. Their purpose is to implement a new economic approach which, in the Rio spirit, encourages a sustainable form of development, characterized by the integration of environmental costs. Since 1999, a broad new legal text, the ''Act on Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development Policy'' encourages urban and rural local government to define and run development projects that refer to Chapter 28 of the Action 21 program of Rio. The development of Agenda 21 is now supported by contracts between the State and local authorities of various character, such as the large ''Regions'' (of which there are only 21 in France), local institutions responsible for managing urban agglomerations, smaller ad-hoc rural areas called ''Pays'', and some of the regional natural parks or reserves. Such development projects are required broadly to call upon the participation of, and partnership with concerned private and public stakeholders. They must support modes of production and consumption that are thrifty in resources (energy, water, soil, air, biodiversity), and also socially responsible towards populations of other countries and future generations. (author)

Learning History through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Science.gov (United States)

Landorf, Hilary; Pineda, Martha Fernanda

2007-01-01

Although adolescent students often do not have knowledge of specific laws, they usually have a keen sense of justice and fairness. In this article, the author discusses the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as a powerful tool to channel students' sense of fairness into visible actions. Adopted in December 1948 by the General Assembly of…

The Technical Quality of Test Items Generated Using a Systematic Approach to Item Writing.

Science.gov (United States)

Siskind, Theresa G.; Anderson, Lorin W.

The study was designed to examine the similarity of response options generated by different item writers using a systematic approach to item writing. The similarity of response options to student responses for the same item stems presented in an open-ended format was also examined. A non-systematic (subject matter expertise) approach and a…

Field test of short-notice random inspections for inventory-change verification at a low-enriched-uranium fuel-fabrication plant: Preliminary summary

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fishbone, L.G.; Moussalli, G.; Naegele, G.; Ikonomou, P.; Hosoya, M.; Scott, P.; Fager, J.; Sanders, C.; Colwell, D.; Joyner, C.J.

1994-01-01

An approach of short-notice random inspections (SNRIs) for inventory-change verification can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of international safeguards at natural or low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel fabrication plants. According to this approach, the plant operator declares the contents of nuclear material items before knowing if an inspection will occur to verify them. Additionally, items about which declarations are newly made should remain available for verification for an agreed time. This report details a six-month field test of the feasibility of such SNRIs which took place at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation Commercial Nuclear Fuel Division. Westinghouse personnel made daily declarations about both feed and product items, uranium hexafluoride cylinders and finished fuel assemblies, using a custom-designed computer ''mailbox''. Safeguards inspectors from the IAEA conducted eight SNRIs to verify these declarations. Items from both strata were verified during the SNRIs by means of nondestructive assay equipment. The field test demonstrated the feasibility and practicality of key elements of the SNRI approach for a large LEU fuel fabrication plant

A Declarative Design Approach to Modeling Traditional and Non-Traditional Space Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hoag, Lucy M.

The space system design process is known to be laborious, complex, and computationally demanding. It is highly multi-disciplinary, involving several interdependent subsystems that must be both highly optimized and reliable due to the high cost of launch. Satellites must also be capable of operating in harsh and unpredictable environments, so integrating high-fidelity analysis is important. To address each of these concerns, a holistic design approach is necessary. However, while the sophistication of space systems has evolved significantly in the last 60 years, improvements in the design process have been comparatively stagnant. Space systems continue to be designed using a procedural, subsystem-by-subsystem approach. This method is inadequate since it generally requires extensive iteration and limited or heuristic-based search, which can be slow, labor-intensive, and inaccurate. The use of a declarative design approach can potentially address these inadequacies. In the declarative programming style, the focus of a problem is placed on what the objective is, and not necessarily how it should be achieved. In the context of design, this entails knowledge expressed as a declaration of statements that are true about the desired artifact instead of explicit instructions on how to implement it. A well-known technique is through constraint-based reasoning, where a design problem is represented as a network of rules and constraints that are reasoned across by a solver to dynamically discover the optimal candidate(s). This enables implicit instantiation of the tradespace and allows for automatic generation of all feasible design candidates. As such, this approach also appears to be well-suited to modeling adaptable space systems, which generally have large tradespaces and possess configurations that are not well-known a priori. This research applied a declarative design approach to holistic satellite design and to tradespace exploration for adaptable space systems. The

Implications of the Declarative/Procedural Model for Improving Second Language Learning: The Role of Memory Enhancement Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Ullman, Michael T.; Lovelett, Jarrett T.

2018-01-01

The declarative/procedural (DP) model posits that the learning, storage, and use of language critically depend on two learning and memory systems in the brain: declarative memory and procedural memory. Thus, on the basis of independent research on the memory systems, the model can generate specific and often novel predictions for language. Till…

Response pattern of depressive symptoms among college students: What lies behind items of the Beck Depression Inventory-II?

Science.gov (United States)

de Sá Junior, Antonio Reis; de Andrade, Arthur Guerra; Andrade, Laura Helena; Gorenstein, Clarice; Wang, Yuan-Pang

2018-07-01

This study examines the response pattern of depressive symptoms in a nationwide student sample, through item analyses of a rating scale by both classical test theory (CTT) and item response theory (IRT). The 21-item Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) was administered to 12,711 college students. First, the psychometric properties of the scale were described. Thereafter, the endorsement probability of depressive symptom in each scale item was analyzed through CTT and IRT. Graphical plots depicted the endorsement probability of scale items and intensity of depression. Three items of different difficulty level were compared through CTT and IRT approach. Four in five students reported the presence of depressive symptoms. The BDI-II items presented good reliability and were distributed along the symptomatic continuum of depression. Similarly, in both CTT and IRT approaches, the item 'changes in sleep' was easily endorsed, 'loss of interest' moderately and 'suicidal thoughts' hardly. Graphical representation of BDI-II of both methods showed much equivalence in terms of item discrimination and item difficulty. The item characteristic curve of the IRT method provided informative evaluation of item performance. The inventory was applied only in college students. Depressive symptoms were frequent psychopathological manifestations among college students. The performance of the BDI-II items indicated convergent results from both methods of analysis. While the CTT was easy to understand and to apply, the IRT was more complex to understand and to implement. Comprehensive assessment of the functioning of each BDI-II item might be helpful in efficient detection of depressive conditions in college students. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Reliability and Validity of Michigan School Libraries for the 21st Century Measurement Benchmarks

Science.gov (United States)

Floyd, Natosha N.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Michigan School Libraries for the 21st Century Measurement Benchmarks (SL21). The instrument consists of 19 items with three subscales: Building the 21st Century Learning Environment Subscale, Teaching for 21st Century Learning Subscale, and Leading the Way to 21st Century…

Generalizability theory and item response theory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Glas, Cornelis A.W.; Eggen, T.J.H.M.; Veldkamp, B.P.

2012-01-01

Item response theory is usually applied to items with a selected-response format, such as multiple choice items, whereas generalizability theory is usually applied to constructed-response tasks assessed by raters. However, in many situations, raters may use rating scales consisting of items with a

Sharing the cost of redundant items

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hougaard, Jens Leth; Moulin, Hervé

2014-01-01

We ask how to share the cost of finitely many public goods (items) among users with different needs: some smaller subsets of items are enough to serve the needs of each user, yet the cost of all items must be covered, even if this entails inefficiently paying for redundant items. Typical examples...... are network connectivity problems when an existing (possibly inefficient) network must be maintained. We axiomatize a family cost ratios based on simple liability indices, one for each agent and for each item, measuring the relative worth of this item across agents, and generating cost allocation rules...... additive in costs....

Dissociating the neural correlates of intra-item and inter-item working-memory binding.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carinne Piekema

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Integration of information streams into a unitary representation is an important task of our cognitive system. Within working memory, the medial temporal lobe (MTL has been conceptually linked to the maintenance of bound representations. In a previous fMRI study, we have shown that the MTL is indeed more active during working-memory maintenance of spatial associations as compared to non-spatial associations or single items. There are two explanations for this result, the mere presence of the spatial component activates the MTL, or the MTL is recruited to bind associations between neurally non-overlapping representations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The current fMRI study investigates this issue further by directly comparing intrinsic intra-item binding (object/colour, extrinsic intra-item binding (object/location, and inter-item binding (object/object. The three binding conditions resulted in differential activation of brain regions. Specifically, we show that the MTL is important for establishing extrinsic intra-item associations and inter-item associations, in line with the notion that binding of information processed in different brain regions depends on the MTL. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings indicate that different forms of working-memory binding rely on specific neural structures. In addition, these results extend previous reports indicating that the MTL is implicated in working-memory maintenance, challenging the classic distinction between short-term and long-term memory systems.

Generalizability theory and item response theory

OpenAIRE

Glas, Cornelis A.W.; Eggen, T.J.H.M.; Veldkamp, B.P.

2012-01-01

Item response theory is usually applied to items with a selected-response format, such as multiple choice items, whereas generalizability theory is usually applied to constructed-response tasks assessed by raters. However, in many situations, raters may use rating scales consisting of items with a selected-response format. This chapter presents a short overview of how item response theory and generalizability theory were integrated to model such assessments. Further, the precision of the esti...

15 CFR 713.2 - Annual declaration requirements for plant sites that produce, process or consume Schedule 2...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... an earlier year (i.e., during the course of any other calendar year within the past three calendar... calendar years. For example, for the 2004 annual declaration on past activities period, if you determine... (question 2-3.1), production data for calendar year 2004. You would declare “0” production because you did...

Relationships between declarative pointing and theory of mind abilities in 3-to 4-year-olds

OpenAIRE

Cochet , Hélène; Jover , Marianne; Rizzo , Cécile; Vauclair , Jacques

2016-01-01

International audience; The current study explored the relationships between declarative pointing and theory of mind abilities in 30 children between 3 and 4 years of age. Measures used to examine theory of mind (ToM) included a parental questionnaire and the Scaling of Theory of Mind Tasks. Results showed a dissociation between expressive and informative pointing, which have been regarded as two subcategories of the declarative function. ToM abilities were signi cantly related to the product...

The 12-item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHO-DAS II: a nonparametric item response analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fernandez Ana

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Previous studies have analyzed the psychometric properties of the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHO-DAS II using classical omnibus measures of scale quality. These analyses are sample dependent and do not model item responses as a function of the underlying trait level. The main objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the WHO-DAS II items and their options in discriminating between changes in the underlying disability level by means of item response analyses. We also explored differential item functioning (DIF in men and women. Methods The participants were 3615 adult general practice patients from 17 regions of Spain, with a first diagnosed major depressive episode. The 12-item WHO-DAS II was administered by the general practitioners during the consultation. We used a non-parametric item response method (Kernel-Smoothing implemented with the TestGraf software to examine the effectiveness of each item (item characteristic curves and their options (option characteristic curves in discriminating between changes in the underliying disability level. We examined composite DIF to know whether women had a higher probability than men of endorsing each item. Results Item response analyses indicated that the twelve items forming the WHO-DAS II perform very well. All items were determined to provide good discrimination across varying standardized levels of the trait. The items also had option characteristic curves that showed good discrimination, given that each increasing option became more likely than the previous as a function of increasing trait level. No gender-related DIF was found on any of the items. Conclusions All WHO-DAS II items were very good at assessing overall disability. Our results supported the appropriateness of the weights assigned to response option categories and showed an absence of gender differences in item functioning.

Item Response Theory with Covariates (IRT-C): Assessing Item Recovery and Differential Item Functioning for the Three-Parameter Logistic Model

Science.gov (United States)

Tay, Louis; Huang, Qiming; Vermunt, Jeroen K.

2016-01-01

In large-scale testing, the use of multigroup approaches is limited for assessing differential item functioning (DIF) across multiple variables as DIF is examined for each variable separately. In contrast, the item response theory with covariate (IRT-C) procedure can be used to examine DIF across multiple variables (covariates) simultaneously. To…

The randomly renewed general item and the randomly inspected item with exponential life distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneeweiss, W.G.

1979-01-01

For a randomly renewed item the probability distributions of the time to failure and of the duration of down time and the expectations of these random variables are determined. Moreover, it is shown that the same theory applies to randomly checked items with exponential probability distribution of life such as electronic items. The case of periodic renewals is treated as an example. (orig.) [de

9 CFR 93.319 - Import permit and declaration for horses.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... horses. 93.319 Section 93.319 Animals and Animal Products ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE...; REQUIREMENTS FOR MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS Horses Central America and the West Indies 17 § 93.319 Import permit and declaration for horses. For all horses offered for importation from regions of...

9 CFR 93.315 - Import permit and declaration for horses.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... horses. 93.315 Section 93.315 Animals and Animal Products ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH INSPECTION SERVICE...; REQUIREMENTS FOR MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AND SHIPPING CONTAINERS Horses Canada 16 § 93.315 Import permit and declaration for horses. For all horses offered for importation from Canada, the importer or his or her agent...

Uncommon Territory: Declaration, and the Supervision of Queer Design Theses

Science.gov (United States)

Ings, Welby John

2014-01-01

While attempting to develop authentic, practice-led inquiries into identity, queer students face unique issues. They often need to consider questions of community and frequently find themselves with one foot outside of the academic environment. Many also have to carefully consider the implications of declaration, and the management of trust. This…

Measuring resilience after spinal cord injury: Development, validation and psychometric characteristics of the SCI-QOL Resilience item bank and short form.

Science.gov (United States)

Victorson, David; Tulsky, David S; Kisala, Pamela A; Kalpakjian, Claire Z; Weiland, Brian; Choi, Seung W

2015-05-01

To describe the development and psychometric properties of the Spinal Cord Injury--Quality of Life (SCI-QOL) Resilience item bank and short form. Using a mixed-methods design, we developed and tested a resilience item bank through the use of focus groups with individuals with SCI and clinicians with expertise in SCI, cognitive interviews, and item-response theory based analytic approaches, including tests of model fit and differential item functioning (DIF). We tested a 32-item pool at several medical institutions across the United States, including the University of Michigan, Kessler Foundation, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the University of Washington, Craig Hospital and the James J. Peters/Bronx Department of Veterans Affairs medical center. A total of 717 individuals with SCI completed the Resilience items. A unidimensional model was observed (CFI=0.968; RMSEA=0.074) and measurement precision was good (theta range between -3.1 and 0.9). Ten items were flagged for DIF, however, after examination of effect sizes we found this to be negligible with little practical impact on score estimates. The final calibrated item bank resulted in 21 retained items. This study indicates that the SCI-QOL Resilience item bank represents a psychometrically robust measurement tool. Short form items are also suggested and computer adaptive tests are available.

Psychometric properties of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale: A factor analysis and item-response theory approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Pilcher, June J; Switzer, Fred S; Munc, Alec; Donnelly, Janet; Jellen, Julia C; Lamm, Claus

2018-04-01

The purpose of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) in two languages, German and English. Students from a university in Austria (N = 292; 55 males; mean age = 18.71 ± 1.71 years; 237 females; mean age = 18.24 ± 0.88 years) and a university in the US (N = 329; 128 males; mean age = 18.71 ± 0.88 years; 201 females; mean age = 21.59 ± 2.27 years) completed the ESS. An exploratory-factor analysis was completed to examine dimensionality of the ESS. Item response theory (IRT) analyses were used to provide information about the response rates on the items on the ESS and provide differential item functioning (DIF) analyses to examine whether the items were interpreted differently between the two languages. The factor analyses suggest that the ESS measures two distinct sleepiness constructs. These constructs indicate that the ESS is probing sleepiness in settings requiring active versus passive responding. The IRT analyses found that overall, the items on the ESS perform well as a measure of sleepiness. However, Item 8 and to a lesser extent Item 6 were being interpreted differently by respondents in comparison to the other items. In addition, the DIF analyses showed that the responses between German and English were very similar indicating that there are only minor measurement differences between the two language versions of the ESS. These findings suggest that the ESS provides a reliable measure of propensity to sleepiness; however, it does convey a two-factor approach to sleepiness. Researchers and clinicians can use the German and English versions of the ESS but may wish to exclude Item 8 when calculating a total sleepiness score.

26 CFR 1.1502-21T - Net operating losses (temporary).

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 12 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Net operating losses (temporary). 1.1502-21T...) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Computation of Consolidated Items § 1.1502-21T Net operating losses...)(B). (C) Partial waiver of carryback period for 2001 and 2002 losses—(1) Application. The acquiring...

17 CFR 260.7a-16 - Inclusion of items, differentiation between items and answers, omission of instructions.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Inclusion of items, differentiation between items and answers, omission of instructions. 260.7a-16 Section 260.7a-16 Commodity and... INDENTURE ACT OF 1939 Formal Requirements § 260.7a-16 Inclusion of items, differentiation between items and...

Declarative Joint Attention as a Foundation of Theory of Mind

Science.gov (United States)

Sodian, Beate; Kristen-Antonow, Susanne

2015-01-01

Theories of social-cognitive development have attributed a foundational role to declarative joint attention. The present longitudinal study of 83 children, who were assessed on a battery of social-cognitive tasks at multiple measurement points from the age of 12 to 50 months, tested a predictive model of theory of mind (false-belief…

Declaration of the Government of Argentina regime for sensitive exports

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-05-01

The document reproduces the Declaration of the Government of Argentina concerning the new regime for foreign sales of any materials, equipment, technology, technical assistance and services relating to nuclear or missile technology, and of chemical substances which might be used in the production and deployment of missiles and nuclear, chemical and bacteriological weapons

Extraction and Analysis of Information Related to Research & Development Declared Under an Additional Protocol

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Idinger, J.; Labella, R.; Rialhe, A.; Teller, N.

2015-01-01

The additional protocol (AP) provides important tools to strengthen and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the safeguards system. Safeguards are designed to verify that States comply with their international commitments not to use nuclear material or to engage in nuclear-related activities for the purpose of developing nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. Under an AP based on INFCIRC/540, a State must provide to the IAEA additional information about, and inspector access to, all parts of its nuclear fuel cycle. In addition, the State has to supply information about its nuclear fuel cycle-related research and development (R&D) activities. The majority of States declare their R&D activities under the AP Articles 2.a.(i), 2.a.(x), and 2.b.(i) as part of initial declarations and their annual updates under the AP. In order to verify consistency and completeness of information provided under the AP by States, the Agency has started to analyze declared R&D information by identifying interrelationships between States in different R&D areas relevant to safeguards. The paper outlines the quality of R&D information provided by States to the Agency, describes how the extraction and analysis of relevant declarations are currently carried out at the Agency and specifies what kinds of difficulties arise during evaluation in respect to cross-linking international projects and finding gaps in reporting. In addition, the paper tries to elaborate how the reporting quality of AP information with reference to R&D activities and the assessment process of R&D information could be improved. (author)

Theta and gamma oscillations predict encoding and retrieval of declarative memory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Osipova, D.; Takashima, A.; Oostenveld, R.; Fernandez, G.S.E.; Maris, E.G.G.; Jensen, O.

2006-01-01

Although studies in animals and patients have demonstrated that brain oscillations play a role in declarative memory encoding and retrieval, little has been done to investigate the temporal dynamics and sources of brain activity in healthy human subjects performing such tasks. In a

Theta and gamma oscillations predict encoding and retrieval of declarative memory.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Osipova, D.; Takashima, A.; Oostenveld, R.; Fernandez, G.S.E.; Maris, E.G.G.; Jensen, O.

2006-01-01

Although studies in animals and patients have demonstrated that brain oscillations play a role in declarative memory encoding and retrieval, little has been done to investigate the temporal dynamics and sources of brain activity in healthy human subjects performing such tasks. In a

Scientists' declaration to conserve Canada's coastal temperate rainforests

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-06-01

Immediate cessation of large-scale clearcut logging in the watersheds of the northwest temperate rainforests of Canada has been called for by a group of 400+ scientists, citing the threat of destruction to a variety of plant and animal life and the scientific importance of the area. The declaration affirms the ecological importance of these areas, the disruption and destruction of vulnerable ecosystems of global significance that has already taken place, and urges the government to put an end to clearcut logging in these areas, to be replaced by ecosystem-based forestry which includes areas of biological refuge, maintains the ecological characteristics of the original forests, respects and considers the traditional knowledge of First Nations, and provides for the long-term sustainability of coastal communities who depend on fishing and forestry for their economic and cultural well-being. The declaration includes the names of the 400+ signatories.

The Effects of Test Length and Sample Size on Item Parameters in Item Response Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Sahin, Alper; Anil, Duygu

2017-01-01

This study investigates the effects of sample size and test length on item-parameter estimation in test development utilizing three unidimensional dichotomous models of item response theory (IRT). For this purpose, a real language test comprised of 50 items was administered to 6,288 students. Data from this test was used to obtain data sets of…

Approximation Preserving Reductions among Item Pricing Problems

Science.gov (United States)

Hamane, Ryoso; Itoh, Toshiya; Tomita, Kouhei

When a store sells items to customers, the store wishes to determine the prices of the items to maximize its profit. Intuitively, if the store sells the items with low (resp. high) prices, the customers buy more (resp. less) items, which provides less profit to the store. So it would be hard for the store to decide the prices of items. Assume that the store has a set V of n items and there is a set E of m customers who wish to buy those items, and also assume that each item i ∈ V has the production cost di and each customer ej ∈ E has the valuation vj on the bundle ej ⊆ V of items. When the store sells an item i ∈ V at the price ri, the profit for the item i is pi = ri - di. The goal of the store is to decide the price of each item to maximize its total profit. We refer to this maximization problem as the item pricing problem. In most of the previous works, the item pricing problem was considered under the assumption that pi ≥ 0 for each i ∈ V, however, Balcan, et al. [In Proc. of WINE, LNCS 4858, 2007] introduced the notion of “loss-leader, ” and showed that the seller can get more total profit in the case that pi < 0 is allowed than in the case that pi < 0 is not allowed. In this paper, we derive approximation preserving reductions among several item pricing problems and show that all of them have algorithms with good approximation ratio.

Which Statistic Should Be Used to Detect Item Preknowledge When the Set of Compromised Items Is Known?

Science.gov (United States)

Sinharay, Sandip

2017-09-01

Benefiting from item preknowledge is a major type of fraudulent behavior during educational assessments. Belov suggested the posterior shift statistic for detection of item preknowledge and showed its performance to be better on average than that of seven other statistics for detection of item preknowledge for a known set of compromised items. Sinharay suggested a statistic based on the likelihood ratio test for detection of item preknowledge; the advantage of the statistic is that its null distribution is known. Results from simulated and real data and adaptive and nonadaptive tests are used to demonstrate that the Type I error rate and power of the statistic based on the likelihood ratio test are very similar to those of the posterior shift statistic. Thus, the statistic based on the likelihood ratio test appears promising in detecting item preknowledge when the set of compromised items is known.

An emotional functioning item bank of 24 items for computerized adaptive testing (CAT) was established

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Petersen, Morten Aa.; Gamper, Eva-Maria; Costantini, Anna

2016-01-01

of the widely used EORTC Quality of Life questionnaire (QLQ-C30). STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: On the basis of literature search and evaluations by international samples of experts and cancer patients, 38 candidate items were developed. The psychometric properties of the items were evaluated in a large...... international sample of cancer patients. This included evaluations of dimensionality, item response theory (IRT) model fit, differential item functioning (DIF), and of measurement precision/statistical power. RESULTS: Responses were obtained from 1,023 cancer patients from four countries. The evaluations showed...... that 24 items could be included in a unidimensional IRT model. DIF did not seem to have any significant impact on the estimation of EF. Evaluations indicated that the CAT measure may reduce sample size requirements by up to 50% compared to the QLQ-C30 EF scale without reducing power. CONCLUSION...

Factoring handedness data: I. Item analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Messinger, H B; Messinger, M I

1995-12-01

Recently in this journal Peters and Murphy challenged the validity of factor analyses done on bimodal handedness data, suggesting instead that right- and left-handers be studied separately. But bimodality may be avoidable if attention is paid to Oldfield's questionnaire format and instructions for the subjects. Two characteristics appear crucial: a two-column LEFT-RIGHT format for the body of the instrument and what we call Oldfield's Admonition: not to indicate strong preference for handedness item, such as write, unless "... the preference is so strong that you would never try to use the other hand unless absolutely forced to...". Attaining unimodality of an item distribution would seem to overcome the objections of Peters and Murphy. In a 1984 survey in Boston we used Oldfield's ten-item questionnaire exactly as published. This produced unimodal item distributions. With reflection of the five-point item scale and a logarithmic transformation, we achieved a degree of normalization for the items. Two surveys elsewhere based on Oldfield's 20-item list but with changes in the questionnaire format and the instructions, yielded markedly different item distributions with peaks at each extreme and sometimes in the middle as well.

Use of other industry standards to facilitate the procurement and dedication of commercial-grade items

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Beard, R.L.; Rosch, F.C.; Sanwarwalla, M.H.; Tjernlund, R.M.

1994-01-01

Nuclear utilities are embarking on innovative approaches for reducing costs in all aspects of engineering, operation, maintenance, and procurement to produce power cheaply and efficiently and remain competitive with other power producers. In the area of procurement, utilities are increasingly obtaining commercial-grade items for use in safety-related applications. This trend is occurring because of lack of suppliers capable or willing to meet 10 CFR 21 and 10 CFR 50 App. B requirements and because of the absence of original equipment suppliers or the spiraling cost associated with procuring items' basic components safety-related from original suppliers. Utilities have been looking at ways to reduce procurement costs. One promising means to reduce costs is to utilize information provided in other nonnuclear industry standards regarding the specification, control, manufacture, and acceptance of the critical characteristics required of the item to perform its design function. A task force was instituted under the sponsorship of the Electric Power Research Institute to investigate the feasibility of using items manufactured to other industry standards in nuclear safety-related applications. This investigation looked at a broad spectrum of available industry standards pertaining to the design, function, manufacture, and testing of items and determined that some standards are more useful than others. This paper discusses the results of this investigation and how credit from the controls exercised for items manufactured to certain existing industry standards can be taken to minimize dedication costs

Declarative Modelling and Safe Distribution of Healthcare Workflows

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hildebrandt, Thomas; Mukkamala, Raghava Rao; Slaats, Tijs

2012-01-01

We present a formal technique for safe distribution of workflow processes described declaratively as Nested Condition Response (NCR) Graphs and apply the technique to a distributed healthcare workflow. Concretely, we provide a method to synthesize from a NCR Graph and any distribution of its events......-organizational case management. The contributions of this paper is to adapt the technique to allow for nested processes and milestones and to apply it to a healthcare workflow identified in a previous field study at danish hospitals....

Understanding Service Composition with Non-functional Properties Using Declarative Model-to-model Transformations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Max Mäuhlhäuser

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Developing applications comprising service composition is a complex task. Therefore, to lower the skill barrier for developers, it is important to describe the problem at hand on an abstract level and not to focus on implementation details. This can be done using declarative programming which allows to describe only the result of the problem (which is what the developer wants rather than the description of the implementation. We therefore use purely declarative model-to-model transformations written in a universal model transformation language which is capable of handling even non functional properties using optimization and mathematical programming. This makes it easier to understand and describe service composition and non-functional properties for the developer.

Item Modeling Concept Based on Multimedia Authoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janez Stergar

2008-09-01

Full Text Available In this paper a modern item design framework for computer based assessment based on Flash authoring environment will be introduced. Question design will be discussed as well as the multimedia authoring environment used for item modeling emphasized. Item type templates are a structured means of collecting and storing item information that can be used to improve the efficiency and security of the innovative item design process. Templates can modernize the item design, enhance and speed up the development process. Along with content creation, multimedia has vast potential for use in innovative testing. The introduced item design template is based on taxonomy of innovative items which have great potential for expanding the content areas and construct coverage of an assessment. The presented item design approach is based on GUI's – one for question design based on implemented item design templates and one for user interaction tracking/retrieval. The concept of user interfaces based on Flash technology will be discussed as well as implementation of the innovative approach of the item design forms with multimedia authoring. Also an innovative method for user interaction storage/retrieval based on PHP extending Flash capabilities in the proposed framework will be introduced.

Reproducibility of the items on the Stroke Specific Quality of Life questionnaire that evaluate the participation component of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Soraia Micaela; Corrêa, Fernanda Ishida; Faria, Christina Danielli Coelho de Morais; Pereira, Gabriela Santos; Attié, Edna Alves Dos Anjos; Corrêa, João Carlos Ferrari

2016-12-01

To evaluate the reproducibility of the Stroke Specific Quality of Life (SS-QOL) items that address the participation component of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and analyse the correlation between the subscore of these 26 items and the total SS-QOL score. Seventy-five stroke survivors participated in this study. Reproducibility was evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC2,1), standard error of measurement (SEM), minimum detectable change (MDC) and the Bland-Altman plot. The correlation between the subscore of the 26 items and the total SS-QOL score was analysed using Spearman's correlation coefficients (rho) and simple linear regression. An alpha risk ≤ 0.05 was considered for all analyses. The SS-QOL items that address the participation component of the ICF demonstrated excellent reliability (intra-rater ICC2,1 = 0.96; inter-rater ICC2,1 = 0.95). The SEM and MDC were adequate. The Bland-Altman plot demonstrated satisfactory agreement. A significant and strong correlation (rho = 0.83) was found between the 26 SS-QOL items that address participation and the total SS-QOL score. Moreover, the evaluation of participation was found to explain 73% of the evaluation of health-related quality of life. The 26 SS-QOL items that address the participation component of the ICF demonstrated adequate reproducibility. Thus, participation, which represents the social aspects of functionality, can be adequately evaluated with these items. Implications for Rehabilitation The 26 Stroke Specific Quality of Life items that address participation proved to be reproducible for the analysis of social participation following a stroke. The findings can lead to a better understanding of the social participation of individuals with chronic hemiparesis and assist in the establishment of adequate treatment for such individuals. The rehabilitation process can be directed towards more specific goals focused on the

The medial temporal lobes distinguish between within-item and item-context relations during autobiographical memory retrieval.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheldon, Signy; Levine, Brian

2015-12-01

During autobiographical memory retrieval, the medial temporal lobes (MTL) relate together multiple event elements, including object (within-item relations) and context (item-context relations) information, to create a cohesive memory. There is consistent support for a functional specialization within the MTL according to these relational processes, much of which comes from recognition memory experiments. In this study, we compared brain activation patterns associated with retrieving within-item relations (i.e., associating conceptual and sensory-perceptual object features) and item-context relations (i.e., spatial relations among objects) with respect to naturalistic autobiographical retrieval. We developed a novel paradigm that cued participants to retrieve information about past autobiographical events, non-episodic within-item relations, and non-episodic item-context relations with the perceptuomotor aspects of retrieval equated across these conditions. We used multivariate analysis techniques to extract common and distinct patterns of activity among these conditions within the MTL and across the whole brain, both in terms of spatial and temporal patterns of activity. The anterior MTL (perirhinal cortex and anterior hippocampus) was preferentially recruited for generating within-item relations later in retrieval whereas the posterior MTL (posterior parahippocampal cortex and posterior hippocampus) was preferentially recruited for generating item-context relations across the retrieval phase. These findings provide novel evidence for functional specialization within the MTL with respect to naturalistic memory retrieval. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Differential item functioning of the patient-reported outcomes information system (PROMIS®) pain interference item bank by language (Spanish versus English).

Science.gov (United States)

Paz, Sylvia H; Spritzer, Karen L; Reise, Steven P; Hays, Ron D

2017-06-01

About 70% of Latinos, 5 years old or older, in the United States speak Spanish at home. Measurement equivalence of the PROMIS ® pain interference (PI) item bank by language of administration (English versus Spanish) has not been evaluated. A sample of 527 adult Spanish-speaking Latinos completed the Spanish version of the 41-item PROMIS ® pain interference item bank. We evaluate dimensionality, monotonicity and local independence of the Spanish-language items. Then we evaluate differential item functioning (DIF) using ordinal logistic regression with item response theory scores estimated from DIF-free "anchor" items. One of the 41 items in the Spanish version of the PROMIS ® PI item bank was identified as having significant uniform DIF. English- and Spanish-speaking subjects with the same level of pain interference responded differently to 1 of the 41 items in the PROMIS ® PI item bank. This item was not retained due to proprietary issues. The original English language item parameters can be used when estimating PROMIS ® PI scores.

A strategy for optimizing item-pool management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ariel, A.; van der Linden, Willem J.; Veldkamp, Bernard P.

2006-01-01

Item-pool management requires a balancing act between the input of new items into the pool and the output of tests assembled from it. A strategy for optimizing item-pool management is presented that is based on the idea of a periodic update of an optimal blueprint for the item pool to tune item

40 CFR 52.1393 - Interstate Transport Declaration for the 1997 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Adoption package. In a May 10, 2007 e-mail to Domenico Mastrangelo, EPA, Debra Wolfe, of the Montana... 40 Protection of Environment 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Interstate Transport Declaration for... (CONTINUED) Montana § 52.1393 Interstate Transport Declaration for the 1997 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS. The...

Frontal Cognitive Function and Memory in Parkinson’s Disease: Toward a Distinction between Prospective and Declarative Memory Impairments?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. I. Tröster

1995-01-01

Full Text Available Memory dysfunction is a frequent concomitant of Parkinson's disease (PD. Historically, two classes of hypotheses, focusing on different cognitive mechanisms, have been advanced to explain this memory impairment: one postulating retrieval deficits (common to several neurodegenerative disorders involving the basal ganglia, and the other postulating frontally mediated executive deficits as fundamental to memory impairment. After outlining empirical support for the retrieval deficit hypothesis, research on the more recent “frontal executive deficit hypothesis” is reviewed, and major challenges to this hypothesis are identified. It is concluded that the frontal executive deficit hypothesis cannot adequately account for all memory impairments in PD, and that a more parsimonious theoretical account might invoke a distinction between prospective and declarative memory impairments. It is suggested that there may be three subgroups of PD patients: one demonstrating prospective memory dysfunction only, one with declarative memory dysfunction only, and one with both prospective and declarative memory dysfunction. Consequently, PD might provide a useful model within which to investigate the relationship between prospective and declarative memory.

What proportion of prescription items dispensed in community pharmacies are eligible for the New Medicine Service?

Science.gov (United States)

Wells, Katharine M; Boyd, Matthew J; Thornley, Tracey; Boardman, Helen F

2014-03-07

The payment structure for the New Medicine Service (NMS) in England is based on the assumption that 0.5% of prescription items dispensed in community pharmacies are eligible for the service. This assumption is based on a theoretical calculation. This study aimed to find out the actual proportion of prescription items eligible for the NMS dispensed in community pharmacies in order to compare this with the theoretical assumption. The study also aimed to investigate whether the proportion of prescription items eligible for the NMS is affected by pharmacies' proximity to GP practices. The study collected data from eight pharmacies in Nottingham belonging to the same large chain of pharmacies. Pharmacies were grouped by distance from the nearest GP practice and sampled to reflect the distribution by distance of all pharmacies in Nottingham. Data on one thousand consecutive prescription items were collected from each pharmacy and the number of NMS eligible items recorded. All NHS prescriptions were included in the sample. Data were analysed and proportions calculated with 95% confidence intervals used to compare the study results against the theoretical figure of 0.5% of prescription items being eligible for the NMS. A total of 8005 prescription items were collected (a minimum of 1000 items per pharmacy) of which 17 items were eligible to receive the service. The study found that 0.25% (95% confidence intervals: 0.14% to 0.36%) of prescription items were eligible for the NMS which differs significantly from the theoretical assumption of 0.5%. The opportunity rate for the service was lower, 0.21% (95% confidence intervals: 0.10% to 0.32%) of items, as some items eligible for the NMS did not translate into opportunities to offer the service. Of all the prescription items collected in the pharmacies, 28% were collected by patient representatives. The results of this study show that the proportion of items eligible for the NMS dispensed in community pharmacies is lower than

Item response theory - A first approach

Science.gov (United States)

Nunes, Sandra; Oliveira, Teresa; Oliveira, Amílcar

2017-07-01

The Item Response Theory (IRT) has become one of the most popular scoring frameworks for measurement data, frequently used in computerized adaptive testing, cognitively diagnostic assessment and test equating. According to Andrade et al. (2000), IRT can be defined as a set of mathematical models (Item Response Models - IRM) constructed to represent the probability of an individual giving the right answer to an item of a particular test. The number of Item Responsible Models available to measurement analysis has increased considerably in the last fifteen years due to increasing computer power and due to a demand for accuracy and more meaningful inferences grounded in complex data. The developments in modeling with Item Response Theory were related with developments in estimation theory, most remarkably Bayesian estimation with Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms (Patz & Junker, 1999). The popularity of Item Response Theory has also implied numerous overviews in books and journals, and many connections between IRT and other statistical estimation procedures, such as factor analysis and structural equation modeling, have been made repeatedly (Van der Lindem & Hambleton, 1997). As stated before the Item Response Theory covers a variety of measurement models, ranging from basic one-dimensional models for dichotomously and polytomously scored items and their multidimensional analogues to models that incorporate information about cognitive sub-processes which influence the overall item response process. The aim of this work is to introduce the main concepts associated with one-dimensional models of Item Response Theory, to specify the logistic models with one, two and three parameters, to discuss some properties of these models and to present the main estimation procedures.

A knowledge-based integrated approach for discovering and repairing declare maps

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maggi, F.M.; Jagadeesh Chandra Bose, R.P.; Aalst, van der W.M.P.; Salinesi, C.; Norrie, M.C.; Pastor, O.

2013-01-01

Process mining techniques can be used to discover process models from event data. Often the resulting models are complex due to the variability of the underlying process. Therefore, we aim at discovering declarative process models that can deal with such variability. However, for real-life event

Declarative and Procedural Memory as Individual Differences in Second Language Acquisition

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan-Short, Kara; Faretta-Stutenberg, Mandy; Brill-Schuetz, Katherine A.; Carpenter, Helen; Wong, Patrick C. M.

2014-01-01

This study examined how individual differences in cognitive abilities account for variance in the attainment level of adult second language (L2) syntactic development. Participants completed assessments of declarative and procedural learning abilities. They subsequently learned an artificial L2 under implicit training conditions and received…

15 CFR 711.2 - Who submits declarations, reports, and advance notifications.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Who submits declarations, reports, and advance notifications. 711.2 Section 711.2 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and Foreign Trade (Continued) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE CHEMICAL WEAPONS...

"One More Time, Let Me Justify This War": An Analysis of President Bush's Declaration of Days of Thanksgiving.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Kevin T.

President Bush's declaration of April 5-7, 1991 as National Days of Thanksgiving is a unique example of Presidential civil religious discourse: no other President has ever made such a declaration to thank God for a victory in war. Whether he intended to or not, President Bush engaged in a rhetorical form which allowed him to manipulate a very…

76 FR 30050 - Food Labeling; Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-24

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Parts 11 and 101 [Docket No. FDA-2011-F-0172] RIN 0910-AG57 Food Labeling; Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments; Correction AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS...

76 FR 30051 - Food Labeling; Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-24

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration 21 CFR Parts 11 and 101 [Docket No. FDA-2011-F-0172] RIN 0910-AG57 Food Labeling; Nutrition Labeling of Standard Menu Items in Restaurants and Similar Retail Food Establishments; Extension of Comment Period AGENCY: Food and Drug...

Insular cortex involvement in declarative memory deficits in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Lingjiang

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Neuroimaging studies have proved that hippocampus relate to the deficient of memory in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD. Many studies in healthy subjects also shown that insular cortex (IC be involved in the declarative memory. This study was designed to investigate whether insular cortex is involved in declarative memory deficits in patients with PTSD. Methods Twelve subjects with PTSD and 12 subjects without PTSD victims underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance imaging. All subjects performed encoding and retrieval memory tasks during the fMRI session. Voxel-based morphometry method was used to analyze gray-matter volume, and the Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM2 was used to analyze activated brain areas when performing tasks. Results Grey matter volume was significantly reduced bilaterally in the insular cortex of PTSD subjects than non-PTSD. PTSD group also had lower level of activation in insular cortex when performing word encoding and retrieval tasks than non-PTSD group. Conclusion The study provides evidence on structural and function abnormalities of the insular cortex in patients with PTSD. Reduced grey-matter volume in insular cortex may be associated with declarative memory deficits in patients with PTSD.

Smaller food item sizes of snack foods influence reduced portions and caloric intake in young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Marchiori, David; Waroquier, Laurent; Klein, Olivier

2011-05-01

Studies considering the impact of food-size variations on consumption have predominantly focused on portion size, whereas very little research has investigated variations in food-item size, especially at snacking occasions, and results have been contradictory. This study evaluated the effect of altering the size of food items (ie, small vs large candies) of equal-size food portions on short-term energy intake while snacking. The study used a between-subjects design (n=33) in a randomized experiment conducted in spring 2008. In a psychology laboratory (separate cubicles), participants (undergraduate psychology students, 29 of 33 female, mean age 20.3±2 years, mean body mass index 21.7±3.7) were offered unlimited consumption of candies while participating in an unrelated computerized experiment. For half of the subjects, items were cut in two to make the small food-item size. Food intake (weight in grams, kilocalories, and number of food items) was examined using analysis of variance. Results showed that decreasing the item size of candies led participants to decrease by half their gram weight intake, resulting in an energy intake decrease of 60 kcal compared to the other group. Appetite ratings and subject and food characteristics had no moderating effect. A cognitive bias could explain why people tend to consider that one unit of food (eg, 10 candies) is the appropriate amount to consume, regardless of the size of the food items in the unit. This study suggests a simple dietary strategy, decreasing food-item size without having to alter the portion size offered, may reduce energy intake at snacking occasions. Copyright © 2011 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Professional medical writing support and the quality of randomised controlled trial reporting: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gattrell, William T; Hopewell, Sally; Young, Kate; Farrow, Paul; White, Richard; Wager, Elizabeth; Winchester, Christopher C

2016-02-21

Authors may choose to work with professional medical writers when writing up their research for publication. We examined the relationship between medical writing support and the quality and timeliness of reporting of the results of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Cross-sectional study. Primary reports of RCTs published in BioMed Central journals from 2000 to 16 July 2014, subdivided into those with medical writing support (n=110) and those without medical writing support (n=123). Proportion of items that were completely reported from a predefined subset of the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist (12 items known to be commonly poorly reported), overall acceptance time (from manuscript submission to editorial acceptance) and quality of written English as assessed by peer reviewers. The effect of funding source and publication year was examined. The number of articles that completely reported at least 50% of the CONSORT items assessed was higher for those with declared medical writing support (39.1% (43/110 articles); 95% CI 29.9% to 48.9%) than for those without (21.1% (26/123 articles); 95% CI 14.3% to 29.4%). Articles with declared medical writing support were more likely than articles without such support to have acceptable written English (81.1% (43/53 articles); 95% CI 67.6% to 90.1% vs 47.9% (23/48 articles); 95% CI 33.5% to 62.7%). The median time of overall acceptance was longer for articles with declared medical writing support than for those without (167 days (IQR 114.5-231 days) vs 136 days (IQR 77-193 days)). In this sample of open-access journals, declared professional medical writing support was associated with more complete reporting of clinical trial results and higher quality of written English. Medical writing support may play an important role in raising the quality of clinical trial reporting. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go

Investigating Separate and Concurrent Approaches for Item Parameter Drift in 3PL Item Response Theory Equating

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Arce-Ferrer, Alvaro J.; Bulut, Okan

2017-01-01

This study examines separate and concurrent approaches to combine the detection of item parameter drift (IPD) and the estimation of scale transformation coefficients in the context of the common item nonequivalent groups design with the three-parameter item response theory equating. The study uses real and synthetic data sets to compare the two…

The Luxembourg Declaration on Patient Safety: a political comment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mars Di Bartolomeo

2005-12-01

Full Text Available

Services provided for European citizens’ healthcare are not services like standard commercial services. Healthcare services need to be accessible, independent of the citizen’s economic or social background and should at the same time be available to all at the best possible quality level.

The Luxembourg Declaration on Patient Safety recognizes these challenging fundamental principles. Patient safety is a key aspect for all European policy makers, as it is a vital question of equitable access to health care. Nevertheless we know that unfortunately a considerable amount of avoidable safety events still occur all across Europe!

However differently organized our national health systems may be, it is vital to share experience and knowledge at a European level in order to be able to learn from the experiences of the different memberstates. No uniform solution can be found and decreed from the bottom down, nevertheless Europe can contribute and help to raise standards by a common effort. The Luxembourg Declaration is a launching pad for European progress in this field as it sets important goals and demonstrates the steps to be undertaken. It is a calling and gives us hope for measurable progress in the future.

[Adverse events self-declaration system and influenza vaccination coverage of healthcare workers in a tertiary hospital].

Science.gov (United States)

Velasco Munoz, Cesar; Sequera, Víctor-Guillermo; Vilajeliu, Alba; Aldea, Marta; Mena, Guillermo; Quesada, Sebastiana; Varela, Pilar; Olivé, Victoria; Bayas, José M; Trilla, Antoni

2016-02-19

During the influenza vaccination campaign 2011-2012 we established a self-declaration system of adverse events (AEs) in healthcare workers (HCW). The aim of this study is to describe the vaccinated population and analyse vaccination coverage and self-declared AEs after the voluntary flu vaccination in a university hospital in Barcelona. Observational study. We used the HCW immunization record to calculate the vaccination coverage. We collected AEs using a voluntary, anonymous, self-administered survey during the 2011-2012 flu vaccination campaign. We performed a logistic regression model to determine the associated factors to declare AEs. The influenza vaccination coverage in HCW was 30.5% (n=1,507/4,944). We received completed surveys from 358 vaccinated HCW (23.8% of all vaccinated). We registered AEs in 186 respondents to the survey (52.0% of all respondents). Of these, 75.3% (n=140) reported local symptoms after the flu vaccination, 9.7% (n=18) reported systemic symptoms and 15.1% (n=28) both local and systemic symptoms. No serious AEs were self-reported. Female sex and aged under 35 were both factors associated with declaring AEs. Our self-reporting system did not register serious AEs in HCW, resulting in an opportunity to improve HCW trust in flu vaccination. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

The Millennium Cohort: A 21-Year Contribution to the Understanding of Military and Veterans’ Health

Science.gov (United States)

2009-12-10

syndrome (15 items) • Other anxiety syndrome (6 items) • Eating disorders (4 items; binge and bulimia nervosa) Has your doctor or other health...The Millennium Cohort: a 21-Year Contribution to the Understanding of Military and Veterans’ Health Second Annual Trauma Stress Disorders ...AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Presented at The Second Annual Trauma Spectrum Disorders

Analysis of differential item functioning in the depression item bank from the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS: An item response theory approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JOSEPH P. EIMICKE

2009-06-01

Full Text Available The aims of this paper are to present findings related to differential item functioning (DIF in the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS depression item bank, and to discuss potential threats to the validity of results from studies of DIF. The 32 depression items studied were modified from several widely used instruments. DIF analyses of gender, age and education were performed using a sample of 735 individuals recruited by a survey polling firm. DIF hypotheses were generated by asking content experts to indicate whether or not they expected DIF to be present, and the direction of the DIF with respect to the studied comparison groups. Primary analyses were conducted using the graded item response model (for polytomous, ordered response category data with likelihood ratio tests of DIF, accompanied by magnitude measures. Sensitivity analyses were performed using other item response models and approaches to DIF detection. Despite some caveats, the items that are recommended for exclusion or for separate calibration were "I felt like crying" and "I had trouble enjoying things that I used to enjoy." The item, "I felt I had no energy," was also flagged as evidencing DIF, and recommended for additional review. On the one hand, false DIF detection (Type 1 error was controlled to the extent possible by ensuring model fit and purification. On the other hand, power for DIF detection might have been compromised by several factors, including sparse data and small sample sizes. Nonetheless, practical and not just statistical significance should be considered. In this case the overall magnitude and impact of DIF was small for the groups studied, although impact was relatively large for some individuals.

Reusing a declarative specification to check the conformance of different CIGs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Grando, M.A.; Aalst, van der W.M.P.; Mans, R.S.; Daniel, F.; Barkaoui, K.; Dustdar, S.

2012-01-01

Several Computer Interpretable Guidelines (CIGs) languages have been proposed by the health community. Even though these CIG languages share common ideas each language has to be provided with his own mechanism of verification. In an earlier work we have shown that a DECLARE model can be used for

21 CFR 610.60 - Container label.

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2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 7 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Container label. 610.60 Section 610.60 Food and... GENERAL BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS STANDARDS Labeling Standards § 610.60 Container label. (a) Full label. The following items shall appear on the label affixed to each container of a product capable of bearing a full...

21 CFR 610.61 - Package label.

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2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 7 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Package label. 610.61 Section 610.61 Food and... GENERAL BIOLOGICAL PRODUCTS STANDARDS Labeling Standards § 610.61 Package label. The following items shall appear on the label affixed to each package containing a product: (a) The proper name of the product; (b...

76 FR 60474 - Commercial Item Handbook

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-29

... DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE Defense Acquisition Regulations System Commercial Item Handbook AGENCY.... SUMMARY: DoD has updated its Commercial Item Handbook. The purpose of the Handbook is to help acquisition personnel develop sound business strategies for procuring commercial items. DoD is seeking industry input on...

The Psychometric Properties of Turkish Version of Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21 in Community and Clinical Samples