Prevalence of pain-free weeks in chiropractic subjects with low back pain - a longitudinal study using data gathered with text messages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lemeunier, Nadege; Kongsted, Alice; Axen, Iben

2011-01-01

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: The use of automated text messages has made it possible to identify different courses of low back pain (LBP), and it has been observed that pain often fluctuates and that absolute recovery is rather rare. The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of pain-fre...

An Examination of Adolescent Recall of Anti-Smoking Messages: Attitudes, Message Type, and Message Perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigsby, Elisabeth; Monahan, Jennifer L; Ewoldsen, David R

2017-04-01

Delayed message recall may be influenced by currently held accessible attitudes, the nature of the message, and message perceptions (perception of bias and message elaboration). This study examined the potential of message perceptions to mediate the influence of valenced attitude accessibility and message type on unaided recall of anti-smoking Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In a field experiment, ninth grade students (N = 244) watched three PSAs and responded to items on laptop computers. Twelve weeks later, follow-up telephone surveys were conducted to assess unaided recall. Both valenced attitude accessibility and message type were associated with message perceptions. However, only perception of message bias partially mediated the relationship between message type and unaided recall.

Two-way text messaging: an interactive mobile learning environment in higher education

OpenAIRE

Premadasa, H. K. Salinda; Meegama, R. G. N.

2016-01-01

Short messaging service (SMS) is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of a mobile learning environment being unable to reply back to the correct destination. This article presents a two-way text messaging system that can ...

Two-way text messaging: an interactive mobile learning environment in higher education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.K. Salinda Premadasa

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Short messaging service (SMS is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of a mobile learning environment being unable to reply back to the correct destination. This article presents a two-way text messaging system that can be integrated into a learning management system (LMS to provide an interactive learning experience to the user community. Initially, a database is integrated into the LMS that holds message information such as recipient's phone number, message body and user data header. A specific port associated with the SMS is used to conceal and exchange data of a particular course unit. Subsequently, software in the student's mobile device captures this message and sends back the reply message to the appropriate course unit allowing both teachers and students to view messages sent and replies received pertaining to a particular course. Results indicate the educational impact of the proposed system in improving the learning environment and benefits it offers to the community in a campus-wide implementation.

Premature failure analysis of forged cold back-up roll in a continuous tandem mill

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rad, Hamid Reza Bakhsheshi; Monshi, Ahmad; Idris, Mohd Hasbullah; Kadir, Mohammed Rafiq Abdul; Jafari, Hassan

2011-01-01

Highlights: → Metal wrapping and strip welding in work/back-up rolls contact zone caused spalling. → MnS inclusion and pore initiated crack which propagated in milling led to spalling. → Retained austenite conversion to α'-martensite accelerated spalling failure. → Needle shaped carbide (Fe,Mo,Cr) 7 C 3 , may cause poor service life of back-up roll. -- Abstract: In this paper, premature failure of a forged back-up roll from a continuous tandem mill was investigated. Microstructural evolutions of the spalled specimen and surface of the roll were characterized by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and ferritscopy, while hardness value of the specimen was measured by Vickers hardness testing. The results revealed that the presence of pore and MnS inclusion with spherical and oval morphologies were the main contributing factors responsible for the poor life of the back-up roll. In addition, metal pick up and subsequently strip welding on the surface of the work roll were found as the major causes of failure in work roll which led to spalling occurrence in the back-up roll. Furthermore, relatively high percentage of retained austenite, say 9%, in outer surface of the back-up roll contributed spalling due to conversion of this meta-stable phase to martensite and creation of volume expansion on the outer surface through work hardening during mill campaign.

Persistence of pain in patients with chronic low back pain reported via weekly automated text messages over one year

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leboeuf-Yde, Charlotte; Krüger Jensen, Rikke; Wedderkopp, Niels

2015-01-01

(Study 1) and the other without any pathological explanation for the pain (Study 2). In both studies, participants were followed over 1 year with weekly automated text messages (SMS-Track). Each week they reported the number of days they had experienced bothersome LBP (0-7 days). The number of weeks......BACKGROUND: A previous study has suggested that it is uncommon for patients with chronic bothersome low back pain (LBP), who consult the secondary health care sector, to report at least four consecutive weeks without such bothersome pain in 1 year. It is not yet known, however, how many days...... of the week they experience pain throughout the year. METHOD: The current study analyzed data collected in two randomized clinical studies conducted in 2007-9 on patients with back pain (Study 1 and 2). Study participants were patients with LBP for more than 2 months, one group with MRI-defined Modic changes...

RSG-Gas Based Radioisotopes And Sharing Program For Regional Back Up Supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soenardjo, Sunarhadijoso; Tamat, Swasono R.; Suparman, Ibon; Purwadi, Bambang

2003-01-01

As the owner of the reactors used for radioisotope production, BATAN needs to increase the effectiveness of the reactor operation cost that can be achieved by simultaneously exploiting all the existing irradiation facility, supported by full utilization of the radioisotopes produced. On the other hand, the domestic demand of radioisotopes is much lower than the production capability but sometimes the request is compulsory to be suspended due to reactor operation schedule. As this condition is mostly similar to that of several countries of RCA Member States, a sharing program for regional back up supply seems to be a positive thought to support expectation on the effectiveness of reactor operation cost and the continuity of radioisotope product services as well as the utilization of radioisotopes produced. Based on radioactivity achieved in each production batch at the present, 131 I, 99 Mo, 153 Sm, 125 I and 32 p radioisotopes may be offered for back up supply program. Due to consideration on conformity of user demands with reactor operation and radiochemical processing costs, the concept of back up supply program should performed first by means of full utilization of the available products and not by increasing reactor operation frequency. An information and communication network system, therefore, is absolutely needed to support information exchange between the radioisotope producer, members of back up supply program and radioisotope customers

Application of instant messaging software in the follow-up of patients using peritoneal dialysis, a randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Fang; Li, Lanfei; Lin, Miao; Lin, Qinyu; Ruan, Yiping; Hong, Fuyuan

2018-04-20

This study aims to investigate the application value of Internet-based instant messaging software in the follow-up of patients using peritoneal dialysis. Peritoneal dialysis is an effective renal replacement treatment for end-stage renal disease. The clinical usefulness of Internet-based instant messaging software in the follow-up of peritoneal dialysis patients, including the incidence of peritonitis and exit-site infection, the levels of albumin and electrolytes and the degree of patients' satisfaction, remains unknown. Between January 2009-April 2016, a total of 160 patients underwent continuous peritoneal dialysis in the Department of Nephrology, Fujian Provincial Hospital were invited to participate voluntarily in this study. The patients were randomly assigned to the instant messenger (QQ) follow-up group (n = 80) and the traditional follow-up group (n = 80). The differences in death, hospitalisation, peritonitis, exit-site infection, and patients' satisfaction were investigated during 1 year of follow-up. The mean follow-up duration is 11.4 ± 1.5 months. Compared with the patients in the traditional follow-up group, patients in the QQ follow-up group showed higher levels of serum albumin (p = .009) and haemoglobin (p = .009), lower levels of phosphorus (p instant messaging software appears to be a feasible and acceptable method of delivering peritoneal dialysis treatment for patients with end-stage renal disease. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Design and analysis of a lightweight prestressed antenna back-up structure

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Zengxiang; Yang, Dehua; Cheng, Jingquan

2010-07-01

The planned Square Kilometer Array (SKA) includes three thousand 15m antennas. The radio flux density from the sun is stronger, so that a solar array, such as Frequency-Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR) with hundreds of dishes can have smaller dish size. Therefore, light weight, low cost dish design is of vital importance. The reflecting surface supported by an antenna back-up structure, generally, should have an RMS surface error less than λ/20 (λ. is the operating wavelength). For resisting gravitational, wind, and ice-snow loadings, an antenna dish also requires reasonable mode frequencies. In this paper, different low cost small or medium back-up structure designs are discussed, including double-layer truss design and prestressed dish design. Based on discussion, an innovative light weight, prestressed back-up structure is proposed for small or medium aperture antennas. Example of a small 4.5m aperture dish design working below 3GHz is presented. This design is a one-layer prestressed truss structure with low weight, ease installation, and low manufacture cost. Structural analysis and modal extraction results show the structure is much stiffer than the same structure without prestressed loading.

Signal-to-pump back action and self-oscillation in double-pump Josephson parametric amplifier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kamal, Archana; Marblestone, Adam; Devoret, Michel

2009-01-01

We present the theory of a Josephson parametric amplifier employing two-pump sources. Our calculations are based on input-output theory, and can easily be generalized to any coupled system involving parametric interactions. We analyze the operation of the device, taking into account the feedback introduced by the reaction of the signal and noise on the pump power, and in this framework, compute the response functions of interest--signal and idler gains, internal gain of the amplifier, and self-oscillation signal amplitude. To account for this back action between signal and pump, we adopt a mean-field approach and self-consistently explore the boundary between amplification and self-oscillation. The coincidence of bifurcation and self-oscillation thresholds reveals that the origin of coherent emission of the amplifier lies in the multiwave mixing of the noise components. Incorporation of the back action leads the system to exhibit hysteresis, dependent on parameters such as temperature and detuning from resonance. Our analysis also shows that the resonance condition itself changes in the presence of back action and this can be understood in terms of the change in plasma frequency of the junction. The potential of the double-pump amplifier for quantum-limited measurements and as a squeezer is also discussed.

The Nordic back pain subpopulation program - individual patterns of low back pain established by means of text messaging: a longitudinal pilot study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leboeuf-Yde Charlotte

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Non-specific low back pain (LBP is known to be a fluctuating condition and there is a growing realisation that it consists of different subgroups of patients. The detailed course of pain is not known since traditional methods of data collection do not allow very frequent follow-ups. This is a limitation in relation to identification of subgroups with different course patterns. The objective of this pilot study was to see if it is possible to identify characteristic course-patterns of non-specific LBP in patients treated in a primary care setting. Methods Patients seeing a chiropractor for a new LBP episode were included after the first consultation and followed for 18 weeks by means of automatic short message service (SMS received and returned on their mobile phones. Every week they were asked how many days they had experienced LBP in the preceding week. The course of pain was studied for each individual and described as an early course (1st - 4th week and a late course (5th - 18th week, which was fitted into one of 13 predefined course patterns. Results A total of 110 patients were included from 5 chiropractic clinics, and the study sample consisted of the 78 patients who participated at least until week 12. Nine of the predefined patterns were identified within this population. The majority of patients improved within the first four weeks (63%, and such early improvement was associated with a generally favourable course. Conclusion Patients with nonspecific LBP were shown to have a number of different course-patterns. The next step is to explore whether the identified patterns relate to different LBP diagnoses.

Expansion Effects on Back-to-Back Correlations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padula, S.S.; Krein, G.; Csoergo, T.; Hama, Y.; Panda, P.K.

2004-01-01

The back-to-back correlations (BBC) of particle-antiparticle pairs, signalling in-medium mass modification, are studied in a finite size thermalized medium. The width of BBC function is explicitly evaluated in the case of a nonrelativistic spherically symmetric expanding fireball. The effect of the flow is to reduce the BBC signal as compared to the case of non flow. Nevertheless, a significant signal survives finite-time emission plus expansion effects

30 CFR 75.1101-21 - Back-up water system.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Back-up water system. 75.1101-21 Section 75.1101-21 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR COAL MINE SAFETY... water system. One fire hose outlet together with a length of hose capable of extending to the belt drive...

Two-Way Text Messaging: An Interactive Mobile Learning Environment in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Premadasa, H. K. Salinda; Meegama, R. G. N.

2016-01-01

Short messaging service (SMS) is perhaps the most popular mobile technology prevalent among students in higher education due to its ubiquitous nature and the capability of two-way communication. However, a major limitation in two-way text messaging is sending back a part of received data with the reply message. This limitation results in users of…

Extracting messages masked by chaos

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perez, G.; Cerdeira, H.A.

1995-01-01

We show how to extract messages that are masked by a chaotic signal in a system of two Lorenz oscillators. This mask removal is done for two different modes of transmission, a digital one where a parameter of the sender is switched between two values, and an analog mode, where a small amplitude message is added to the carrier signal. We achieve this without using a second Lorenz oscillator as receiver, and without doing a full reconstruction of the dynamics. This method is robust with respect to transformations that impede the unmasking using a Lorenz receiver, and is not affected by the broad-band noise that is inherent to the synchronization process. We also discuss the limitations of this way of extraction for messages in high frequency bands. (author). 12 refs, 4 figs

Expansion effects on back-to-back correlations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Padula, S.S.; Krein, G. [Instituto de Fisica Teorica (IFT), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)]. E-mail: padula@ift.unesp.br; Csoerg, T.; Panda, P.K. [Central Research Institute for Physics (KFKI), Budapest (Hungary). Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics (RMKI); Hama, Y. [Santa Catarina Univ., Florianopolis, SC (Brazil). Centro de Ciencias Fisicas e Matematicas. Dept. de Fisica

2004-07-01

The back-to-back correlations (BBC) of particle-antiparticle pairs, signalling in-medium mass modification, are studied in a finite size thermalized medium. The width of BBC function is explicitly evaluated in the case of a nonrelativistic spherically symmetric expanding fireball. The effect of the flow is to reduce the BBC signal as compared to the case of non flow. Nevertheless, a significant signal survives finite-time emission plus expansion effects. (author)

Expansion effects on back-to-back correlations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padula, S.S.; Krein, G.; Csoerg, T.; Panda, P.K.; Hama, Y.

2004-01-01

The back-to-back correlations (BBC) of particle-antiparticle pairs, signalling in-medium mass modification, are studied in a finite size thermalized medium. The width of BBC function is explicitly evaluated in the case of a nonrelativistic spherically symmetric expanding fireball. The effect of the flow is to reduce the BBC signal as compared to the case of non flow. Nevertheless, a significant signal survives finite-time emission plus expansion effects. (author)

Fuel cell/back-up battery hybrid energy conversion systems: Dynamic modeling and harmonic considerations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fathabadi, Hassan

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Novel technique to completely eliminate the harmful harmonics of fuel cell system. • Presenting a novel high accurate detailed electrochemical dynamic model of fuel cells. • Back-up battery system to compensate the slow dynamic response of fuel cell system. • Exact analysis of real electrochemical reactions occurring inside fuel cells. - Abstract: In this study, a novel dynamic model of fuel cells is presented. High accurate static and dynamic responses of the proposed model are experimentally validated by comparing simulated results with real experimental data. The obtained model together with theoretical results shows that a fuel cell or a fuel cell stack has very slow dynamic response, so that, it cannot adapt itself to the fast variations in load demand. It is shown that for adapting well a fuel cell stack to the load demand, the stack should be equipped with a proposed back-up battery system which compensates the slow dynamic response of the stack by providing a bidirectional path to transmit/absorb the extra instant power. It is proved that the conventional switching waveforms used in the converters of the stacks and back-up systems produce an enormous amount of harmful harmonics. Then, a novel technique is proposed to completely eliminate main harmful harmonics. It is worthwhile to note that all the other techniques only reduce the harmful harmonics. Simulated results verify that the back-up battery system together with applying the proposed technique provide a fast dynamic response for the fuel cell/back-up battery system, and also completely eliminate the main harmful harmonics

Nuclear fuel cycle modelling using MESSAGE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guiying Zhang; Dongsheng Niu; Guoliang Xu; Hui Zhang; Jue Li; Lei Cao; Zeqin Guo; Zhichao Wang; Yutong Qiu; Yanming Shi; Gaoliang Li

2017-01-01

In order to demonstrate the possibilities of application of MESSAGE tool for the modelling of a Nuclear Energy System at the national level, one of the possible open nuclear fuel cycle options based on thermal reactors has been modelled using MESSAGE. The steps of the front-end and back-end of nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear reactor operation are described. The optimal structure for Nuclear Power Development and optimal schedule for introducing various reactor technologies and fuel cycle options; infrastructure facilities, nuclear material flows and waste, investments and other costs are demonstrated. (author)

Steering assistance for backing up articulated vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dieter Zoebel

2003-10-01

Full Text Available Articulated vehicles belong to the category of nonholonomous wheelers. Under the aspect of control theory they require a sophisticated handling. This corresponds to the experience of unexercised drivers, for instance maneuvering a car and its caravan into a parking box. In this context some adequate advice for the right steering movements would give an appreciable assistance. Here a visual assistance is proposed and realized. The decisive advice for the driver is derived from kinematic modeling. The system is designed to be integrated into standard cars and trucks. For testing purposes the actual system has been incorporated into an existing backing up simulator.

Implications of advanced warning messages on eliminating sun glare disturbances at signalized intersections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qing Li

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Due to sun glare disturbances, drivers encounter fatal threats on roadways, particularly at signalized intersections. Many studies have attempted to develop applicable solutions, such as avoiding sun positions, applying road geometric re-directions, and wearing anti-glare glasses. None of these strategies have fully solved the problem. As one of the “Connected Vehicle” practices proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, advanced warning messages (AWMs are capable of providing wireless information about traffic controls. AWM acts as a supplement to conventional signs and signals, which can be blocked by obstacles or natural disturbances, such as sun glare. The drivers' smart advisory system (DSAS can provide drivers with AWM. Using a driving simulator this research explores the effects of DSAS messages on driving behaviors under sun glare disturbance. Statistical analyses were applied to assess (1 the negative impacts of sun glare, (2 the compensation of the DSAS AWM to sun glare effects, and (3 the improvement in driving performance due to DSAS AWM. Four performance indexes were measured, including (1 half kinetic energy speed, (2 mean approach speed, (3 brake response time, and (4 braking distance. The effects of the socio-demographic factors, such as gender, age, educational background, and driving experience were also studied. The analytical results illustrate that the DSAS can compensate for reduced visibility due to sun glare and improve driving performance to a normal visual situation, particularly for left turn and through movement.

Signal-Characteristic analysis with respect to backing material of PVDF-based high-frequency ultrasound for photoacoustic microscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jun Su; Chang, Jin Ho [Dept. of Electronic Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2015-04-15

Photoacoustic microscopy is capable of providing high-resolution molecular images, and its spatial resolution is typically determined by ultrasonic transducers used to receive the photoacoustic signals. Therefore, ultrasonic transducers for photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) should have a high operating frequency, broad bandwidth, and high signal-reception efficiency. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a suitable material. To take full advantage of this material, the selection of the backing material is crucial, as it influences the center frequency and bandwidth of the transducer. Therefore, we experimentally determined the most suitable backing material among EPO-TEK 301, E-Solder 3022, and RTV. For this, three PVDF high-frequency single-element transducers were fabricated with each backing material. The center frequency and -6 dB bandwidth of each transducer were ascertained by a pulse-echo test. The spatial resolution of each transducer was examined using wire-target images. The experimental results indicated that EPO-TEK 301 is the most suitable backing material for a PAM transducer. This material provides the highest signal magnitude and a reasonable bandwidth because a large portion of the energy propagates toward the front medium, and the PVDF resonates in the half-wave mode.

Responsible gambling tools: pop-up messages and pauses on video lottery terminals.

Science.gov (United States)

Cloutier, Martin; Ladouceur, Robert; Sévigny, Serge

2006-09-01

The authors examined the effect of messages and pauses, presented on video lottery terminal screens, on erroneous beliefs and persistence to play. At posttest, the strength of erroneous beliefs was lower for participants who received messages conveying information about randomness in gambling as compared to those who received pauses. Pauses also diminished the strength of erroneous beliefs, and there was no difference between the effects of pauses and messages on the number of games played. The authors discuss these results in terms of the use of messages and pauses on video lottery terminals as a strategy for promoting responsible gambling.

BackUp: Development and evaluation of a smart-phone application for coping with suicidal crises.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirsten Pauwels

Full Text Available Suicide is a major public health issue and has large impact on the lives of many people. Innovative technologies such as smartphones could create new possibilities for suicide prevention, such as helping to overcome the barriers and stigma on help seeking in case of suicidal ideation. Due to their omnipresence, smartphone apps can offer suicide prevention tools very fast, they are easily-accessible, low-threshold and can help overcome some of the help-seeking barriers suicidal people experience. This article describes the development, testing and implementation of a mobile application for coping with suicidal crisis: BackUp.Based on the analysis of literature and existing suicide prevention apps several tools were identified as relevant to include in a suicide prevention app. The selected tools (a safety planning tool, a hope box, a coping cards module, and a module to reach out are evidence based in a face to face context, and could be easily transferred into a mobile app. The testing of existing apps and the literature also revealed important guidelines for the technical development of the application.BackUp was developed and tested by an expert panel (n = 9 and a panel of end users (n = 21. Both groups rated BackUp as valuable for suicide prevention. Suicidal ideation of the end user group was measured using the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation before and after testing BackUp, and showed a small but non-significant decrease. The majority of the testers used BackUp several times. All tools were evaluated as rather or very useable in times of suicidal crisis.BackUp was positively evaluated and indicates that self-help tools can have a positive impact on suicidal ideation. Apps in particular create opportunities in approaching people that are not reached by traditional interventions; on the other hand they can contribute to suicide prevention in addition to regular care. However, more research is needed on the impact and effect of suicide

Qualitative Analysis of Infant Safe Sleep Public Campaign Messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Peacock, Nadine R; Altfeld, Susan; Rosenthal, Allison L; Garland, Caitlin E; Massino, Jill M; Smith, Sherri L; Rowe, Hillary L; Wagener, Sarah E

2018-03-01

The 1994 Back to Sleep public education campaign resulted in dramatic reductions in sleep-related infant deaths, but comparable progress in recent years has been elusive. We conducted qualitative analyses of recent safe sleep campaigns from 13 U.S. cities. Goals were to (a) determine whether the campaigns reflect the full range of American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2011 safe sleep recommendations, (b) describe tone and framing of the messages (e.g., use of fear appeals), (c) describe targeting/tailoring of messages to priority populations, and (d) ascertain whether the campaigns have been evaluated for reach and/or effectiveness. Methods included computer-assisted analyses of campaign materials and key informant interviews. All campaigns included "ABC" (Alone, Back, Crib) messaging; many ignored other AAP recommendations such as breastfeeding, room-sharing, immunizations, and avoiding smoke exposure. Campaigns frequently targeted priority populations such as African Americans. Fear appeals were used in three quarters of the campaigns, and 60% of the fear-based campaigns used guilt/blame messaging. We did not find published evaluation data for any of the campaigns. More attention is needed in public education campaigns to the full range of AAP recommendations, and evaluations are needed to determine the impact of these interventions on knowledge, behavior, and health outcomes.

Back injuries in a cohort of schoolchildren aged 6-12

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Franz, Claudia; Jespersen, Eva; Rexen, Christina

2016-01-01

-12 years were surveyed weekly using mobile text messages to ask about the presence or absence of back pain. Pain was clinically diagnosed and injuries were classified using the International Classification of Diseases version 10. Physical activity data were obtained from text messages and accelerometers...

The Nordic back pain subpopulation program--individual patterns of low back pain established by means of text messaging: a longitudinal pilot study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kongsted, Alice; Leboeuf-Yde, Charlotte

2009-01-01

Non-specific low back pain (LBP) is known to be a fluctuating condition and there is a growing realisation that it consists of different subgroups of patients. The detailed course of pain is not known since traditional methods of data collection do not allow very frequent follow-ups. This is a li......-ups. This is a limitation in relation to identification of subgroups with different course patterns. The objective of this pilot study was to see if it is possible to identify characteristic course-patterns of non-specific LBP in patients treated in a primary care setting....

Auctioning Bulk Mobile Messages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S. Meij (Simon); L-F. Pau (Louis-François); H.W.G.M. van Heck (Eric)

2003-01-01

textabstractThe search for enablers of continued growth of SMS traffic, as well as the take-off of the more diversified MMS message contents, open up for enterprises the potential of bulk use of mobile messaging , instead of essentially one-by-one use. In parallel, such enterprises or value added

The influence of previous low back trouble, general health, and working conditions on future sick-listing because of low back trouble. A 15-year follow-up study of risk indicators for self-reported sick-listing caused by low back trouble.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, C F; Monrad, T; Biering-Sørensen, F; Darre, E; Deis, A; Kryger, P

1999-08-01

A 15-year follow-up study. To find risk indicators for self-reported sick-listing because of low back trouble and to evaluate which variables were the most important indicators of work incapacity resulting from low back trouble during the follow-up period of 15 years. The initial data were obtained from a health survey conducted in a general population from the Municipality of Glostrup, Denmark. The follow-up data included information from the Central Person Register, the Early Retirement Pension Register, and a postal questionnaire regarding self-reported sick-listing because of low back trouble. An epidemiologic study, in which logistic regression analyses were used for evaluation of the data. The model used consisted of the variable in question, age, gender, and previous experience of low back trouble, along with interactions. It was found that 22 of 37 variables were risk indicators for later self-reported sick-listing because of low back trouble during the preceding year or the 7 years before the date of follow-up evaluation. In analyzing the most significant variables simultaneously, it was found that information from the initial investigation about sick-listing in general during the previous 10 years, sciatic pain, use of analgesics for low back trouble, previous sick-listing because of low back trouble, and occupation were the most important risk indicators for self-reported work incapacity resulting from low back trouble during the follow-up period of 15 years. Findings showed that the strongest prognostic indicators of later sick-listing because of low back trouble involve information from the person about previous sick-listing behavior in general and previous experience of low back trouble episodes, especially if these had been accompanied by sciatic pain, use of analgesics, or previous low back trouble sick-listing.

Chain-loaded variable resistance warm-up improves free-weight maximal back squat performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Mina, Minas A; Blazevich, Anthony J; Giakas, Giannis; Seitz, Laurent B; Kay, Anthony D

2016-11-01

The acute influence of chain-loaded variable resistance exercise on subsequent free-weight one-repetition maximum (1-RM) back squat performance was examined in 16 recreationally active men. The participants performed either a free-weight resistance (FWR) or chain-loaded resistance (CLR) back squat warm-up at 85% 1-RM on two separate occasions. After a 5-min rest, the participants attempted a free-weight 1-RM back squat; if successful, subsequent 5% load additions were made until participants failed to complete the lift. During the 1-RM trials, 3D knee joint kinematics and knee extensor and flexor electromyograms (EMG) were recorded simultaneously. Significantly greater 1-RM (6.2 ± 5.0%; p  .05) was found in concentric EMG, eccentric or concentric knee angular velocity, or peak knee flexion angle. Performing a CLR warm-up enhanced subsequent free-weight 1-RM performance without changes in knee flexion angle or eccentric and concentric knee angular velocities; thus a real 1-RM increase was achieved as the mechanics of the lift were not altered. These results are indicative of a potentiating effect of CLR in a warm-up, which may benefit athletes in tasks where high-level strength is required.

Long-term effectiveness of a back education programme in elementary schoolchildren: an 8-year follow-up study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dolphens, Mieke; Cagnie, Barbara; Danneels, Lieven; De Clercq, Dirk; De Bourdeaudhuij, Ilse; Cardon, Greet

2011-12-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term effectiveness of a spine care education programme conducted in 9- to 11-year-old schoolchildren. The study sample included 96 intervention subjects and 98 controls (9- to 11-year-olds at baseline). Intervention consisted of a 6-week school-based back education programme (predominantly biomechanically oriented) and was implemented by a physical therapist. Self-reported outcomes on back care knowledge, spinal care behaviour, self-efficacy towards favourable back care behaviour, prevalence of back and neck pain during the week and fear-avoidance beliefs were evaluated by the use of questionnaires. Post-tests were performed within 1 week after programme completion, after 1 year and after 8 years. Whereas the educational back care programme resulted in increased back care knowledge up to adulthood (P cognitive aspect of back care up to adulthood, yet not in changing actual behaviour or self-efficacy. The current study does not provide evidence that educational back care programmes have any impact on spinal pain in adulthood. The true long-term impact of school-based spinal health interventions on clinically relevant outcome measures merits further attention.

Effect of Remote Back-Up Protection System Failure on the Optimum Routine Test Time Interval of Power System Protection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y Damchi

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Appropriate operation of protection system is one of the effective factors to have a desirable reliability in power systems, which vitally needs routine test of protection system. Precise determination of optimum routine test time interval (ORTTI plays a vital role in predicting the maintenance costs of protection system. In the most previous studies, ORTTI has been determined while remote back-up protection system was considered fully reliable. This assumption is not exactly correct since remote back-up protection system may operate incorrectly or fail to operate, the same as the primary protection system. Therefore, in order to determine the ORTTI, an extended Markov model is proposed in this paper considering failure probability for remote back-up protection system. In the proposed Markov model of the protection systems, monitoring facility is taken into account. Moreover, it is assumed that the primary and back-up protection systems are maintained simultaneously. Results show that the effect of remote back-up protection system failures on the reliability indices and optimum routine test intervals of protection system is considerable.

Getting the Message? Native Reactive Electrophiles Pass Two Out of Three Thresholds to be Bona Fide Signaling Mediators.

Science.gov (United States)

Poganik, Jesse R; Long, Marcus J C; Aye, Yimon

2018-05-01

Precision cell signaling activities of reactive electrophilic species (RES) are arguably among the most poorly-understood means to transmit biological messages. Latest research implicates native RES to be a chemically-distinct subset of endogenous redox signals that influence cell decision making through non-enzyme-assisted modifications of specific proteins. Yet, fundamental questions remain regarding the role of RES as bona fide second messengers. Here, we lay out three sets of criteria we feel need to be met for RES to be considered as true cellular signals that directly mediate information transfer by modifying "first-responding" sensor proteins. We critically assess the available evidence and define the extent to which each criterion has been fulfilled. Finally, we offer some ideas on the future trajectories of the electrophile signaling field taking inspiration from work that has been done to understand canonical signaling mediators. Also see the video abstract here: https://youtu.be/rG7o0clVP0c. © 2018 WILEY Periodicals, Inc.

The prototype message broadcast system for the superconducting super collider

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Low, K.; Skegg, R.

1991-01-01

This paper presents a prototype unified message broadcast system to handle the site-wide distribution of all control system messages for the Superconducting Super Collider. The messages are assembled in the control room area and encapsulated for transmission via a general fiber-optic link system to devices distributed throughout 70 miles of tunnels. An embedded timing signal is used by the distribution system to ensure that messages arrive at all devices simultaneously. Devices receive messages using a special receiver sub-system

Barriers to Primary Care Clinician Adherence to Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Low Back Pain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slade, Susan C; Kent, Peter; Patel, Shilpa

2016-01-01

and qualitative methods had been used for both data collection and analysis. We searched major databases up to July 2014. Pairs of reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts, extracted data, appraised method quality using the CASP checklist, conducted thematic analysis and synthesized the results......INTRODUCTION: Despite the availability of evidence-based guidelines for the management of low back pain that contain consistent messages, large evidence-practice gaps in primary care remain. OBJECTIVES: To perform a systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies that have explored...... primary care clinicians' perceptions and beliefs about guidelines for low back pain, including perceived enablers and barriers to guideline adherence. METHODS: Studies investigatingperceptions and beliefs about low back pain guidelines were included if participants were primary care clinicians...

Digital signal processing application in nuclear spectroscopy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

O. V. Zeynalova

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Digital signal processing algorithms for nuclear particle spectroscopy are described along with a digital pile-up elimination method applicable to equidistantly sampled detector signals pre-processed by a charge-sensitive preamplifier. The signal processing algorithms provided as recursive one- or multi-step procedures which can be easily programmed using modern computer programming languages. The influence of the number of bits of the sampling analogue-to-digital converter to the final signal-to-noise ratio of the spectrometer considered. Algorithms for a digital shaping-filter amplifier, for a digital pile-up elimination scheme and for ballistic deficit correction were investigated using a high purity germanium detector. The pile-up elimination method was originally developed for fission fragment spectroscopy using a Frisch-grid back-to-back double ionisation chamber and was mainly intended for pile-up elimination in case of high alpha-radioactivity of the fissile target. The developed pile-up elimination method affects only the electronic noise generated by the preamplifier. Therefore, the influence of the pile-up elimination scheme on the final resolution of the spectrometer investigated in terms of the distance between piled-up pulses. The efficiency of developed algorithms compared with other signal processing schemes published in literature.

Mobile phone text messaging and Telephone follow-up in type 2 diabetic patients for 3 months: a comparative study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zolfaghari Mirta

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To investigate and to compare the effectiveness of a nurse short message service (SMS by cellular phone and telephone follow-up by nurse on Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Methods Semi experimental study consisted of 77 patients with type 2 diabetes that randomly assigned to two groups: telephone follow-up (n = 39 and short message service (n = 38. Telephone interventions were applied by researcher for 3 months. SMS group that received message daily for 12 weeks. Data gathering instrument include data sheet to record HbA1c and questionnaire that consisted of demographic characteristics. Data gathering was performed at two points: initial the study and after 12 weeks. Data analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics methods with SPSS version 11.5. Results Demographic variables were compared and all of them were homogenous. Results of this study showed that both interventions had significant mean changes in HbA1c; for the telephone group (p = 0.001, with a mean change of −0.93% and for the SMS group (p = 0.001, with a mean change of −1.01%. Conclusion Finding of this research showed that intervention using SMS via cellular phone and nurse-led-telephone follow up improved HbA1c for three months in type 2 diabetic patients and it can consider as alternative methods for diabetes control.

Digital signal processing algorithms for nuclear particle spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zejnalova, O.; Zejnalov, Sh.; Hambsch, F.J.; Oberstedt, S.

2007-01-01

Digital signal processing algorithms for nuclear particle spectroscopy are described along with a digital pile-up elimination method applicable to equidistantly sampled detector signals pre-processed by a charge-sensitive preamplifier. The signal processing algorithms are provided as recursive one- or multi-step procedures which can be easily programmed using modern computer programming languages. The influence of the number of bits of the sampling analogue-to-digital converter on the final signal-to-noise ratio of the spectrometer is considered. Algorithms for a digital shaping-filter amplifier, for a digital pile-up elimination scheme and for ballistic deficit correction were investigated using a high purity germanium detector. The pile-up elimination method was originally developed for fission fragment spectroscopy using a Frisch-grid back-to-back double ionization chamber and was mainly intended for pile-up elimination in case of high alpha-radioactivity of the fissile target. The developed pile-up elimination method affects only the electronic noise generated by the preamplifier. Therefore the influence of the pile-up elimination scheme on the final resolution of the spectrometer is investigated in terms of the distance between pile-up pulses. The efficiency of the developed algorithms is compared with other signal processing schemes published in literature

Blind sensor calibration using approximate message passing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schülke, Christophe; Caltagirone, Francesco; Zdeborová, Lenka

2015-01-01

The ubiquity of approximately sparse data has led a variety of communities to take great interest in compressed sensing algorithms. Although these are very successful and well understood for linear measurements with additive noise, applying them to real data can be problematic if imperfect sensing devices introduce deviations from this ideal signal acquisition process, caused by sensor decalibration or failure. We propose a message passing algorithm called calibration approximate message passing (Cal-AMP) that can treat a variety of such sensor-induced imperfections. In addition to deriving the general form of the algorithm, we numerically investigate two particular settings. In the first, a fraction of the sensors is faulty, giving readings unrelated to the signal. In the second, sensors are decalibrated and each one introduces a different multiplicative gain to the measurements. Cal-AMP shares the scalability of approximate message passing, allowing us to treat large sized instances of these problems, and experimentally exhibits a phase transition between domains of success and failure. (paper)

Short message service or disService: issues with text messaging in a complex medical environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Robert; Appel, Lora; Morra, Dante; Lo, Vivian; Kitto, Simon; Quan, Sherman

2014-04-01

Hospitals today are experiencing major changes in their clinical communication workflows as conventional numeric paging and face-to-face verbal conversations are being replaced by computer mediated communication systems. In this paper, we highlight the importance of understanding this transition and discuss some of the impacts that may emerge when verbal clinical conversations are replaced by short text messages. In-depth interviews (n=108) and non-participatory observation sessions (n=260h) were conducted on the General Internal Medicine wards at five academic teaching hospitals in Toronto, Canada. From our analysis of the qualitative data, we identified two major themes. De-contextualization of complex issues led to an increase in misinterpretation and an increase in back and forth messaging for clarification. Depersonalization of communication was due to less verbal conversations and face-to-face interactions and led to a negative impact on work relationships. Text-based communication in hospital settings led to the oversimplification of messages and the depersonalization of communication. It is important to recognize and understand these unintended consequences of new technology to avoid the negative impacts to patient care and work relationships. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Nordic back pain subpopulation program: course patterns established through weekly follow-ups in patients treated for low back pain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kongsted, Alice; Leboeuf-Yde, Charlotte

2010-01-01

Low back pain (LBP) is known to have a fluctuating course. In clinical studies, when deciding on duration of treatment and time for follow-up, it is important to know at what point in time a definite pattern of recovery becomes apparent and at what time a possible recurrence is likely to occur...

Text messages to increase attendance to follow-up cervical cancer screening appointments among HPV-positive Tanzanian women (Connected2Care)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Linde, Ditte S; Andersen, Marianne S; Mwaiselage, Julius D

2017-01-01

Background: Cervical cancer is a major health concern in Tanzania, caused by poor attendance for cervical cancer screening and follow-up of women at risk. Mobile telephone health interventions are proven effective tools to improve health behaviour in African countries. So far, no knowledge exists...... on how such interventions may perform in relation to cervical cancer screening in low-income settings. This study aims to assess the degree to which a Short Message Service (SMS) intervention can increase attendance at appointments among women who have tested positive for High-Risk (HR) Human Papiloma...... (standard care). In a period of 10 months, the intervention group will receive 15 one-directional health educative text messages and SMS-reminders for their appointment. The total sample size will be 700 with 350 women in each study arm. Primary outcome is attendance rate for follow-up. Secondary objectives...

Text messages to increase attendance to follow-up cervical cancer screening appointments among HPV-positive Tanzanian women (Connected2Care)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Linde, Ditte S; Andersen, Marianne S; Mwaiselage, Julius D

2017-01-01

group (standard care). In a period of 10 months, the intervention group will receive 15 one-directional health educative text messages and SMS reminders for their appointment. The total sample size will be 700 with 350 women in each study arm. Primary outcome is attendance rate for follow-up. Secondary...... on how such interventions may perform in relation to cervical cancer screening in low-income settings. This study aims to assess the degree to which a Short Message Service (SMS) intervention can increase attendance at appointments among women who have tested positive for high-risk (HR) Human...

Design of Instant Messaging System of Multi-language E-commerce Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Heng; Chen, Xinyi; Li, Jiajia; Cao, Yaru

2017-09-01

This paper aims at researching the message system in the instant messaging system based on the multi-language e-commerce platform in order to design the instant messaging system in multi-language environment and exhibit the national characteristics based information as well as applying national languages to e-commerce. In order to develop beautiful and friendly system interface for the front end of the message system and reduce the development cost, the mature jQuery framework is adopted in this paper. The high-performance server Tomcat is adopted at the back end to process user requests, and MySQL database is adopted for data storage to persistently store user data, and meanwhile Oracle database is adopted as the message buffer for system optimization. Moreover, AJAX technology is adopted for the client to actively pull the newest data from the server at the specified time. In practical application, the system has strong reliability, good expansibility, short response time, high system throughput capacity and high user concurrency.

Design and Evaluation of Hapticons for Instant Messaging

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rovers, A.F.; Essen, van H.A.; Buss, M.; Fritschi, M.

2004-01-01

Instant Messaging (IM) is a popular chatting platform on the internet and increasingly permeates teenage life. Even intimate and emotional content is discussed. As touch is a powerful signal for emotional content, haptic signals, and especially hapticons could contribute to overcome the inevitable

Error message recording and reporting in the SLC control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, N.; Bogart, J.; Phinney, N.; Thompson, K.

1985-01-01

Error or information messages that are signaled by control software either in the VAX host computer or the local microprocessor clusters are handled by a dedicated VAX process (PARANOIA). Messages are recorded on disk for further analysis and displayed at the appropriate console. Another VAX process (ERRLOG) can be used to sort, list and histogram various categories of messages. The functions performed by these processes and the algorithms used are discussed

Error message recording and reporting in the SLC control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, N.; Bogart, J.; Phinney, N.; Thompson, K.

1985-04-01

Error or information messages that are signaled by control software either in the VAX host computer or the local microprocessor clusters are handled by a dedicated VAX process (PARANOIA). Messages are recorded on disk for further analysis and displayed at the appropriate console. Another VAX process (ERRLOG) can be used to sort, list and histogram various categories of messages. The functions performed by these processes and the algorithms used are discussed

The prototype message broadcast system for the Superconducting Super Collider

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Low, K.; Skegg, R.

1990-11-01

A prototype unified message broadcast system to handle the site-wide distribution of all control system messages for the Superconducting Super Collider is presented. The messages are assembled in the control room area and encapsulated for transmission via a general fiber-optic link system to devices distributed throughout 70 miles of tunnels. An embedded timing signal is used by the distribution system to ensure that messages arrive at all devices simultaneously. Devices receive messages using a special receiver sub-system. A simple version of this system is to be used in the Accelerator Systems String Test (ASST) at the SSC site in 1991. 3 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

Analyzing repeated data collected by mobile phones and frequent text messages. An example of Low back pain measured weekly for 18 weeks

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Axén, Iben; Bodin, Lennart; Kongsted, Alice

2012-01-01

to recovery? This question was answered using survival analysis, illustrated in Kaplan-Meier curves, Proportional Hazard regression analyses and spline regression analyses. 4: How is the repeatedly measured data associated with baseline (predictor) variables? This question was answered using generalized...... involves some challenges. Vital issues to consider are the within-subject correlation, the between measurement occasion correlation and the presence of missing values. The overall aim of this commentary is to describe different methods of analyzing repeated data. It is meant to give an overview...... for the clinical researcher in order for complex outcome measures to be interpreted in a clinically meaningful way. METHODS: A model data set was formed using data from two clinical studies, where patients with low back pain were followed with weekly text messages for 18 weeks. Different research questions...

Songs as a Medium for Embedded Reproductive Messages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dawn R. Hobbs

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Research shows that sensational news stories as well as popular romance novels often feature themes related to important topics in evolutionary psychology. In the first of four studies described in this paper we examined the song lyrics from three Billboard charts: Country, Pop, and R&B. A content analysis of the lyrics revealed 18 reproductive themes that read like an outline for a course in evolutionary psychology. Approximately 92% of the 174 songs that made it into the Top Ten in 2009 contained one or more reproductive messages, with an average of 10.49 reproductive phrases per song. Although differences in the frequency of different themes between charts were found, further analyses showed that the most popular/bestselling songs contained significantly more reproductive messages. An analysis of the lyrics of opera arias and art songs also revealed evidence for many of the same embedded reproductive messages extending back more than 400 years.

Diabetes education via mobile text messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Wangberg, Silje C; Arsand, Eirik; Andersson, Niklas

2006-01-01

Living with diabetes makes great educational demands on a family. We have tested the feasibility of using the mobile phone short message service (SMS) for reaching people with diabetes information. We also assessed user satisfaction and perceived pros and cons of the medium through interviews. Eleven parents of children with type 1 diabetes received messages for 11 weeks. The parents were positive about the system and said that they would like to continue to use it. The pop-up reminding effect of SMS messages in busy everyday life was noted as positive. Some parents experienced the messages as somewhat intrusive, arriving too often and at inconvenient times. The parents also noted the potential of the messages to facilitate communication with their adolescent children. The inability to store all of the messages or to print them out were seen as major disadvantages. Overall, the SMS seems to hold promise as means of delivering diabetes information.

Understanding the Up, Back, and Forward-Component in Master's Thesis Supervision with Adaptivity

Science.gov (United States)

de Kleijn, Renske A. M.; Bronkhorst, Larike H.; Meijer, Paulien C.; Pilot, Albert; Brekelmans, Mieke

2016-01-01

Despite the importance of goals in educational theories, goals in master's thesis projects are rarely investigated. Therefore, this study explores how goals play a role in master's thesis supervision in terms of: defining the goals (up-component); locating where the student stands in relation to the goals (back-component); and how the student can…

HealthyhornsTXT: A Text-Messaging Program to Promote College Student Health and Wellness.

Science.gov (United States)

Glowacki, Elizabeth M; Kirtz, Susan; Hughes Wagner, Jessica; Cance, Jessica Duncan; Barrera, Denise; Bernhardt, Jay M

2018-01-01

Text-messaging interventions positively affect health behaviors, but their use on college campuses has been limited. Text messaging serves as a relatively affordable way to communicate with large audiences and is one of the preferred modes of communication for young adults. This study examined the feasibility and acceptability of a campus-wide, health text-messaging program. The subscriber pool consisted of approximately 6,000 undergraduate students from a large, southern university. From that pool, 1,095 participants (64% female; 41% White) completed a posttest survey. Text messages covered a range of health topics and information about campus resources. Research was conducted from August through December 2015. Process data were collected throughout the semester; participants' attitudes were assessed via an online survey at the program's conclusion. Students demonstrated engagement with the messages throughout the semester as evidenced by replies to text-back keywords and clicks on website links embedded within messages. Messages about sleep, stress management, and hydration were considered most relevant. The majority of participants (61%) reported increased awareness regarding their health. Text-messaging interventions are a feasible strategy to improve college student health.

Back Schools for chronic non-specific low back pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Parreira, Patrícia; Heymans, Martijn W; van Tulder, Maurits W; Esmail, Rosmin; Koes, Bart W; Poquet, Nolwenn; Lin, Chung-Wei Christine; Maher, Christopher G

2017-08-03

Many people with low back pain (LBP) become frequent users of healthcare services in their attempt to find treatments that minimise the severity of their symptoms. Back School consists of a therapeutic programme given to groups of people that includes both education and exercise. However, the content of Back School has changed over time and appears to vary widely today. This review is an update of a Cochrane review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of Back School. We split the Cochrane review into two reviews, one focusing on acute and subacute LBP, and one on chronic LBP. The objective of this systematic review was to determine the effect of Back School on pain and disability for adults with chronic non-specific LBP; we included adverse events as a secondary outcome. In trials that solely recruited workers, we also examined the effect on work status. We searched for trials in the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, two other databases and two trials registers to 15 November 2016. We also searched the reference lists of eligible papers and consulted experts in the field of LBP management to identify any potentially relevant studies we may have missed. We placed no limitations on language or date of publication. We included only RCTs and quasi-RCTs evaluating pain, disability, and/or work status as outcomes. The primary outcomes for this update were pain and disability, and the secondary outcomes were work status and adverse events. Two review authors independently performed the 'Risk of bias' assessment of the included studies using the 'Risk of bias' assessment tool recommended by The Cochrane Collaboration. We summarised the results for the short-, intermediate-, and long-term follow-ups. We evaluated the overall quality of evidence using the GRADE approach. For the outcome pain, at short-term follow-up, we found very low-quality evidence that Back School is more effective than no

Tracer techniques for urine volume determination and urine collection and sampling back-up system

Science.gov (United States)

Ramirez, R. V.

1971-01-01

The feasibility, functionality, and overall accuracy of the use of lithium were investigated as a chemical tracer in urine for providing a means of indirect determination of total urine volume by the atomic absorption spectrophotometry method. Experiments were conducted to investigate the parameters of instrumentation, tracer concentration, mixing times, and methods for incorporating the tracer material in the urine collection bag, and to refine and optimize the urine tracer technique to comply with the Skylab scheme and operational parameters of + or - 2% of volume error and + or - 1% accuracy of amount of tracer added to each container. In addition, a back-up method for urine collection and sampling system was developed and evaluated. This back-up method incorporates the tracer technique for volume determination in event of failure of the primary urine collection and preservation system. One chemical preservative was selected and evaluated as a contingency chemical preservative for the storage of urine in event of failure of the urine cooling system.

Lithium Ion Battery Chemistries from Renewable Energy Storage to Automotive and Back-up Power Applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

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

2014-01-01

Lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries have been extensively used in consumer electronics because of their characteristics, such as high efficiency, long life, and high gravimetric and volumetric energy. In addition, Li-ion batteries are becoming the most attractive candidate as electrochemical storage...... systems for stationary applications, as well as power source for sustainable automotive and back-up power supply applications. This paper gives an overview of the Li-ion battery chemistries that are available at present in the market, and describes the three out of four main applications (except...... the consumers’ applications), grid support, automotive, and back-up power, for which the Li-ion batteries are suitable. Each of these applications has its own specifications and thus, the chemistry of the Li-ion battery should be chosen to fulfil the requirements of the corresponding application. Consequently...

Low back pain and physical activity--A 6.5 year follow-up among young adults in their transition from school to working life.

Science.gov (United States)

Lunde, Lars-Kristian; Koch, Markus; Hanvold, Therese N; Wærsted, Morten; Veiersted, Kaj B

2015-11-12

The association between leisure time physical activity and low back pain in young adults is unclear and is in the need of prospectively obtained evidence. This study examined the course of low back pain and the association between low back pain and leisure time physical activity in a cohort of young adults in their transition from school to working life. Both low back pain and leisure time physical activity was monitored over a 6.5 year period in 420 subjects starting out as students within hairdressing, electrical installation and media/design. The association between physical activity and low back pain was investigated through the follow-up period by using linear mixed models analysis. Low back pain was significantly influenced by time and overall there was a decreasing trend of low back pain prevalence throughout the follow-up. Analysis showed a weak trend of decreasing low back pain with moderate/high physical activity levels, but this association was not significant. Low back pain decreased during follow-up with baseline as reference. Findings in our study did show non-significant trends of reduced low back pain with increased leisure time physical activity. Still, we could not support the theory of moderate/high levels of physical activity acting protective against low back pain in young adults entering working life. Our results, in combination with previous relevant research, cannot support a clear relationship between physical activity and low back pain for young adults. Thus, recommendations regarding effect of physical activity on reducing low back pain for this group are not clear.

Stronger back muscles reduce the incidence of vertebral fractures: a prospective 10 year follow-up of postmenopausal women.

Science.gov (United States)

Sinaki, M; Itoi, E; Wahner, H W; Wollan, P; Gelzcer, R; Mullan, B P; Collins, D A; Hodgson, S F

2002-06-01

The long-term protective effect of stronger back muscles on the spine was determined in 50 healthy white postmenopausal women, aged 58-75 years, 8 years after they had completed a 2 year randomized, controlled trial. Twenty-seven subjects had performed progressive, resistive back-strengthening exercises for 2 years and 23 had served as controls. Bone mineral density, spine radiographs, back extensor strength, biochemical marker values, and level of physical activity were obtained for all subjects at baseline, 2 years, and 10 years. Mean back extensor strength (BES) in the back-exercise (BE) group was 39.4 kg at baseline, 66.8 kg at 2 years (after 2 years of prescribed exercises), and 32.9 kg at 10 years (8 years after cessation of the prescribed exercises). Mean BES in the control (C) group was 36.9 kg at baseline, 49.0 kg at 2 years, and 26.9 kg at 10 years. The difference between the two groups was still statistically significant at 10 year follow-up (p = 0.001). The difference in bone mineral density, which was not significant between the two groups at baseline and 2 year follow-up, was significant at 10 year follow-up (p = 0.0004). The incidence of vertebral compression fracture was 14 fractures in 322 vertebral bodies examined (4.3%) in the C group and 6 fractures in 378 vertebral bodies examined (1.6%) in the BE group (chi-square test, p = 0.0290). The relative risk for compression fracture was 2.7 times greater in the C group than in the BE group. To our knowledge, this is the first study reported in the literature demonstrating the long-term effect of strong back muscles on the reduction of vertebral fractures in estrogen-deficient women.

Evaluation of Sexual Communication Message Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Parent-child communication about sex is an important proximal reproductive health outcome. But while campaigns to promote it such as the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC) have been effective, little is known about how messages influence parental cognitions and behavior. This study examines which message features explain responses to sexual communication messages. We content analyzed 4 PSUNC ads to identify specific, measurable message and advertising execution features. We then develop quantitative measures of those features, including message strategies, marketing strategies, and voice and other stylistic features, and merged the resulting data into a dataset drawn from a national media tracking survey of the campaign. Finally, we conducted multivariable logistic regression models to identify relationships between message content and ad reactions/receptivity, and between ad reactions/receptivity and parents' cognitions related to sexual communication included in the campaign's conceptual model. We found that overall parents were highly receptive to the PSUNC ads. We did not find significant associations between message content and ad reactions/receptivity. However, we found that reactions/receptivity to specific PSUNC ads were associated with increased norms, self-efficacy, short- and long-term expectations about parent-child sexual communication, as theorized in the conceptual model. This study extends previous research and methods to analyze message content and reactions/receptivity. The results confirm and extend previous PSUNC campaign evaluation and provide further evidence for the conceptual model. Future research should examine additional message content features and the effects of reactions/receptivity. PMID:21599875

Evaluation of Sexual Communication Message Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khan Munziba

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Parent-child communication about sex is an important proximal reproductive health outcome. But while campaigns to promote it such as the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC have been effective, little is known about how messages influence parental cognitions and behavior. This study examines which message features explain responses to sexual communication messages. We content analyzed 4 PSUNC ads to identify specific, measurable message and advertising execution features. We then develop quantitative measures of those features, including message strategies, marketing strategies, and voice and other stylistic features, and merged the resulting data into a dataset drawn from a national media tracking survey of the campaign. Finally, we conducted multivariable logistic regression models to identify relationships between message content and ad reactions/receptivity, and between ad reactions/receptivity and parents' cognitions related to sexual communication included in the campaign's conceptual model. We found that overall parents were highly receptive to the PSUNC ads. We did not find significant associations between message content and ad reactions/receptivity. However, we found that reactions/receptivity to specific PSUNC ads were associated with increased norms, self-efficacy, short- and long-term expectations about parent-child sexual communication, as theorized in the conceptual model. This study extends previous research and methods to analyze message content and reactions/receptivity. The results confirm and extend previous PSUNC campaign evaluation and provide further evidence for the conceptual model. Future research should examine additional message content features and the effects of reactions/receptivity.

Do Health Promotion Messages Integrate Unintended Pregnancy and STI Prevention? A Content Analysis of Online Information for Adolescents and Young Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Steiner, Riley J; Rasberry, Catherine N; Sales, Jessica M; Gaydos, Laura M; Pazol, Karen; Kramer, Michael; Swartzendruber, Andrea

2018-04-20

Recently there have been calls to strengthen integration of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention messages, spurred by increasing use of long-acting reversible contraception. To assess the extent to which public health/clinical messages about unintended pregnancy prevention also address STI prevention, we conducted a content analysis of web-based health promotion information for young people. Websites identified through a systematic Google search were eligible for inclusion if they were operated by a United States-based organization with a mission related to public health/clinical services and the URL included: 1) original content; 2) about sexual and reproductive health; 3) explicitly for adolescents and/or young adults. Using defined protocols, URLs were screened and content was selected and analyzed thematically. Many of the 32 eligible websites presented information about pregnancy and STI prevention separately. Concurrent discussion of the two topics was often limited to statements about (1) strategies that can prevent both outcomes (abstinence, condoms only, condoms plus moderate or highly effective contraceptive methods) and (2) contraceptive methods that confer no STI protection. We also identified framing of condom use with moderate or highly effective contraceptive method for back-up pregnancy prevention but not STI prevention. STI prevention methods in addition to condoms, such as STI/HIV testing, vaccination, or pre-exposure or post-exposure prophylaxis, were typically not addressed with pregnancy prevention information. There may be missed opportunities for promoting STI prevention online in the context of increasing awareness of and access to a full range of contraceptive methods. Strengthening messages that integrate pregnancy and STI prevention may include: describing STI prevention strategies when noting that birth control methods do not prevent STIs; promoting a full complement of STI prevention strategies; and

Hill Cipher and Least Significant Bit for Image Messaging Security

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Husnul Arif

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Exchange of information through cyberspace has many benefits as an example fast estimated time, unlimited physical distance and space limits, etc. But in these activities can also pose a security risk for confidential information. It is necessary for the safety that can be used to protect data transmitted through the Internet. Encryption algorithm that used to encrypt message to be sent (plaintext into messages that have been randomized (ciphertext is cryptography and steganography algorithms. In application of cryptographic techniques that will be used is Hill Cipher. The technique is combined with steganography techniques Least Significant Bit. The result of merging techniques can maintain the confidentiality of messages because people who do not know the secret key used will be difficult to get the message contained in the stego-image and the image that has been inserted can not be used as a cover image. Message successfully inserted and extracted back on all samples with a good image formats * .bmp, * .png , * .jpg at a resolution of 512 x 512 pixels , 256 x 256 pixels. MSE and PSNR results are not influenced file format or file size, but influenced by dimensions of image. The larger dimensions of the image, then the smaller MSE that means error of image gets smaller.

Evaluation of postural stability during quiet standing, step-up and step-up with lateral perturbation in subjects with and without low back pain.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Ram Prasad

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The  evaluation  of  postural  stability  during  quiet stance,  step  up  and step  up  task  with  perturbation  using posturography  could  be  useful  in treatment  and  outcome monitoring  in  chronic  low  back  pain rehabilitation  (CLBP.  The aims  of  this  study  were  twofold  and investigating  1  differences of postural stability measures between CLBP patients and healthy participants  during  above  mentioned  tasks.  2 postural  stability characteristics between control and movement impairment groups of  CLBP  patients  on  above  tasks.  Fourteen  CLBP  and fifteen normal  individuals  participated  and  posturography outcome variables  were  obtained  during  above  tasks.  The  low  back pain  subjects  showed  significantly  different  anterior-posterior (p=0 .01 as well as medio- lateral (p=0.05 postural stability characteristics during the step up task with external perturbation, whereas quiet standing and simple step up task did not show any differences. In addition to these values, in CLBP population, the maximum COP excursion (p=0.01, standard stability (p=0.02 and the stability scores (p=0.02 were also found significant in step up with perturbation task compared to healthy participants. As the task difficulty increases CLBP patients exhibited significantly different postural stability characteristics compared to healthy participants. Conversely, sub-group analysis in CLBP patients revealed significant differences only in medio-lateral COP excursions during normal standing (p=0.005. No significant differences were observed in tasks of higher difficulties such as step up and step up task with lateral perturbation in-between patients with movement and control impairment groups of CLBP. These findings have implications for assessment and optimizing postural control interventions on functional back pain rehabilitation.

Experimental investigation of concentration and stable isotopes signals during organic contaminants back diffusion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jin, Biao; Nika, Chrysanthi-Elisabeth; Rolle, Massimo

2017-01-01

-dichloroethene (cis-DCE) as model contaminant and we investigated its back diffusion from an impermeable source into a permeable saturated layer, in which advection-dominated flow conditions were established. We used concentration and stable chlorine isotope measurements to investigate the plumes originated by cis...... and stable isotope gradients in the flow-through setup. In particular, steep concentration and stable isotope gradients were observed at the outlet. Lateral isotope gradients corresponding to chlorine isotope fractionation up to 20‰ were induced by cis-DCE back diffusion and subsequent advection......-dominated transport in all flow-through experiments. A numerical modeling approach, tracking individually all chlorine isotopologues, based on the accurate parameterization of local dispersion, as well as on the values of aqueous diffusion coefficients and diffusion-induced isotope fractionation from a previous study...

Procedure and apparatus for back projection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1977-01-01

(1) The procedure is for back projection in the form of a tomographic picture of a member, characterised in that the strip pictures are written onto the signal plate by a conversion pick-up unit; and that to the address inputs of the pick-up unit voltages are applied that represent a rotating coordinate system. (2) Procedure following claim 1 characterised by the fact that the voltages are respectively applied as sawtooth waveform horizontal and vertical television deflections. (3) Procedure following claims 1 and 2, characterised that in order to correct the television deflection voltages for the effect of a fan shaped radiation beam, first one and then the other of the amplitudes is modulated. (G.C.)

Feedback Halves the Dispersion for Some Two-User Broadcast Channels with Common Message

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trillingsgaard, Kasper Fløe; Yang, Wei; Durisi, Giuseppe

2017-01-01

We investigate the maximum coding rate achievable on a two-user broadcast channel for the case where a common- message is transmitted using fixed-blocklength codes with feed- back. Specifically, we focus on a family of broadcast channels com- posed of two antisymmetric Z-channels. For this setup,...

Reactions to framing of cessation messages: insights from dual-smoker couples.

Science.gov (United States)

Lipkus, Isaac M; Ranby, Krista W; Lewis, Megan A; Toll, Benjamin

2013-12-01

Couples in which both members smoke (dual-smoker couples) have not been the explicit target of cessation interventions. Quit rates are lower and relapse rates are higher among individuals in dual-smoker couples. A potentially effective strategy to motivate dual-smoker couples to quit is to convey messages that highlight how the positive outcomes of quitting (gain frame) or the negative outcomes of continued smoking (loss frame) affect the couple rather than the individual smoker. We explored whether dual-smoker couples' smoking behaviors (e.g., amount smoked) and desire to quit would differ as a function of message frame (gain vs. loss) or outcome focus (individual vs. couple). Dual-smoker couples (N = 40) completed a baseline survey and were then randomized to review gain- or loss-framed messages that varied whether the outcomes influenced the individual or the couple. Main outcomes were desire to quit after reading messages and smoking behaviors at a 1-month follow-up. Couple-focused messages produced the strongest desire to quit and decreased amount of cigarettes smoked at follow-up. The latter effect was mediated by desire to quit. Loss-framed messages produced inconsistent effects on desire to quit. There were no significant interactions between outcome focus and message framing. Findings suggest that messages emphasizing how smoking affects both partners can motivate cessation among dual-smoker couples. Contrary to findings showing that gain-framed messages motivate cessation targeting individual smokers, results suggest that loss-framed messages may be more persuasive than gain-framed messages when the target of the outcome involves significant others.

Variable-Length Coding with Stop-Feedback for the Common-Message Broadcast Channel

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trillingsgaard, Kasper Fløe; Yang, Wei; Durisi, Giuseppe

2016-01-01

This paper investigates the maximum coding rate over a K-user discrete memoryless broadcast channel for the scenario where a common message is transmitted using variable-length stop-feedback codes. Specifically, upon decoding the common message, each decoder sends a stop signal to the encoder...... of these bounds reveal that---contrary to the point-to-point case---the second-order term in the asymptotic expansion of the maximum coding rate decays inversely proportional to the square root of the average blocklength. This holds for certain nontrivial common-message broadcast channels, such as the binary......, which transmits continuously until it receives all K stop signals. We present nonasymptotic achievability and converse bounds for the maximum coding rate, which strengthen and generalize the bounds previously reported in Trillingsgaard et al. (2015) for the two-user case. An asymptotic analysis...

A Novel Message Scheduling Framework for Delay Tolerant Networks Routing

KAUST Repository

Elwhishi, Ahmed

2013-05-01

Multicopy routing strategies have been considered the most applicable approaches to achieve message delivery in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs). Epidemic routing and two-hop forwarding routing are two well-reported approaches for delay tolerant networks routing which allow multiple message replicas to be launched in order to increase message delivery ratio and/or reduce message delivery delay. This advantage, nonetheless, is at the expense of additional buffer space and bandwidth overhead. Thus, to achieve efficient utilization of network resources, it is important to come up with an effective message scheduling strategy to determine which messages should be forwarded and which should be dropped in case of buffer is full. This paper investigates a new message scheduling framework for epidemic and two-hop forwarding routing in DTNs, such that the forwarding/dropping decision can be made at a node during each contact for either optimal message delivery ratio or message delivery delay. Extensive simulation results show that the proposed message scheduling framework can achieve better performance than its counterparts.

Development of a replicable process for translating science into practical health education messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Tyus, Nadra C; Freeman, Randall J; Gibbons, M Christopher

2006-09-01

There has been considerable discussion about translating science into practical messages, especially among urban minority and "hard-to-reach" populations. Unfortunately, many research findings rarely make it back in useful format to the general public. Few innovative techniques have been established that provide researchers with a systematic process for developing health awareness and prevention messages for priority populations. The purpose of this paper is to describe the early development and experience of a unique community-based participatory process used to develop health promotion messages for a predominantly low-income, black and African-American community in Baltimore, MD. Scientific research findings from peer-reviewed literature were identified by academic researchers. Researchers then taught the science to graphic design students and faculty. The graphic design students and faculty then worked with both community residents and researchers to transform this information into evidence-based public health education messages. The final products were culturally and educationally appropriate, health promotion messages reflecting urban imagery that were eagerly desired by the community. This early outcome is in contrast to many previously developed messages and materials created through processes with limited community involvement and by individuals with limited practical knowledge of local community culture or expertise in marketing or mass communication. This process may potentially be utilized as a community-based participatory approach to enhance the translation of scientific research into desirable and appropriate health education messages.

Long-term evaluation of a Canadian back pain mass media campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Suman, Arnela; Bostick, Geoffrey P; Schopflocher, Donald; Russell, Anthony S; Ferrari, Robert; Battié, Michele C; Hu, Richard; Buchbinder, Rachelle; Gross, Douglas P

2017-09-01

This paper evaluates the long-term impact of a Canadian mass media campaign on general public beliefs about staying active when experiencing low back pain (LBP). Changes in beliefs about staying active during an episode of LBP were studied using telephone and web-based surveys. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate changes in beliefs over time and the effect of exposure to campaign messaging. The percentage of survey respondents agreeing that they should stay active through LBP increased annually from 58.9 to ~72.0%. Respondents reporting exposure to campaign messaging were statistically significantly more likely to agree with staying active than respondents who did not report exposure to campaign messaging (adjusted OR, 95% CI = 1.96, 1.73-2.21). The mass media campaign had continued impact on public LBP beliefs over the course of 7 years. Improvements over time were associated with exposure to campaign messaging.

Connection Setup Signaling Scheme with Flooding-Based Path Searching for Diverse-Metric Network

Science.gov (United States)

Kikuta, Ko; Ishii, Daisuke; Okamoto, Satoru; Oki, Eiji; Yamanaka, Naoaki

Connection setup on various computer networks is now achieved by GMPLS. This technology is based on the source-routing approach, which requires the source node to store metric information of the entire network prior to computing a route. Thus all metric information must be distributed to all network nodes and kept up-to-date. However, as metric information become more diverse and generalized, it is hard to update all information due to the huge update overhead. Emerging network services and applications require the network to support diverse metrics for achieving various communication qualities. Increasing the number of metrics supported by the network causes excessive processing of metric update messages. To reduce the number of metric update messages, another scheme is required. This paper proposes a connection setup scheme that uses flooding-based signaling rather than the distribution of metric information. The proposed scheme requires only flooding of signaling messages with requested metric information, no routing protocol is required. Evaluations confirm that the proposed scheme achieves connection establishment without excessive overhead. Our analysis shows that the proposed scheme greatly reduces the number of control messages compared to the conventional scheme, while their blocking probabilities are comparable.

Electronic messaging and communication with living kidney donors.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruck, Jessica M; Zhou, Sheng; Thomas, Alvin G; Cramm, Shannon L; Massie, Allan B; Montgomery, John R; Berger, Jonathan C; Henderson, Macey L; Segev, Dorry L

2018-02-01

New regulations require living kidney donor (LKD) follow-up for 2 years, but donor retention remains poor. Electronic communication (eg, text messaging and e-mail) might improve donor retention. To explore the possible impact of electronic communication, we recruited LKDs to participate in an exploratory study of communication via telephone, e-mail, or text messaging postdonation; communication through this study was purely optional and did not replace standard follow-up. Of 69 LKDs recruited, 3% requested telephone call, 52% e-mail, and 45% text messaging. Telephone response rate was 0%; these LKDs were subsequently excluded from analysis. Overall response rates with e-mail or text messaging at 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years were 94%, 87%, 81%, 72%, and 72%. Lower response rates were seen in African Americans, even after adjusting for age, sex, and contact method (incidence rate ratio (IRR) nonresponse 2.07 5.81 16.36 , P = .001). Text messaging had higher response rates than e-mail (IRR nonresponse 0.11 0.28 0.71 , P = .007). Rates of nonresponse were similar by sex (IRR 0.68, P = .4) and age (IRR 1.00, P > .9). In summary, LKDs strongly preferred electronic messaging over telephone and were highly responsive 2 years postdonation, even in this nonrequired, nonincentivized exploratory research study. These electronic communication tools can be automated and may improve regulatory compliance and postdonation care. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Designing Anti-Binge Drinking Prevention Messages: Message Framing vs. Evidence Type.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hannah; Lee, Moon J

2017-09-27

We investigated whether presenting anti-binge drinking health campaign messages in different message framing and evidence types influences college students' intention to avoid binge drinking, based on prospect theory (PT) and exemplification theory. A 2 (message framing: loss-framed message/gain-framed message) X 2 (evidence type: statistical/narrative) between-subjects factorial design with a control group was conducted with 156 college students. College students who were exposed to the loss-framed message condition exhibited a higher level of intention to avoid binge drinking in the near future than those who did not see any messages (the control group). This finding was mainly among non-binge drinkers. Regardless of evidence type, those who were exposed to the messages exhibited a higher level of intention to avoid binge drinking than those in the control group. This is also mainly among non-binge drinkers. We also found the main effects of message framing and evidence type on attitude toward the message and the main effect of message framing on attitude toward drinking.

Advanced Messaging Concept Development Basic Safety Message

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — Contains all Basic Safety Messages (BSMs) collected during the Advanced Messaging Concept Development (AMCD) field testing program. For this project, all of the Part...

Concept of Advanced Back-up Control Panel Design of Digital Main Control Room

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, Guo Jin; Sun, Yong Bin; Tan, Ke; Zhang, Li Ming; Shi, Ji; Zhang, Xue Gang; Huang, Wei Jun; Mao, Ting; Liu Yanzi

2011-01-01

Back-up control panel (BCP) of digital main control room (DMCR) is the backup means for main computerized control means (MCM). This paper focus on technical issues for advanced design of Backup Panel (BCP) for CPR1000 using qualified computer-based video display unit to display plant process indication and alarms. HFE issues also have been considered in the BCP design. Then, mean to fulfill safety target of NPP, best ergonomic effect has been described. At last conclusion on advanced BCP design is provided

Concept of Advanced Back-up Control Panel Design of Digital Main Control Room

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jiang, Guo Jin; Sun, Yong Bin; Tan, Ke; Zhang, Li Ming; Shi, Ji; Zhang, Xue Gang; Huang, Wei Jun; Mao, Ting; Liu Yanzi [China Nuclear Power Engineering Company, Shenzen (China)

2011-08-15

Back-up control panel (BCP) of digital main control room (DMCR) is the backup means for main computerized control means (MCM). This paper focus on technical issues for advanced design of Backup Panel (BCP) for CPR1000 using qualified computer-based video display unit to display plant process indication and alarms. HFE issues also have been considered in the BCP design. Then, mean to fulfill safety target of NPP, best ergonomic effect has been described. At last conclusion on advanced BCP design is provided.

φφ Back-to-Back Correlations in Finite Expanding Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padula, S. S.; Krein, G.; Hama, Y.; Panda, P. K.; Csoergo, T.

2006-01-01

Back-to-Back Correlations (BBC) of particle-antiparticle pairs are predicted to appear if hot and dense hadronic matter is formed in high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. The BBC are related to in-medium mass-modification and squeezing of the quanta involved. Although the suppression of finite emission times were already known, the effects of finite system sizes and of collective phenomena had not been studied yet. Thus, for testing the survival and magnitude of the effect in more realistic situations, we study the BBC when mass-modification occurs in a finite sized, thermalized medium, considering a non-relativistically expanding fireball with finite emission time, and evaluating the width of the back-to-back correlation function. We show that the BBC signal indeed survives the expansion and flow effects, with sufficient magnitude to be observed at RHIC

Managing the Risks and Rewards of Instant Messaging

Science.gov (United States)

Goldsborough, Reid

2004-01-01

You probably think instant messaging (IM) as something teenagers do to chat up friends online, whether across the street or across the world. But IM has some buttoned-down business benefits, as well as some risks you may not be aware of. Unlike e-mail, in which you fire off messages to recipients who read them when they next check their in-box,…

A text message intervention for alcohol risk reduction among community college students: TMAP.

Science.gov (United States)

Bock, Beth C; Barnett, Nancy P; Thind, Herpreet; Rosen, Rochelle; Walaska, Kristen; Traficante, Regina; Foster, Robert; Deutsch, Chris; Fava, Joseph L; Scott-Sheldon, Lori A J

2016-12-01

Students at community colleges comprise nearly half of all U.S. college students and show higher risk of heavy drinking and related consequences compared to students at 4-year colleges, but no alcohol safety programs currently target this population. To examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of an alcohol risk-reduction program delivered through text messaging designed for community college (CC) students. Heavy drinking adult CC students (N=60) were enrolled and randomly assigned to the six-week active intervention (Text Message Alcohol Program: TMAP) or a control condition of general motivational (not alcohol related) text messages. TMAP text messages consisted of alcohol facts, strategies to limit alcohol use and related risks, and motivational messages. Assessments were conducted at baseline, week 6 (end of treatment) and week 12 (follow up). Most participants (87%) completed all follow up assessments. Intervention messages received an average rating of 6.8 (SD=1.5) on a 10-point scale. At week six, TMAP participants were less likely than controls to report heavy drinking and negative alcohol consequences. The TMAP group also showed significant increases in self-efficacy to resist drinking in high risk situations between baseline and week six, with no such increase among controls. Results were maintained through the week 12 follow up. The TMAP alcohol risk reduction program was feasible and highly acceptable indicated by high retention rates through the final follow up assessment and good ratings for the text message content. Reductions in multiple outcomes provide positive indications of intervention efficacy. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

When message-frame fits salient cultural-frame, messages feel more persuasive.

Science.gov (United States)

Uskul, Ayse K; Oyserman, Daphna

2010-03-01

The present study examines the persuasive effects of tailored health messages comparing those tailored to match (versus not match) both chronic cultural frame and momentarily salient cultural frame. Evidence from two studies (Study 1: n = 72 European Americans; Study 2: n = 48 Asian Americans) supports the hypothesis that message persuasiveness increases when chronic cultural frame, health message tailoring and momentarily salient cultural frame all match. The hypothesis was tested using a message about health risks of caffeine consumption among individuals prescreened to be regular caffeine consumers. After being primed for individualism, European Americans who read a health message that focused on the personal self were more likely to accept the message-they found it more persuasive, believed they were more at risk and engaged in more message-congruent behaviour. These effects were also found among Asian Americans who were primed for collectivism and who read a health message that focused on relational obligations. The findings point to the importance of investigating the role of situational cues in persuasive effects of health messages and suggest that matching content to primed frame consistent with the chronic frame may be a way to know what to match messages to.

[Team work as the way to back up consciousness].

Science.gov (United States)

Maksakova, O A

2014-01-01

Conception of unconsciousness after brain injury had changed considerably due to high technologies. Nowadays some patients considered by clinicians as unconscious are admitted to awareness with neurovisual techniques. Physiologic and neurophysiologic signals' combining brings forward robust quantification of patients' clinical state too. These "Third Person View" approaches leave the question of patient's experience content open because of determined stimuli paradigms. Yet patient's response pattern becomes formed not only with brain deficits but by questions-stimuli, context, and inquiring person. Rehabilitation team work is sourcing of phenomenology knowledge of patient's processes due to "First-Second Person View" approach and chance to real-time change. Restoration of consciousness comes of building-up patients' contacts with their own bodies, other persons and outward things. The basic principle of this approach is feedback assignement to any minimal movement or vegetative signal of the patient. The net of feedbacks with the patient and inter-professional ones builds up the team as Non-linear Complex System. Characteristics of "Team-Patient" system status are energy, entropy, and complexity. Impairment of consciousness as the absence of linear contact with a patient may appear together with a loss of essential functions (low energy), vegetative-visceral fits (excessive energy and low order), motor agitation (excessive energy and order), and etc. Techniques of team work are different in these cases for resulting optimization of the system condition. System complexity rise is a powerful tool to arouse apatient with impairment of consciousness. System self-organization is a key process for awareness formation. Analysis of complex communication process in patient--team system may be useful for creation of the general theory of consciousness.

Phantom phone signals: An investigation into the prevalence and predictors of imagined cell phone signals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tanis, M.A.; Beukeboom, C.J.; Hartmann, T.; Vermeulen, I.E.

2015-01-01

This paper aims to elucidate the peculiar phenomenon of imagined cell phone signals, or Phantom Phone Signals (PPS), which is defined as an individual's perception of a phone signal, indicating an incoming call, message, or social media notification, when in fact no such signal was transmitted. A

Compact modeling of a telecom back-up unit powered by air-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gao, Xin; Kær, Søren Knudsen

2018-01-01

Applications of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC’s) are expanding in portable, automotive and stationary markets. One promising application is the back-up power for telecommunication applications in remote areas where usually air-cooled PMEFC’s are used. An air-cooled PEMFC system is much...

Game Theoretic Analysis of Cooperative Message Forwarding in Opportunistic Mobile Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Pal, Sujata; Saha, Barun Kumar; Misra, Sudip

2017-12-01

In cooperative communication, a set of players forming a coalition ensures communal behavior among themselves by helping one another in message forwarding. Opportunistic mobile networks (OMNs) require multihop communications for transferring messages from the source to the destination nodes. However, noncooperative nodes only forward their own messages to others, and drop others' messages upon receiving them. So, the message delivery overhead increases in OMN. For minimizing the overhead and maximizing the delivery rate, we propose two coalition-based cooperative schemes: 1) simple coalition formation (SCF) and 2) overlapping coalition formation (OCF) game. In SCF, we consider the presence of a central information center, whereas OCF is a fully distributed scheme. In SCF, coalitions are disjoint, whereas in OCF, a node may be the member of multiple coalitions at the same time. All nodes in a coalition help each other cooperatively by forwarding group messages to the intermediate or destination nodes. The goal of the nodes is to achieve high success rate in delivering messages. The proposed SCF scheme is cohesive, in which disjoint coalitions always combine to form grand coalition. In OCF, a node reaches a stable grand coalition when all the nodes of the OMN are members of overlapping coalition of the node. No node gains by deviating from the grand coalition in SCF and OCF. Simulation results based on synthetic mobility model and real-life traces show that the message delivery ratio of OMNs increase by up to 67%, as compared to the noncooperative scenario. Moreover, the message overhead ratio using the proposed coalition-based schemes reduces by up to about (1/3)rd of that of the noncooperative communication scheme.

Space Reclamation for Uncoordinated Checkpointing in Message-Passing Systems. Ph.D. Thesis

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yi-Min

1993-01-01

Checkpointing and rollback recovery are techniques that can provide efficient recovery from transient process failures. In a message-passing system, the rollback of a message sender may cause the rollback of the corresponding receiver, and the system needs to roll back to a consistent set of checkpoints called recovery line. If the processes are allowed to take uncoordinated checkpoints, the above rollback propagation may result in the domino effect which prevents recovery line progression. Traditionally, only obsolete checkpoints before the global recovery line can be discarded, and the necessary and sufficient condition for identifying all garbage checkpoints has remained an open problem. A necessary and sufficient condition for achieving optimal garbage collection is derived and it is proved that the number of useful checkpoints is bounded by N(N+1)/2, where N is the number of processes. The approach is based on the maximum-sized antichain model of consistent global checkpoints and the technique of recovery line transformation and decomposition. It is also shown that, for systems requiring message logging to record in-transit messages, the same approach can be used to achieve optimal message log reclamation. As a final topic, a unifying framework is described by considering checkpoint coordination and exploiting piecewise determinism as mechanisms for bounding rollback propagation, and the applicability of the optimal garbage collection algorithm to domino-free recovery protocols is demonstrated.

Encoding and decoding messages with chaotic lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alsing, P.M.; Gavrielides, A.; Kovanis, V.; Roy, R.; Thornburg, K.S. Jr.

1997-01-01

We investigate the structure of the strange attractor of a chaotic loss-modulated solid-state laser utilizing return maps based on a combination of intensity maxima and interspike intervals, as opposed to those utilizing Poincare sections defined by the intensity maxima of the laser (I=0,Ie<0) alone. We find both experimentally and numerically that a simple, intrinsic relationship exists between an intensity maximum and the pair of preceding and succeeding interspike intervals. In addition, we numerically investigate encoding messages on the output of a chaotic transmitter laser and its subsequent decoding by a similar receiver laser. By exploiting the relationship between the intensity maxima and the interspike intervals, we demonstrate that the method utilized to encode the message is vital to the system close-quote s ability to hide the signal from unwanted deciphering. In this work alternative methods are studied in order to encode messages by modulating the magnitude of pumping of the transmitter laser and also by driving its loss modulation with more than one frequency. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

Designing Tailored Messages about Smoking and Breast Cancer: A Focus Group Study with Youth.

Science.gov (United States)

Bottorff, Joan L; Haines-Saah, Rebecca; Oliffe, John L; Struik, Laura L; Bissell, Laura J L; Richardson, Chris P; Gotay, Carolyn; Johnson, Kenneth C; Hutchinson, Peter

2014-03-01

The purpose of this study was to design an approach to supporting the development of gender- and Aboriginal-specific messages regarding the link between tobacco exposure and breast cancer, drawing on youth perspectives. Focus groups were held with 18 girls (8 First Nations and Métis) and 25 boys (12 First Nations and Métis) to solicit advice in the design of messages. Transcribed data were analyzed for themes. Girls preferred messages that included the use of novel images, a personal story of breast cancer, and ways to avoid secondhand smoke. Boys endorsed messages that were "catchy" but not "cheesy" and had masculine themes. First Nations and Métis participants confirmed the use of Aboriginal symbols in messages as signalling their relevance to youth in their communities. The results can be used as a guide in developing tailored health promotion messages. Challenges in developing gender-appropriate messages for youth are described. Copyright© by Ingram School of Nursing, McGill University.

Investigating message-framing effects in the context of a tailored intervention promoting physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

van 't Riet, Jonathan; Ruiter, Robert A C; Werrij, Marieke Q; de Vries, Hein

2010-04-01

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the gains associated with healthy behaviour or the losses associated with unhealthy behaviour. It has been argued that gain-framed messages promoting physical activity (PA) are more effective than loss-framed messages, but empirical findings are inconsistent. Also, no previous studies investigated the effects of gain- and loss-framed messages in the context of a computer-tailored PA intervention. In this study, we provided participants with computer-generated tailored feedback concerning their PA levels. In total, 787 participants entered in the study, of whom 299 completed all measures at a 3-month follow-up. We investigated whether gain- and loss-framed messages promoting PA affected information acceptance, attitude, intention and behaviour differently. The results showed that gain-framed messages resulted in stronger intentions to be physically active than loss-framed messages. This did not result in a significant increase in actual PA, however, as measured by a 3-month follow-up assessment. For information acceptance and attitude, a non-significant advantage of gain-framed messages was found. All effects had small effect sizes. Thus, whereas gain-framed information might be more persuasive than loss-framed information when it comes to promoting PA, the differences between gain- and loss-framed messages are likely to be small.

Bidirectional Text Messaging to Improve Adherence to Recommended Lipid Testing.

Science.gov (United States)

Baldwin, Laura-Mae; Morrison, Caitlin; Griffin, Jonathan; Anderson, Nick; Edwards, Kelly; Green, Jeff; Waldren, Cleary; Reiter, William

2017-01-01

Synergies between technology and health care in the United States are accelerating, increasing opportunities to leverage these technologies to improve patient care. This study was a collaboration between an academic study team, a rural primary care clinic, and a local nonprofit informatics company developing tools to improve patient care through population management. Our team created a text messaging management tool, then developed methods for and tested the feasibility of bidirectional text messaging to remind eligible patients about the need for lipid testing. We measured patient response to the text messages, then interviewed 8 patients to explore their text messaging experience. Of the 129 patients the clinic was able to contact by phone, 29.4% had no cell phone or text-messaging capabilities. An additional 20% refused to participate. Two thirds of the 28 patients who participated in the text messaging intervention (67.9%) responded to at least 1 of the up to 3 messages. Seven of 8 interviewed patients had a positive text-messaging experience. Bidirectional text messaging is a feasible and largely acceptable form of communication for test reminders that has the potential to reach large numbers of patients in clinical care. © Copyright 2017 by the American Board of Family Medicine.

Evidence of Premeditation in Skin Messages in Suicide.

Science.gov (United States)

Byard, Roger W

2016-03-01

A 34-year-old man with manic-depressive disorder was found dead sitting in a vehicle with a hose running from the exhaust pipe to the cabin. Numerous suicide notes were found inside his house. At autopsy, the decedent was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved windcheater. Upon removal of his clothes, a series of messages were also found written on the legs and forearm. Death was due to carbon monoxide toxicity with a blood level of carboxyhemoglobin of 84%. Skin messages represent a rare form of suicide note that may suggest that a suicide has not been planned, as the decedent may have used the nearest surface to write on. This case demonstrates, however, that skin messages may be more organized, being written prior to dressing and setting up the fatal episode. They also may compliment other notes and messages. © 2015 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Fall Back Equilibrium

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kleppe, J.; Borm, P.E.M.; Hendrickx, R.L.P.

2008-01-01

Fall back equilibrium is a refinement of the Nash equilibrium concept. In the underly- ing thought experiment each player faces the possibility that, after all players decided on their action, his chosen action turns out to be blocked. Therefore, each player has to decide beforehand on a back-up

Micro-cultural customization of organ donation propagation messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunkel, Anke; Nakamoto, Kent; Schulz, Peter J

2018-05-01

Organ transplantation is plagued by limited availability of organs. This study investigated the effect of messages promoting organ donation which were customized according to the language-defined micro-cultures in Switzerland. Community-, informative-, and emotional-oriented messages were carried by conventional flyers. A 3 × 3 between-subjects experiment was conducted with short- and long-term willingness to donate, long-term signing of organ donation card and long-term interpersonal communication on organ donation as outcome variables. The culturally customized interventions appeared to have no immediate effect and consequently no differential effect on willingness to donate organs and on signing a donor card. Among the Swiss Germans, of the three messages, the community-oriented one instigated less interpersonal communication. Findings are consistent with a mechanism in which the message does not have an immediate effect on willingness to donate organs but motivates further thought and related behaviors that lead to higher commitment and later increased willingness to donate. Targeting not only the message but also the objective that drives the messages must be considered. Campaigns should include elements that build on the unfolding commitment process to promote the follow-up actions that lead to greater willingness. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Neural network construction via back-propagation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burwick, T.T.

1994-06-01

A method is presented that combines back-propagation with multi-layer neural network construction. Back-propagation is used not only to adjust the weights but also the signal functions. Going from one network to an equivalent one that has additional linear units, the non-linearity of these units and thus their effective presence is then introduced via back-propagation (weight-splitting). The back-propagated error causes the network to include new units in order to minimize the error function. We also show how this formalism allows to escape local minima

47 CFR 80.329 - Safety signals and messages.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

.... It must be sent before the call. (c) In radiotelephony, the safety signal consists of the word... signal and call must be sent on one of the international distress frequencies (2182 kHz or 156.8 MHz...

A Visualized Message Interface (VMI) for intelligent messaging services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Endo, T.; Kasahara, H.; Nakagawa, T.

1984-01-01

In CCITT, Message Handling Systems (MHS) have been studied from the viewpoint of communications protocol standardization. In addition to MHS services, Message Processing (MP) services, such as image processing, filing and retrieving services, will come into increasing demand in office automation field. These messaging services, including MHS services, can be thought of as Intelligent Messaging (IM) services. IM services include many basic services, optional user facilities and service parameters. Accordingly, it is necessary to deal with these parameters and MP procedures in as systematic and user-friendly a manner as possible. As one step towards realizing a user-friendly IM services interface, the characteristics of IM service parameters are studied and a Visualized Message Interface (VMI) which resembles a conventional letter exchange format is presented. The concept of VMI formation is discussed using the generic document structure concept as well as a Screen Interface and Protocol Interface conversion package

Negative beliefs about low back pain are associated with persistent high intensity low back pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Sin Ki; Cicuttini, Flavia M; Wang, Yuanyuan; Wluka, Anita E; Fitzgibbon, Bernadette; Urquhart, Donna M

2017-08-01

While previous cross-sectional studies have found that negative beliefs about low back pain are associated with pain intensity, the relationship between back beliefs and persistent low back pain is not well understood. This cohort study aimed to examine the role of back beliefs in persistent low back pain in community-based individuals. A hundred and ninety-two participants from a previous musculoskeletal health study were invited to take part in a two-year follow-up study. Beliefs about back pain were assessed by the Back Beliefs Questionnaire (BBQ) at baseline and low back pain intensity was measured by the Chronic Pain Grade Questionnaire at baseline and follow-up. Of the 150 respondents (78.1%), 16 (10.7%) reported persistent high intensity low back pain, 12 (8.0%) developed high intensity low back pain, in 16 (10.7%) their high intensity low back pain resolved and 106 (70.7%) experienced no high intensity low back pain. While participants were generally positive about low back pain (BBQ mean (SD) = 30.2 (6.4)), those with persistent high intensity pain reported greater negativity (BBQ mean (SD) = 22.6 (4.9)). Negative beliefs about back pain were associated with persistent high intensity low back pain after adjusting for confounders (M (SE) = 23.5 (1.6) vs. >30.1 (1.7), p back beliefs were associated with persistent high intensity low back pain over 2 years in community-based individuals. While further longitudinal studies are required, these findings suggest that targeting beliefs in programs designed to treat and prevent persistent high intensity low back pain may be important.

Messages of congratulation received by the CERN Management and the Communication Group

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

Below we have reproduced a selection of messages from various laboratories and personalities congratulating CERN on its recent achievements.   Hats off in the CCC for the first beams in the LHC (Friday 20 November 2009) Je suis heureux d'adresser à l'équipe qui vient de mettre en marche le LHC les félicitations du dernier survivant des fondateurs du CERN. François de Rose   The CCC during the first moments of operation of the LHC Dear Rolf, from all your friends and colleagues at Fermilab: our heartiest congratulations on the first collisions at LHC!! We are delighted with the rapid progress.  Pier Oddone, FERMILAB Director.   As many thousand people all around the world, I have been following the LHC being turned back on! It is really great to see the machine coming on so smoothly up to now. I keep my fingers crossed and wish you all the best. Please send my congratulations to all the people involve...

Muscular contribution to low-back loading and stiffness during standard and suspended push-ups.

Science.gov (United States)

Beach, Tyson A C; Howarth, Samuel J; Callaghan, Jack P

2008-06-01

Push-up exercises are normally performed to challenge muscles that span upper extremity joints. However, it is also recognized that push-ups provide an effective abdominal muscle challenge, especially when the hands are in contact with a labile support surface. The purpose of this study was to compare trunk muscle activation levels and resultant intervertebral joint (IVJ) loading when standard and suspended push-ups were performed, and to quantify and compare the contribution of trunk muscles to IVJ rotational stiffness in both exercises. Eleven recreationally trained male volunteers performed sets of standard and suspended push-ups. Upper body kinematic, kinetic, and EMG data were collected and input into a 3D biomechanical model of the lumbar torso to quantify lumbar IVJ loading and the contributions of trunk muscles to IVJ rotational stiffness. When performing suspended push-ups, muscles of the abdominal wall and the latissimus dorsi were activated to levels that were significantly greater than those elicited when performing standard push-ups (ppush-ups. Also directly resulting from the increased activation levels of the abdominal muscles and the latissimus dorsi during suspended push-ups was increased muscular contribution to lumbar IVJ rotational stiffness (ppush-ups appear to provide a superior abdominal muscle challenge. However, for individuals unable to tolerate high lumbar IVJ compressive loads, potential benefits gained by incorporating suspended push-ups into their resistance training regimen may be outweighed by the risk of overloading low-back tissues.

"Bouncing back": how Australia's leading women's magazines portray the postpartum 'body'.

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Heike; Homer, Caroline; Fenwick, Jennifer

2012-09-01

To examine how the Australian media portrays the childbearing body through the use of celebrity stories in women's magazines. The study aimed to provide insight into socially constructed factors that might influence women's body image and expectations during pregnancy and the early postnatal period. Media content analysis was used to analyse 25 celebrity stories about the childbearing postnatal body (images and texts) collected from Australia's three leading women's magazines between January and June 2009 (n=58). A variety of persuasive textual and visual messages were elicited. The major theme representing how the postnatal body was constructed was labelled 'Bouncing back'; the focus of this paper. The social messages inherent in the magazine stories were that women need to strive towards regaining a pre-pregnant body shape with the same effort one would employ when recovering from an illness. Three specific sub-themes that promoted weight loss were identified. These were labelled 'Racing to bounce back', 'Breastfeeding to bounce back' and 'Pretending to bounce back'. A fourth sub-theme, 'Refusing to bounce back: Celebrating my new body', grouped together stories about celebrities who appeared to embrace their changed, but healthy, postnatal body. The study highlighted the expectations of the postpartum body in relation to speedy return to the pre-pregnant state. Understanding how these portrayals may contribute to women's own body image and expectations in the early postpartum period may better assist maternity health care providers to engage with women in meaningful discussions about this important time in their lives and challenge notions of ideal body types. Assisting women to accept and nurture themselves and have confidence in their ability as a new parent is a crucial element of quality maternity service provision. Copyright © 2011 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does the Screening Status of Message Characters Affect Message Effects?

Science.gov (United States)

Alber, Julia M.; Glanz, Karen

2018-01-01

Public health messages can be used to increase awareness about colorectal cancer screenings. Free or inexpensive images for creating health messages are readily available, yet little is known about how a pictured individual's engagement in the behavior of interest affects message outcomes. Participants (N = 360), aged 50 to 75 years, completed an…

Promoting mammography screening among Chinese American women using a message-framing intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Yiyuan; Sarma, Elizabeth A; Moyer, Anne; Messina, Catherine R

2015-07-01

This study examined the role of women's perceptions about the relative pros versus cons (decisional balance) of mammography in moderating Chinese American women's responses to gain- and loss-framed messages that promote mammography. One hundred and forty-three Chinese American women who were currently nonadherent to guidelines for receiving annual screening mammograms were randomly assigned to read either a gain- or loss-framed culturally appropriate print brochure about mammography screening. Mammography screening was self-reported at a 2-month follow-up. Although there was not a main effect for message frame, the hypothesized interaction between message frame and decisional balance was significant, indicating that women who received a framed message that matched their decisional balance were significantly more likely to have obtained a mammogram by the follow-up than women who received a mismatched message. Results suggest that decisional balance, and more generally, perceptions about mammography, may be an important moderator of framing effects for mammography among Chinese American women. The match between message frame and decisional balance should be considered when attempting to encourage Chinese American women to receive mammography screening, as a match between the two may be most persuasive. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Running a reliable messaging infrastructure for CERN's control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ehm, F.

2012-01-01

The current middle-ware for CERN's Control System is based on 2 implementations: CORBA-based Controls Middle-Ware (CMW) and Java Messaging Service (JMS). The JMS service is realized using the open source messaging product ActiveMQ and had became an increasing vital part of beam operations as data need to be transported reliably for various areas such as the beam protection system, post mortem analysis, beam commissioning or the alarm system. The current JMS service is made of 18 brokers running either in clusters or as single nodes. The main service is deployed as a 2 node cluster providing fail-over and load balancing capabilities for high availability. Non-critical applications running on virtual machines or desktop machines read data via a third broker to decouple the load from the operational main cluster. This scenario has been introduced last year and the statistics showed an up-time of 99.998% and an average data serving rate of 1.6 G-Byte per minute represented by around 150 messages per second. Deploying, running, maintaining and protecting such messaging infrastructure is not trivial and includes setting up of careful monitoring and failure pre-recognition. Naturally, lessons have been learnt and their outcome is very important for the current and future operation of such service. (author)

DMS message design workshops.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

This report summarizes the training conducted statewide regarding the design and display of messages on : dynamic message signs. The training is based on the Dynamic Message Sign Message Design and Display : Manual (0-4023-P3). Researchers developed ...

Application of a Tsunami Warning Message Metric to refine NOAA NWS Tsunami Warning Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Gregg, C. E.; Johnston, D.; Sorensen, J.; Whitmore, P.

2013-12-01

In 2010, the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) funded a three year project to integrate social science into their Tsunami Program. One of three primary requirements of the grant was to make improvements to tsunami warning messages of the NWS' two Tsunami Warning Centers- the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center (WCATWC) in Palmer, Alaska and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. We conducted focus group meetings with a purposive sample of local, state and Federal stakeholders and emergency managers in six states (AK, WA, OR, CA, HI and NC) and two US Territories (US Virgin Islands and American Samoa) to qualitatively asses information needs in tsunami warning messages using WCATWC tsunami messages for the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami event. We also reviewed research literature on behavioral response to warnings to develop a tsunami warning message metric that could be used to guide revisions to tsunami warning messages of both warning centers. The message metric is divided into categories of Message Content, Style, Order and Formatting and Receiver Characteristics. A message is evaluated by cross-referencing the message with the operational definitions of metric factors. Findings are then used to guide revisions of the message until the characteristics of each factor are met. Using findings from this project and findings from a parallel NWS Warning Tiger Team study led by T. Nicolini, the WCATWC implemented the first of two phases of revisions to their warning messages in November 2012. A second phase of additional changes, which will fully implement the redesign of messages based on the metric, is in progress. The resulting messages will reflect current state-of-the-art knowledge on warning message effectiveness. Here we present the message metric; evidence-based rational for message factors; and examples of previous, existing and proposed messages.

Representing culture in interstellar messages

Science.gov (United States)

Vakoch, Douglas A.

2008-09-01

As scholars involved with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) have contemplated how we might portray humankind in any messages sent to civilizations beyond Earth, one of the challenges they face is adequately representing the diversity of human cultures. For example, in a 2003 workshop in Paris sponsored by the SETI Institute, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) SETI Permanent Study Group, the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (ISAST), and the John Templeton Foundation, a varied group of artists, scientists, and scholars from the humanities considered how to encode notions of altruism in interstellar messages . Though the group represented 10 countries, most were from Europe and North America, leading to the group's recommendation that subsequent discussions on the topic should include more globally representative perspectives. As a result, the IAA Study Group on Interstellar Message Construction and the SETI Institute sponsored a follow-up workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA in February 2005. The Santa Fe workshop brought together scholars from a range of disciplines including anthropology, archaeology, chemistry, communication science, philosophy, and psychology. Participants included scholars familiar with interstellar message design as well as specialists in cross-cultural research who had participated in the Symposium on Altruism in Cross-cultural Perspective, held just prior to the workshop during the annual conference of the Society for Cross-cultural Research . The workshop included discussion of how cultural understandings of altruism can complement and critique the more biologically based models of altruism proposed for interstellar messages at the 2003 Paris workshop. This paper, written by the chair of both the Paris and Santa Fe workshops, will explore the challenges of communicating concepts of altruism that draw on both biological and cultural models.

Back pain online: a cross-sectional survey of the quality of web-based information on low back pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Butler, Laura; Foster, Nadine E

2003-02-15

A cross section of Web sites accessible to the general public was surveyed. To evaluate the quality of information on low back pain and its treatment that a "typical" patient user might access on the Internet. Individuals with back pain have a desire to learn about their condition, what to expect, and what they can do about it. Web sites play a potentially useful role in providing information to help people learn about their low back pain and select the most appropriate methods of management. A general search using popular search engines located 60 Web sites about back pain for review. A list of criteria for evaluating and scoring back pain Web sites was established using available literature and current clinical guidelines for the management of acute low back pain. The total quality score (maximum score, 38) was composed of two separate scores: one for general quality of the site (maximum score, 14) and one for site content specific to low back pain (maximum score, 24). Statistical tests, as appropriate, were used to investigate the relation between general indicators of Web site quality and total scores obtained. The quality of the Web sites surveyed was poor, most of them (n = 58, 97%) scoring less than half the maximum available score. The mean total score was 7.4 (range, 2-25). The mean score was 4.9 (range, 1-12) for general Web site quality and 2.4 (range, 1-13) for content specific to low back pain. Web sites providing references, sites created more recently, and sites not created for advertising purposes tended to be of better quality. This study highlighted the poor quality of information, particularly information about low back pain, available to "typical" patient users on the Internet. Health care professionals must have a role in evaluating existing information and in developing good-quality evidence-based Web sites. Patients with back pain should be discouraged from using the Internet as a source of information unless the Web sites they access have

Persian Back Channel Responses in Formal versus Informal Contexts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shahla Sharifi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Utterances like /xob/ (okay, /doroste/ (right, /hmm/, /ee/, /?re/ (yeah, occur frequently in Persian conversations, but have thus far escaped from the systematic studies. Good listeners generally produce these short utterances, called "back channel responses", in appropriate times to show their participation in the conversation, but the rules governing back channeling vary from one context to another. The usage of back channel responses is different in various contexts, due to politeness or formality. This paper studies the types and functions of the back channel responses in both formal and informal settings and provides a comparison of the usage of these responses in these two kinds of contexts. The results show /bale/ (yes and /doroste/ (right are used with formal or polite verbal form, while /xob/ (okay is used with the informal style of speech and less polite verbal form. With respect to the function of back channels, signaling the understanding is the main function of back channels in informal contexts. Also, back channels signaling agreement are more frequent in formal contexts, where emotional function is less likely.

Couriers in the Inca Empire: Getting Your Message Across. [Lesson Plan].

Science.gov (United States)

2002

This lesson shows how the Inca communicated across the vast stretches of their mountain realm, the largest empire of the pre-industrial world. The lesson explains how couriers carried messages along mountain-ridge roads, up and down stone steps, and over chasm-spanning footbridges. It states that couriers could pass a message from Quito (Ecuador)…

Tuning in While Growing Up: Messages Adolescents Receive from Popular Music Regarding Relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Scott Glass, J.; Curtis, Russ; Thomas, George M.

2005-01-01

Music has long been important to adolescents. It is one way they can express themselves and find a voice to represent the special circumstances they experience as young people. It is also known that love and romance are an important part of the adolescent experience (Paul & White, 1990). So, what messages do adolescents learn about…

Effects of media messages on parent-child sexual communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, W Douglas; Davis, Kevin C; Silber Ashley, Olivia; Khan, Munziba

2012-01-01

Parent-child communication about sex is an important reproductive health outcome. Consistent, positive perceptions of communication by parents and children can promote behavioral outcomes such as delaying sexual debut and increasing contraceptive use. The authors investigated whether exposure to messages from the Parents Speak Up National Campaign (PSUNC), a social marketing campaign to promote increased parent-child sexual communication, led to increased children's self-reports of communication. Also, the authors examined whether PSUNC message exposure increased agreement about communication between parents and their children. In a randomized experimental design, the authors surveyed children of parents exposed and not exposed to PSUNC messages. Parents and children completed online instruments asking matched questions about sexual attitudes, beliefs, and communication. The authors matched 394 parents and children for analysis. They used ordinal logistic regression modeling and kappa statistics. Children of parents exposed to PSUNC messages were more likely to (a) report sexual communication than were those not exposed and (b) agree with their parents about extent and content. Parent-child pairs of the same gender, younger pairs, and non-White pairs were more likely to agree. Overall, PSUNC message exposure appears to have promoted more extensive sexual communication. Future research should examine behavioral mechanisms and message receptivity among subgroups of parents and children.

Selection of the signal synchronization method in software GPS receivers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vlada S. Sokolović

2011-04-01

and Costas's PLL (Phase Lock Loop models of loop tracking of signal synchronization are presented. The analysis is performed by processing the signals from the same satellite and under the same conditions of the initial signal synchronization. The multiple signal processing showed the advantages and disadvantages of the particular methods and the most acceptable solution proved to be the implementation of the DLL tracking loop phase synchronization and the code tracking loop PLL carrier frequency synchronization. The influence of the parameters of the loop itself is shown as well. After the extraction of navigation bits, all bit extracts do not come with an equal phase. This may lead to a wrong decision in rejecting the Decider and bits. Therefore, the paper proposes an additional synchronization of the extracted bits selected by the navigation messages NDA (Non-Data-Aided algorithm in order to perform their correct detection and to position the receiver much faster. Comparison of methods of signal synchronization Based on the analysis of the methods, the simulation results are compared. The results showed that the TDL loop is not resistant to dynamic disturbances of signals, since the synchronization tracking breaks up. In addition, this loop shows susceptibility to the noise from free space. These are sufficient reasons to propose the implementation of the DLL signal tracking loop as an acceptable solution. In addition to the proposal of the tracking loop, tracking loop coefficient values are determined. Conclusion The performed analysis showed that the TDL loop is not resistant to noise and dynamic disorders of the input signal. Therefore, an appropriate solution for the implementation is the DLL loop with six correlates. The DLL tracking loop coefficients are determined as a compromise solution and they are B = 2Hz and γ = 0.7. Also, the coefficients of the PLL tracking loop of frequency synchronization are B = 20Hz and γ = 0.7. The application of the NDA

Characteristics of a lithium-thionyl chloride battery as a memory back-up power source

Science.gov (United States)

Iwamaru, T.; Uetani, Y.

An Li/SOCl 2 battery of R6 size (ER6C) has been evaluated as a memory back-up power source for CMOS RAM. The working voltage is 3.6 V and the discharge capacity is 1900 mA h on a 1OK-ohm load. The cell exhibits satisfactory working voltage and discharge capacity over the temperature range -40 °C to 85 °C. The discharge reaction mechanism has been elucidated. Cumulative self discharge during 10 years discharge at 20 μA is estimated to be 3.5%. No serious problems have been observed during abuse tests.

Characteristics of a lithium-thionyl chloride battery as a memory back-up power source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Iwamaru, T.; Uetani, Y.

1987-05-01

An Li/SOCl/sub 2/ battery of R6 size (ER6C) has been evaluated as a memory back-up power source for CMOS RAM. The working voltage is 3.6 V and the discharge capacity is 1900 mA h on a 10K-ohm load. The cell exhibits satisfactory working voltage and discharge capacity over the temperature range -40/sup 0/C to 85/sup 0/C. The discharge reaction mechanism has been elucidated. Cumulative self discharge during 10 years discharge at 20 ..mu..A is estimated to be 3.5%. No serious problems have been observed during abuse tests.

Messages of distinction: the HIV/AIDS media campaign in Thailand.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyttleton, C

1996-03-01

In predominantly rural Thailand, television is a primary source of HIV/AIDS knowledge. Since 1990, HIV/AIDS warning messages have been aired regularly and repeatedly on television as part of the national strategy to minimize transmission of HIV. The education and prevention messages chosen do more than suggest measures to avoid infection. Within a logic of risk, these messages also define characteristics of people who are signified as threatening agents of infection. In Thailand, prostitutes and drug users are portrayed as the feared Other. Because commercial sex is so widespread, the demarcation of prostitutes as a high risk group signals a diffuse threat not easily subject to conceptual distancing. It is the pervasive and often fear-based associations born of the media material that, in large part, establish the basis for emergent practice when thoughts or actions are triggered by consideration of HIV/AIDS.

Overlay Spectrum Sharing using Improper Gaussian Signaling

KAUST Repository

Amin, Osama; Abediseid, Walid; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2016-01-01

in overlay cognitive radio system, where the secondary transmitter broadcasts a mixture of two different signals. The first signal is selected from the PGS scheme to match the primary message transmission. On the other hand, the second signal is chosen

NFP Investor Conference. Growth is back in sight.

Science.gov (United States)

Haugh, Richard

2002-06-01

In a whirlwind of high-stakes meetings in New York City in mid-May, two dozen of the nation's largest hospitals and health systems strutted their stuff with a single goal: securing their future. Their message was clear: back-to-basics works, and now it's time to grow the business. Executives from 23 providers outlined their work on increasing revenue, boosting margins and shoring up balance sheets. They presented their market positions, strategic initiatives and financial results for investment analysts, credit raters and bond traders. The third annual Non-Profit Healthcare Investor Conference was co-sponsored by the American Hospital Association, Health Forum, the Healthcare Financial Management Association and Salomon Smith Barney. The focus on growth doesn't come without challenges Several common themes emerged from the presentations, among them pressure on reimbursement, workforce shortages, liability insurance issues and capacity constraints. Yet executives agree: it all comes down to the basics, and building the strength to keep their missions alive. As Thomas Meier, vice president and treasurer of Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, put it: "No margin, no mission, no más."

Adolescent low back pain among secondary school students in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Adolescent low back pain among secondary school students in Ibadan, Nigeria. BOA Adegoke, AC Odole, AA Adeyinka. Abstract. Background: Adolescent low back pain (ALBP) can be considered a signal or precursor of a serious organic disease or telltale sign of future incidence of low back pain in adulthood. Published ...

Getting Your Message Across: Mobile Phone Text Messaging

Science.gov (United States)

Beecher, Constance C.; Hayungs, Lori

2017-01-01

Want to send a message that 99% of your audience will read? Many Extension professionals are familiar with using social media tools to enhance Extension programming. Extension professionals may be less familiar with the use of mobile phone text-based marketing tools. The purpose of this article is to introduce SMS (short message system) marketing…

The use of messages in altering risky gambling behavior in experienced gamblers.

Science.gov (United States)

Jardin, Bianca F; Wulfert, Edelgard

2012-03-01

The present study was an experimental analogue that examined the relationship between gambling-related irrational beliefs and risky gambling behavior. Eighty high-frequency gamblers were randomly assigned to four conditions and played a chance-based computer game in a laboratory setting. Depending on the condition, during the game a pop-up screen repeatedly displayed either accurate or inaccurate messages concerning the game, neutral messages, or no messages. Consistent with a cognitive-behavioral model of gambling, accurate messages that correctly described the random contingencies governing the game decreased risky gambling behavior. Contrary to predictions, inaccurate messages designed to mimic gamblers' irrational beliefs about their abilities to influence chance events did not lead to more risky gambling behavior than exposure to neutral or no messages. Participants in the latter three conditions did not differ significantly from one another and all showed riskier gambling behavior than participants in the accurate message condition. The results suggest that harm minimization strategies that help individuals maintain a rational perspective while gambling may protect them from unreasonable risk-taking. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Nonlinear unknown input sliding mode observer based chaotic system synchronization and message recovery scheme with uncertainty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sharma, Vivek; Sharma, B.B.; Nath, R.

2017-01-01

In the present manuscript, observer based synchronization and message recovery scheme is discussed for a system with uncertainties. LMI conditions are analytically derived solution of which gives the observer design matrices. Earlier approaches have used adaptive laws to address the uncertainties, however in present work, decoupling approach is used to make observer robust against uncertainties. The methodology requires upper bounds on nonlinearity and the message signal and estimates for these bounds are generated adaptively. Thus no information about the nature of nonlinearity and associated Lipschitz constant is needed in proposed approach. Message signal is recovered using equivalent output injection which is a low pass filtered equivalent of the discontinuous effort required to maintain the sliding motion. Finally, the efficacy of proposed Nonlinear Unknown Input Sliding Mode Observer (NUISMO) for chaotic communication is verified by conducting simulation studies on two chaotic systems i.e. third order Chua circuit and Rossler system.

Unified Internet Messaging

OpenAIRE

Healy, Paul; Barber, Declan

2015-01-01

As telephony services, mobile services and internet services continue to converge, the prospect of providing Unified Messaging and even Unified Communications becomes increasingly achievable. This paper discusses the growing importance of IP-based networks to Unified Messaging developments and examines some of the key services and protocols that are likely to make Unified Messaging more widely available. In this initial paper, we limit ourselves initially to the unification of text-based mess...

Analysis and Design of Binary Message-Passing Decoders

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lechner, Gottfried; Pedersen, Troels; Kramer, Gerhard

2012-01-01

Binary message-passing decoders for low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are studied by using extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) charts. The channel delivers hard or soft decisions and the variable node decoder performs all computations in the L-value domain. A hard decision channel results...... message-passing decoders. Finally, it is shown that errors on cycles consisting only of degree two and three variable nodes cannot be corrected and a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a cycle-free subgraph is derived....... in the well-know Gallager B algorithm, and increasing the output alphabet from hard decisions to two bits yields a gain of more than 1.0 dB in the required signal to noise ratio when using optimized codes. The code optimization requires adapting the mixing property of EXIT functions to the case of binary...

Message-driven factors influencing opening and forwarding of mobile advertising messages

OpenAIRE

Sanz Blas, Silvia; Ruiz Mafé, Carla; Martí Parreño, José

2015-01-01

This work aims to analyse the influence of message-driven factors -informativeness, ubiquity, frequency and personalization- on consumer attitude and behaviour -opening and forwarding- towards mobile advertising messages. A theoretical model was developed and empirically tested using a sample of 355 Spanish teenager mobile users. Findings show that frequency is the dimension accounting the most -and significantly- of the four message-driven factors analysed on attitude toward mobile advertisi...

47 CFR 11.51 - EAS code and Attention Signal Transmission requirements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... interfere with other visual messages. (e) Analog class D non-commercial educational FM stations as defined in § 73.506 of this chapter, digital class D non-commercial educational FM stations, analog Low Power... Message (EOM) codes using the EAS Protocol. The Attention Signal must precede any emergency audio message...

[THE MALADAPTIVE BELIEFS OF PATIENTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN. A NARRATIVE REVIEW].

Science.gov (United States)

Demoulin, C; Roussel, N; Marty, M; Mathy, C; Genevay, S; Henrotin, Y; Tomasella, M; Mahieu, G; Vanderthommen, M

2016-01-01

to summarize the knowledge regarding the maladaptive beliefs of patients with non-specific low back pain. a narrative literature review on these beliefs was conducted by an international and multidisciplinary team of experts in the field. these beliefs, which can result in negative consequences on functioning and on patient prognosis, have various origins: family and friends, media, previous experience and/or health care professionals' messages. The latter, who have a considerable and enduring influence, have the potential to change and correct the patients' misbeliefs; however, they can also reinforce them in case of inappropriate messages and attitudes. Informing and educating the patient (by means of reassurance, explanations of the non-systematic association pain-injury, encouragement to get and stay physically active) are the basis of treatment. Taking into account the consequences of some words which may be misinterpreted, the results of imaging should be wisely discussed with the patient. Pain neurophysiology education and cognitive behavioral therapy (i.a., in vivo graded exposure techniques) are effective additional treatments. Misbeliefs are frequent in patient with low back pain. They do need to be looked for and corrected.

Analyzing repeated data collected by mobile phones and frequent text messages. An example of Low back pain measured weekly for 18 weeks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Axén Iben

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Repeated data collection is desirable when monitoring fluctuating conditions. Mobile phones can be used to gather such data from large groups of respondents by sending and receiving frequently repeated short questions and answers as text messages. The analysis of repeated data involves some challenges. Vital issues to consider are the within-subject correlation, the between measurement occasion correlation and the presence of missing values. The overall aim of this commentary is to describe different methods of analyzing repeated data. It is meant to give an overview for the clinical researcher in order for complex outcome measures to be interpreted in a clinically meaningful way. Methods A model data set was formed using data from two clinical studies, where patients with low back pain were followed with weekly text messages for 18 weeks. Different research questions and analytic approaches were illustrated and discussed, as well as the handling of missing data. In the applications the weekly outcome “number of days with pain” was analyzed in relation to the patients’ “previous duration of pain” (categorized as more or less than 30 days in the previous year. Research questions with appropriate analytical methods 1: How many days with pain do patients experience? This question was answered with data summaries. 2: What is the proportion of participants “recovered” at a specific time point? This question was answered using logistic regression analysis. 3: What is the time to recovery? This question was answered using survival analysis, illustrated in Kaplan-Meier curves, Proportional Hazard regression analyses and spline regression analyses. 4: How is the repeatedly measured data associated with baseline (predictor variables? This question was answered using generalized Estimating Equations, Poisson regression and Mixed linear models analyses. 5: Are there subgroups of patients with similar courses of pain

When message-frame fits salient cultural-frame, messages feel more persuasive

OpenAIRE

Uskul, Ayse K.; Oyserman, Daphna

2010-01-01

The present study examines the persuasive effects of tailored health messages comparing those tailored to match (versus not match) both chronic cultural frame and momentarily salient cultural frame. Evidence from two studies (Study 1: n = 72 European Americans; Study 2: n = 48 Asian Americans) supports the hypothesis that message persuasiveness increases when chronic cultural frame, health message tailoring and momentarily salient cultural frame all match. The hypothesis was tested using a me...

Statistics of Epidemics in Networks by Passing Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Shrestha, Munik Kumar

Epidemic processes are common out-of-equilibrium phenomena of broad interdisciplinary interest. In this thesis, we show how message-passing approach can be a helpful tool for simulating epidemic models in disordered medium like networks, and in particular for estimating the probability that a given node will become infectious at a particular time. The sort of dynamics we consider are stochastic, where randomness can arise from the stochastic events or from the randomness of network structures. As in belief propagation, variables or messages in message-passing approach are defined on the directed edges of a network. However, unlike belief propagation, where the posterior distributions are updated according to Bayes' rule, in message-passing approach we write differential equations for the messages over time. It takes correlations between neighboring nodes into account while preventing causal signals from backtracking to their immediate source, and thus avoids "echo chamber effects" where a pair of adjacent nodes each amplify the probability that the other is infectious. In our first results, we develop a message-passing approach to threshold models of behavior popular in sociology. These are models, first proposed by Granovetter, where individuals have to hear about a trend or behavior from some number of neighbors before adopting it themselves. In thermodynamic limit of large random networks, we provide an exact analytic scheme while calculating the time dependence of the probabilities and thus learning about the whole dynamics of bootstrap percolation, which is a simple model known in statistical physics for exhibiting discontinuous phase transition. As an application, we apply a similar model to financial networks, studying when bankruptcies spread due to the sudden devaluation of shared assets in overlapping portfolios. We predict that although diversification may be good for individual institutions, it can create dangerous systemic effects, and as a result

The effects of the calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate content in thermal mineral water on chronic low back pain: a randomized, controlled follow-up study

Science.gov (United States)

Gáti, Tamás; Tefner, Ildikó Katalin; Kovács, Lajos; Hodosi, Katalin; Bender, Tamás

2018-05-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of balneotherapy on chronic low back pain. This is a minimized, follow-up study evaluated according to the analysis of intention to treat. The subjects included in the study were 105 patients suffering from chronic low back pain. The control group ( n = 53) received the traditional musculoskeletal pain killer treatment, while the target group ( n = 52) attended thermal mineral water treatment for 3 weeks for 15 occasions on top of the usual musculoskeletal pain killer treatment. The following parameters were measured before, right after, and 9 weeks after the 3-week therapy: the level of low back pain in rest and the level during activity are tested using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS); specific questionnaire on the back pain (Oswestry); and a questionnaire on quality of life (EuroQual-5D). All of the investigated parameters improved significantly ( p low back pain.

The effects of the calcium-magnesium-bicarbonate content in thermal mineral water on chronic low back pain: a randomized, controlled follow-up study

Science.gov (United States)

Tamás, Gáti; Katalin, Tefner Ildikó; Lajos, Kovács; Katalin, Hodosi; Tamás, Bender

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of balneotherapy on chronic low back pain. This is a minimized, follow-up study evaluated according to the analysis of intention to treat. The subjects included in the study were 105 patients suffering from chronic low back pain. The control group (n = 53) received the traditional musculoskeletal pain killer treatment, while the target group (n = 52) attended thermal mineral water treatment for 3 weeks for 15 occasions on top of the usual musculoskeletal pain killer treatment. The following parameters were measured before, right after, and 9 weeks after the 3-week therapy: the level of low back pain in rest and the level during activity are tested using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS); specific questionnaire on the back pain (Oswestry); and a questionnaire on quality of life (EuroQual-5D). All of the investigated parameters improved significantly (p chronic low back pain.

Effectiveness of balneotherapy in chronic low back pain -- a randomized single-blind controlled follow-up study.

Science.gov (United States)

Balogh, Zoltán; Ordögh, József; Gász, Attila; Német, László; Bender, Tamás

2005-08-01

Balneotherapy, a domain of medical science, focuses on utilizing the beneficial effects of medicinal waters. Low back pain is among the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders affecting a large proportion of the population during their lifetime. Although small in number, all controlled studies published on this subject have demonstrated the benefits of balneotherapy. This present study was undertaken to compare the effects of hydrotherapy with mineral water vs. tap water on low back pain. A single-blind clinical study was carried out to appraise the therapeutic efficacy of reduced sulphurous water on 60 patients with low back pain. 30 subjects took baths in reduced sulphurous mineral water, whereas the other 30 patients used modified tap water of matching odor. Parameters determined at baseline, after balneo-/hydrotherapy, and at the end of the 3-month follow-up period included the results of the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score, the modified Oswestry index, mobility of the spine, antalgic posture, tenderness of the paravertebral muscles on palpation, the dose requirements for analgesics, and the efficacy assessed by the investigators and by the patients. Bathing in mineral water resulted in a statistically significant improvement. This was reflected by the VAS (p balneotherapy. By contrast, hydrotherapy with tap water resulted only in the temporary improvement of just a single parameter: the VAS score improved significantly (p Balneotherapy in itself can alleviate low back pain. As demonstrated by this study, the analgesic efficacy and improvement of mobility accomplished by the use of mineral water is significantly superior to that afforded by hydrotherapy with tap water. Our results clearly establish the beneficial effects of mineral water. Moreover, it is a valuable adjunct to other forms of physical treatment as well as to pharmacotherapy.

MessageSpace: a messaging system for health research

Science.gov (United States)

Escobar, Rodrigo D.; Akopian, David; Parra-Medina, Deborah; Esparza, Laura

2013-03-01

Mobile Health (mHealth) has emerged as a promising direction for delivery of healthcare services via mobile communication devices such as cell phones. Examples include texting-based interventions for chronic disease monitoring, diabetes management, control of hypertension, smoking cessation, monitoring medication adherence, appointment keeping and medical test result delivery; as well as improving patient-provider communication, health information communication, data collection and access to health records. While existing messaging systems very well support bulk messaging and some polling applications, they are not designed for data collection and processing of health research oriented studies. For that reason known studies based on text-messaging campaigns have been constrained in participant numbers. In order to empower healthcare promotion and education research, this paper presents a system dedicated for healthcare research. It is designed for convenient communication with various study groups, feedback collection and automated processing.

EMI Messaging Guidelines

CERN Document Server

Cons, L.

2011-01-01

Guidelines for potential users of messaging within EMI. The goal is to provide enough practical information so that EMI product teams can start investigating whether using messaging in their products can be beneficial or not.

Proximity-Based Asynchronous Messaging Platform for Location-Based Internet of Things Service

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyeong gon Jo

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The Internet of Things (IoT opens up tremendous opportunities to provide location-based applications. However, despite the services around a user being physically adjacent, common IoT platforms use a centralized structure, like a cloud-computing architecture, which transfers large amounts of data to a central server. This raises problems, such as traffic concentration, long service latency, and high communication cost. In this paper, we propose a physical distance-based asynchronous messaging platform that specializes in processing personalized data and location-based messages. The proposed system disperses traffic using a location-based message-delivery protocol, and has high stability.

Testing normative and self-appraisal feedback in an online slot-machine pop-up in a real-world setting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Mario Auer

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Over the last few years, there have been an increasing number of gaming operators that have incorporated on-screen pop-up messages while gamblers play on slot machines and/or online as one of a range of tools to help encourage responsible gambling. Coupled with this, there has also been an increase in empirical research into whether such pop-up messages are effective, particularly in laboratory settings. However, very few studies have been conducted on the utility of pop-up messages in real-world gambling settings. The present study investigated the effects of normative and self-appraisal feedback in a slot machine pop-up message compared to a simple (non-enhanced pop-up message. The study was conducted in a real-world gambling environment by comparing the behavioural tracking data of two representative random samples of 800,000 gambling sessions (i.e., 1.6 million sessions in total across two conditions (i.e., simple pop-up message versus an enhanced pop-up message. The results indicated that the additional normative and self-appraisal content doubled the number of gamblers who stopped playing after they received the enhanced pop-up message (1.39% compared to the simple pop-up message (0.67%. The data suggest that pop-up messages influence only a small number of gamblers to cease long playing sessions and that enhanced messages are slightly more effective in helping gamblers to stop playing in-session.

Uncertainty Analyses for Back Projection Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, H.; Wei, S.; Wu, W.

2017-12-01

So far few comprehensive error analyses for back projection methods have been conducted, although it is evident that high frequency seismic waves can be easily affected by earthquake depth, focal mechanisms and the Earth's 3D structures. Here we perform 1D and 3D synthetic tests for two back projection methods, MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) (Meng et al., 2011) and Compressive Sensing (CS) (Yao et al., 2011). We generate synthetics for both point sources and finite rupture sources with different depths, focal mechanisms, as well as 1D and 3D structures in the source region. The 3D synthetics are generated through a hybrid scheme of Direct Solution Method and Spectral Element Method. Then we back project the synthetic data using MUSIC and CS. The synthetic tests show that the depth phases can be back projected as artificial sources both in space and time. For instance, for a source depth of 10km, back projection gives a strong signal 8km away from the true source. Such bias increases with depth, e.g., the error of horizontal location could be larger than 20km for a depth of 40km. If the array is located around the nodal direction of direct P-waves the teleseismic P-waves are dominated by the depth phases. Therefore, back projections are actually imaging the reflection points of depth phases more than the rupture front. Besides depth phases, the strong and long lasted coda waves due to 3D effects near trench can lead to additional complexities tested here. The strength contrast of different frequency contents in the rupture models also produces some variations to the back projection results. In the synthetic tests, MUSIC and CS derive consistent results. While MUSIC is more computationally efficient, CS works better for sparse arrays. In summary, our analyses indicate that the impact of various factors mentioned above should be taken into consideration when interpreting back projection images, before we can use them to infer the earthquake rupture physics.

Contributions to the back-end software sub-system of the ATLAS data acquisition of event filter prototype -1 project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badescu, E.; Caprini, M.; Niculescu, M.; Radu, A.

1998-01-01

A project has been approved by the ATLAS Collaboration for the design and implementation of a Data Acquisition (DAQ) and Event Filter (EF) prototype, based on the functional architecture described in the ATLAS Technical Proposal. The prototype consists of a full 'vertical' slice of the ATLAS Data Acquisition and Event Filter architecture and can be seen as made of 4 sub-systems: the Detector Interface, the Dataflow, the Back-end DAQ and the Event Filter. The Bucharest group is member of DAQ/EF collaboration and during 1997 was involved in the Back-end activities. The back-end software encompasses the software for configuring, controlling and monitoring the DAQ but specifically excludes the management, processing or transportation of physics data. The user requirements gathered for the back-end sub-system have been divided into groups related to activities providing similar functionality. The groups have been further developed into components of the Back-end with a well defined purpose and boundaries. Each component offers some unique functionality and has its own architecture. The actual Back-end component model includes 5 core components (run control, configuration databases, message reporting system, process manager and information service) and 6 detector integration components (partition and resource manager, status display, run bookkeeper, event dump, test manager and diagnostic package). The Bucharest group participated to the high level design, implementation and testing of three components (information service, message reporting system and status display). The Information Service (IS) provides an information exchange facility for software components of the DAQ. Information (defined by the supplier) from many sources can be categorized and made available to requesting applications asynchronously or on demand. The design of the information service followed an object oriented approach. It is a multiple server configuration in which servers are dedicated to

Are low back pain and low physical capacity risk indicators for dropout among recently qualified eldercare workers? A follow-up study.

Science.gov (United States)

Faber, Anne; Giver, Hanne; Strøyer, Jesper; Hannerz, Harald

2010-12-01

A high job turnover and dropout among eldercare workers has led to a significant shortage of qualified manpower in the Danish eldercare sector. The predictive effect of some non-work-related causes for leaving the eldercare sector 2 years after qualification, physical capacity, duration, and severity of previous low back pain, was investigated. A 2-year prospective cohort study of all the Danish eldercare workers, who finished their education during 2004 (n = 6347). Questionnaire data from 2004 were followed up by register data on attachment to labour market, educational status, and association to trade from Statistics Denmark in 2006. Data on physical capacity, duration, and severity of low back pain the last 12 months among the female participants were analysed by multinomial logistic regression to estimate odds-ratios for being either in the eldercare sector, in other health- and welfare sectors, in all other sectors, under education, or outside labour market, 2 years after qualification. Disability due to and duration of low back pain were significant predictors for dropout from the eldercare sector 2 years after qualification. Low physical capacity was not. Data on duration of low back pain suggest a trend towards a dose-response relationship: The longer the duration of low back pain, the higher odds for dropout. Low back pain and disability due to low back pain during the last year of education were independent predictors for dropout from the eldercare sector 2 years after qualification. However, low self-rated physical capacity did not predict job dropout or turnover.

Aging and low back pain among exercise participants: a follow-up study with psychological adaptation factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilks, Scott E; Kadivar, Zahra; Guillory, Stephen A; Isaza, Jorge

2009-01-01

This study is a follow-up to a study previously published in this journal that reported the moderating function of exercise exertion amid the relationship between age and low back pain (LBP) among consistent exercise participants. The current study analyzed factors of psychological adaptation as potential mediators within the age--LBP relationship. Measures of psychological adaptation included psychological vulnerability, avoidant coping, resilient coping, and perceived resilience. The sample reported slightly moderate psychological vulnerability; a moderate extent of avoidant coping and resilient coping; and high resilience. Age inversely correlated with psychological vulnerability and avoidance coping. LBP correlated inversely with avoidant coping. Avoidant coping positively mediated (enhanced) age's effect on LBP. Results from this follow-up analysis highlight the importance of understanding and testing psychological factors in models with age and a physical health outcome.

Intradiscal electrothermal treatment for discogenic back pain: experimental investigation and preliminary clinical application

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fang Wen; Teng Gaojun; He Shicheng; Guo Jinhe; Deng Gang; Zhu Guangyu; Li Guozhao; Ding Huijuan; Shen Zhiping

2005-01-01

Objective: To assess the effectiveness and the safety of IDET for chronic discogenic low back pain. Methods: Standard intradiscal electrothermal treatment were performed in two adjacent disc levels (L3-4, L4-5) of two domestic pigs. MRI were available at pretreatment, posttreatment of 1,2 weeks, and then the two animals were killed respectively at 1,2 weeks after the procedure. The specimens were then undergone thin sectioned and subjected to humatoxylin and eosin staining for histological investigation. 23 patients (totally 29 discs, including L2-3 to L5-S1) with chronic symptoms underwent IDET for clinical study. VAS (Visual Analog Scale) pain scores were collected before the treatment, 1 week and 3 months after the procedure. One way ANOVA was used for statistical analysis. Results: 4 discs of standard IDET models have been set up in two pigs showing normal MRI T2W1 signal of nucleus pulposus immediately after the procedure, but the high signal extent of the central part of the nucleo pulposus shrinked with conspicuous peripheral low signal changes during the following 1-2 W. Degeneration and shrinkage of nucleo-pulposus with lecolized fibrous ring thickening were found pathologically but without damage to nurve roots and epidural sac. 29 discs in 23 patients were performed successfully, without complication. The follow-up evaluation of 1 week and 3 months after the treatment showing significant differences with those before the treatment on was scores 65.3% and 78.9% respectively (P<0.0001). Conclusions: IDET is safe and effective for chronic discogenic low back pain. (authors)

Collocated Dataglyphs for large-message storage and retrieval

Science.gov (United States)

Motwani, Rakhi C.; Breidenbach, Jeff A.; Black, John R.

2004-06-01

In contrast to the security and integrity of electronic files, printed documents are vulnerable to damage and forgery due to their physical nature. Researchers at Palo Alto Research Center utilize DataGlyph technology to render digital characteristics to printed documents, which provides them with the facility of tamper-proof authentication and damage resistance. This DataGlyph document is known as GlyphSeal. Limited DataGlyph carrying capacity per printed page restricted the application of this technology to a domain of graphically simple and small-sized single-paged documents. In this paper the authors design a protocol motivated by techniques from the networking domain and back-up strategies, which extends the GlyphSeal technology to larger-sized, graphically complex, multi-page documents. This protocol provides fragmentation, sequencing and data loss recovery. The Collocated DataGlyph Protocol renders large glyph messages onto multiple printed pages and recovers the glyph data from rescanned versions of the multi-page documents, even when pages are missing, reordered or damaged. The novelty of this protocol is the application of ideas from RAID to the domain of DataGlyphs. The current revision of this protocol is capable of generating at most 255 pages, if page recovery is desired and does not provide enough data density to store highly detailed images in a reasonable amount of page space.

Positive mood can increase or decrease message scrutiny: the hedonic contingency view of mood and message processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wegener, D T; Petty, R E; Smith, S M

1995-07-01

Currently dominant explanations of mood effects on persuasive message processing (i.e., cognitive capacity and feelings as information) predict that happy moods lead to less message scrutiny than neutral or sad moods. The hedonic contingency view (D. T. Wegener & R. E. Petty, 1994) predicts that happy moods can sometimes be associated with greater message processing activity because people in a happy mood are more attentive than neutral or sad people to the hedonic consequences of their actions. Consistent with this view, Experiment 1 finds that a happy mood can lead to greater message scrutiny than a neutral mood when the message is not mood threatening. Experiment 2 finds that a happy mood leads to greater message scrutiny than a sad mood when an uplifting message is encountered, but to less message scrutiny when a depressing message is encountered.

CDC MessageWorks: Designing and Validating a Social Marketing Tool to Craft and Defend Effective Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Galen E; Keller, Punam A; Reynolds, Jennifer; Schaur, Michelle; Krause, Diane

2016-03-01

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, in partnership with Oak Ridge Associated Universities, designed an online social marketing strategy tool, MessageWorks, to help health communicators effectively formulate messages aimed at changing health behaviors and evaluate message tactics and audience characteristics. MessageWorks is based on the advisor for risk communication model that identifies 10 variables that can be used to predict target audience intentions to comply with health recommendations. This article discusses the value of the MessageWorks tool to health communicators and to the field of social marketing by (1) describing the scientific evidence supporting use of MessageWorks to improve health communication practice and (2) summarizing how to use MessageWorks and interpret the results it produces.

Feasibility and Acceptability of a Text Messaging Program for Smoking Cessation in Israel.

Science.gov (United States)

Abroms, Lorien; Hershcovitz, Ronit; Boal, Ashley; Levine, Hagai

2015-08-01

Text messaging programs on mobile phones have been shown to promote smoking cessation. This study investigated whether a text-messaging program for smoking cessation, adapted from QuitNowTXT, is feasible in Israel and acceptable to Israeli smokers. Participants (N = 38) were given a baseline assessment, enrolled in the adapted text messaging program, and followed-up with at 2 weeks and 4 weeks after their quit date. The authors used an intent-to-treat analysis and found that 23.7% of participants reported having quit smoking at the 4-week follow-up. Participants sent an average of 12.9 text replies during the study period, and the majority reported reading most or all of the texts. However, 34.2% of participants had unsubscribed by the 4-week follow-up. Moderate levels of satisfaction were reported; more than half agreed that they would recommend the program. Suggestions for improvement included adding advice by an expert counselor, website support, and increased customization. Results indicate that a text messaging smoking cessation program developed by modifying the content of QuitNowTXT is feasible and could be acceptable to smokers in Israel. The experience adapting and pilot testing the program can serve as a model for using QuitNowTXT to develop and implement such programs in other countries.

An analysis of patient-provider secure messaging at two Veterans Health Administration medical centers: message content and resolution through secure messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimada, Stephanie L; Petrakis, Beth Ann; Rothendler, James A; Zirkle, Maryan; Zhao, Shibei; Feng, Hua; Fix, Gemmae M; Ozkaynak, Mustafa; Martin, Tracey; Johnson, Sharon A; Tulu, Bengisu; Gordon, Howard S; Simon, Steven R; Woods, Susan S

2017-09-01

We sought to understand how patients and primary care teams use secure messaging (SM) to communicate with one another by analyzing secure message threads from 2 Department of Veterans Affairs facilities. We coded 1000 threads of SM communication sampled from 40 primary care teams. Most threads (94.5%) were initiated by patients (90.4%) or caregivers (4.1%); only 5.5% were initiated by primary care team members proactively reaching out to patients. Medication renewals and refills (47.2%), scheduling requests (17.6%), medication issues (12.9%), and health issues (12.7%) were the most common patient-initiated requests, followed by referrals (7.0%), administrative issues (6.5%), test results (5.4%), test issues (5.2%), informing messages (4.9%), comments about the patient portal or SM (4.1%), appreciation (3.9%), self-reported data (2.8%), life issues (1.5%), and complaints (1.5%). Very few messages were clinically urgent (0.7%) or contained other potentially challenging content. Message threads were mostly short (2.7 messages), comprising an average of 1.35 discrete content types. A substantial proportion of issues (24.2%) did not show any evidence of being resolved through SM. Time to response and extent of resolution via SM varied by message content. Proactive SM use by teams varied, but was most often for test results (32.7%), medication-related issues (21.8%), medication renewals (16.4%), or scheduling issues (18.2%). The majority of messages were transactional and initiated by patients or caregivers. Not all content categories were fully addressed over SM. Further education and training for both patients and clinical teams could improve the quality and efficiency of SM communication. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association 2017. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the United States.

Applying a message oriented middleware architecture to the TJ-II remote participation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez, E.; Portas, A.; Pereira, A.; Vega, J.

2006-01-01

A message oriented middleware (MOM) has been introduced into the TJ-II data acquisition system to on-line distribute information. Java message service (JMS) has been chosen as the messaging application program interface (API) in order to ensure multiplatform portability. A library of C++ classes providing interface for JMS Java classes has been developed. This allows C++ programs to inter-communicate through JMS. In addition, a set of C wrapper functions has also been developed to provide basic messaging functionalities for C or FORTRAN programs. These functions are used in TJ-II LabView data acquisition applications. Several software applications that take advantage of the MOM architecture have been developed. Firstly, a general-user application allows monitoring of the data acquisition systems. Secondly, a simple application permits the visualization of TJ-II monitor signals with on-line data refreshing. These applications are written in the Java language, thereby ensuring its portability. These software tools provide new functionalities to the TJ-II remote participation system and are equally used in the local environment

Applying a message oriented middleware architecture to the TJ-II remote participation system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez, E. [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Avda Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain)]. E-mail: edi.sanchez@ciemat.es; Portas, A. [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Avda Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Pereira, A. [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Avda Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Vega, J. [Asociacion EURATOM/CIEMAT para Fusion, Avda Complutense 22, 28040 Madrid (Spain)

2006-07-15

A message oriented middleware (MOM) has been introduced into the TJ-II data acquisition system to on-line distribute information. Java message service (JMS) has been chosen as the messaging application program interface (API) in order to ensure multiplatform portability. A library of C++ classes providing interface for JMS Java classes has been developed. This allows C++ programs to inter-communicate through JMS. In addition, a set of C wrapper functions has also been developed to provide basic messaging functionalities for C or FORTRAN programs. These functions are used in TJ-II LabView data acquisition applications. Several software applications that take advantage of the MOM architecture have been developed. Firstly, a general-user application allows monitoring of the data acquisition systems. Secondly, a simple application permits the visualization of TJ-II monitor signals with on-line data refreshing. These applications are written in the Java language, thereby ensuring its portability. These software tools provide new functionalities to the TJ-II remote participation system and are equally used in the local environment.

Patient perceptions of text-messages, email, and video in dermatologic surgery patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkins, Spencer D; Barilla, Steven; Williford, Phillip Williford M; Feldman, Steven R; Pearce, Daniel J

2017-04-14

We developed dermatology patient education videos and a post-operative text message service that could be accessed universally via web based applications. A secondary outcome of the study was to assess patient opinions of text-messages, email, and video in the health care setting which is reported here. An investigator-blinded, randomized, controlled intervention was evaluated in 90 nonmelanoma MMS patients at Wake Forest Baptist Dermatology. Patients were randomized 1:1:1:1 for exposure to: 1) videos with text messages, 2) videos only, 3) text messages-only, or 4) standard of care. Assessment measures were obtained by the use of REDCap survey questions during the follow up visit. 1) 67% would like to receive an email with information about the procedure beforehand 2) 98% of patients reported they would like other doctors to use educational videos as a form of patient education 3) 88% of our patients think it is appropriate for physicians to communicate to patients via text message in certain situations. Nearly all patients desired physicians to use text-messages and video in their practice and the majority of patients preferred to receive an email with information about their procedure beforehand.

CDC MessageWorks: Designing and Validating a Social Marketing Tool to Craft and Defend Effective Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Galen E.; Keller, Punam A.; Reynolds, Jennifer; Schaur, Michelle; Krause, Diane

2016-01-01

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, in partnership with Oak Ridge Associated Universities, designed an online social marketing strategy tool, MessageWorks, to help health communicators effectively formulate messages aimed at changing health behaviors and evaluate message tactics and audience characteristics. MessageWorks is based on the advisor for risk communication model that identifies 10 variables that can be used to predict target audience intentions to comply with health recommendations. This article discusses the value of the MessageWorks tool to health communicators and to the field of social marketing by (1) describing the scientific evidence supporting use of MessageWorks to improve health communication practice and (2) summarizing how to use MessageWorks and interpret the results it produces. PMID:26877714

Multi-Modal Intelligent Traffic Signal Systems (MMITSS) Basic Safety Message

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — Data were collected during the Multi-Modal Intelligent Transportation Signal Systems (MMITSS) study. MMITSS is a next-generation traffic signal system that seeks to...

Evaluating user experiences of the secure messaging tool on the Veterans Affairs' patient portal system.

Science.gov (United States)

Haun, Jolie N; Lind, Jason D; Shimada, Stephanie L; Martin, Tracey L; Gosline, Robert M; Antinori, Nicole; Stewart, Max; Simon, Steven R

2014-03-06

The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has implemented an electronic asynchronous "Secure Messaging" tool within a Web-based patient portal (ie, My HealtheVet) to support patient-provider communication. This electronic resource promotes continuous and coordinated patient-centered care, but to date little research has evaluated patients' experiences and preferences for using Secure Messaging. The objectives of this mixed-methods study were to (1) characterize veterans' experiences using Secure Messaging in the My HealtheVet portal over a 3-month period, including system usability, (2) identify barriers to and facilitators of use, and (3) describe strategies to support veterans' use of Secure Messaging. We recruited 33 veterans who had access to and had previously used the portal's Secure Messaging tool. We used a combination of in-depth interviews, face-to-face user-testing, review of transmitted secure messages between veterans and staff, and telephone interviews three months following initial contact. We assessed participants' computer and health literacy during initial and follow-up interviews. We used a content-analysis approach to identify dominant themes in the qualitative data. We compared inferences from each of the data sources (interviews, user-testing, and message review) to identify convergent and divergent data trends. The majority of veterans (27/33, 82%) reported being satisfied with Secure Messaging at initial interview; satisfaction ratings increased to 97% (31/32, 1 missing) during follow-up interviews. Veterans noted Secure Messaging to be useful for communicating with their primary care team to manage health care needs (eg, health-related questions, test requests and results, medication refills and questions, managing appointments). Four domains emerged from interviews: (1) perceived benefits of using Secure Messaging, (2) barriers to using Secure Messaging, (3) facilitators for using Secure Messaging, and (4) suggestions for improving

Unintended messages in online advertising to youth: illicit drug imagery in a Canadian sports marketing campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Auger, Nathalie; Daniel, Mark; Knäuper, Bärbel; Dourian, Tara; Raynault, Marie-France

2015-04-01

We assessed the potential for harmful messages in online advertisements targeted to youth, using the example of the Canadian "Light It Up" marketing campaign from a large sports corporation. We undertook a cluster randomized controlled trial of 20 secondary school classes in Montreal, Canada. Classes were randomly allocated to view a "Light It Up" advertisement (n = 205) or a neutral comparison advertisement (n = 192). The main outcome measures were self-reports of illicit drug messages in the advertisements. Of the students, 22.9% reported that the "Light It Up" advertisement contained illicit drug messages compared with 1.0% for the comparison advertisement (relative risk, 22.0; 95% confidence interval, 6.5-74.9). Although meant to promote sports, youth in this study believed that the "Light It Up" advertisement was related to illicit drugs. The campaign illustrates how advertisements may inadvertently market unwanted behaviors to children. Copyright © 2015 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Role of Head Movements and Signal Spectrum in an Auditory Front/Back Illusion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W Owen Brimijoin

2012-04-01

Full Text Available We used a dynamic auditory spatial illusion to investigate the role of self-motion and acoustics in shaping our spatial percept of the environment. Using motion capture, we smoothly moved a sound source around listeners as a function of their own head movements. A lowpass filtered sound behind a listener that moved in the direction it would have moved if it had been located in the front was perceived as statically located in front. The contrariwise effect occurred if the sound was in front but moved as if it were behind. The illusion was strongest for sounds lowpass filtered at 500 Hz and weakened as a function of increasing lowpass cutoff frequency. The signals with the most high frequency energy were often associated with an unstable location percept that flickered from front to back as self-motion cues and spectral cues for location came into conflict with one another.

Help! A simple method for getting back-up help to the reference desk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenneth Furuta

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Using the "net send" command, native to Windows XP, librarians at the University of California, Riverside created a "help button" for the reference desk. The simple script file sends a message to librarians' workstations in their offices and logs the date and time of use. This paper describes that program.

Message framing in social networking sites.

Science.gov (United States)

Kao, Danny Tengti; Chuang, Shih-Chieh; Wang, Sui-Min; Zhang, Lei

2013-10-01

Online social networking sites represent significant new opportunities for Internet advertisers. However, results based on the real world cannot be generalized to all virtual worlds. In this research, the moderating effects of need for cognition (NFC) and knowledge were applied to examine the impact of message framing on attitudes toward social networking sites. A total of 216 undergraduates participated in the study. Results reveal that for social networking sites, while high-NFC individuals form more favorable attitudes toward negatively framed messages than positively framed messages, low-NFC individuals form more favorable attitudes toward positively framed messages than negatively framed messages. In addition, low-knowledge individuals demonstrate more favorable attitudes toward negatively framed messages than positively framed messages; however, the framing effect does not differentially affect the attitudes of high-knowledge individuals. Furthermore, the framing effect does not differentially affect the attitudes of high-NFC individuals with high knowledge. In contrast, low-NFC individuals with low knowledge hold more favorable attitudes toward positively framed messages than negatively framed messages.

Sensitivity improvement of a laser interferometer limited by inelastic back-scattering, employing dual readout

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meinders, Melanie; Schnabel, Roman

2015-01-01

Inelastic back-scattering of stray light is a long-standing and fundamental problem in high-sensitivity interferometric measurements and a potential limitation for advanced gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. The emerging parasitic interferences cannot be distinguished from a scientific signal via conventional single readout. In this work, we propose the subtraction of inelastic back-scatter signals by employing dual homodyne detection on the output light, and demonstrate it for a table-top Michelson interferometer. The additional readout contains solely parasitic signals and is used to model the scatter source. Subtraction of the scatter signal reduces the noise spectral density and thus improves the measurement sensitivity. Our scheme is qualitatively different from the previously demonstrated vetoing of scatter signals and opens a new path for improving the sensitivity of future GW detectors and other back-scatter limited devices. (paper)

Improving the Effectiveness of Fundraising Messages: The Impact of Charity Goal Attainment, Message Framing, and Evidence on Persuasion

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Enny; Kerkhof, Peter; Kuiper, Joyce

2008-01-01

This experimental study assessed the effectiveness of fundraising messages. Based on recent findings regarding the effects of message framing and evidence, effective fundraising messages should combine abstract, statistical information with a negative message frame and anecdotal evidence with a positive message frame. In addition, building on…

Starting Off on the Best Foot: A Review of Message Framing and Message Tailoring, and Recommendations for the Comprehensive Messaging Strategy for Sustained Behavior Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, J Paige; Pelletier, Luc; Guertin, Camille

2018-09-01

Health promotion programs represent a salient means through which physical activity promoters can cultivate positive health behavior change and maintenance. The messages communicated within these programs serve as an essential component as they are often used to convey valuable information, resources, or tools that facilitate health behavior initiation and sustained engagement. Identifying the most effective way to communicate health promotion information is, therefore, of considerable importance to ensuring that people not only attend to these messages, but also connect with and internalize the information conveyed within them. This paper was written to (1) summarize and evaluate the most prominent reviewed research approaches of message framing and tailoring to message design; and (2) offer a comprehensive messaging strategy to promote sustained health behavior change. A review of the literature demonstrated that a messaging strategy that has consistently led to healthy behavior change has yet to be identified. Furthermore, scholars have articulated that a multi-theoretical approach that places emphasis on facilitating motivation and healthy behavior change needs to be employed. Thus, this paper proposes and provides recommendations for employing the Comprehensive Messaging Strategy for Sustained Behavior Change (CMSSBC), which advocates tailoring messages to peoples' stage of change and framing them to focus on self-determined motives and intrinsic goals.

Evaluating User Experiences of the Secure Messaging Tool on the Veterans Affairs’ Patient Portal System

Science.gov (United States)

Lind, Jason D; Shimada, Stephanie L; Martin, Tracey L; Gosline, Robert M; Antinori, Nicole; Stewart, Max; Simon, Steven R

2014-01-01

Background The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has implemented an electronic asynchronous “Secure Messaging” tool within a Web-based patient portal (ie, My HealtheVet) to support patient-provider communication. This electronic resource promotes continuous and coordinated patient-centered care, but to date little research has evaluated patients’ experiences and preferences for using Secure Messaging. Objective The objectives of this mixed-methods study were to (1) characterize veterans’ experiences using Secure Messaging in the My HealtheVet portal over a 3-month period, including system usability, (2) identify barriers to and facilitators of use, and (3) describe strategies to support veterans’ use of Secure Messaging. Methods We recruited 33 veterans who had access to and had previously used the portal’s Secure Messaging tool. We used a combination of in-depth interviews, face-to-face user-testing, review of transmitted secure messages between veterans and staff, and telephone interviews three months following initial contact. We assessed participants’ computer and health literacy during initial and follow-up interviews. We used a content-analysis approach to identify dominant themes in the qualitative data. We compared inferences from each of the data sources (interviews, user-testing, and message review) to identify convergent and divergent data trends. Results The majority of veterans (27/33, 82%) reported being satisfied with Secure Messaging at initial interview; satisfaction ratings increased to 97% (31/32, 1 missing) during follow-up interviews. Veterans noted Secure Messaging to be useful for communicating with their primary care team to manage health care needs (eg, health-related questions, test requests and results, medication refills and questions, managing appointments). Four domains emerged from interviews: (1) perceived benefits of using Secure Messaging, (2) barriers to using Secure Messaging, (3) facilitators for using

DIAM device for low back pain in degenerative disc disease : 24 months follow-up.

Science.gov (United States)

Buric, Josip; Pulidori, Massimiliano; Sinan, Tariq; Mehraj, Sheikh

2011-01-01

To evaluate the usefulness of the DIAM device in patients affected by low back pain due to degenerative disc disease. Recently a number of interspinous devices for dynamic interspinous distraction-stabilization have entered the clinical practice in Europe. All of these devices have a common property of acting on the posterior part of the functional spinal unit by distracting the spinous processes and avoiding extension of the treated segment. Consequently, these systems seem to improve the cross-sectional area of the thecal sac and enlarge the diameter of the intervertebral foramina. What was found as a collateral observation after implantation of these devices was that those patients affected by low back pain, improved significantly in their pain level. Fifty-two consecutive patients were included in the study. There were 29 females and 23 males, aged between 29 and 77 years (mean 49.4 ± s.d. 12.4). The pre-operative symptom duration ranged from 6 to 84 months (mean 31.8 ± s.d. 20.2, median 24 months).The following diagnostic measures were performed in each patient: MRI, dynamic X-rays and provocative discography positive for pain reproduction.The patients were followed for pain by VAS and for functional status by self-reported Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire. The minimum follow-up was 24 months (24-36). The intermediate follow-up at 6, 12 and 18 months was tested for, too. To determine the number of improved patients we have arbitrarily selected a cut-off criteria based on a ≥30% of improvement as calculated on the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire scale comparing the 24 months values to the baseline values. Forty-six patients (88%) were considered as success and 2 (4%) were considered as failure. No long-term complications were observed. This preliminary report indicates that the DIAM device could possibly be useful in the treatment of LBP due to DDD. Further research with RCT is necessary to confirm these preliminary results.

Survey of Instant Messaging Applications Encryption Methods

OpenAIRE

Kabakuş, Abdullah; Kara, Resul

2015-01-01

Instant messaging applications has already taken the place of traditional Short Messaging Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) due to their popularity and usage easement they provide. Users of instant messaging applications are able to send both text and audio messages, different types of attachments such as photos, videos, contact information to their contacts in real time. Because of instant messaging applications use internet instead of Short Message Service Technical Reali...

Impact of Cultural Exposure and Message Framing on Oral Health Behavior: Exploring the Role of Message Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Brick, Cameron; McCully, Scout N; Updegraff, John A; Ehret, Phillip J; Areguin, Maira A; Sherman, David K

2016-10-01

Health messages are more effective when framed to be congruent with recipient characteristics, and health practitioners can strategically choose message features to promote adherence to recommended behaviors. We present exposure to US culture as a moderator of the impact of gain-frame versus loss-frame messages. Since US culture emphasizes individualism and approach orientation, greater cultural exposure was expected to predict improved patient choices and memory for gain-framed messages, whereas individuals with less exposure to US culture would show these advantages for loss-framed messages. 223 participants viewed a written oral health message in 1 of 3 randomized conditions-gain-frame, loss-frame, or no-message control-and were given 10 flosses. Cultural exposure was measured with the proportions of life spent and parents born in the US. At baseline and 1 week later, participants completed recall tests and reported recent flossing behavior. Message frame and cultural exposure interacted to predict improved patient decisions (increased flossing) and memory maintenance for the health message over 1 week; for example, those with low cultural exposure who saw a loss-frame message flossed more. Incongruent messages led to the same flossing rates as no message. Memory retention did not explain the effect of message congruency on flossing. Flossing behavior was self-reported. Cultural exposure may only have practical application in either highly individualistic or collectivistic countries. In health care settings where patients are urged to follow a behavior, asking basic demographic questions could allow medical practitioners to intentionally communicate in terms of gains or losses to improve patient decision making and treatment adherence. © The Author(s) 2015.

Predictive Validity of the STarT Back Tool for Risk of Persistent Disabling Back Pain in a U.S Primary Care Setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Suri, Pradeep; Delaney, Kristin; Rundell, Sean D; Cherkin, Daniel C

2018-04-03

To examine the predictive validity of the Subgrouping for Targeted Treatment (STarT Back) tool for classifying people with back pain into categories of low, medium, and high risk of persistent disabling back pain in U.S. primary care. Secondary analysis of data from participants receiving usual care in a randomized clinical trial. Primary care clinics. Adults (N = 1109) ≥18 years of age with back pain. Those with specific causes of back pain (pregnancy, disc herniation, vertebral fracture, spinal stenosis) and work-related injuries were not included. Not applicable. The original 9-item version of the STarT Back tool, administered at baseline, stratified patients by their risk (low, medium, high) of persistent disabling back pain (STarT Back risk group). Persistent disabling back pain was defined as Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire scores of ≥7 at 6-month follow-up. The STarT Back risk group was a significant predictor of persistent disabling back pain (PSTarT Back risk groups successfully separated people with back pain into distinct categories of risk for persistent disabling back pain at 6-month follow-up in U.S. primary care. These results were very similar to those in the original STarT Back validation study. This validation study is a necessary first step toward identifying whether the entire STarT Back approach, including matched/targeted treatment, can be effectively used for primary care in the United States. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Smoking Cessation Following Text Message Intervention in Pregnant Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Forinash, Alicia B; Yancey, Abigail; Chamness, Danielle; Koerner, Jamie; Inteso, Christina; Miller, Collin; Gross, Gilad; Mathews, Katherine

2018-06-01

Smoking during pregnancy has detrimental effects on mother and fetus. Text messaging has been utilized to improve patient care. To evaluate the impact of text messaging on smoking cessation rates among pregnant women in addition to standard of care (SOC) smoking cessation services. Our SOC includes pharmacist-driven education with or without nicotine patch or bupropion. This randomized, open-label, prospective trial was conducted at a maternal fetal care center from May 2014 to January 2016. Pregnant patients in the preparation stage of change were randomized to text messaging or SOC. The primary outcome was smoking cessation verified with exhaled carbon monoxide levels (eCO) 2 weeks from quit date. All received clinical pharmacist weekly calls for 3 weeks and biweekly visits until pharmacotherapy completion. The text messaging group also received predetermined motivational messages. Of 49 randomized patients, 13 withdrew, and 6 were lost to follow-up. The remaining included 14 texting and 16 SOC patients. eCO-verified cessation was achieved by 57.1% in the texting group versus 31.3% in the control ( P = 0.153). Overall, 64.3% of the texting group achieved an eCO below 8 ppm at ≥1 visit versus 37.5% in the control group ( P = 0.143). No difference was found in birth outcomes. The study was underpowered because of slow enrollment and high drop-out rates. Text messaging had minimal impact on improving smoking cessation rates in the obstetric population. However, further research is warranted because of the underpowered nature of this trial. Given the detrimental effects of smoking in pregnancy, more comprehensive cessation strategies are warranted.

Degree sequence in message transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Yamuna, M.

2017-11-01

Message encryption is always an issue in current communication scenario. Methods are being devised using various domains. Graphs satisfy numerous unique properties which can be used for message transfer. In this paper, I propose a message encryption method based on degree sequence of graphs.

Entity-based Classification of Twitter Messages

OpenAIRE

Yerva, Surender Reddy; Miklós, Zoltán; Aberer, Karl

2012-01-01

Twitter is a popular micro-blogging service on theWeb, where people can enter short messages, which then become visible to some other users of the service. While the topics of these messages varies, there are a lot of messages where the users express their opinions about some companies or their products. These messages are a rich source of information for companies for sentiment analysis or opinion mining. There is however a great obstacle for analyzing the messages directly: as the company n...

ERROR-CONTROL CODING OF ADS-B MESSAGES FOR IRIDIUM SATELLITES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Volodymyr Kharchenko

2013-12-01

Full Text Available For modelling of ADS-B messages transmitting on the base of low-orbit satellite constellation Іrіdіum the model of a communication channel “Aircraft - Satellite - Ground Station” was built using MATLAB Sіmulіnk. This model allowed to investigate dependences of the Bit Error Rate on a type of  signal coding/decoding, ratio Eb/N0 and satellite repeater gain

Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance.

Science.gov (United States)

Cauberghe, Verolien; De Pelsmacker, Patrick; Janssens, Wim; Dens, Nathalie

2009-03-01

In a sample of 170 youngsters, the effect of two versions of a public service announcement (PSA) threat appeal against speeding, placed in four different contexts, on evoked fear, perceived threat (severity and probability of occurrence), perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy, message involvement and anti-speeding attitude and anti-speeding intention is investigated. Evoked fear and perceived threat and efficacy independently influence message involvement. Message involvement is a full mediator between evoked fear, perceived threat and efficacy perception on the one hand, and attitudes towards the message and behavioral intention to accept the message on the other. Speeding experience has a significantly negative impact on anti-speeding attitudes. Message and medium context threat levels and context thematic congruency have a significant effect on evoked fear and to a lesser extent on perceived threat.

Getting the message across: age differences in the positive and negative framing of health care messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Shamaskin, Andrea M; Mikels, Joseph A; Reed, Andrew E

2010-09-01

Although valenced health care messages influence impressions, memory, and behavior (Levin, Schneider, & Gaeth, 1998) and the processing of valenced information changes with age (Carstensen & Mikels, 2005), these 2 lines of research have thus far been disconnected. This study examined impressions of, and memory for, positively and negatively framed health care messages that were presented in pamphlets to 25 older adults and 24 younger adults. Older adults relative to younger adults rated positive pamphlets more informative than negative pamphlets and remembered a higher proportion of positive to negative messages. However, older adults misremembered negative messages to be positive. These findings demonstrate the age-related positivity effect in health care messages with promise as to the persuasive nature and lingering effects of positive messages. (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

Use of NWSChat (Instant Messaging program) as a coordination tool during the 2009 Redoubt Eruptions

Science.gov (United States)

Osiensky, J. M.; Jones, D.

2009-12-01

The National Weather Service (NWS) based Instant Messaging service, NWSChat, is used for sharing critical warning decision expertise and other types of significant weather information between the NWS and partners in all levels of government, emergency managers, and the media. NWSChat allows multiple users to send messages to each other in forums known as “chat rooms.” NWSChat is used to enhance decision support during discussions related to high impact weather events, and improve outreach and real-time feed-back from partners. This information is exchanged with the media and emergency response community, who in turn play a key role in communicating the NWS’s hazardous weather messages to the public. NWSChat also provides media and emergency response partners with the ability to communicate significant event reports back to NWS operational personnel, who in turn utilize the information to make effective warning decisions. NWS partners can also use the Service as an efficient means of seeking clarifications and enhancements to the communication stream originating from the NWS. NWSChat will include a wide variety of types of information. Some of this information will include contents of official NWS products available through other NWS systems and thus available to the public. However, other NWSChat content may include preliminary data which has not been screened by NWS for accuracy or applicability; highly technical discussions, some of them speculative, regarding atmospheric or other environmental conditions; and other types of information not intended for a general audience. NWSChat participants are expected to avoid release of information to a broader audience that might be misinterpreted or cause confusion. NWSChat is an enhancement to communications between the NWS and its partners, and is not intended to replace official NWS products or official means of communications. In March 2009, the NWS stood up a Redoubt chatroom just prior to the first eruption

Manipulative Use of Short Messaging Service (SMS Text Messages by Nigerian Telecommunications Companies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayoola, Kehinde A.

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This paper is an application of Relevance Theory for the interpretation of short messaging service (SMS text messages emanating from Nigerian telecommunications companies to their subscribers. The aim of the research was to identify and describe the manipulative strategies employed by Nigerian telecommunications companies to induce subscribers to part with their money through sales promotion lotteries. 100 SMS texts were purposively extracted from the cell phones of randomly selected residents of Lagos Nigeria who had received promotional SMS text messages from three major Nigerian telecommunications companies. Using Sperber and Wilson's Relevance Theory (1995 as its theoretical framework, the paper described the manipulative use of SMS by Nigerian telecommunications companies. The analysis revealed that SMS text messages were encoded to achieve maximization of relevance through explicature and implicature; contextual implication and strengthening; and the reduction of processing effort through violating the maxim of truthfulness and the creative use of graphology. The paper concludes that SMS text-messages were used manipulatively by Nigerian telecommunications companies to earn indirect income from sales promotion lottery.

Improving the effectiveness of fundraising messages: The impact of charity goal attainment, message framing, and evidence on persuasion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Das, E.; Kerkhof, P.; Kuiper, J.

2008-01-01

This experimental study assessed the effectiveness of fundraising messages. Based on recent findings regarding the effects of message framing and evidence, effective fundraising messages should combine abstract, statistical information with a negative message frame and anecdotal evidence with a

Leveraging text messaging and mobile technology to support pediatric obesity-related behavior change: a qualitative study using parent focus groups and interviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharifi, Mona; Dryden, Eileen M; Horan, Christine M; Price, Sarah; Marshall, Richard; Hacker, Karen; Finkelstein, Jonathan A; Taveras, Elsie M

2013-12-06

Text messaging (short message service, SMS) is a widely accessible and potentially cost-effective medium for encouraging behavior change. Few studies have examined text messaging interventions to influence child health behaviors or explored parental perceptions of mobile technologies to support behavior change among children. Our aim was to examine parental acceptability and preferences for text messaging to support pediatric obesity-related behavior change. We conducted focus groups and follow-up interviews with parents of overweight and obese children, aged 6-12 years, seen for "well-child" care in eastern Massachusetts. A professional moderator used a semistructured discussion guide and sample text messages to catalyze group discussions. Seven participants then received 3 weeks of text messages before a follow-up one-on-one telephone interview. All focus groups and interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Using a framework analysis approach, we systematically coded and analyzed group and interview data to identify salient and convergent themes. We reached thematic saturation after five focus groups and seven follow-up interviews with a total of 31 parents of diverse race/ethnicity and education levels. Parents were generally enthusiastic about receiving text messages to support healthy behaviors for their children and preferred them to paper or email communication because they are brief and difficult to ignore. Participants anticipated high responsiveness to messaging endorsed by their child's doctor and indicated they would appreciate messages 2-3 times/week or more as long as content remains relevant. Suggestions for maintaining message relevance included providing specific strategies for implementation and personalizing information. Most felt the negative features of text messaging (eg, limited message size) could be overcome by providing links within messages to other media including email or websites. Text messaging is a promising medium for

Core component integration tests for the back-end software sub-system in the ATLAS data acquisition and event filter prototype -1 project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badescu, E.; Caprini, M.; Niculescu, M.; Radu, A.

2000-01-01

The ATLAS data acquisition (DAQ) and Event Filter (EF) prototype -1 project was intended to produce a prototype system for evaluating candidate technologies and architectures for the final ATLAS DAQ system on the LHC accelerator at CERN. Within the prototype project, the back-end sub-system encompasses the software for configuring, controlling and monitoring the DAQ. The back-end sub-system includes core components and detector integration components. The core components provide the basic functionality and had priority in terms of time-scale for development in order to have a baseline sub-system that can be used for integration with the data-flow sub-system and event filter. The following components are considered to be the core of the back-end sub-system: - Configuration databases, describe a large number of parameters of the DAQ system architecture, hardware and software components, running modes and status; - Message reporting system (MRS), allows all software components to report messages to other components in the distributed environment; - Information service (IS) allows the information exchange for software components; - Process manager (PMG), performs basic job control of software components (start, stop, monitoring the status); - Run control (RC), controls the data taking activities by coordinating the operations of the DAQ sub-systems, back-end software and external systems. Performance and scalability tests have been made for individual components. The back-end subsystem integration tests bring together all the core components and several trigger/DAQ/detector integration components to simulate the control and configuration of data taking sessions. For back-end integration tests a test plan was provided. The tests have been done using a shell script that goes through different phases as follows: - starting the back-end server processes to initialize communication services and PMG; - launching configuration specific processes via DAQ supervisor as

The impact of cultural exposure and message framing on oral health behavior: Exploring the role of message memory

Science.gov (United States)

Brick, Cameron; McCully, Scout N.; Updegraff, John A.; Ehret, Phillip J.; Areguin, Maira A.; Sherman, David K.

2015-01-01

Background Health messages are more effective when framed to be congruent with recipient characteristics, and health practitioners can strategically decide on message features to promote adherence to recommended behaviors. We present exposure to United States (U.S.) culture as a moderator of the impact of gain- vs. loss-frame messages. Since U.S. culture emphasizes individualism and approach orientation, greater cultural exposure was expected to predict improved patient choices and memory for gain-framed messages, whereas individuals with less exposure to U.S. culture would show these advantages for loss-framed messages. Methods 223 participants viewed a written oral health message in one of three randomized conditions: gain-frame, loss-frame, or no-message control, and were given ten flosses. Cultural exposure was measured with the proportions of life spent and parents born in the U.S. At baseline and one week later, participants completed recall tests and reported recent flossing behavior. Results Message frame and cultural exposure interacted to predict improved patient decisions (increased flossing) and memory maintenance for the health message over one week. E.g., those with low cultural exposure who saw a loss-frame message flossed more. Incongruent messages led to the same flossing rates as no message. Memory retention did not explain the effect of message congruency on flossing. Limitations Flossing behavior was self-reported. Cultural exposure may only have practical application in either highly individualistic or collectivistic countries. Conclusions In healthcare settings where patients are urged to follow a behavior, asking basic demographic questions could allow medical practitioners to intentionally communicate in terms of gains or losses to improve patient decision making and treatment adherence. PMID:25654986

Developing effective messages about potable recycled water: The importance of message structure and content

Science.gov (United States)

Price, J.; Fielding, K. S.; Gardner, J.; Leviston, Z.; Green, M.

2015-04-01

Community opposition is a barrier to potable recycled water schemes. Effective communication strategies about such schemes are needed. Drawing on social psychological literature, two experimental studies are presented, which explore messages that improve public perceptions of potable recycled water. The Elaboration-Likelihood Model of information processing and attitude change is tested and supported. Study 1 (N = 415) premeasured support for recycled water, and trust in government information at Time 1. Messages varied in complexity and sidedness were presented at Time 2 (3 weeks later), and support and trust were remeasured. Support increased after receiving information, provided that participants received complex rather than simple information. Trust in government was also higher after receiving information. There was tentative evidence of this in response to two-sided messages rather than one-sided messages. Initial attitudes to recycled water moderated responses to information. Those initially neutral or ambivalent responded differently to simple and one-sided messages, compared to participants with positive or negative attitudes. Study 2 (N = 957) tested the effectiveness of information about the low relative risks, and/or benefits of potable recycled water, compared to control groups. Messages about the low risks resulted in higher support when the issue of recycled water was relevant. Messages about benefits resulted in higher perceived issue relevance, but did not translate into greater support. The results highlight the importance of understanding people's motivation to process information, and need to tailor communication to match attitudes and stage of recycled water schemes' development.

Low Power LDPC Code Decoder Architecture Based on Intermediate Message Compression Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Shimizu, Kazunori; Togawa, Nozomu; Ikenaga, Takeshi; Goto, Satoshi

Reducing the power dissipation for LDPC code decoder is a major challenging task to apply it to the practical digital communication systems. In this paper, we propose a low power LDPC code decoder architecture based on an intermediate message-compression technique which features as follows: (i) An intermediate message compression technique enables the decoder to reduce the required memory capacity and write power dissipation. (ii) A clock gated shift register based intermediate message memory architecture enables the decoder to decompress the compressed messages in a single clock cycle while reducing the read power dissipation. The combination of the above two techniques enables the decoder to reduce the power dissipation while keeping the decoding throughput. The simulation results show that the proposed architecture improves the power efficiency up to 52% and 18% compared to that of the decoder based on the overlapped schedule and the rapid convergence schedule without the proposed techniques respectively.

Toward Predicting Popularity of Social Marketing Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Bei; Chen, Miao; Kwok, Linchi

Popularity of social marketing messages indicates the effectiveness of the corresponding marketing strategies. This research aims to discover the characteristics of social marketing messages that contribute to different level of popularity. Using messages posted by a sample of restaurants on Facebook as a case study, we measured the message popularity by the number of "likes" voted by fans, and examined the relationship between the message popularity and two properties of the messages: (1) content, and (2) media type. Combining a number of text mining and statistics methods, we have discovered some interesting patterns correlated to "more popular" and "less popular" social marketing messages. This work lays foundation for building computational models to predict the popularity of social marketing messages in the future.

The model of microblog message diffusion based on complex social network

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Wei; Bai, Shu-Ying; Jin, Rui

2014-05-01

Microblog is a micromessage communication network in which users are the nodes and the followship between users are the edges. Sina Weibo is a typical case of these microblog service websites. As the enormous scale of nodes and complex links in the network, we choose a sample network crawled in Sina Weibo as the base of empirical analysis. The study starts with the analysis of its topological features, and brings in epidemiological SEIR model to explore the mode of message spreading throughout the microblog network. It is found that the network is obvious small-world and scale-free, which made it succeed in transferring messages and failed in resisting negative influence. In addition, the paper focuses on the rich nodes as they constitute a typical feature of Sina Weibo. It is also found that whether the message starts with a rich node will not account for its final coverage. Actually, the rich nodes always play the role of pivotal intermediaries who speed up the spreading and make the message known by much more people.

Prevention: The Best Treatment for Back Pain

Science.gov (United States)

... your favorite weekend sports. A tight neck and hamstrings also put unneeded pressure on the back. Make ... and restriction during motion that could signal an injury or impaired function.” DOs use OMT to help ...

Type III Nrg1 back signaling enhances functional TRPV1 along sensory axons contributing to basal and inflammatory thermal pain sensation.

Science.gov (United States)

Canetta, Sarah E; Luca, Edlira; Pertot, Elyse; Role, Lorna W; Talmage, David A

2011-01-01

Type III Nrg1, a member of the Nrg1 family of signaling proteins, is expressed in sensory neurons, where it can signal in a bi-directional manner via interactions with the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases (ErbB RTKs). Type III Nrg1 signaling as a receptor (Type III Nrg1 back signaling) can acutely activate phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PtdIns3K) signaling, as well as regulate levels of α7* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, along sensory axons. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a cation-permeable ion channel found in primary sensory neurons that is necessary for the detection of thermal pain and for the development of thermal hypersensitivity to pain under inflammatory conditions. Cell surface expression of TRPV1 can be enhanced by activation of PtdIns3K, making it a potential target for regulation by Type III Nrg1. We now show that Type III Nrg1 signaling in sensory neurons affects functional axonal TRPV1 in a PtdIns3K-dependent manner. Furthermore, mice heterozygous for Type III Nrg1 have specific deficits in their ability to respond to noxious thermal stimuli and to develop capsaicin-induced thermal hypersensitivity to pain. Cumulatively, these results implicate Type III Nrg1 as a novel regulator of TRPV1 and a molecular mediator of nociceptive function.

Type III Nrg1 back signaling enhances functional TRPV1 along sensory axons contributing to basal and inflammatory thermal pain sensation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah E Canetta

Full Text Available Type III Nrg1, a member of the Nrg1 family of signaling proteins, is expressed in sensory neurons, where it can signal in a bi-directional manner via interactions with the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases (ErbB RTKs. Type III Nrg1 signaling as a receptor (Type III Nrg1 back signaling can acutely activate phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PtdIns3K signaling, as well as regulate levels of α7* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, along sensory axons. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1 is a cation-permeable ion channel found in primary sensory neurons that is necessary for the detection of thermal pain and for the development of thermal hypersensitivity to pain under inflammatory conditions. Cell surface expression of TRPV1 can be enhanced by activation of PtdIns3K, making it a potential target for regulation by Type III Nrg1. We now show that Type III Nrg1 signaling in sensory neurons affects functional axonal TRPV1 in a PtdIns3K-dependent manner. Furthermore, mice heterozygous for Type III Nrg1 have specific deficits in their ability to respond to noxious thermal stimuli and to develop capsaicin-induced thermal hypersensitivity to pain. Cumulatively, these results implicate Type III Nrg1 as a novel regulator of TRPV1 and a molecular mediator of nociceptive function.

Perceptions of adult trauma patients on the acceptability of text messaging as an aid to reduce harmful drinking behaviours

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Brief interventions (BIs) have been shown to be effective in modifying hazardous drinking behaviours in a range of settings. However, they are underutilised in hospitals due to resource constraints. We explored the perspectives of admitted trauma patients about the appeal, acceptability and content of a Brief Intervention (BI) delivered via text messages. Methods Thirty mobile phone users (≥16 years old) admitted to Auckland City Hospital as a result of injury were recruited (December 2010 – January 2011). Participants were interviewed face-to-face during their hospital stay using a semi-structured interview guide that explored topics including perceptions of the proposed intervention to reduce hazardous drinking and related harm, and perceived acceptability of an m-health program. Where issues relating to content of messages were raised by participants these were also captured. In addition, a brief survey captured information on demographic information, mobile phone usage and type of phone, along with the frequency of alcohol use. Results 22 of the 30 participants were male, and almost half were aged 20 to 39 years. The majority of participants identified as New Zealand Europeans, six as Māori (New Zealand's indigenous population) and of the remainder two each identified as Pacific and of Asian ethnicity. Most (28/30) participants used a mobile phone daily. 18 participants were deemed to be drinking in a non-hazardous manner, seven were hazardous drinkers, and three were non-drinkers. Most participants (21/30) indicated that text messages could be effective in reducing hazardous drinking and related harms, with more than half (17/30) signalling they would sign-up. Factors identified that would increase receptiveness included: awareness that the intervention was evidence-based; participants readiness-to-change; informative messages that include the consequences of drinking and practical advice; non-judgemental messages; and ease-of-use. Areas of

A Messaging Infrastructure for WLCG

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casey, James; Cons, Lionel; Lapka, Wojciech; Paladin, Massimo; Skaburskas, Konstantin

2011-01-01

During the EGEE-III project operational tools such as SAM, Nagios, Gridview, the regional Dashboard and GGUS moved to a communication architecture based on ActiveMQ, an open-source enterprise messaging solution. LHC experiments, in particular ATLAS, developed prototypes of systems using the same messaging infrastructure, validating the system for their use-cases. In this paper we describe the WLCG messaging use cases and outline an improved messaging architecture based on the experience gained during the EGEE-III period. We show how this provides a solid basis for many applications, including the grid middleware, to improve their resilience and reliability.

Disappearance of squeezed back-to-back correlations: a new signal of hadron freeze-out from a supercooled quark gluon plasma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Csoergo, T. [MTA KFKI RMKI, Budapest (Hungary)]. E-mail: csorgo@sunserv.kfki.hu; Padula, Sandra S. [UNESP, Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Inst. de Fisica Teorica]. E-mail: padula@oft.unesp.br

2007-09-15

We briefly discuss four different possible types of transitions from quark to hadronic matter and their characteristic signatures in terms of correlations. We also highlight the effects arising from mass modification of hadrons in hot and dense hadronic matter, as well as their quantum statistical consequences: the appearance of squeezed quantum states and the associated experimental signatures, i.e., the back-to-back correlations of particle-antiparticle pairs. We briefly review the theoretical results of these squeezed quanta, generated by in-medium modified masses, starting from the first indication of the existence of surprising particle-antiparticle correlations, and ending by considering the effects of chiral dynamics on these correlation patterns. Nevertheless, a prerequisite for such a signature is the experimental verification of its observability. Therefore, the experimental observation of back-to-back correlations in high energy heavy ion reactions would be a unique signature, proving the existence of in-medium mass modification of hadronic states. On the other hand, their disappearance at some threshold centrality or collision energy would indicate that the hadron formation mechanism would have qualitatively changed: asymptotic hadrons above such a threshold are not formed from medium modified hadrons anymore, but rather by new degrees of freedom characterizing the medium. Furthermore, the disappearance of the squeezed BBC could also serve as a signature of a sudden, non-equilibrium hadronization scenario from a supercooled quark-gluon plasma phase. (author)

Disappearance of squeezed back-to-back correlations: a new signal of hadron freeze-out from a supercooled quark gluon plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Csoergo, T.; Padula, Sandra S.

2007-01-01

We briefly discuss four different possible types of transitions from quark to hadronic matter and their characteristic signatures in terms of correlations. We also highlight the effects arising from mass modification of hadrons in hot and dense hadronic matter, as well as their quantum statistical consequences: the appearance of squeezed quantum states and the associated experimental signatures, i.e., the back-to-back correlations of particle-antiparticle pairs. We briefly review the theoretical results of these squeezed quanta, generated by in-medium modified masses, starting from the first indication of the existence of surprising particle-antiparticle correlations, and ending by considering the effects of chiral dynamics on these correlation patterns. Nevertheless, a prerequisite for such a signature is the experimental verification of its observability. Therefore, the experimental observation of back-to-back correlations in high energy heavy ion reactions would be a unique signature, proving the existence of in-medium mass modification of hadronic states. On the other hand, their disappearance at some threshold centrality or collision energy would indicate that the hadron formation mechanism would have qualitatively changed: asymptotic hadrons above such a threshold are not formed from medium modified hadrons anymore, but rather by new degrees of freedom characterizing the medium. Furthermore, the disappearance of the squeezed BBC could also serve as a signature of a sudden, non-equilibrium hadronization scenario from a supercooled quark-gluon plasma phase. (author)

Distributed parallel messaging for multiprocessor systems

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Dong; Heidelberger, Philip; Salapura, Valentina; Senger, Robert M; Steinmacher-Burrow, Burhard; Sugawara, Yutaka

2013-06-04

A method and apparatus for distributed parallel messaging in a parallel computing system. The apparatus includes, at each node of a multiprocessor network, multiple injection messaging engine units and reception messaging engine units, each implementing a DMA engine and each supporting both multiple packet injection into and multiple reception from a network, in parallel. The reception side of the messaging unit (MU) includes a switch interface enabling writing of data of a packet received from the network to the memory system. The transmission side of the messaging unit, includes switch interface for reading from the memory system when injecting packets into the network.

Performance and scalability of the back-end sub-system in the ATLAS DAQ/EF prototype

CERN Document Server

Alexandrov, I N; Badescu, E; Burckhart, Doris; Caprini, M; Cohen, L; Duval, P Y; Hart, R; Jones, R; Kazarov, A; Kolos, S; Kotov, V; Laugier, D; Mapelli, Livio P; Moneta, L; Qian, Z; Radu, A A; Ribeiro, C A; Roumiantsev, V; Ryabov, Yu; Schweiger, D; Soloviev, I V

2000-01-01

The DAQ group of the future ATLAS experiment has developed a prototype system based on the trigger/DAQ architecture described in the ATLAS Technical Proposal to support studies of the full system functionality, architecture as well as available hardware and software technologies. One sub-system of this prototype is the back- end which encompasses the software needed to configure, control and monitor the DAQ, but excludes the processing and transportation of physics data. The back-end consists of a number of components including run control, configuration databases and message reporting system. The software has been developed using standard, external software technologies such as OO databases and CORBA. It has been ported to several C++ compilers and operating systems including Solaris, Linux, WNT and LynxOS. This paper gives an overview of the back-end software, its performance, scalability and current status. (17 refs).

When communications collide with recipients' actions: effects of post-message behavior on intentions to follow the message recommendation.

Science.gov (United States)

Albarracín, Dolores; Cohen, Joel B; Kumkale, G Tarcan

2003-07-01

Two experiments investigated the processes through which post-message behavior (e.g., noncompliance) influences resistance to the message. Participants in Experiment 1 read preventive, consumer-education messages that either opposed the consumption of an alcohol-like product or recommended moderation. Half of the participants then tried the product, whereas the remaining participants performed a filler task. In the absence of trial, the two messages had the same effect. However, recipients of the abstinence-promoting preventive message who tried the product had stronger intentions to use the product in the future than recipients of the moderation message. This finding suggests that assessments of message impact may be inadequate unless an opportunity for trial is also provided. Results are interpreted in terms of self-perception and cognitive dissonance and contrasted from psychological reactance.

When Communications Collide With Recipients’ Actions: Effects of Post-Message Behavior on Intentions to Follow the Message Recommendation

Science.gov (United States)

Albarracín, Dolores; Cohen, Joel B.; Kumkale, G. Tarcan

2013-01-01

Two experiments investigated the processes through which post-message behavior (e.g., noncompliance) influences resistance to the message. Participants in Experiment 1 read preventive, consumer-education messages that either opposed the consumption of an alcohol-like product or recommended moderation. Half of the participants then tried the product, whereas the remaining participants performed a filler task. In the absence of trial, the two messages had the same effect. However, recipients of the abstinence-promoting preventive message who tried the product had stronger intentions to use the product in the future than recipients of the moderation message. This finding suggests that assessments of message impact may be inadequate unless an opportunity for trial is also provided. Results are interpreted in terms of self-perception and cognitive dissonance and contrasted from psychological reactance. PMID:15018672

System of message for gamma-radiation monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bolic, M.D.; Koturovic, A.M.

2001-01-01

Paper describes a system of voice messages for gamma-radiation monitor based on PC. The systems reproduces recorded messages that is simpler than the process of their synthesis. Message choice is based on combination of recorded digital results and/or received reference messages or warnings. The system of generation of voice messages applies the Windows based software. The total memory array required to create independent voice system is maximum 1.7 mbyte. The monitor may be used for continuous monitoring of radioactivity level with 5-8 s period of message repetition. Another option of the system operation is based on monitor application for the environment monitoring. Period of messages in this case is equal to 5-30 min [ru

Guidelines for designing messages in risk communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takashita, Hirofumi; Horikoshi, Hidehiko

2004-07-01

Risk Communication Study Team (hereafter called RC team) has designed messages for risk communication based on the analysis of the local residents' opinions which were expressed in several questionnaire surveys. The messages are described in a side format (Power Point format) every single content. This report provides basic guidelines for making messages that are used for risk communication, and does not include concrete messages which RC team designed. The RC team has already published the report entitled 'Information materials for risk communication' (JNC TN8450 2003-008) separately, and it gives the concrete messages. This report shows general cautions and checklists in designing messages, comments on the messages from outside risk communication experts, and opinions from local residents. (author)

TXT@WORK: pediatric hospitalists and text messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhlmann, Stephanie; Ahlers-Schmidt, Carolyn R; Steinberger, Erik

2014-07-01

Many studies assess provider-patient communication through text messaging; however, minimal research has addressed communication among physicians. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of text messaging by pediatric hospitalists. A brief, anonymous, electronic survey was distributed through the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Hospital Medicine Listserv in February 2012. Survey questions assessed work-related text messaging. Of the 106 pediatric hospitalist respondents, 97 met inclusion criteria. Most were female (73%) and had been in practice text messages, some (12%) more than 10 times per shift. More than half (53%) received work-related text messages when not at work. When asked to identify all potential work recipients, most often sent work-related text messages to other pediatric hospitalists (64%), fellows or resident physicians (37%), and subspecialists/consulting physicians (28%). When asked their preferred mode for brief communication, respondents' preferences varied. Many (46%) respondents worried privacy laws can be violated by sending/receiving text messages, and some (30%) reported having received protected health information (PHI) through text messages. However, only 11% reported their institution offered encryption software for text messaging. Physicians were using text messaging as a means of brief, work-related communication. Concerns arose regarding transfer of PHI using unsecure systems and work-life balance. Future research should examine accuracy and effectiveness of text message communication in the hospital, as well as patient privacy issues.

78 FR 52166 - Quantitative Messaging Research

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-22

... COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION Quantitative Messaging Research AGENCY: Commodity Futures... survey will follow qualitative message testing research (for which CFTC received fast-track OMB approval... message testing research (for which CFTC received fast-track OMB approval) and is necessary to identify...

Source Similarity and Social Media Health Messages: Extending Construal Level Theory to Message Sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Rachel

2015-09-01

Social media users post messages about health goals and behaviors to online social networks. Compared with more traditional sources of health communication such as physicians or health journalists, peer sources are likely to be perceived as more socially close or similar, which influences how messages are processed. This experimental study uses construal level theory of psychological distance to predict how mediated health messages from peers influence health-related cognition and behavioral intention. Participants were exposed to source cues that identified peer sources as being either highly attitudinally and demographically similar to or different from participants. As predicted by construal level theory, participants who perceived sources of social media health messages as highly similar listed a greater proportion of beliefs about the feasibility of health behaviors and a greater proportion of negative beliefs, while participants who perceived sources as more dissimilar listed a greater proportion of positive beliefs about the health behaviors. Results of the study could be useful in determining how health messages from peers could encourage individuals to set realistic health goals.

Effects of Text Messaging on Academic Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barks Amanda

2011-12-01

Full Text Available University students frequently send and receive cellular phone text messages during classroominstruction. Cognitive psychology research indicates that multi-tasking is frequently associatedwith performance cost. However, university students often have considerable experience withelectronic multi-tasking and may believe that they can devote necessary attention to a classroomlecture while sending and receiving text messages. In the current study, university students whoused text messaging were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 1. a group that sent andreceived text messages during a lecture or, 2. a group that did not engage in text messagingduring the lecture. Participants who engaged in text messaging demonstrated significantlypoorer performance on a test covering lecture content compared with the group that did notsend and receive text messages. Participants exhibiting higher levels of text messaging skill hadsignificantly lower test scores than participants who were less proficient at text messaging. It ishypothesized that in terms of retention of lecture material, more frequent task shifting by thosewith greater text messaging proficiency contributed to poorer performance. Overall, the findingsdo not support the view, held by many university students, that this form of multitasking has littleeffect on the acquisition of lecture content. Results provide empirical support for teachers andprofessors who ban text messaging in the classroom.

Improving Type Error Messages in OCaml

OpenAIRE

Charguéraud , Arthur

2015-01-01

International audience; Cryptic type error messages are a major obstacle to learning OCaml or other ML-based languages. In many cases, error messages cannot be interpreted without a sufficiently-precise model of the type inference algorithm. The problem of improving type error messages in ML has received quite a bit of attention over the past two decades, and many different strategies have been considered. The challenge is not only to produce error messages that are both sufficiently concise ...

CMLOG: A common message logging system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, J.; Akers, W.; Bickley, M.; Wu, D.; Watson, W. III

1997-01-01

The Common Message Logging (CMLOG) system is an object-oriented and distributed system that not only allows applications and systems to log data (messages) of any type into a centralized database but also lets applications view incoming messages in real-time or retrieve stored data from the database according to selection rules. It consists of a concurrent Unix server that handles incoming logging or searching messages, a Motif browser that can view incoming messages in real-time or display stored data in the database, a client daemon that buffers and sends logging messages to the server, and libraries that can be used by applications to send data to or retrieve data from the database via the server. This paper presents the design and implementation of the CMLOG system meanwhile it will also address the issue of integration of CMLOG into existing control systems. CMLOG into existing control systems

Engineered cell-cell communication via DNA messaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ortiz Monica E

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Evolution has selected for organisms that benefit from genetically encoded cell-cell communication. Engineers have begun to repurpose elements of natural communication systems to realize programmed pattern formation and coordinate other population-level behaviors. However, existing engineered systems rely on system-specific small molecules to send molecular messages among cells. Thus, the information transmission capacity of current engineered biological communication systems is physically limited by specific biomolecules that are capable of sending only a single message, typically “regulate transcription.” Results We have engineered a cell-cell communication platform using bacteriophage M13 gene products to autonomously package and deliver heterologous DNA messages of varying lengths and encoded functions. We demonstrate the decoupling of messages from a common communication channel via the autonomous transmission of various arbitrary genetic messages. Further, we increase the range of engineered DNA messaging across semisolid media by linking message transmission or receipt to active cellular chemotaxis. Conclusions We demonstrate decoupling of a communication channel from message transmission within engineered biological systems via the autonomous targeted transduction of user-specified heterologous DNA messages. We also demonstrate that bacteriophage M13 particle production and message transduction occurs among chemotactic bacteria. We use chemotaxis to improve the range of DNA messaging, increasing both transmission distance and communication bit rates relative to existing small molecule-based communication systems. We postulate that integration of different engineered cell-cell communication platforms will allow for more complex spatial programming of dynamic cellular consortia.

Hand hygiene posters: selling the message.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenner, E A; Jones, F; Fletcher, B C; Miller, L; Scott, G M

2005-02-01

This literature review was undertaken to determine the established theory and research that might be utilized to inform the construction of persuasive messages on hand hygiene posters. It discusses the principles of message framing and the use of fear appeals. Current theory suggests that the most effective messages for health promotion behaviours should be framed in terms of gains rather than losses for the individual. However, as clinical hand hygiene is largely for the benefit of others (i.e. patients), messages should also invoke a sense of personal responsibility and appeal to altruistic behaviour. The use of repeated minimal fear appeals have their place. Posters that simply convey training messages are not effective persuaders.

Work and back pain: a prospective study of psychological, social and mechanical predictors of back pain severity.

Science.gov (United States)

Christensen, J O; Knardahl, S

2012-07-01

Studies relating occupational psychological and social factors to back pain have traditionally investigated a small number of exposure factors. The current study explored longitudinally a comprehensive set of specific psychological/social and mechanical work factors as predictors of back pain severity (defined as the product of back pain intensity and duration). Employees from 28 organizations in Norway, representing a wide variety of occupations, were surveyed with a follow-up period of 2 years. Several designs were tested: (1) cross-sectional analyses at baseline and follow-up; (2) prospective analyses with baseline exposure; (3) prospective analyses with average exposure over time [(T1+T2)/2]; and (4) prospective analyses with measures of change in exposure from T1 to T2. A total of 2808 employees responded at both time points. Fourteen psychological/social and two mechanical exposures were measured. Odds ratios (ORs) were computed by ordinal logistic regressions. Several psychological/social factors predicted back pain severity. After adjustment for age, sex, skill level, back pain severity at T1 and other exposure factors estimated to be potential confounders, the most consistent predictors of back pain were the protective factors decision control [lowest OR 0.68; 99% confidence interval (CI): 0.49-0.95], empowering leadership (lowest OR 0.59; 99% CI: 0.38-0.91) and fair leadership (lowest OR 0.54; 99% CI: 0.34-0.87). Some of the most important predictors included in this study were factors that have previously received little attention in back pain research. This emphasizes the importance of extending the list of factors possibly contributing to back pain. © 2011 National Institute of Occupational Health, Norway European Journal of Pain © 2011 European Federation of International Association for the Study of Pain Chapters.

What's in a message? Delivering sexual health promotion to young people in Australia via text messaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hellard Margaret E

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Advances in communication technologies have dramatically changed how individuals access information and communicate. Recent studies have found that mobile phone text messages (SMS can be used successfully for short-term behaviour change. However there is no published information examining the acceptability, utility and efficacy of different characteristics of health promotion SMS. This paper presents the results of evaluation focus groups among participants who received twelve sexual health related SMS as part of a study examining the impact of text messaging for sexual health promotion to on young people in Victoria, Australia. Methods Eight gender-segregated focus groups were held with 21 males and 22 females in August 2008. Transcripts of audio recordings were analysed using thematic analysis. Data were coded under one or more themes. Results Text messages were viewed as an acceptable and 'personal' means of health promotion, with participants particularly valuing the informal language. There was a preference for messages that were positive, relevant and short and for messages to cover a variety of topics. Participants were more likely to remember and share messages that were funny, rhymed and/or tied into particular annual events. The message broadcasting, generally fortnightly on Friday afternoons, was viewed as appropriate. Participants said the messages provided new information, a reminder of existing information and reduced apprehension about testing for sexually transmitted infections. Conclusions Mobile phones, in particular SMS, offer health promoters an exciting opportunity to engage personally with a huge number of individuals for low cost. The key elements emerging from this evaluation, such as message style, language and broadcast schedule are directly relevant to future studies using SMS for health promotion, as well as for future health promotion interventions in other mediums that require short formats, such

The message development tool: a case for effective operationalization of messaging in social marketing practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Mattson, Marifran; Basu, Ambar

2010-07-01

That messages are essential, if not the most critical component of any communicative process, seems like an obvious claim. More so when the communication is about health--one of the most vital and elemental of human experiences (Babrow & Mattson, 2003). Any communication campaign that aims to change a target audience's health behaviors needs to centralize messages. Even though messaging strategies are an essential component of social marketing and are a widely used campaign model, health campaigns based on this framework have not always been able to effectively operationalize this key component, leading to cases where initiating and sustaining prescribed health behavior has been difficult (MacStravic, 2000). Based on an examination of the VERB campaign and an Australian breastfeeding promotion campaign, we propose a message development tool within the ambit of the social marketing framework that aims to extend the framework and ensure that the messaging component of the model is contextualized at the core of planning, implementation, and evaluation efforts.

Investigating the impact of viral message appeal and message credibility on consumer attitude toward brand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Majid Esmaeilpour

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background - Due to the rapid growth of the Internet and use of e-commerce in recent years, viral marketing has drawn the attention of manufacturing and service organizations. However, no research has been conducted to examine the impact of message appeal and message source credibility on consumers' attitude with mediating role of intellectual involvement of consumers and their risk taking level. Purpose - The aim of this study was to examine the impact of appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of consumers’ intellectual involvement and their risk taking level. Design/methodology/approach – The population of this study includes consumers of mobile phones (Samsung, Sony, Nokia, LG and iPhone in Bushehr city (Iran. As the population of the study is unlimited, 430 questionnaires were distributed using available sampling method, and 391 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Using structural equation modeling, data were analyzed through smart PLS software. Findings –The results show that the appeal and credibility of the message source have impact on consumer attitudes toward the brand. It was also found that intellectual involvement of consumers plays the mediating role in the relationship between message appeal and consumer attitudes toward brand. In the relationship between message source credibility and customer attitude towards the brand, the level of risk taking of people has no mediating role. Research limitations/implications – Data collection tool was questionnaire in this study, and questionnaire has some disadvantages that can affect the results. Additionally, this study was conducted in Bushehr city (Iran. Therefore, we should be cautious in generalizing the findings. Originality/value – In this study, the effect of message appeal and message source credibility on consumer attitude to brand was examined. The risk taking level of consumer and his involvement level were considered

Multimodal signalling in estrildid finches

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gomes, A. C. R.; Funghi, C.; Soma, M.

2017-01-01

Sexual traits (e.g. visual ornaments, acoustic signals, courtship behaviour) are often displayed together as multimodal signals. Some hypotheses predict joint evolution of different sexual signals (e.g. to increase the efficiency of communication) or that different signals trade off with each other...... (e.g. due to limited resources). Alternatively, multiple signals may evolve independently for different functions, or to communicate different information (multiple message hypothesis). We evaluated these hypotheses with a comparative study in the family Estrildidae, one of the largest songbird...... compromise, but generally courtship dance also evolved independently from other signals. Instead of correlated evolution, we found that song, dance and colour are each related to different socio-ecological traits. Song complexity evolved together with ecological generalism, song performance with investment...

Low back pain patterns over one year among 842 workers in the DPhacto study and predictors for chronicity based on repetitive measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lagersted-Olsen, Julie; Bay, Hans; Jørgensen, Marie Birk

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Low back pain (LBP) occurrence and intensity are considered to fluctuate over time, requiring frequent repetitive assessments to capture its true time pattern. Text messages makes frequent reporting of LBP feasible, which enables investigation of 1) the time pattern of LBP, and 2...

Flexible distribution systems through the application of multi back-to-back converters. Concept, implementation and experimental verification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Graaff, R A.A.

2010-05-26

The objective of the research project is to investigate the use of a multi back-to-back converter to support the transition to active distribution networks. The investigation must explicitly not focus on finding the optimal power electronics topology, but rather on defining the role that such a device can play in a power distribution system and on the proof of principle. The possible tasks of this device are to actively control power flow and to maintain power quality and stability, both during normal operation and during fault conditions in medium voltage networks with distributed generation. The combination of this versatile converter system and the control and protection systems that define its functionality are in this thesis denoted as the Intelligent Node (IN). Research questions are: (1) Which are the main benefits of multi back-to-back converter devices in distribution systems?; (2) How and under which conditions can these benefits be achieved? What controls should be adopted?; (3) Which are the specific aspects that distinguish the application of the multi back-to-back devices in distribution systems from similar applications in transmission systems?; (4) Can this be demonstrated on a laboratory-scale set-up?Chapter 2 Distribution systems The relevant aspects of distribution systems are discussed. This includes power quality considerations, redundancy aspects, and voltage control methods. Chapter 3 (FACTS in distribution systems) describes power flow control principles. Also an overview is given of the state-of-the-art of power electronic applications for power flow control in electrical power systems. Chapter 4 (Functional concept of the Intelligent Node) gives the proposed functional concept for the application of a multi back-to-back converter device as IN (Intelligent Node). The applications are developed on a functional level, with the device at a black-box level. To satisfy the resulting requirements several technology options are analyzed, ending

Super-virtual Interferometric Separation and Enhancement of Back-scattered Surface Waves

KAUST Repository

Guo, Bowen

2015-08-19

Back-scattered surface waves can be migrated to detect near-surface reflectors with steep dips. A robust surface-wave migration requires the prior separation of the back-scattered surface-wave events from the data. This separation is often difficult to implement because the back-scattered surface waves are masked by the incident surface waves. We mitigate this problem by using a super-virtual interferometric method to enhance and separate the back-scattered surface waves. The key idea is to calculate the virtual back-scattered surface waves by stacking the resulting virtual correlated and convolved traces associated with the incident and back-scattered waves. Stacking the virtual back-scattered surface waves improves their signal-to-noise ratio and separates the back-scattered surface-waves from the incident field. Both synthetic and field data results validate the robustness of this method.

Message exchange in the building industry

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vries, de B.; Somers, L.J.A.M.

1995-01-01

A process model is described for exchanging information in the building industry. In this model participants send and receive messages. On receipt of a message an activity is executed if all required information is available. Otherwise a message will be sent to another participant to obtain the

Recent computer attacks via Instant Messaging

CERN Multimedia

IT Department

2008-01-01

Be cautious of any unexpected messages containing web links even if they appear to come from known contacts. If you happen to click on such a link and if your permission is requested to run or install software, always decline it. Several computers at CERN have recently been broken into by attackers who have tricked users of Instant Messaging applications (e.g. MSN, Yahoo Messenger, etc.) into clicking on web links which appeared to come from known contacts. The links appeared to be photos from ‘friends’ and requested software to be installed. In practice, attacker software was installed and the messages did not come from real contacts. In the past such fake messages were mainly sent by email but now a wider range of applications are being targeted, including Instant Messaging. Cybercriminals are making growing use of fake messages to try to trick you into clicking on Web links which will help them to install malicious software on your computer. Anti-virus software cann...

Designing Skin Cancer Prevention Messages: Should We Emphasize Gains or Losses? Message Framing, Risk Type, and Prior Experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Moon J; Kang, Hannah

2018-05-01

To test whether message framing (ie, gain vs. loss) and risk type (ie, health vs appearance risk) in skin cancer prevention messages interact with one's prior experience. Two experiments with a 2 (message framing: gain vs loss) × 2 (risk type: health vs appearance risk) factorial design were conducted. The participants were given a URL to the experiment website via e-mail. On the first page of the website, the participants were told that they would be asked to evaluate a skin cancer print public service announcement (PSA): Online experiments. A total of 397 individuals participated (236 for experiment 1 and 161 for experiment 2). Apparatus: Four versions of the skin cancer print PSAs were developed. Four PSAs were identical except for the 2 manipulated components: message framing and risk type. Measures were adopted from Cho and Boster (message framing), Jones and Leary and Kiene et al. (risk type), De Vries, Mesters, van't Riet, Willems, and Reubsaet and Knight, Kirincich, Farmer, and Hood (prior experience), and Hammond, Fong, Zanna, Thrasher, and Borland and Hoffner and Ye (behavioral intent). General linear models were used to test hypotheses. Three-way interactions among message framing, risk type, and prior experience were found: When the intent of the message was to encourage sunscreen use, the effects of message framing and risk type were shown to be the exact opposite directions from when the intent was to discourage indoor/outdoor tanning. To discourage tanning among those with prior experience, messages emphasizing losses in terms of one's health will work better. For those with no prior experience, messages emphasizing potential appearance losses will work better for discouraging tanning while messages emphasizing gains like improving appearance will do a better job in encouraging sunscreen use.

Popular Mobilization Messaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Garrison

2017-04-01

Full Text Available This Research Paper examines the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit’s (PMU messaging on the organisation’s website and social media platforms through early January 2017 to develop a more nuanced understanding of the PMU’s outlook, both present and future. After providing an overview of the PMU’s media presence online, the paper discusses how the organisation promotes its core narrative: that it is a cross-confessional and patriotic force for the defence of all Iraqis against a brutal and evil IS. The paper then addresses the PMU’s use of messaging to refute the sectarian portrayal of the organisation in some quarters before turning to the way the PMU approaches regional and international states in its media. Finally, the paper summarises the PMU’s messaging strategy and discusses how this strategy implies a less threatening future for the organisation than is often anticipated.

A high-speed, multi-input serial-interfacing system for a computer with simultaneous back-up recording on magnetic tape

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andeweg, A.H.

1983-01-01

A system has been developed that interfaces nuclear-instrument data modules and a multichannel analyser into a computer. The interface converts 4-bit binary-coded decimal (BCD) data into 8-bit packed BCD data, and converts the parallel data into serial data. The data are transmitted up to a distance of 500m at a transfer rate of 153,6kbaud via an RS422 transmission link to a central computer system. One or more multichannel analyser systems can be connected to the system via a routine device. The routing device serves these analysers on a first-come-first-served mode. The data transmitted to the computer system are recorded simultaneously on a digital magnetic-tape drive to provide a back-up facility

Hooked on a feeling: Affective anti-smoking messages are more effective than cognitive messages at changing implicit evaluations of smoking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Colin Tucker Smith

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Because implicit evaluations are thought to underlie many aspects of behavior, researchers have started looking for ways to change them. We examine whether and when persuasive messages alter strongly-held implicit evaluations of smoking. In smokers, an affective anti-smoking message led to more negative implicit evaluations on four different implicit measures as compared to a cognitive anti-smoking message which seemed to backfire. Additional analyses suggested that the observed effects were mediated by the feelings and emotions raised by the messages. In non-smokers, both the affective and cognitive message engendered slightly more negative implicit evaluations. We conclude that persuasive messages change implicit evaluations in a way that depends on properties of the message and of the participant. Thus, our data open new avenues for research directed at tailoring persuasive messages to change implicit evaluations.

Hooked on a feeling: affective anti-smoking messages are more effective than cognitive messages at changing implicit evaluations of smoking.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Colin Tucker; De Houwer, Jan

2015-01-01

Because implicit evaluations are thought to underlie many aspects of behavior, researchers have started looking for ways to change them. We examine whether and when persuasive messages alter strongly held implicit evaluations of smoking. In smokers, an affective anti-smoking message led to more negative implicit evaluations on four different implicit measures as compared to a cognitive anti-smoking message which seemed to backfire. Additional analyses suggested that the observed effects were mediated by the feelings and emotions raised by the messages. In non-smokers, both the affective and cognitive message engendered slightly more negative implicit evaluations. We conclude that persuasive messages change implicit evaluations in a way that depends on properties of the message and of the participant. Thus, our data open new avenues for research directed at tailoring persuasive messages to change implicit evaluations.

A COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS ANALYSIS OF AIR FLOW THROUGH A TELECOM BACK-UP UNIT POWERED BY AN AIR-COOLED PROTON EXCHANGE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gao, Xin; Berning, Torsten; Kær, Søren Knudsen

2016-01-01

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC’s) are currently being commercialized for various applications ranging from automotive to stationary such as powering telecom back-up units. In PEMFC’s, oxygen from air is internally combined with hydrogen to form water and produce electricity and heat....... This product heat has to be effectively removed from the fuel cell, and while automotive fuel cells are usually liquid-cooled using a secondary coolant loop similar to the internal combustion engines, stationary fuel cell systems as they are used for telecom back-up applications often rely on excessive air fed...... to the fuel cell cathode to remove the heat. Thereby, the fuel cell system is much simpler and cheaper while the fuel cell performance is substantially lower compared to automotive fuel cells. This work presents a computational fluid dynamics analysis on the heat management of an air-cooled fuel cell powered...

Two-Way Social Media Messaging in Postoperative Cataract Surgical Patients: Prospective Interventional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanguansak, Thuss; Morley, Katharine E; Morley, Michael G; Thinkhamrop, Kavin; Thuanman, Jaruwan; Agarwal, Isha

2017-12-19

Social media offers a new way to provide education, reminders, and support for patients with a variety of health conditions. Most of these interventions use one-way, provider-patient communication. Incorporating social media tools to improve postoperative (postop) education and follow-up care has only been used in limited situations. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility and efficacy of two-way social media messaging to deliver reminders and educational information about postop care to cataract patients. A total of 98 patients undergoing their first eye cataract surgery were divided into two groups: a no message group receiving usual pre- and postop care and a message group receiving usual care plus messages in a mobile social media format with standardized content and timing. Each patient in the message group received nine messages about hand and face hygiene, medication and postop visit adherence, and links to patient education videos about postop care. Patients could respond to messages as desired. Main outcome measures included medication adherence, postop visit adherence, clinical outcomes, and patients' subjective assessments of two-way messaging. The number, types, content, and timing of responses by patients to messages were recorded. Medication adherence was better in the message group at postop day 7, with high adherence in 47 patients (96%, 47/49) versus 36 patients (73%, 36/49) in the no message group (P=.004), but no statistically significant differences in medication adherence between the groups were noted at preop and postop day 30. Visit adherence was higher at postop day 30 in the message group (100%, 49/49) versus the no message group (88%, 43/49; P=.03) but was 100% (49/49) in both groups at postop day 1 and 7. Final visual outcomes were similar between groups. A total of 441 standardized messages were sent to the message group. Out of 270 responses generated, 188 (70%) were simple acknowledgments or "thank you," and 82 (30

Development of a Personalized Bidirectional Text Messaging Tool for HIV Adherence Assessment and Intervention among Substance Abusers

Science.gov (United States)

Ingersoll, Karen; Dillingham, Rebecca; Reynolds, George; Hettema, Jennifer; Freeman, Jason; Hosseinbor, Sharzad; Winstead-Derlega, Chris

2013-01-01

We describe the development of a two-way text messaging intervention tool for substance users who are non-adherent with HIV medications, and examine message flow data for feasibility and acceptability. The assessment and intervention tool, TxText, is fully automated, sending participants mood, substance use, and medication adherence queries by text message. Participants respond, the tool recognizes the category of response, and sends the personalized intervention message that participants designed in return. In 10 months, the tool sent 16,547 messages (half initial, half follow-up) to 31 participants assigned to the TxText condition, who sent 6711 messages in response to the initial messages. Response rates to substance use (n=2370), medication (n=2918) and mood (n=4639) queries were 67%, 69%, and 64%, respectively. Responses indicating medication adherence, abstinence from substances, and good moods were more common than negative responses. The TxText tool can send messages daily over a 3 month period, receive responses, and decode them to deliver personalized affirming or intervention messages. While we await the outcomes of a pilot randomized trial, the process analysis shows that TxText is acceptable and feasible for substance abusers with HIV, and may serve as a complement to HIV medical care. PMID:24029625

Teens and Mobile Phones: Text Messaging Explodes as Teens Embrace It as the Centerpiece of Their Communication Strategies with Friends

Science.gov (United States)

Lenhart, Amanda; Ling, Rich; Campbell, Scott; Purcell, Kristen

2010-01-01

Daily text messaging among American teens has shot up in the past 18 months, from 38% of teens texting friends daily in February of 2008 to 54% of teens texting daily in September 2009. And it's not just frequency--teens are sending enormous quantities of text messages a day. Half of teens send 50 or more text messages a day, or 1,500 texts a…

A secure transmission scheme of streaming media based on the encrypted control message

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bing; Jin, Zhigang; Shu, Yantai; Yu, Li

2007-09-01

As the use of streaming media applications increased dramatically in recent years, streaming media security becomes an important presumption, protecting the privacy. This paper proposes a new encryption scheme in view of characteristics of streaming media and the disadvantage of the living method: encrypt the control message in the streaming media with the high security lever and permute and confuse the data which is non control message according to the corresponding control message. Here the so-called control message refers to the key data of the streaming media, including the streaming media header and the header of the video frame, and the seed key. We encrypt the control message using the public key encryption algorithm which can provide high security lever, such as RSA. At the same time we make use of the seed key to generate key stream, from which the permutation list P responding to GOP (group of picture) is derived. The plain text of the non-control message XORs the key stream and gets the middle cipher text. And then obtained one is permutated according to P. In contrast the decryption process is the inverse process of the above. We have set up a testbed for the above scheme and found our scheme is six to eight times faster than the conventional method. It can be applied not only between PCs but also between handheld devices.

Nonblocking and orphan free message logging protocols

Science.gov (United States)

Alvisi, Lorenzo; Hoppe, Bruce; Marzullo, Keith

1992-12-01

Currently existing message logging protocols demonstrate a classic pessimistic vs. optimistic tradeoff. We show that the optimistic-pessimistic tradeoff is not inherent to the problem of message logging. We construct a message-logging protocol that has the positive features of both optimistic and pessimistic protocol: our protocol prevents orphans and allows simple failure recovery; however, it requires no blocking in failure-free runs. Furthermore, this protocol does not introduce any additional message overhead as compared to one implemented for a system in which messages may be lost but processes do not crash.

The religious message in action - a case study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

René Gothóni

1975-01-01

Full Text Available We understand a religious message to be the product of a religious movement. In studying such a message, it is very much to the purpose to place it in the context in which it operates. The cultural and social context of a religious message is some religious movement. Hence, the message should be examined against that framework. Each message has a certain structure, and its detection is of prime importance. Messages are not only part of the tradition, but themselves unique in their respective communicative situations. Thus, in our view, structural analysis does not have analytical use-value unless the message's symbols are set into their communicative context. The aim of this paper is dual: On the one hand, we intend to analyze and clarify the structure of a religious message of the Laestadian movement, how the message operates, also how the members of that movement respond to the codes of the message, and what kind of functions it fulfills; on the other, to develop and test an analytical model which would combine structural and interactional analysis.

Mitigating artifacts in back-projection source imaging with implications for frequency-dependent properties of the Tohoku-Oki earthquake

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Lingsen; Ampuero, Jean-Paul; Luo, Yingdi; Wu, Wenbo; Ni, Sidao

2012-12-01

Comparing teleseismic array back-projection source images of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake with results from static and kinematic finite source inversions has revealed little overlap between the regions of high- and low-frequency slip. Motivated by this interesting observation, back-projection studies extended to intermediate frequencies, down to about 0.1 Hz, have suggested that a progressive transition of rupture properties as a function of frequency is observable. Here, by adapting the concept of array response function to non-stationary signals, we demonstrate that the "swimming artifact", a systematic drift resulting from signal non-stationarity, induces significant bias on beamforming back-projection at low frequencies. We introduce a "reference window strategy" into the multitaper-MUSIC back-projection technique and significantly mitigate the "swimming artifact" at high frequencies (1 s to 4 s). At lower frequencies, this modification yields notable, but significantly smaller, artifacts than time-domain stacking. We perform extensive synthetic tests that include a 3D regional velocity model for Japan. We analyze the recordings of the Tohoku-Oki earthquake at the USArray and at the European array at periods from 1 s to 16 s. The migration of the source location as a function of period, regardless of the back-projection methods, has characteristics that are consistent with the expected effect of the "swimming artifact". In particular, the apparent up-dip migration as a function of frequency obtained with the USArray can be explained by the "swimming artifact". This indicates that the most substantial frequency-dependence of the Tohoku-Oki earthquake source occurs at periods longer than 16 s. Thus, low-frequency back-projection needs to be further tested and validated in order to contribute to the characterization of frequency-dependent rupture properties.

Message Scheduling and Forwarding in Congested DTNs

KAUST Repository

Elwhishi, Ahmed; Ho, Pin-Han; Shihada, Basem

2012-01-01

Multi-copy utility-based routing has been considered as one of the most applicable approaches to effective message delivery in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs). By allowing multiple message replicas launched, the ratio of message delivery or delay can be significantly reduced compared with other counterparts. Such an advantage, nonetheless, is at the expense of taking more buffer space at each node and higher complexity in message forwarding decisions. This paper investigates an efficient message scheduling and dropping policy via analytical modeling approach, aiming to achieve optimal performance in terms of message delivery delay. Extensive simulation results, based on a synthetic mobility model and real mobility traces, show that the proposed scheduling framework can achieve superb performance against its counterparts in terms of delivery delay.

Message Scheduling and Forwarding in Congested DTNs

KAUST Repository

Elwhishi, Ahmed

2012-08-19

Multi-copy utility-based routing has been considered as one of the most applicable approaches to effective message delivery in Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs). By allowing multiple message replicas launched, the ratio of message delivery or delay can be significantly reduced compared with other counterparts. Such an advantage, nonetheless, is at the expense of taking more buffer space at each node and higher complexity in message forwarding decisions. This paper investigates an efficient message scheduling and dropping policy via analytical modeling approach, aiming to achieve optimal performance in terms of message delivery delay. Extensive simulation results, based on a synthetic mobility model and real mobility traces, show that the proposed scheduling framework can achieve superb performance against its counterparts in terms of delivery delay.

Effects of tailoring ingredients in auditory persuasive health messages on fruit and vegetable intake.

Science.gov (United States)

Elbert, Sarah P; Dijkstra, Arie; Rozema, Andrea D

2017-07-01

Health messages can be tailored by applying different tailoring ingredients, among which personalisation, feedback and adaptation. This experiment investigated the separate effects of these tailoring ingredients on behaviour in auditory health persuasion. Furthermore, the moderating effect of self-efficacy was assessed. The between-participants design consisted of four conditions. A generic health message served as a control condition; personalisation was applied using the recipient's first name, feedback was given on the personal state, or the message was adapted to the recipient's value. The study consisted of a pre-test questionnaire (measuring fruit and vegetable intake and perceived difficulty of performing these behaviours, indicating self-efficacy), exposure to the auditory message and a follow-up questionnaire measuring fruit and vegetable intake two weeks after message exposure (n = 112). ANCOVAs showed no main effect of condition on either fruit or vegetable intake, but a moderation was found on vegetable intake: When self-efficacy was low, vegetable intake was higher after listening to the personalisation message. No significant differences between the conditions were found when self-efficacy was high. Individuals with low self-efficacy seemed to benefit from incorporating personalisation, but only regarding vegetable consumption. This finding warrants further investigation in tailoring research.

Does perceived risk influence the effects of message framing? Revisiting the link between prospect theory and message framing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Riet, J.P. van 't; Cox, A.D.; Cox, D.; Zimet, G.D.; Bruijn, G.J. de; Putte, B. van den; Vries, H. de; Werrij, M.Q.; Ruiter, R.A.C.

2016-01-01

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the beneficial consequences of healthy behaviour (gain-framed messages) or the detrimental consequences of unhealthy behaviour (loss-framed messages). An influential notion holds that the perceived risk associated with the recommended behaviour

The Message Reporting System of the ATLAS DAQ System

CERN Document Server

Caprini, M; Kolos, S; 10th ICATPP Conference on Astroparticle, Particle, Space Physics, Detectors and Medical Physics Applications

2008-01-01

The Message Reporting System (MRS) in the ATLAS data acquisition system (DAQ) is one package of the Online Software which acts as a glue of various elements of DAQ, High Level Trigger (HLT) and Detector Control System (DCS). The aim of the MRS is to provide a facility which allows all software components in ATLAS to report messages to other components of the distributed DAQ system. The processes requiring a MRS are on one hand applications that report error conditions or information and on the other hand message processors that receive reported messages. A message reporting application can inject one or more messages into the MRS at any time. An application wishing to receive messages can subscribe to a message group according to defined criteria. The application receives messages that fulfill the subscription criteria when they are reported to MRS. The receiver message processing can consist of anything from simply logging the messages in a file/terminal to performing message analysis. The inter-process comm...

Visions of Students Today: A Message from the Editors

Science.gov (United States)

Wentzell, G. W.; Richlin, L.; Cox. M. D.

2012-01-01

In Michael Wesch's (2007) now widely seen video "A Vision of Students Today" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o), a camera pans across a large, traditional classroom where college students hold up messages about themselves as members of the current generation of learners, who have been dubbed Millennials (Howe & Strauss, 2000). The video…

Fear, anger, fruits, and veggies: interactive effects of emotion and message framing on health behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerend, Mary A; Maner, Jon K

2011-07-01

Message framing is a theoretically grounded health communication strategy designed to motivate action by emphasizing either the benefits of engaging in a particular behavior (gains) or the costs of failing to engage in the behavior (losses). This study investigated whether the effectiveness of a framed message depends on the emotional state of the message recipient. We examined effects of fear versus anger, emotions that frequently occur within the context of health decision-making. Undergraduate students (N = 133) were randomly assigned to complete a fear or anger induction task after which they read a gain- or loss-framed pamphlet promoting fruit and vegetable consumption. Fruit and vegetable intake (servings per day) subsequently was assessed over the following 2 weeks. As predicted, a significant frame by emotion interaction was observed, such that participants in the fear condition reported eating more servings of fruits and vegetables after exposure to a loss-framed message than to a gain-framed message. In contrast, participants in the anger condition reported eating (marginally) more servings of fruits and vegetables after exposure to a gain-framed message than to a loss-framed message. Greater increases in fruit and vegetable intake from baseline to follow-up were observed when the message frame was matched to the participant's emotional state. The effectiveness of framed health communications depends on the message recipient's current emotional state. Affective factors that are incidental to the behavior recommended in a health communication can affect the relative success of gain- and loss-framed appeals.

Hand hygiene posters: motivators or mixed messages?

Science.gov (United States)

Jenner, E A; Jones, F; Fletcher, B C; Miller, L; Scott, G M

2005-07-01

Poster campaigns regarding hand hygiene are commonly used by infection control teams to improve practice, yet little is known of the extent to which they are based on established theory or research. This study reports on the content analysis of hand hygiene posters (N=69) and their messages (N=75) using message-framing theory. The results showed that posters seldom drew on knowledge about effective ways to frame messages. Frequently, they simply conveyed information 'telling' rather than 'selling' and some of this was confusing. Most posters were not designed to motivate, and some conveyed mixed messages. Few used fear appeals. Hand hygiene posters could have a greater impact if principles of message framing were utilized in their design. Suggestions for gain-framed messages are offered, but these need to be tested empirically.

Preventing messaging queue deadlocks in a DMA environment

Science.gov (United States)

Blocksome, Michael A; Chen, Dong; Gooding, Thomas; Heidelberger, Philip; Parker, Jeff

2014-01-14

Embodiments of the invention may be used to manage message queues in a parallel computing environment to prevent message queue deadlock. A direct memory access controller of a compute node may determine when a messaging queue is full. In response, the DMA may generate and interrupt. An interrupt handler may stop the DMA and swap all descriptors from the full messaging queue into a larger queue (or enlarge the original queue). The interrupt handler then restarts the DMA. Alternatively, the interrupt handler stops the DMA, allocates a memory block to hold queue data, and then moves descriptors from the full messaging queue into the allocated memory block. The interrupt handler then restarts the DMA. During a normal messaging advance cycle, a messaging manager attempts to inject the descriptors in the memory block into other messaging queues until the descriptors have all been processed.

SMS Messaging Applications

CERN Document Server

Pero, Nicola

2009-01-01

Cell phones are the most common communication device on the planet, and Short Message Service (SMS) is the chief channel for companies to offer services, accept requests, report news, and download binary files over cell phones. This guide describes the protocols and best practices (things that ensure you won't get sued or lose your right to offer a service) you need to know to make SMS messaging part of an organizational service. Issues such as character sets, differences among vendors, common practices in Europe and North America, and API choices are covered.

Squeezed fermions and back-to-back correlations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panda, P.K.; Krein, G.; Padula, S.S.; Csoergoe, T.; Hama, Y.

2001-01-01

Back-to-back correlations of asymptotic fermion pairs appear if in-medium interactions lead to mass modifications of fermion states in a thermalized medium. The back-to-back correlations of protons and anti-protons will be experimentally observable in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions. The strength of back-to-back correlations of fermions can be unlimitedly large, diverging as the momentum of the pair increases and the net baryon density decreases. (author)

Squeezed fermions and back-to-back correlations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Panda, P.K.; Krein, G.; Padula, S.S. [Instituto de Fisica Teorica (IFT), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Csoergoe, T. [Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest (Hungary). Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics (RMKI, KFKI); Hama, Y. [Sao Paulo Univ., SP (Brazil). Inst. de Fisica

2001-07-01

Back-to-back correlations of asymptotic fermion pairs appear if in-medium interactions lead to mass modifications of fermion states in a thermalized medium. The back-to-back correlations of protons and anti-protons will be experimentally observable in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions. The strength of back-to-back correlations of fermions can be unlimitedly large, diverging as the momentum of the pair increases and the net baryon density decreases. (author)

Testing the effects of a message framing intervention on intentions towards hearing loss prevention in adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

de Bruijn, Gert-Jan; Spaans, Pieter; Jansen, Bastiaan; van't Riet, Jonathan

2016-04-01

Adolescent hearing loss is a public health problem that has eluded effective intervention. A persuasive message strategy was tested for its effectiveness on adolescents' intention to listen to music at a reduced volume. The messages manipulated both type of message frame [positive consequences of listening to music at a reduced volume (gain-framed) versus negative consequences of not listening to music at a reduced volume (loss-framed)] and type of temporal context (short-term versus long-term consequences). Participants were recruited from four vocational and secondary education schools in the Netherlands and message exposure took place online during class hours. Two weeks prior to message exposure, adolescents provided data on intention and risk perception towards hearing loss and use of (digital) music players. After message exposure, 194 adolescents (mean age = 14.71 years, SD = 1.00, 37.8% males) provided immediate follow-up data on intention. Results revealed that intention to listen to music at a reduced volume increased in those exposed to a loss-framed message with short-term consequences. No changes were found in the other conditions. Messages that emphasize negative short-term consequences of not listening to music at a moderate volume have the ability to influence adolescents' intention towards hearing loss prevention. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

AMS: Area Message Service for SLC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crane, M.; Mackenzie, R.; Millsom, D.; Zelazny, M.

1993-04-01

The Area Message Service (AMS) is a TCP/IP based messaging service currently in use at SLAC. A number of projects under development here at SLAC require and application level interface to the 4.3BSD UNIX socket level communications functions using TCP/IP over ethernet. AMS provides connection management, solicited message transfer, unsolicited message transfer, and asynchronous notification of pending messages. AMS is written completely in ANSI 'C' and is currently portable over three hardware/operating system/network manager platforms, VAX/VMS/Multinet, PC/MS-DOS/Pathworks, VME 68K/pSOS/pNA. The basic architecture is a client-server connection where either end of the interface may be the server. This allows for connections and data flow to be initiated from either end of the interface. Included in the paper are details concerning the connection management, the handling of the multi-platform code, and the implementation process

Signaling of noncomprehension in communication breakdowns in fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, and autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Gary E; Barstein, Jamie; Hornickel, Jane; Matherly, Sara; Durante, Genna; Losh, Molly

The ability to indicate a failure to understand a message is a critical pragmatic (social) language skill for managing communication breakdowns and supporting successful communicative exchanges. The current study examined the ability to signal noncomprehension across different types of confusing message conditions in children and adolescents with fragile X syndrome (FXS), Down syndrome (DS), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and typical development (TD). Controlling for nonverbal mental age and receptive vocabulary skills, youth with comorbid FXS and ASD and those with DS were less likely than TD controls to signal noncomprehension of confusing messages. Youth with FXS without ASD and those with idiopathic ASD did not differ from controls. No sex differences were detected in any group. Findings contribute to current knowledge of pragmatic profiles in different forms of genetically-based neurodevelopmental disorders associated with intellectual disability, and the role of sex in the expression of such profiles. Upon completion of this article, readers will have learned about: (1) the social-communicative profiles of youth with FXS, DS, and ASD, (2) the importance of signaling noncomprehension in response to a confusing message, and (3) the similarities and differences in noncomprehension signaling in youth with FXS (with and without ASD), DS, idiopathic ASD, and TD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A randomized trial of maternal influenza immunization decision-making: A test of persuasive messaging models.

Science.gov (United States)

Frew, Paula M; Kriss, Jennifer L; Chamberlain, Allison T; Malik, Fauzia; Chung, Yunmi; Cortés, Marielysse; Omer, Saad B

2016-08-02

We sought to examine the effectiveness of persuasive communication interventions on influenza vaccination uptake among black/African American pregnant women in Atlanta, Georgia. We recruited black/African American pregnant women ages 18 to 50 y from Atlanta, GA to participate in a prospective, randomized controlled trial of influenza immunization messaging conducted from January to April 2013. Eligible participants were randomized to 3 study arms. We conducted follow-up questionnaires on influenza immunization at 30-days post-partum with all groups. Chi-square and t tests evaluated group differences, and outcome intention-to-treat assessment utilized log-binomial regression models. Of the 106 enrolled, 95 women completed the study (90% retention), of which 31 were randomly assigned to affective messaging intervention ("Pregnant Pause" video), 30 to cognitive messaging intervention ("Vaccines for a Healthy Pregnancy" video), and 34 to a comparison condition (receipt of the Influenza Vaccine Information Statement). The three groups were balanced on baseline demographic characteristics and reported health behaviors. At baseline, most women (63%, n = 60) reported no receipt of seasonal influenza immunization during the previous 5 y. They expressed a low likelihood (2.1 ± 2.8 on 0-10 scale) of obtaining influenza immunization during their current pregnancy. At 30-days postpartum follow-up, influenza immunization was low among all participants (7-13%) demonstrating no effect after a single exposure to either affective messaging (RR = 1.10; 95% CI: 0.30-4.01) or cognitive messaging interventions (RR = 0.57; 95% CI: 0.11-2.88). Women cited various reasons for not obtaining maternal influenza immunizations. These included concern about vaccine harm (47%, n = 40), low perceived influenza infection risk (31%, n = 26), and a history of immunization nonreceipt (24%, n = 20). The findings reflect the limitations associated with a single exposure to varying maternal influenza

Assessing the National Cancer Institute's SmokefreeMOM Text-Messaging Program for Pregnant Smokers: Pilot Randomized Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Abroms, Lorien C; Chiang, Shawn; Macherelli, Laura; Leavitt, Leah; Montgomery, Margaret

2017-10-03

Automated text messages on mobile phones have been found to be effective for smoking cessation in adult smokers. This study aims to test the acceptability and feasibility of SmokefreeMOM, a national smoking cessation text-messaging program for pregnant smokers. Participants were recruited from prenatal care and randomized to receive SmokefreeMOM (n=55), an automated smoking cessation text-messaging program, or a control text message quitline referral (n=44). Participants were surveyed by phone at baseline and at 1 month and 3 months after enrollment. Results indicate that the SmokefreeMOM program was highly rated overall and rated more favorably than the control condition in its helpfulness at 3-month follow-up (Pmessaging at both 1-month and 3-month follow-ups (Pmessages, and few participants unsubscribed from the program. There were no significant differences between groups on the use of extra treatment resources or on smoking-related outcomes. However, at the 3-month follow-up, some outcomes favored the intervention group. SmokefreeMOM is acceptable for pregnant smokers. It is recommended that SmokefreeMOM be further refined and evaluated. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02412956; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02412956 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6tcmeRnbC). ©Lorien C Abroms, Shawn Chiang, Laura Macherelli, Leah Leavitt, Margaret Montgomery. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 03.10.2017.

The influence of message framing, intention to quit smoking, and nicotine dependence on the persuasiveness of smoking cessation messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Moorman, Marjolein; van den Putte, Bas

2008-10-01

This study explores the combined effect of message framing, intention to quit smoking, and nicotine dependence on the persuasiveness of smoking cessation messages. Pre- and post-message measures of quit intention, attitude toward smoking cessation, and perceived behavioral control were taken in two separate waves from current cigarette smokers with varying levels of nicotine dependence (N=151). In the second wave, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. In the first group, participants read a smoking cessation message which emphasized the benefits of quitting (positive frame). In the second group participants read a message which emphasized the costs of not quitting (negative frame). Results show that smokers' intentions to quit smoking and their level of nicotine dependence jointly influence the persuasiveness of positive and negative message frames. When nicotine dependence and quitting intention are both high, a negative frame works best. Conversely, a positive frame is preferable when nicotine dependence or quitting intention is low. Smokers' level of processing is proposed as the underlying mechanism explaining the different effects of message frames.

Improved Message Authentication and Confidentiality Checking

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ismail Jabiullah, M.; Abdullah Al-Shamim, M.; Lutfar Rahman, M.

2005-01-01

The most confusing areas of the secured network communications are the message authentication and confidentiality checking. The attacks and the counter measures have become so convoluted that the users in this area begin to account for all contingencies. Two session-key generation techniques are used here to generate two separate session keys K 1 and K 2 ; and both the sender and the reveiver share these keys for higher degree of authentication and confidentiality. For this, the message is first encrypted by the key K 1 , and then the intermediary message authenticatin code (MAC) is generated by encrypting the encrypted message using the key K 2 . Then, the encrypted message and the intermediary MAC is again encrypted by using the K 2 and concatenated with the encrypted message and sent to the destination. At the receiving end, first, the received ciphertext is encrypted by using key K 2 and compared to the received MAC. The received ciphertext again is decrypted by the key K 2 and compared with the first decrypted MAC twice by the key K 2 . The plaintext is obtained by decrypting the received ciphertext first by K 2 and then by K 1 , using the corresponding decryption techniques respectively. The encryption techniques with key K 2 provides the authentication and with key K 1 provides the confidentiality checking of the transmitted message. The developed technique can be applied to both academic and commercial applications in online or offline electronic transactions for security.(authors)

A one-way text messaging intervention for obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Ahleum; Choi, Jaekyung

2016-04-01

Worldwide, there has been a startling increase in the number of people who are obese or overweight. Obesity increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and overall mortality. Mobile phone messaging is an important means of human communication globally. Because the mobile phone can be used anywhere at any time, mobile phone messaging has the potential to manage obesity. We investigated the effectiveness of a one-way text messaging intervention for obesity. Participants' body mass index and waist circumference were measured at the beginning of the programme and again after 12 weeks. The text message group received text messages about exercise, dietary intake, and general information about obesity three times a week, while the control group did not receive any text messages from the study. Of the 80 participants, 25 subjects in the text message group and 29 participants in the control group completed the study. After adjusting for baseline body mass index, the body mass index was significantly lower in the text message group than in the control group (27.9 vs. 28.3; p = 0.02). After adjusting for the baseline waist circumference, the difference of waist circumference between the text message group and control group was not significant (93.4 vs. 94.6; p = 0.13). The one-way text messaging intervention was a simple and effective way to manage obesity. The one-way text messaging intervention may be a useful method for lifestyle modification in obese subjects. © The Author(s) 2015.

Persuasive messages. Development of persuasive messages may help increase mothers' compliance of their children's immunization schedule.

Science.gov (United States)

Gore, P; Madhavan, S; Curry, D; McClurg, G; Castiglia, M; Rosenbluth, S A; Smego, R A

1998-01-01

Effective immunization campaigns can be designed by determining which persuasion strategy is most effective in attracting the attention of mothers of preschoolers. The authors assess the impact of three persuasional strategies: fear-arousal, motherhood-arousal, and rational messages, on mothers of preschoolers who are late for their immunizations. The fear-arousal message was found to be most effective, followed by the motherhood-arousal, and then the rational message, in attracting mothers' attention to their child's immunization status.

Empowerment in the process of health messaging for rural low-income mothers: an exploratory message design project.

Science.gov (United States)

Aldoory, Linda; Braun, Bonnie; Maring, Elisabeth Fost; Duggal, Mili; Briones, Rowena Lynn

2015-01-01

Rural, low-income mothers face challenges to their health equal to or greater than those of low-income mothers from urban areas. This study put health message design into the hands of low-income rural mothers. The current study filled a research gap by analyzing a participatory process used to design health messages tailored to the everyday lives of rural low-income mothers. A total of forty-three mothers participated in nine focus groups, which were held from 2012 to 2013, in eight states. The mothers were from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Participants discussed food security, physical activity, and oral health information. They created messages by considering several elements: visuals, length of message, voice/perspective, self-efficacy and personal control, emotional appeals, positive and negative reinforcements, and steps to health behavior change. This study was innovative in its focus on empowerment as a key process to health message design.

Covert Channels in SIP for VoIP Signalling

Science.gov (United States)

Mazurczyk, Wojciech; Szczypiorski, Krzysztof

In this paper, we evaluate available steganographic techniques for SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) that can be used for creating covert channels during signaling phase of VoIP (Voice over IP) call. Apart from characterizing existing steganographic methods we provide new insights by introducing new techniques. We also estimate amount of data that can be transferred in signalling messages for typical IP telephony call.

Mobile Messaging Services-Based Personal Electrocardiogram Monitoring System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashraf A. Tahat

2009-01-01

Full Text Available A mobile monitoring system utilizing Bluetooth and mobile messaging services (MMS/SMSs with low-cost hardware equipment is proposed. A proof of concept prototype has been developed and implemented to enable transmission of an Electrocardiogram (ECG signal and body temperature of a patient, which can be expanded to include other vital signs. Communication between a mobile smart-phone and the ECG and temperature acquisition apparatus is implemented using the popular personal area network standard specification Bluetooth. When utilizing MMS for transmission, the mobile phone plots the received ECG signal and displays the temperature using special application software running on the client mobile phone itself, where the plot can be captured and saved as an image before transmission. Alternatively, SMS can be selected as a transmission means, where in this scenario, dedicated application software is required at the receiving device. The experimental setup can be operated for monitoring from anywhere in the globe covered by a cellular network that offers data services.

Mobile messaging services-based personal electrocardiogram monitoring system.

Science.gov (United States)

Tahat, Ashraf A

2009-01-01

A mobile monitoring system utilizing Bluetooth and mobile messaging services (MMS/SMSs) with low-cost hardware equipment is proposed. A proof of concept prototype has been developed and implemented to enable transmission of an Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal and body temperature of a patient, which can be expanded to include other vital signs. Communication between a mobile smart-phone and the ECG and temperature acquisition apparatus is implemented using the popular personal area network standard specification Bluetooth. When utilizing MMS for transmission, the mobile phone plots the received ECG signal and displays the temperature using special application software running on the client mobile phone itself, where the plot can be captured and saved as an image before transmission. Alternatively, SMS can be selected as a transmission means, where in this scenario, dedicated application software is required at the receiving device. The experimental setup can be operated for monitoring from anywhere in the globe covered by a cellular network that offers data services.

Navigating Earthquake Physics with High-Resolution Array Back-Projection

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Lingsen

Understanding earthquake source dynamics is a fundamental goal of geophysics. Progress toward this goal has been slow due to the gap between state-of-art earthquake simulations and the limited source imaging techniques based on conventional low-frequency finite fault inversions. Seismic array processing is an alternative source imaging technique that employs the higher frequency content of the earthquakes and provides finer detail of the source process with few prior assumptions. While the back-projection provides key observations of previous large earthquakes, the standard beamforming back-projection suffers from low resolution and severe artifacts. This thesis introduces the MUSIC technique, a high-resolution array processing method that aims to narrow the gap between the seismic observations and earthquake simulations. The MUSIC is a high-resolution method taking advantage of the higher order signal statistics. The method has not been widely used in seismology yet because of the nonstationary and incoherent nature of the seismic signal. We adapt MUSIC to transient seismic signal by incorporating the Multitaper cross-spectrum estimates. We also adopt a "reference window" strategy that mitigates the "swimming artifact," a systematic drift effect in back projection. The improved MUSIC back projections allow the imaging of recent large earthquakes in finer details which give rise to new perspectives on dynamic simulations. In the 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake, we observe frequency-dependent rupture behaviors which relate to the material variation along the dip of the subduction interface. In the 2012 off-Sumatra earthquake, we image the complicated ruptures involving orthogonal fault system and an usual branching direction. This result along with our complementary dynamic simulations probes the pressure-insensitive strength of the deep oceanic lithosphere. In another example, back projection is applied to the 2010 M7 Haiti earthquake recorded at regional distance. The

Crafting a Real-Time Information Aggregator for Mobile Messaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jenq-Shiou Leu

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Mobile messaging is evolving beyond SMS (Short Message Service text messaging with the introduction of MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service. In the past, such a scheme is used for peer-to-peer communication. Messages are generally displayed on a cellular phone with a limited-sized screen. However, such a visualizing process is not suitable to broadcast real-time SMS/MMS messages to people in public. To facilitate the instancy and publicity, we develop a real-time information aggregator—Visualizing SMS and MMS Messages System (VSMMS—to realize the concept by integrating SMS and MMS messaging over GSM/GPRS/UMTS onto a remote display device. The device exhibits messages on a larger display device in public. VSMMS features a revolutionized variation of mass media broadcasting. In this paper, we practically illustrate how to design and implement VSMMS and use a M/M/1 model to conduct a theoretical analysis about the message delay in the system queue. Meanwhile, we make an empirical performance evaluation about the message transmission time over different networks.

Persuasiveness of Statistics and Patients’ and Mothers’ Narratives in Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Recommendation Messages: A Randomized Controlled Study in Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tsuyoshi Okuhara

2018-04-01

Full Text Available BackgroundThe human papillomavirus (HPV vaccination percentage among age-eligible girls in Japan is only in the single digits. This signals the need for effective vaccine communication tactics. This study aimed to examine the influence of statistical data and narrative HPV vaccination recommendation massages on recipients’ vaccination intentions.MethodsThis randomized controlled study covered 1,432 mothers who had daughters aged 12–16 years. It compared message persuasiveness among four conditions: statistical messages only; narrative messages of a patient who experienced cervical cancer, in addition to statistical messages; narrative messages of a mother whose daughter experienced cervical cancer, in addition to statistical messages; and a control. Vaccination intentions to have one’s daughter(s receive the HPV vaccine before and after reading intervention materials were assessed. Statistical analysis was conducted using analysis of variance with Tukey’s test or Games–Howell post hoc test, and analysis of covariance with Bonferroni correction.ResultsVaccination intentions after intervention in the three intervention conditions were higher than the control condition (p < 0.001. A mother’s narrative messages in addition to statistical messages increased HPV vaccination intention the most of all tested intervention conditions. A significant difference in the estimated means of intention with the covariate adjustment for baseline value (i.e., intention before intervention was found between a mother’s narrative messages in addition to statistical messages and statistical messages only (p = 0.040.DiscussionMothers’ narrative messages may be persuasive when targeting mothers for promoting HPV vaccination. This may be because mothers can easily relate to and identify with communications from other mothers. However, for effective HPV vaccine communication, further studies are needed to understand more about persuasive

AMS: Area Message Service for SLC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crane, M.; Mackenzie, R.; Millsom, D.; Zelazny, M.

1993-01-01

The Area Message Service (AMS) is a TCP/IP based messaging service currently in use at SLAC. A number of projects under development here at SLAC require an application level interface to the 4.3BSD UNIX socket level communications functions using TCP/IP over ethernet. AMS provides connection management, solicited message transfer, unsolicited message transfer, and asynchronous notification of pending messages. AMS is written completely in ANSI open-quote C close-quote and is currently portable over three hardware/operating system/network manager platforms, VAX/VMS/Multinet, PC/MS-DOS/Pathworks, VME 68K/pSOS/pNA. The basic architecture is a client-server connection where either end of the interface may be the server. This allows for connections and data flow to be initiated from either end of the interface. Included in the paper are details concerning the connection management, the handling of the multi-platform code, and the implementation process

Prevalence of pain in the head, back and feet in refugees previously exposed to torture: a ten-year follow-up study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Dorthe Reff; Montgomery, Edith; Bøjholm, Søren

2007-01-01

AIM: To estimate change over 10 years concerning the prevalence of pain in the head, back and feet, among previously tortured refugees settled in Denmark, and to compare associations between methods of torture and prevalent pain at baseline and at 10-year follow-up. METHODS: 139 refugees previous...... associated with the type and bodily focus of the torture. This presents a considerable challenge to future evidence-based development of effective treatment programs....

Does perceived risk influence the effects of message framing? Revisiting the link between prospect theory and message framing.

Science.gov (United States)

Van 't Riet, Jonathan; Cox, Anthony D; Cox, Dena; Zimet, Gregory D; De Bruijn, Gert-Jan; Van den Putte, Bas; De Vries, Hein; Werrij, Marieke Q; Ruiter, Robert A C

2016-12-01

Health-promoting messages can be framed in terms of the beneficial consequences of healthy behaviour (gain-framed messages) or the detrimental consequences of unhealthy behaviour (loss-framed messages). An influential notion holds that the perceived risk associated with the recommended behaviour determines the relative persuasiveness of gain- and loss-framed messages. This 'risk-framing hypothesis', which was derived from prospect theory, has been central to health message-framing research for the better part of two decades and has enduring appeal to researchers and practitioners. It has found its way into several health communication handbooks and is communicated to the general public. The present article examines the validity of the risk-framing hypothesis anew by providing a review of the health message-framing literature. In spite of its ongoing appeal, we conclude that the hypothesis has severe theoretical flaws. In addition, we find that the empirical evidence in favour of the hypothesis is weak and inconsistent. It seems that, in applying prospect theory's tenets to a health-promotion context, some of the theory's key aspects have been lost in translation. At the close of the article, we offer a research agenda for the future, arguing that, above all, new methodology is needed to bring the message-framing literature further.

Myostatin signaling is up-regulated in female patients with advanced heart failure.

Science.gov (United States)

Ishida, Junichi; Konishi, Masaaki; Saitoh, Masakazu; Anker, Markus; Anker, Stefan D; Springer, Jochen

2017-07-01

Myostatin, a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass, is up-regulated in the myocardium of heart failure (HF) and increased myostatin is associated with weight loss in animal models with HF. Although there are disparities in pathophysiology and epidemiology between male and female patients with HF, it remains unclear whether there is gender difference in myostatin expression and whether it is associated with weight loss in HF patients. Heart tissue samples were collected from patients with advanced heart failure (n=31, female n=5) as well as healthy control donors (n=14, female n=6). Expression levels of myostatin and its related proteins in the heart were evaluated by western blotting analysis. Body mass index was significantly lower in female HF patients than in male counterparts (20.0±4.2 in female vs 25.2±3.8 in male, p=0.04). In female HF patients, both mature myostatin and pSmad2 were significantly up-regulated by 1.9 fold (p=0.05) and 2.5 fold (pmyostatin was not. There was no significant difference in protein expression related to myostatin signaling between male and female patients. In this study, myostatin and pSmad2 were significantly up-regulated in the failing heart of female patients, but not male patients, and female patients displayed lower body mass index. Enhanced myostatin signaling in female failing heart may causally contribute to pathogenesis of HF and cardiac cachexia. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Factors influencing message dissemination through social media

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Zeyu; Yang, Huancheng; Fu, Yang; Fu, Dianzheng; Podobnik, Boris; Stanley, H. Eugene

2018-06-01

Online social networks strongly impact our daily lives. An internet user (a "Netizen") wants messages to be efficiently disseminated. The susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) dissemination model is the traditional tool for exploring the spreading mechanism of information diffusion. We here test our SIR-based dissemination model on open and real-world data collected from Twitter. We locate and identify phase transitions in the message dissemination process. We find that message content is a stronger factor than the popularity of the sender. We also find that the probability that a message will be forwarded has a threshold that affects its ability to spread, and when the probability is above the threshold the message quickly achieves mass dissemination.

Investigating the impact of viral message appeal and message credibility on consumer attitude toward the brand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esmaeilpour Majid

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Due to the rapid growth of the Internet and use of e-commerce in the recent years, viral marketing has drawn the attention of manufacturing and service organizations. However, no research has been conducted to examine the impact of message appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of intellectual involvement of consumers and their risk taking level. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of appeal and message source credibility on consumers’ attitude with mediating role of consumers’ intellectual involvement and their risk taking level. The population of this study includes consumers of mobile phones (Samsung, Sony, Nokia, LG and iPhone in the Bushehr city (Iran. As the population of the study is unlimited, 430 questionnaires were distributed using available sampling method, and 391 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. Using structural equation modeling, we analysed the data through smart PLS software. The results show that the appeal and credibility of the message source impact the consumer attitudes toward the brand. We also found that the intellectual involvement of consumers plays the mediating role in the relationship between message appeal and consumer attitudes toward brands. In the relationship between message source credibility and customer attitude towards the brand, the level of risk taking of people has no mediating role.

Management and Archiving e-mail Messages in Governmental Organization

OpenAIRE

Ashraf Mohamed A.Mohsen

2006-01-01

The study deals great issue of digital preservation that is e-mail archiving, it covered all aspects of the topic; it discuss: e-mail system, components of e-mail message, advantages and disadvantages of e-mail, official e-mail messages, management of e-mail messages, organizing and arrangement of e-mail messages, keeping and deleting messages, archiving e-mail messages, and some related issues like: privacy and security.

The influence of message framing, intention to quit smoking, and nicotine dependence on the persuasiveness of smoking cessation messages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moorman, M.; van den Putte, B.

2008-01-01

This study explores the combined effect of message framing, intention to quit smoking, and nicotine dependence on the persuasiveness of smoking cessation messages. Pre- and post-message measures of quit intention, attitude toward smoking cessation, and perceived behavioral control were taken in two

Feature Mining and Health Assessment for Gearboxes Using Run-Up/Coast-Down Signals

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Ming; Lin, Jing; Miao, Yonghao; Xu, Xiaoqiang

2016-01-01

Vibration signals measured in the run-up/coast-down (R/C) processes usually carry rich information about the health status of machinery. However, a major challenge in R/C signals analysis lies in how to exploit more diagnostic information, and how this information could be properly integrated to achieve a more reliable maintenance decision. Aiming at this problem, a framework of R/C signals analysis is presented for the health assessment of gearbox. In the proposed methodology, we first investigate the data preprocessing and feature selection issues for R/C signals. Based on that, a sparsity-guided feature enhancement scheme is then proposed to extract the weak phase jitter associated with gear defect. In order for an effective feature mining and integration under R/C, a generalized phase demodulation technique is further established to reveal the evolution of modulation feature with operating speed and rotation angle. The experimental results indicate that the proposed methodology could not only detect the presence of gear damage, but also offer a novel insight into the dynamic behavior of gearbox. PMID:27827831

Improving Type Error Messages in OCaml

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arthur Charguéraud

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Cryptic type error messages are a major obstacle to learning OCaml or other ML-based languages. In many cases, error messages cannot be interpreted without a sufficiently-precise model of the type inference algorithm. The problem of improving type error messages in ML has received quite a bit of attention over the past two decades, and many different strategies have been considered. The challenge is not only to produce error messages that are both sufficiently concise and systematically useful to the programmer, but also to handle a full-blown programming language and to cope with large-sized programs efficiently. In this work, we present a modification to the traditional ML type inference algorithm implemented in OCaml that, by significantly reducing the left-to-right bias, allows us to report error messages that are more helpful to the programmer. Our algorithm remains fully predictable and continues to produce fairly concise error messages that always help making some progress towards fixing the code. We implemented our approach as a patch to the OCaml compiler in just a few hundred lines of code. We believe that this patch should benefit not just to beginners, but also to experienced programs developing large-scale OCaml programs.

The WLCG Messaging Service and its Future

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cons, Lionel; Paladin, Massimo

2012-01-01

Enterprise messaging is seen as an attractive mechanism to simplify and extend several portions of the Grid middleware, from low level monitoring to experiments dashboards. The production messaging service currently used by WLCG includes four tightly coupled brokers operated by EGI (running Apache ActiveMQ and designed to host the Grid operational tools such as SAM) as well as two dedicated services for ATLAS-DDM and experiments dashboards (currently also running Apache ActiveMQ). In the future, this service is expected to grow in numbers of applications supported, brokers and technologies. The WLCG Messaging Roadmap identified three areas with room for improvement (security, scalability and availability/reliability) as well as ten practical recommendations to address them. This paper describes a messaging service architecture that is in line with these recommendations as well as a software architecture based on reusable components that ease interactions with the messaging service. These two architectures will support the growth of the WLCG messaging service.

Climate Literacy for Kids: Finding Medium, Message, and Stance

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, D. K.; Leon, N.; Jackson, R.; Greene, M. P.

2011-12-01

As part of NASA's Global Climate Change (climate.nasa.gov) website (winner of the 2011Webby Award for Best Science Site), Climate Kids (climate.nasa.gov/kids) presents positive role models for green careers and encourages kids to be good climate citizens. But before they will care, they must understand. Climate Kids helps kids understand climate science by communicating at their own science awareness and maturity level, and by giving them concrete ways to start helping Earth now. Climate Kids, as informal education, speaks to upper-elementary-school-age kids in their own language and using some of their favorite media. In addition to simple, liberally illustrated text explanations of the basic science concepts, cartoons and games reinforce the concepts in a fun way. A growing section on green careers interviews enthusiastic individuals currently practicing their professions. In explaining what they do, these individuals reinforce the climate science concepts and "how to help" suggestions elsewhere on the site. The games also reinforce the green career choices. "Green Careers" currently features a "green" general contractor, a home energy auditor, a water-wise landscaper, a recycling program educator, and a renewable energy scientist. The message of the scientist, who designs wind energy farms and "architectural wind" arrays, is reinforced by the "Power-up" game. In this game, players move a wind turbine up or down to capture the wind and move a solar array back and forth to stay out of cloud shadows. Depending on how many "windows" of the game's "city" light up using these alternative energy sources, the player earns a bronze, silver, gold, or platinum "medal." A recycling game reinforces the messages of the recycling program educator about the importance of recycling in saving energy, what can and cannot be recycled, and how long trash items remain in a landfill before decomposing. In the game, a variety of throw-away objects rains down from the top of the screen

Back to work for the PS

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

On 22 June, the PS's rotating machine started turning again for the first time since its enforced shutdown one month ago (see Bulletin No. 23-24/2006) - and the PS was back in operation the very next day! A team from Siemens worked their socks off, 6 days a week for one month (including public holidays), to repair the electrical power supply in collaboration with the AB/PO Group's Main Power Converters (MPC) Section. The generator's faulty rotor was dismantled and replaced by the renovated spare rotor. The multitude of electrical and mechanical connections together with the sheer weight of the rotor (80 tonnes) made this an extremely complex job. The AB/PO Group used the shutdown to test a back-up solution for the PS power supply. The accelerator was directly wired up to the 18 kV electrical network via a 13 MVA transformer, installed at the end of the 1970s but never used. This solution succeeded in bringing the PS back into operation but at limited energy and frequency. Just 14 GeV could be achieved, whic...

Laid Back Avant-Garde

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Degn Johansson, Troels

2010-01-01

controversial. Whereas Laid Back has been one of the largest commercial successes of the Danish music industry due to the success of a handful of pop hits (in Germany, mainly), the duo has never been recognized for its artistic contribution. A few years after his public statement, von Trier directed...... the official music video for Laid Back’s Bakerman single, where the duo and a backing group dressed up as bakers is seen performing while skydiving. Rather than approaching this video as an illustration of the song, the paper suggests that the Bakerman video should be seen as the result of a curatorial act...... where Lars von Trier seeks to elaborate on his particular fondness of the values that this pop duo seems to represent for him; simplicity, popularity (in Danish “folkelighed”), and irony. In this sense, by promoting the Laid Back single by means of a music video, von Trier’s contribution leads us rather...

Single Particle Differentiation through 2D Optical Fiber Trapping and Back-Scattered Signal Statistical Analysis: An Exploratory Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Paiva, Joana S; Ribeiro, Rita S R; Cunha, João P S; Rosa, Carla C; Jorge, Pedro A S

2018-02-27

Recent trends on microbiology point out the urge to develop optical micro-tools with multifunctionalities such as simultaneous manipulation and sensing. Considering that miniaturization has been recognized as one of the most important paradigms of emerging sensing biotechnologies, optical fiber tools, including Optical Fiber Tweezers (OFTs), are suitable candidates for developing multifunctional small sensors for Medicine and Biology. OFTs are flexible and versatile optotools based on fibers with one extremity patterned to form a micro-lens. These are able to focus laser beams and exert forces onto microparticles strong enough (piconewtons) to trap and manipulate them. In this paper, through an exploratory analysis of a 45 features set, including time and frequency-domain parameters of the back-scattered signal of particles trapped by a polymeric lens, we created a novel single feature able to differentiate synthetic particles (PMMA and Polystyrene) from living yeasts cells. This single statistical feature can be useful for the development of label-free hybrid optical fiber sensors with applications in infectious diseases detection or cells sorting. It can also contribute, by revealing the most significant information that can be extracted from the scattered signal, to the development of a simpler method for particles characterization (in terms of composition, heterogeneity degree) than existent technologies.

Comment ameliorer la selection et le traitement des messages verbaux? (How to Improve the Selection and Processing of Verbal Messages)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Rivenez, Marie; Darwin, Chris; Guillaume, Anne

2005-01-01

L'objectif de cette recherche est d'ameliorer la selection des messages verbaux. Nous cherchons a determiner les facteurs influencant le traitement d'un message verbal lorsque l'attention est portee sur un autre message...

60 more years of Science for Peace: carrying the message forward

CERN Multimedia

2014-01-01

At the end of 2013, we were just about to embark on a year of celebrations marking 60 years of science for peace at CERN. Our message was that science is an inescapable driver of peaceful relations among cultures and nations, a force for sustainability and a necessity in confronting the major challenges facing society today. Twelve months on, we can safely say that we’ve been successful in delivering that message.    At 130 events in 25 countries, at UNESCO in Paris on 1 July, throughout our week of celebrations at CERN leading up to our 60th birthday on 29 September, and at UN Headquarters in New York on 20 October, members of the CERN community have been tireless in promoting the essential role of science in society. However, the message remains as true as it was 12 months ago, and as we move into 2015, we must continue to take every opportunity we have to ensure that those who shape our futures fully appreciate the essential role that science must play. To that end, th...

Message passing for quantified Boolean formulas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Pan; Ramezanpour, Abolfazl; Zecchina, Riccardo; Zdeborová, Lenka

2012-01-01

We introduce two types of message passing algorithms for quantified Boolean formulas (QBF). The first type is a message passing based heuristics that can prove unsatisfiability of the QBF by assigning the universal variables in such a way that the remaining formula is unsatisfiable. In the second type, we use message passing to guide branching heuristics of a Davis–Putnam–Logemann–Loveland (DPLL) complete solver. Numerical experiments show that on random QBFs our branching heuristics give robust exponential efficiency gain with respect to state-of-the-art solvers. We also manage to solve some previously unsolved benchmarks from the QBFLIB library. Apart from this, our study sheds light on using message passing in small systems and as subroutines in complete solvers

Effectiveness of graded activity versus physiotherapy in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain: midterm follow up results of a randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Magalhães, Maurício Oliveira; Comachio, Josielli; Ferreira, Paulo Henrique; Pappas, Evangelos; Marques, Amélia Pasqual

Low back pain (LBP) is a major health and economic problem worldwide. Graded activity and physiotherapy are commonly used interventions for nonspecific low back pain. However, there is currently little evidence to support the use of one intervention over the other in the medium-term. To compare the effectiveness of graded activity exercises to physiotherapy-based exercises at mid-term (three and six months' post intervention) in patients with chronic nonspecific LBP. Sixty-six patients were randomly allocated to two groups: graded activity group (n=33) and physiotherapy group (n=33). These patients received individual sessions twice a week for six weeks. Follow-up measurements were taken at three and six months. The main outcome measurements were intensity pain (Pain Numerical Rating Scale) and disability (Rolland Morris Disability Questionnaire). No significant differences between groups after three and six month-follow ups were observed. Both groups showed similar outcomes for pain intensity at three months [between group differences: -0.1 (95% confidence interval [CI]=-1.5 to 1.2)] and six months [0.1 (95% CI=-1.1 to 1.5)], disability at three months was [-0.6 (95% CI=-3.4 to 2.2)] and six months [0.0 (95% CI=-2.9 to 3.0)]. The results of this study suggest that graded activity and physiotherapy have similar effects in the medium-term for patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain. Copyright © 2017 Associação Brasileira de Pesquisa e Pós-Graduação em Fisioterapia. Publicado por Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

Efficacy of a text messaging (SMS) based intervention for adults with hypertension: protocol for the StAR (SMS Text-message Adherence suppoRt trial) randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Bobrow, Kirsty; Brennan, Thomas; Springer, David; Levitt, Naomi S; Rayner, Brian; Namane, Mosedi; Yu, Ly-Mee; Tarassenko, Lionel; Farmer, Andrew

2014-01-11

Interventions to support people with hypertension in attending clinics and taking their medication have potential to improve outcomes, but delivery on a wide scale and at low cost is challenging. Some trials evaluating clinical interventions using short message service (SMS) text-messaging systems have shown important outcomes, although evidence is limited. We have developed a novel SMS system integrated with clinical care for use by people with hypertension in a low-resource setting. We aim to test the efficacy of the system in improving blood pressure control and treatment adherence compared to usual care. The SMS Text-message Adherence suppoRt trial (StAR) is a pragmatic individually randomised three-arm parallel group trial in adults treated for hypertension at a single primary care centre in Cape Town, South Africa. The intervention is a structured programme of clinic appointment, medication pick-up reminders, medication adherence support and hypertension-related education delivered remotely using an automated system with either informational or interactive SMS text-messages. Usual care is supplemented by infrequent non-hypertension related SMS text-messages. Participants are 1:1:1 individually randomised, to usual care or to one of the two active interventions using minimisation to dynamically adjust for gender, age, baseline systolic blood pressure, years with hypertension, and previous clinic attendance. The primary outcome is the change in mean systolic blood pressure at 12-month follow-up from baseline measured with research staff blinded to trial allocation. Secondary outcomes include the proportion of patients with 80% or more of days medication available, proportion of participants achieving a systolic blood pressure less than 140 mmHg and a diastolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg, hospital admissions, health status, retention in clinical care, satisfaction with treatment and care, and patient related quality of life. Anonymised demographic data

Using Publish-Subscribe Messaging for System Status and Automation

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Danford S.

2015-01-01

The NASA Goddard Mission Services Evolution Center (GMSEC) system is a message-based plug-and-play open system architecture used in many of NASA mission operations centers. This presentation will focus on the use of GMSEC standard messages to report and analyze the status of a system and enable the automation of the system's components. In GMSEC systems, each component reports its status using a keep-alive message and also publishes status and activities as log messages. In addition, the components can accept functional directive messages from the GMSEC message bus. Over the past several years, development teams have found ways to utilize these messages to create innovative display pages and increasingly sophisticated approaches to automation. This presentation will show the flexibility and value of the message-based approach to system awareness and automation.

Can persuasive and demonstrative messages to visitors reduce littering in river beaches?

Science.gov (United States)

Cingolani, Ana M; Barberá, Iván; Renison, Daniel; Barri, Fernando R

2016-12-01

Littering of public areas is a significant problem worldwide. Here we evaluate the success of persuasive and demonstrative messages at reducing littering in highly visited river beaches in Argentina. We made an intervention at the beaches which consisted of a personalized verbal request asking visitors to take their litter to the waste cans (persuasive message) while they were exposed to the example of picking up the litter already left on the beach (demonstrative message). We conducted 102 observations distributed over 29 dates, two years and four beaches. Each observation consisted of three or four rounds: before the presence of visitors we cleaned the beaches, during the stay of visitors we made the intervention (once or twice) in two out of the four beaches, and early next morning we estimated the amount of litter left per beach. Litter weight ranged from 0 to 53gvisitor -1 day -1 . Littering per visitor was reduced an average of 35% due to the intervention (p=0.049). We also found differences among beaches (p=0.001), and an increase in littering with crowding (p=0.005). We show for the first time that the personalized request combined with the example of picking up litter is effective in reducing littering in a Latin American country. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Using Text-Messaging in the Secondary Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Kevin; Orthober, Corrie

2011-01-01

To examine the potential uses of and barriers to text-messaging in secondary schools, three classes (66 students) of high school students used their personal mobile phones to receive out of school, course-related text-messages from teachers. Forty-six students (70%) agreed to receive text-messages. Findings indicate that participants found…

Emotional flow in persuasive health messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Nabi, Robin L

2015-01-01

Overwhelmingly, the literature on the persuasive influence of emotions has focused on individual emotions, fear in particular, though some recent attention has been given to mixed emotions in persuasive appeals. Building on this newer wave of research, this article argues that instead of focusing on singular emotional states or collections of emotions evoked by a message, it might prove valuable to explore the flow, or evolution, of emotional experience over the course of exposure to a health message. The article offers a brief introduction to the concept of emotion, followed by a review of the state of the literature on the use of emotion in health messages. The concept of emotional flow is then introduced along with a consideration of how it has been tacitly incorporated into the study of emotional health messages. Finally, the utility of the concept of emotional flow is elaborated by articulating the ways in which it might be harnessed to facilitate the creation of more effective health messages, individually as well as across campaigns. The article concludes with an agenda for future research.

Matching Message Design and Depressed Cognition: An Exploration of Attention Patterns for Gain- and Loss-Framed Depression Help-Seeking Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Lueck, Jennifer A

2017-07-01

Although disproportionally affected by depression, most depressed college students do not seek the help they need. Research has recently uncovered the potential negative effects of depression help-seeking messages if depressed cognition is not considered in the health message design process. It is unclear if depression determines whether and how individuals pay attention to gain- and loss-framed depression help-seeking messages-a mechanism that has significant implications for the strategic planning of health communication interventions. In order to enable the effective matching of message design and audience features, this study investigated attention patterns for gain (n = 75)- and loss (n = 78)-framed depression help-seeking messages using eye-tracking technology and self-report measures. The results confirmed that depression is a characteristic of risk avoidance and negative cognition. Depressed participants tended to pay more attention to disease information that was placed in a loss-framed rather than a gain-framed depression help-seeking message. Using negative message framing strategies for health messages seeking to educate about depression symptoms might therefore be a useful persuasive strategy-particularly when disseminated to vulnerable populations affected by depression. Furthermore, the present study emphasizes the effective use of eye-tracking technology in communication research.

Effects of argument quality, source credibility and self-reported diabetes knowledge on message attitudes: an experiment using diabetes related messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Tung-Cheng; Hwang, Lih-Lian; Lai, Yung-Jye

2017-05-17

Previous studies have reported that credibility and content (argument quality) are the most critical factors affecting the quality of health information and its acceptance and use; however, this causal relationship merits further investigation in the context of health education. Moreover, message recipients' prior knowledge may moderate these relationships. This study used the elaboration likelihood model to determine the main effects of argument quality, source credibility and the moderating effect of self-reported diabetes knowledge on message attitudes. A between-subjects experimental design using an educational message concerning diabetes for manipulation was applied to validate the effects empirically. A total of 181 participants without diabetes were recruited from the Department of Health, Taipei City Government. Four group messages were manipulated in terms of argument quality (high and low) × source credibility (high and low). Argument quality and source credibility of health information significantly influenced the attitude of message recipients. The participants with high self-reported knowledge participants exhibited significant disapproval for messages with low argument quality. Effective health information should provide objective descriptions and cite reliable sources; in addition, it should provide accurate, customised messages for recipients who have high background knowledge level and ability to discern message quality. © 2017 Health Libraries Group Health Information & Libraries Journal.

Developmental trajectories in primary schoolchildren using n-back task

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mónica eLópez-Vicente

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Background: Neuropsychological instruments to assess cognitive trajectories during childhood in epidemiological studies are needed. This would improve neurodevelopment characterization in order to identify its potential determinants. We aimed to study whether repeated measures of n-back, a working memory task, detect developmental trajectories in schoolchildren during a one-year follow-up.Methods: We administered the n-back task to 2,897 healthy children aged 7-11 years old from 39 schools in Barcelona (Spain. The task consisted of 2 levels of complexity or loads (2- and 3-back and 2 different stimuli (numbers and words. Participants performed the task four times from January 2012 to March 2013. To study the trajectories during the follow-up, we performed linear mixed-effects models including school, individual and age as random effects.Results: We observed improvements related to age in n-back outcomes d’, HRT and accuracy, as well as reduced cognitive growth at older ages in d’ and HRT. Greater improvements in performance were observed at younger ages, in 2-back, in verbal rather than numerical stimuli and in girls compared to boys. Boys responded faster at baseline, while girls showed increased growth in 2-back numbers. Children with ADHD (Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder symptoms (15% of boys and 6% of girls had a lower working memory at baseline, but they showed similar cognitive growth trajectories in numbers variants of the task, as compared to children without ADHD symptoms. However, the age-related improvement in response speed was not observed in children with ADHD symptoms. Conclusions: Changes in n-back outcomes reflected developmental trajectories in one-year follow-up. The present results suggest that the repeated administration of this task can be used to study the factors that may alter the cognitive development during childhood.

Students and instant messaging: a survey of current use and demands for higher education.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, de G.M.; Sloep, P.B.; Jochems, W.M.G.

2007-01-01

Instant messaging (IM) is the term used to describe the technology through which 'users can set up a list of partners who will be able to receive notes that pop up on their screens the moment one of them writes and hits the send button'. While early use could be described as mainly for fun, IM today

Conservative care with or without manipulative therapy in the management of back and neck pain in Danish children aged 9-15

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dissing, Kristina Boe; Hartvigsen, Jan; Wedderkopp, Niels

is nested in the CHAMPS Study, which includes around 1200 children aged 9-15, who were all invited to participate in this randomized controlled trial in case they experienced back and/or neck pain during the two year inclusion period. Parents received text messages (SMS) on a weekly basis inquiring about......Background Complaints in the musculoskeletal system often start early in life and back and neck pain in children are well-established predictors for similar problems in adulthood. Despite lack of evidence of effectiveness, manipulative therapy is one of the most commonly used treatment modalities...... for back and neck pain in children. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of manipulative therapy when added to an approach consisting of manual soft tissue treatment, exercises and advice as needed, in children aged 9-15 complaining of back and neck pain. Method The project...

Nonlinear Control of Back-to-Back VSC-HVDC System via Command-Filter Backstepping

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Huang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposed a command-filtered backstepping controller to improve the dynamic performance of back-to-back voltage-source-converter high voltage direct current (BTB VSC-HVDC. First, the principle and model of BTB VSC-HVDC in abc and d-q frame are described. Then, backstepping method is applied to design a controller to maintain the voltage balance and realize coordinated control of active and reactive power. Meanwhile, command filter is introduced to deal with the problem of input saturation and explosion of complexity in conventional backstepping, and a filter compensation signal is designed to diminish the adverse effects caused by the command filter. Next, the stability and convergence of the whole system are proved via the Lyapunov theorem of asymptotic stability. Finally, simulation results are given to demonstrate that proposed controller has a better dynamic performance and stronger robustness compared to the traditional PID algorithm, which also proves the effectiveness and possibility of the designed controller.

Little girls in a grown up world: Exposure to sexualized media, internalization of sexualization messages, and body image in 6-9 year-old girls.

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Amy; Tiggemann, Marika

2016-09-01

Despite widespread public concern about the early sexualization of young girls, as yet there has been little empirical examination of potential negative effects. In the present study a sample of 300 6-9 year-old girls completed individual interviews assessing exposure to sexualized media, internalization of sexualized messages (measured via preference for sexualized clothing), and body image attitudes (body esteem, body dissatisfaction). Exposure to sexualized media was found to be correlated with internalization of sexualization messages, itself correlated with negative body image. The findings provide preliminary evidence that sexualized messages appear to be internalized by very young girls which, in turn, has negative implications for how they feel about their bodies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of audio in-vehicle red light-running warning message on driving behavior based on a driving simulator experiment.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Xuedong; Liu, Yang; Xu, Yongcun

2015-01-01

Drivers' incorrect decisions of crossing signalized intersections at the onset of the yellow change may lead to red light running (RLR), and RLR crashes result in substantial numbers of severe injuries and property damage. In recent years, some Intelligent Transport System (ITS) concepts have focused on reducing RLR by alerting drivers that they are about to violate the signal. The objective of this study is to conduct an experimental investigation on the effectiveness of the red light violation warning system using a voice message. In this study, the prototype concept of the RLR audio warning system was modeled and tested in a high-fidelity driving simulator. According to the concept, when a vehicle is approaching an intersection at the onset of yellow and the time to the intersection is longer than the yellow interval, the in-vehicle warning system can activate the following audio message "The red light is impending. Please decelerate!" The intent of the warning design is to encourage drivers who cannot clear an intersection during the yellow change interval to stop at the intersection. The experimental results showed that the warning message could decrease red light running violations by 84.3 percent. Based on the logistic regression analyses, drivers without a warning were about 86 times more likely to make go decisions at the onset of yellow and about 15 times more likely to run red lights than those with a warning. Additionally, it was found that the audio warning message could significantly reduce RLR severity because the RLR drivers' red-entry times without a warning were longer than those with a warning. This driving simulator study showed a promising effect of the audio in-vehicle warning message on reducing RLR violations and crashes. It is worthwhile to further develop the proposed technology in field applications.

Quantum signature scheme for known quantum messages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Taewan; Lee, Hyang-Sook

2015-01-01

When we want to sign a quantum message that we create, we can use arbitrated quantum signature schemes which are possible to sign for not only known quantum messages but also unknown quantum messages. However, since the arbitrated quantum signature schemes need the help of a trusted arbitrator in each verification of the signature, it is known that the schemes are not convenient in practical use. If we consider only known quantum messages such as the above situation, there can exist a quantum signature scheme with more efficient structure. In this paper, we present a new quantum signature scheme for known quantum messages without the help of an arbitrator. Differing from arbitrated quantum signature schemes based on the quantum one-time pad with the symmetric key, since our scheme is based on quantum public-key cryptosystems, the validity of the signature can be verified by a receiver without the help of an arbitrator. Moreover, we show that our scheme provides the functions of quantum message integrity, user authentication and non-repudiation of the origin as in digital signature schemes. (paper)

Instant Messaging by SIP

Science.gov (United States)

Muhi, Daniel; Dulai, Tibor; Jaskó, Szilárd

2008-11-01

SIP is a general-purpose application layer protocol which is able to establish sessions between two or more parties. These sessions are mainly telephone calls and multimedia conferences. However it can be used for other purposes like instant messaging and presence service. SIP has a very important role in mobile communication as more and more communicating applications are going mobile. In this paper we would like to show how SIP can be used for instant messaging purposes.

Presynaptic type III neuregulin1-ErbB signaling targets {alpha}7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to axons.

Science.gov (United States)

Hancock, Melissa L; Canetta, Sarah E; Role, Lorna W; Talmage, David A

2008-05-05

Type III Neuregulin1 (Nrg1) isoforms are membrane-tethered proteins capable of participating in bidirectional juxtacrine signaling. Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), which can modulate the release of a rich array of neurotransmitters, are differentially targeted to presynaptic sites. We demonstrate that Type III Nrg1 back signaling regulates the surface expression of alpha7 nAChRs along axons of sensory neurons. Stimulation of Type III Nrg1 back signaling induces an increase in axonal surface alpha7 nAChRs, which results from a redistribution of preexisting intracellular pools of alpha7 rather than from increased protein synthesis. We also demonstrate that Type III Nrg1 back signaling activates a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway and that activation of this pathway is required for the insertion of preexisting alpha7 nAChRs into the axonal plasma membrane. These findings, in conjunction with prior results establishing that Type III Nrg1 back signaling controls gene transcription, demonstrate that Type III Nrg1 back signaling can regulate both short-and long-term changes in neuronal function.

Presynaptic type III neuregulin1-ErbB signaling targets alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to axons.

Science.gov (United States)

Hancock, Melissa L; Canetta, Sarah E; Role, Lorna W; Talmage, David A

2008-06-01

Type III Neuregulin1 (Nrg1) isoforms are membrane-tethered proteins capable of participating in bidirectional juxtacrine signaling. Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), which can modulate the release of a rich array of neurotransmitters, are differentially targeted to presynaptic sites. We demonstrate that Type III Nrg1 back signaling regulates the surface expression of alpha7 nAChRs along axons of sensory neurons. Stimulation of Type III Nrg1 back signaling induces an increase in axonal surface alpha7 nAChRs, which results from a redistribution of preexisting intracellular pools of alpha7 rather than from increased protein synthesis. We also demonstrate that Type III Nrg1 back signaling activates a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway and that activation of this pathway is required for the insertion of preexisting alpha7 nAChRs into the axonal plasma membrane. These findings, in conjunction with prior results establishing that Type III Nrg1 back signaling controls gene transcription, demonstrate that Type III Nrg1 back signaling can regulate both short-and long-term changes in neuronal function.

Presynaptic Type III Neuregulin1-ErbB signaling targets α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors to axons

Science.gov (United States)

Hancock, Melissa L.; Canetta, Sarah E.; Role, Lorna W.; Talmage, David A.

2008-01-01

Type III Neuregulin1 (Nrg1) isoforms are membrane-tethered proteins capable of participating in bidirectional juxtacrine signaling. Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs), which can modulate the release of a rich array of neurotransmitters, are differentially targeted to presynaptic sites. We demonstrate that Type III Nrg1 back signaling regulates the surface expression of α7 nAChRs along axons of sensory neurons. Stimulation of Type III Nrg1 back signaling induces an increase in axonal surface α7 nAChRs, which results from a redistribution of preexisting intracellular pools of α7 rather than from increased protein synthesis. We also demonstrate that Type III Nrg1 back signaling activates a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway and that activation of this pathway is required for the insertion of preexisting α7 nAChRs into the axonal plasma membrane. These findings, in conjunction with prior results establishing that Type III Nrg1 back signaling controls gene transcription, demonstrate that Type III Nrg1 back signaling can regulate both short-and long-term changes in neuronal function. PMID:18458158

Single-Stage Step up/down Driver for Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Machines

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, T. R.; Juan, Y. L.; Huang, C. Y.; Kuo, C. T.

2017-11-01

The two-stage circuit composed of a step up/down dc converter and a three-phase voltage source inverter is usually adopted as the electric vehicle’s motor driver. The conventional topology is more complicated. Additional power loss resulted from twice power conversion would also cause lower efficiency. A single-stage step up/down Permanent-Magnet Synchronous Motor driver for Brushless DC (BLDC) Motor is proposed in this study. The number components and circuit complexity are reduced. The low frequency six-step square-wave control is used to reduce the switching losses. In the proposed topology, only one active switch is gated with a high frequency PWM signal for adjusting the rotation speed. The rotor position signals are fed back to calculate the motor speed for digital close-loop control in a MCU. A 600W prototype circuit is constructed to drive a BLDC motor with rated speed 3000 rpm, and can control the speed of six sections.

Improving the Network Scale-Up Estimator: Incorporating Means of Sums, Recursive Back Estimation, and Sampling Weights.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Habecker

Full Text Available Researchers interested in studying populations that are difficult to reach through traditional survey methods can now draw on a range of methods to access these populations. Yet many of these methods are more expensive and difficult to implement than studies using conventional sampling frames and trusted sampling methods. The network scale-up method (NSUM provides a middle ground for researchers who wish to estimate the size of a hidden population, but lack the resources to conduct a more specialized hidden population study. Through this method it is possible to generate population estimates for a wide variety of groups that are perhaps unwilling to self-identify as such (for example, users of illegal drugs or other stigmatized populations via traditional survey tools such as telephone or mail surveys--by asking a representative sample to estimate the number of people they know who are members of such a "hidden" subpopulation. The original estimator is formulated to minimize the weight a single scaling variable can exert upon the estimates. We argue that this introduces hidden and difficult to predict biases, and instead propose a series of methodological advances on the traditional scale-up estimation procedure, including a new estimator. Additionally, we formalize the incorporation of sample weights into the network scale-up estimation process, and propose a recursive process of back estimation "trimming" to identify and remove poorly performing predictors from the estimation process. To demonstrate these suggestions we use data from a network scale-up mail survey conducted in Nebraska during 2014. We find that using the new estimator and recursive trimming process provides more accurate estimates, especially when used in conjunction with sampling weights.

Meta-analysis: exercise therapy for nonspecific low back pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayden, Jill A; van Tulder, Maurits W; Malmivaara, Antti V; Koes, Bart W

2005-05-03

Exercise therapy is widely used as an intervention in low back pain. To evaluate the effectiveness of exercise therapy in adult nonspecific acute, subacute, and chronic low back pain versus no treatment and other conservative treatments. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychInfo, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library databases to October 2004; citation searches and bibliographic reviews of previous systematic reviews. Randomized, controlled trials evaluating exercise therapy for adult nonspecific low back pain and measuring pain, function, return to work or absenteeism, and global improvement outcomes. Two reviewers independently selected studies and extracted data on study characteristics, quality, and outcomes at short-, intermediate-, and long-term follow-up. 61 randomized, controlled trials (6390 participants) met inclusion criteria: acute (11 trials), subacute (6 trials), and chronic (43 trials) low back pain (1 trial was unclear). Evidence suggests that exercise therapy is effective in chronic back pain relative to comparisons at all follow-up periods. Pooled mean improvement (of 100 points) was 7.3 points (95% CI, 3.7 to 10.9 points) for pain and 2.5 points (CI, 1.0 to 3.9 points) for function at earliest follow-up. In studies investigating patients (people seeking care for back pain), mean improvement was 13.3 points (CI, 5.5 to 21.1 points) for pain and 6.9 points (CI, 2.2 to 11.7 points) for function, compared with studies where some participants had been recruited from a general population (for example, with advertisements). Some evidence suggests effectiveness of a graded-activity exercise program in subacute low back pain in occupational settings, although the evidence for other types of exercise therapy in other populations is inconsistent. In acute low back pain, exercise therapy and other programs were equally effective (pain, 0.03 point [CI, -1.3 to 1.4 points]). Limitations of the literature, including low-quality studies with heterogeneous outcome measures inconsistent

The Message Logging System for NOνA Experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Qiming; Kowalkowski, J B; Biery, K A

2011-01-01

The message logging system provides the infrastructure for all of the distributed processes in the data acquisition (DAQ) to report status messages of various severities in a consistent manner to a central location, as well as providing the tools for displaying and archiving the messages. The message logging system has been developed over a decade, and has been run successfully on CDF and CMS experiments. The most recent work to the message logging system is to build it as a stand-alone package with the name MessageFacility which works for any generic framework or applications, with NOνA as the first driving user. System designs and architectures, as well as the efforts of making it a generic library will be discussed. We also present new features that have been added.

Gain versus loss-framed messaging and colorectal cancer screening among African Americans: A preliminary examination of perceived racism and culturally targeted dual messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Lucas, Todd; Hayman, Lenwood W; Blessman, James E; Asabigi, Kanzoni; Novak, Julie M

2016-05-01

This preliminary study examined the effect of gain versus loss-framed messaging as well as culturally targeted personal prevention messaging on African Americans' receptivity to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. This research also examined mechanistic functions of perceived racism in response to message framing. Community samples of African Americans (N = 132) and White Americans (N = 50) who were non-compliant with recommended CRC screening completed an online education module about CRC, and were either exposed to a gain-framed or loss-framed message about CRC screening. Half of African Americans were exposed to an additional and culturally targeted self-control message about personal prevention of CRC. Theory of planned behavior measures of attitudes, normative beliefs, perceived behavioural control, and intentions to obtain a CRC screen served as primary outcomes. The effect of messaging on perceived racism was also measured as an outcome. Consistent with prior research, White Americans were more receptive to CRC screening when exposed to a loss-framed message. However, African Americans were more receptive when exposed to a gain-framed message. The contrary effect of loss-framed messaging on receptivity to screening among African Americans was mediated by an increase in perceived racism. However, including an additional and culturally targeted prevention message mitigated the adverse effect of a loss-framed message. This study identifies an important potential cultural difference in the effect of message framing on illness screening among African Americans, while also suggesting a culturally relevant linking mechanism. This study also suggests the potential for simultaneously presented and culturally targeted messaging to alter the effects of gain and loss-framed messaging on African Americans. What is already known on this subject? African Americans are at an increased risk of both developing and dying from colorectal cancer (CRC). These disparities can be

Actors with Multi-Headed Message Receive Patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sulzmann, Martin; Lam, Edmund Soon Lee; Van Weert, Peter

2008-01-01

style actors with receive clauses containing multi-headed message patterns. Patterns may be non-linear and constrained by guards. We provide a number of examples to show the usefulness of the extension. We also explore the design space for multi-headed message matching semantics, for example first-match......The actor model provides high-level concurrency abstractions to coordinate simultaneous computations by message passing. Languages implementing the actor model such as Erlang commonly only support single-headed pattern matching over received messages. We propose and design an extension of Erlang...... and rule priority-match semantics. The various semantics are inspired by the multi-set constraint matching semantics found in Constraint Handling Rules. This provides us with a formal model to study actors with multi-headed message receive patterns. The system can be implemented efficiently and we have...

Speed of response, pile-up and signal to noise ratio in liquid ionization calorimeters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colas, J.

1989-11-01

Although liquid ionization calorimeters have been mostly used up to now with slow readout, their signals have a fast rise time. However, it is not easy to get this fast component of the pulse out of the calorimeter. For this purpose a new connection scheme of the electrodes, the electrostatic transformer, is presented and discussed. This technique reduces the detector capacitance while keeping the number of channels at an acceptable level. Also it allows the use of transmission lines to bring signals from the electrodes to the preamplifiers which could be located in an accessible area. With room temperature liquids the length of these cables can be short, keeping the added noise at a reasonable level. Contributions to the error on the energy measurement from pile up and electronics noise are studied in detail. Even on this issue, room temperature liquids (TMP/TMS) are found to be competitive with cold liquid argon at the expense of a moderately higher gap voltage

Speed of response, pile-up, and signal to noise ratio in liquid ionization calorimeters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colas, J.

1989-06-01

Although liquid ionization calorimeters have been mostly used up to now with slow readout, their signals have a fast rise time. However, it is not easy to get this fast component of the pulse out of the calorimeter. For this purpose a new connection scheme of the electrodes, the ''electrostatic transformer,'' is presented. This technique reduces the detector capacitance while keeping the number of channels at an acceptable level. Also it allows the use of transmission lines to bring signals from the electrodes to the preamplifiers which could be located in an accessible area. With room temperature liquids the length of these cables can be short, keeping the added noise at a reasonable level. Contributions to the error on the energy measurement from pile up and electronics noise are studied in detail. Even on this issue, room temperature liquids (TMP/TMS) are found to be competitive with cold liquid argon at the expense of a moderately higher gap voltage. 5 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs

Radio-analysis of hydrogenous material using neutron back-scattering technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holly, Wiam Ahmed Alteghany

2014-10-01

In this work, we have explored the possibility of using neutron back-scattering technique in performing radio analysis for samples of hydrogenous materials such as explosives, drugs, crude oil and water, looking for different signals that may be used to discriminate these samples. Monte Carlo simulations were carried out to model the detection system and select the optimal geometry as well. The results were determined in terms of the energy spectra of the back-scattered neutrons.(Author)

A comparison of rule-based and machine learning approaches for classifying patient portal messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Cronin, Robert M; Fabbri, Daniel; Denny, Joshua C; Rosenbloom, S Trent; Jackson, Gretchen Purcell

2017-09-01

Secure messaging through patient portals is an increasingly popular way that consumers interact with healthcare providers. The increasing burden of secure messaging can affect clinic staffing and workflows. Manual management of portal messages is costly and time consuming. Automated classification of portal messages could potentially expedite message triage and delivery of care. We developed automated patient portal message classifiers with rule-based and machine learning techniques using bag of words and natural language processing (NLP) approaches. To evaluate classifier performance, we used a gold standard of 3253 portal messages manually categorized using a taxonomy of communication types (i.e., main categories of informational, medical, logistical, social, and other communications, and subcategories including prescriptions, appointments, problems, tests, follow-up, contact information, and acknowledgement). We evaluated our classifiers' accuracies in identifying individual communication types within portal messages with area under the receiver-operator curve (AUC). Portal messages often contain more than one type of communication. To predict all communication types within single messages, we used the Jaccard Index. We extracted the variables of importance for the random forest classifiers. The best performing approaches to classification for the major communication types were: logistic regression for medical communications (AUC: 0.899); basic (rule-based) for informational communications (AUC: 0.842); and random forests for social communications and logistical communications (AUCs: 0.875 and 0.925, respectively). The best performing classification approach of classifiers for individual communication subtypes was random forests for Logistical-Contact Information (AUC: 0.963). The Jaccard Indices by approach were: basic classifier, Jaccard Index: 0.674; Naïve Bayes, Jaccard Index: 0.799; random forests, Jaccard Index: 0.859; and logistic regression, Jaccard

Effects of Text Messaging on Academic Performance

OpenAIRE

Barks Amanda; Searight H. Russell; Ratwik Susan

2011-01-01

University students frequently send and receive cellular phone text messages during classroominstruction. Cognitive psychology research indicates that multi-tasking is frequently associatedwith performance cost. However, university students often have considerable experience withelectronic multi-tasking and may believe that they can devote necessary attention to a classroomlecture while sending and receiving text messages. In the current study, university students whoused text messaging were ...

Reactions to threatening health messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Ten Hoor, Gill A; Peters, Gjalt-Jorn Y; Kalagi, Janice; de Groot, Lianne; Grootjans, Karlijne; Huschens, Alexander; Köhninger, Constanze; Kölgen, Lizan; Pelssers, Isabelle; Schütt, Toby; Thomas, Sophia; Ruiter, Robert A C; Kok, Gerjo

2012-11-21

Threatening health messages that focus on severity are popular, but frequently have no effect or even a counterproductive effect on behavior change. This paradox (i.e. wide application despite low effectiveness) may be partly explained by the intuitive appeal of threatening communication: it may be hard to predict the defensive reactions occurring in response to fear appeals. We examine this hypothesis by using two studies by Brown and colleagues, which provide evidence that threatening health messages in the form of distressing imagery in anti-smoking and anti-alcohol campaigns cause defensive reactions. We simulated both Brown et al. experiments, asking participants to estimate the reactions of the original study subjects to the threatening health information (n = 93). Afterwards, we presented the actual original study outcomes. One week later, we assessed whether this knowledge of the actual study outcomes helped participants to more successfully estimate the effectiveness of the threatening health information (n = 72). Results showed that participants were initially convinced of the effectiveness of threatening health messages and were unable to anticipate the defensive reactions that in fact occurred. Furthermore, these estimates did not improve after participants had been explained the dynamics of threatening communication as well as what the effects of the threatening communication had been in reality. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the effectiveness of threatening health messages is intuitively appealing. What is more, providing empirical evidence against the use of threatening health messages has very little effect on this intuitive appeal.

Do functional tests predict low back pain?

Science.gov (United States)

Takala, E P; Viikari-Juntura, E

2000-08-15

A cohort of 307 nonsymptomatic workers and another cohort of 123 workers with previous episodes of low back pain were followed up for 2 years. The outcomes were measured by symptoms, medical consultations, and sick leaves due to low back disorders. To study the predictive value of a set of tests measuring the physical performance of the back in a working population. The hypothesis was that subjects with poor functional capacity are liable to back disorders. Reduced functional performance has been associated with back pain. There are few data to show whether reduced functional capacity is a cause or a consequence of pain. Mobility of the trunk in forward and side bending, maximal isokinetic trunk extension, flexion and lifting strength, and static endurance of back extension were measured. Standing balance and foot reaction time were recorded with a force plate. Clinical tests for the provocation of back or leg pain were performed. Gender, workload, age, and anthropometrics were managed as potential confounders in the analysis. Marked overlapping was seen in the measures of the subjects with different outcomes. Among the nonsymptomatic subjects, low performance in tests of mobility and standing balance was associated with future back disorders. Among workers with previous episodes of back pain, low isokinetic extension strength, poor standing balance, and positive clinical signs predicted future pain. Some associations were found between the functional tests and future low back pain. The wide variation in the results questions the value of the tests in health examinations (e.g., in screening or surveillance of low back disorders).

Compound Half-Backed Weave Design For Digital Jacquard Fabric

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Meng; Zhou, Jiu

2017-12-01

Based on layered-combination design mode and compound structure, this paper presents a design method, named compound half-backed weave in order to achieve innovating weave structure and surface effect of fabric. This design method includes primary weaves chosen, half-backed technical points set up and half-backed weave databases established. The fabric produced using compound half-backed weave designed by this method can exhibit a unique half-backed effect that only half of the threads on the fabric surface remain in a state of being covered by adjacent wefts. Compound half-backed weave can not only meets the design need of jacquard fabric with different digital images and effectively improves the efficiency of structural design, but also puts forward new theory and method for innovative design of digital jacquard fabric.

Instant messaging at the hospital: supporting articulation work?

Science.gov (United States)

Iversen, Tobias Buschmann; Melby, Line; Toussaint, Pieter

2013-09-01

Clinical work is increasingly fragmented and requires extensive articulation and coordination. Computer systems may support such work. In this study, we investigate how instant messaging functions as a tool for supporting articulation work at the hospital. This paper aims to describe the characteristics of instant messaging communication in terms of number and length of messages, distribution over time, and the number of participants included in conversations. We also aim to determine what kind of articulation work is supported by analysing message content. Analysis of one month's worth of instant messages sent through the perioperative coordination and communication system at a Danish hospital. Instant messaging was found to be used extensively for articulation work, mostly through short, simple conversational exchanges. It is used particularly often for communication concerning the patient, specifically, the coordination and logistics of patient care. Instant messaging is used by all actors involved in the perioperative domain. Articulation work and clinical work are hard to separate in a real clinical setting. Predefined messages and strict workflow design do not suffice when supporting communication in the context of collaborative clinical work. Flexibility is of vital importance, and this needs to be reflected in the design of supportive communication systems. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Up to 40 Gb/s wireless signal generation and demodulation in 75-110 GHz band using photonic techniques

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sambaraju, R.; Zibar, Darko; Caballero Jambrina, Antonio

2010-01-01

Record wireless signal capacity of up to 40 Gb/s is demonstrated in the 75-110 GHz band. All-optical OFDM and photonic up-conversion are used for generation and digital coherent detection for demodulation....

Testing Dialog-Verification of SIP Phones with Single-Message Denial-of-Service Attacks

Science.gov (United States)

Seedorf, Jan; Beckers, Kristian; Huici, Felipe

The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is widely used for signaling in multimedia communications. However, many SIP implementations are still in their infancy and vulnerable to malicious messages. We investigate flaws in the SIP implementations of eight phones, showing that the deficient verification of SIP dialogs further aggravates the problem by making it easier for attacks to succeed. Our results show that the majority of the phones we tested are susceptible to these attacks.

Outpatient blood pressure monitoring using bi-directional text messaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Anthony, Chris A; Polgreen, Linnea A; Chounramany, James; Foster, Eric D; Goerdt, Christopher J; Miller, Michelle L; Suneja, Manish; Segre, Alberto M; Carter, Barry L; Polgreen, Philip M

2015-05-01

To diagnose hypertension, multiple blood pressure (BP) measurements are recommended. We randomized patients into three groups: EMR-only (patients recorded BP measurements in an electronic medical record [EMR] web portal), EMR + reminders (patients were sent text message reminders to record their BP measurements in the EMR), and bi-directional text messaging (patients were sent a text message asking them to respond with their current BP). Subjects were asked to complete 14 measurements. Automated messages were sent to each patient in the bi-directional text messaging and EMR + reminder groups twice daily. Among 121 patients, those in the bi-directional text messaging group reported the full 14 measurements more often than both the EMR-only group (P text messaging is an effective way to gather patient BP data. Text-message-based reminders alone are an effective way to encourage patients to record BP measurements. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Tracing How Normative Messages May Influence Physical Activity Intention.

Science.gov (United States)

van Bavel, René; Esposito, Gabriele; Baranowski, Tom; Duch-Brown, Néstor

2017-04-01

Normative messages have been shown to increase intention to do physical activity. We traced how "positive" and "negative" normative messages influenced physical activity intention by comparing constructs of the model of goal-directed behavior with descriptive norms (MGDB + DNs) across control and treatment groups in an experiment. For this purpose, 16-24-year-old respondents (n = 1,200) in Bulgaria, Croatia, and Romania were asked about their age, sex, and levels of physical activity before being exposed to positive and negative normative messages and completing a questionnaire with MGDB + DNs scales. Different MGDB + DNs constructs were influenced by the normative messages: compared with the control, the negative message group showed stronger attitudes (p = .003) and the positive message group showed higher positive anticipated emotions (p = .005). The positive message's effect is consistent with the literature on conformity to social norms. The negative message's effect lends itself to interpretations based on social identity and deviance regulation theories.

Effects of Instant Messaging on School Performance in Adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Grover, Karan; Pecor, Keith; Malkowski, Michael; Kang, Lilia; Machado, Sasha; Lulla, Roshni; Heisey, David; Ming, Xue

2016-06-01

Instant messaging may compromise sleep quality and school performance in adolescents. We aimed to determine associations between nighttime messaging and daytime sleepiness, self-reported sleep parameters, and/or school performance. Students from 3 high schools in New Jersey completed anonymous questionnaires assessing sleep duration, daytime sleepiness, messaging habits, and academic performance. Of the 2,352 students sampled, 1,537 responses were contrasted among grades, sexes, and messaging duration, both before and after lights out. Students who reported longer duration of messaging after lights out were more likely to report a shorter sleep duration, higher rate of daytime sleepiness, and poorer academic performance. Messaging before lights out was not associated with higher rates of daytime sleepiness or poorer academic performance. Females reported more messaging, more daytime sleepiness, and better academic performance than males. There may be an association between text messaging and school performance in this cohort of students. © The Author(s) 2016.

Opinions of the commuters to receive oral health messages in South central railway zone India: A cross-sectional study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P Parthasarathi Reddy

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The railroads of India are the fourth most heavily used system in the world. Railways are one of the main modes of transport and millions of people travel by train daily. Aim: To know the opinions of commuters in receiving oral health messages in railways station through various methods and also their knowledge and practice regarding oral hygiene. Materials and Methods: Using convenient sampling method data from the commuters was obtained by a pretested questionnaire through interview method from 14 railway stations of South Central Railway zone. Pearson Chi-square test was used to compare the opinions of commuters based on their gender to receive oral health messages. Results: A total of 596 (97.3% responded to the survey; a maximum of 297 (49.8% subjects strongly agreed to the statement that railway platforms should have informative posters on oral health. A maximum of 188 (31.5% commuters strongly agreed that prerecorded messages on oral health if played before the announcement of arrival and departure of train will be helpful to spread oral health awareness. Majority of 43% commuters (255 preferred to receive oral hygiene instructions printed on back side of the ticket followed by messages on television and through posters. Conclusion: Majority of the commuters preferred to receive oral health information in railways stations. Hence, efforts can be directed in spreading oral health information among public through railways.

The WLCG Messaging Service and its Future

CERN Document Server

Cons, Lionel

2012-01-01

Enterprise messaging is seen as an attractive mechanism to simplify and extend several portions of the Grid middleware, from low level monitoring to experiments dashboards. The production messaging service currently used by WLCG includes four tightly coupled brokers operated by EGI (running Apache ActiveMQ and designed to host the Grid operational tools such as SAM) as well as two dedicated services for ATLAS-DDM and experiments dashboards (currently also running Apache ActiveMQ). In the future, this service is expected to grow in numbers of applications supported, brokers and technologies. The WLCG Messaging Roadmap identified three areas with room for improvement (security, scalability and availability/reliability) as well as ten practical recommendations to address them. This paper describes a messaging service architecture that is in line with these recommendations as well as a software architecture based on reusable components that ease interactions with the messaging service. These two architectures wil...

Pilot study of psychotherapeutic text messaging for depression.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeiffer, Paul N; Henry, Jennifer; Ganoczy, Dara; Piette, John D

2017-08-01

Background Text messaging services could increase access to psychotherapeutic content for individuals with depression by avoiding barriers to in-person psychotherapy such as cost, transportation, and therapist availability. Determining whether text messages reflecting different psychotherapeutic techniques exhibit differences in acceptability or effectiveness may help guide service development. Objectives We aimed to determine: (1) the feasibility of delivering a psychotherapy-based text messaging service to people with depression identified via the internet, (2) whether there is variation in satisfaction with messages according to the type of psychotherapeutic technique they represent, and (3) whether symptoms of depression vary according to receipt of each message type and participants' satisfaction with the messages they received. Methods For this study 190 US adults who screened positive for a major depressive episode (Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) score ≥10) were recruited from online advertisements. Participants received a daily psychotherapy-based text message 6 days per week for 12 weeks. Text messages were developed by a team of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers to reflect three psychotherapeutic approaches: acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), behavioural activation, and cognitive restructuring. Each week the message type for the week was randomly assigned from one of the three types, allowing for repeats. Participants were asked daily to rate each message. On the 7th day of each week, participants completed a two-item depression screener (PHQ-2). Web-based surveys at baseline, 6, and 12 weeks were used as the primary measure of depressive symptoms (PHQ-9). Results Of the 190 participants enrolled, 85 (45%) completed the 6-week web survey and 67 (35%) completed the 12-week survey. The mean baseline PHQ-9 score was 19.4 (SD 4.2) and there was a statistically significant mean improvement in PHQ-9 scores of -2.9 (SD 6.0; p�

Systematic and heuristic processing of majority and minority-endorsed messages: the effects of varying outcome relevance and levels of orientation on attitude and message processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Robin; Hewstone, Miles; Martin, Pearl Y

2007-01-01

Two experiments investigated the conditions under which majority and minority sources instigate systematic processing of their messages. Both experiments crossed source status (majority vs. minority) with message quality (strong vs. weak arguments). In each experiment, message elaboration was manipulated by varying either motivational (outcome relevance, Experiment 1) or cognitive (orientating tasks, Experiment 2) factors. The results showed that when either motivational or cognitive factors encouraged low message elaboration, there was heuristic acceptance of the majority position without detailed message processing. When the level of message elaboration was intermediate, there was message processing only for the minority source. Finally, when message elaboration was high, there was message processing for both source conditions. These results show that majority and minority influence is sensitive to motivational and cognitive factors that constrain or enhance message elaboration and that both sources can lead to systematic processing under specific circumstances.

Handgrip strength is associated with, but poorly predicts, disability in older women with acute low back pain: A 12-month follow-up study.

Science.gov (United States)

Felício, Diogo Carvalho; Diz, Juliano Bergamaschine Mata; Pereira, Daniele Sirineu; Queiroz, Bárbara Zille de; Silva, Juscélio Pereira de; Moreira, Bruno de Souza; Oliveira, Vinícius Cunha; Pereira, Leani Souza Máximo

2017-10-01

Older women with low back pain (LBP) constitute a special subpopulation at risk of severe and permanent disability. It is important to identify factors limiting functionality in this population in order to reduce costs and improve both prevention and intervention. Handgrip strength (HGS) is a biomarker of aging associated with several adverse health outcomes, but long-term associations with disability in older patients with LBP are not known. To examine whether HGS predicts disability in older women with acute low back pain (LBP). Longitudinal analyses were conducted with a sample of 135 older women from the international multicenter study Back Complaints in the Elders (BACE-Brazil). Women aged 60 years and over with a new episode of acute LBP were included. HGS was assessed with Jamar ® dynamometer, and disability was assessed using the Roland Morris questionnaire and gait speed test. Variables were assessed at baseline and at 12-month follow-up. Linear regression models explored associations between HGS and disability measures. Significant association was found between HGS at baseline and gait speed at 12-month follow-up (r=-0.24; p=0.004). A multivariable-adjusted model showed that this association was independent of age, body mass index, and pain intensity (adjusted R 2 =0.13; pinclusion of HGS as an independent variable. No association was found between HGS and score on the Roland Morris questionnaire. Caution is needed regarding the use of HGS as a predictive measure of disability in older women with acute LBP. Changes in gait speed were very small and unlikely to be of clinical relevance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Flow of emotional messages in artificial social networks

OpenAIRE

Chmiel, Anna; Holyst, Janusz A.

2010-01-01

Models of message flows in an artificial group of users communicating via the Internet are introduced and investigated using numerical simulations. We assumed that messages possess an emotional character with a positive valence and that the willingness to send the next affective message to a given person increases with the number of messages received from this person. As a result, the weights of links between group members evolve over time. Memory effects are introduced, taking into account t...

The hyperfine Paschen–Back Faraday effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zentile, Mark A; Andrews, Rebecca; Weller, Lee; Adams, Charles S; Hughes, Ifan G; Knappe, Svenja

2014-01-01

We investigate experimentally and theoretically the Faraday effect in an atomic medium in the hyperfine Paschen–Back regime, where the Zeeman interaction is larger than the hyperfine splitting. We use a small permanent magnet and a micro-fabricated vapour cell, giving magnetic fields of the order of a tesla. We show that for low absorption and small rotation angles, the refractive index is well approximated by the Faraday rotation signal, giving a simple way to measure the atomic refractive index. Fitting to the atomic spectra, we achieve magnetic field sensitivity at the 10 −4 level. Finally we note that the Faraday signal shows zero crossings which can be used as temperature insensitive error signals for laser frequency stabilization at large detuning. The theoretical sensitivity for 87 Rb is found to be ∼40 kHz °C −1 . (paper)

Message Passing Framework for Globally Interconnected Clusters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hafeez, M; Riaz, N; Asghar, S; Malik, U A; Rehman, A

2011-01-01

In prevailing technology trends it is apparent that the network requirements and technologies will advance in future. Therefore the need of High Performance Computing (HPC) based implementation for interconnecting clusters is comprehensible for scalability of clusters. Grid computing provides global infrastructure of interconnecting clusters consisting of dispersed computing resources over Internet. On the other hand the leading model for HPC programming is Message Passing Interface (MPI). As compared to Grid computing, MPI is better suited for solving most of the complex computational problems. MPI itself is restricted to a single cluster. It does not support message passing over the internet to use the computing resources of different clusters in an optimal way. We propose a model that provides message passing capabilities between parallel applications over the internet. The proposed model is based on Architecture for Java Universal Message Passing (A-JUMP) framework and Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) named as High Performance Computing Bus. The HPC Bus is built using ActiveMQ. HPC Bus is responsible for communication and message passing in an asynchronous manner. Asynchronous mode of communication offers an assurance for message delivery as well as a fault tolerance mechanism for message passing. The idea presented in this paper effectively utilizes wide-area intercluster networks. It also provides scheduling, dynamic resource discovery and allocation, and sub-clustering of resources for different jobs. Performance analysis and comparison study of the proposed framework with P2P-MPI are also presented in this paper.

Understanding health food messages on Twitter for health literacy promotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, J; Liu, F; Zhou, H

2018-05-01

With the popularity of social media, Twitter has become an important tool to promote health literacy. However, many health-related messages on Twitter are dead-ended and cannot reach many people. This is unhelpful for health literacy promotion. This article aims to examine the features of online health food messages that people like to retweet. We adopted rumour theory as our theoretical foundation and extracted seven characteristics (i.e. emotional valence, attractiveness, sender's authoritativeness, external evidence, argument length, hashtags, and direct messages). A total of 10,025 health-related messages on Twitter were collected, and 1496 messages were randomly selected for further analysis. Each message was treated as one unit and then coded. All the hypotheses were tested with logistic regression. Emotional valence, attractiveness, sender's authoritativeness, argument length, and direct messages in a Twitter message had positive effects on people's retweet behaviour. The effect of external evidence was negative. Hashtags had no significant effect after consideration of other variables. Online health food messages containing positive emotions, including pictures, containing direct messages, having an authoritative sender, having longer arguments, or not containing external URLs are more likely to be retweeted. However, a message only containing positive or negative emotions or including direct messages without any support information will not be retweeted.

Prevention of low back pain and its consequences among nurses’ aides in elderly care: a stepped-wedge multi-faceted cluster-randomized controlled trial

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background A high prevalence of low back pain has persisted over the years despite extensive primary prevention initiatives among nurses’ aides. Many single-faceted interventions addressing just one aspect of low back pain have been carried out at workplaces, but with low success rate. This may be due to the multi-factorial origin of low back pain. Participatory ergonomics, cognitive behavioral training and physical training have previously shown promising effects on prevention and rehabilitation of low back pain. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to examine whether a multi-faceted workplace intervention consisting of participatory ergonomics, physical training and cognitive behavioral training can prevent low back pain and its consequences among nurses’ aides. External resources for the participating workplace and a strong commitment from the management and the organization support the intervention. Methods/design To overcome implementation barriers within usual randomized controlled trial designed workplace interventions, this study uses a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized controlled trial design with 4 groups. The intervention is delivered to the groups at random along four successive time periods three months apart. The intervention lasts three months and integrates participatory ergonomics, physical training and cognitive behavioral training tailored to the target group. Local physiotherapists and occupational therapists conduct the intervention after having received standardized training. Primary outcomes are low back pain and its consequences measured monthly by text messages up to three months after initiation of the intervention. Discussion Intervention effectiveness trials for preventing low back pain and its consequences in workplaces with physically demanding work are few, primarily single-faceted, with strict adherence to a traditional randomized controlled trial design that may hamper implementation and compliance, and have mostly been

78 FR 64202 - Quantitative Messaging Research

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-28

... COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION Quantitative Messaging Research AGENCY: Commodity Futures... survey will follow qualitative message testing research (for which CFTC received fast- track OMB approval... comments. Please submit your comments using only one method and identify that it is for the ``Quantitative...

The Prodiguer Messaging Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Denvil, S.; Greenslade, M. A.; Carenton, N.; Levavasseur, G.; Raciazek, J.

2015-12-01

CONVERGENCE is a French multi-partner national project designed to gather HPC and informatics expertise to innovate in the context of running French global climate models with differing grids and at differing resolutions. Efficient and reliable execution of these models and the management and dissemination of model output are some of the complexities that CONVERGENCE aims to resolve.At any one moment in time, researchers affiliated with the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) climate modeling group, are running hundreds of global climate simulations. These simulations execute upon a heterogeneous set of French High Performance Computing (HPC) environments. The IPSL's simulation execution runtime libIGCM (library for IPSL Global Climate Modeling group) has recently been enhanced so as to support hitherto impossible realtime use cases such as simulation monitoring, data publication, metrics collection, simulation control, visualizations … etc. At the core of this enhancement is Prodiguer: an AMQP (Advanced Message Queue Protocol) based event driven asynchronous distributed messaging platform. libIGCM now dispatches copious amounts of information, in the form of messages, to the platform for remote processing by Prodiguer software agents at IPSL servers in Paris. Such processing takes several forms: Persisting message content to database(s); Launching rollback jobs upon simulation failure; Notifying downstream applications; Automation of visualization pipelines; We will describe and/or demonstrate the platform's: Technical implementation; Inherent ease of scalability; Inherent adaptiveness in respect to supervising simulations; Web portal receiving simulation notifications in realtime.

Safety message broadcast in vehicular networks

CERN Document Server

Bi, Yuanguo; Zhuang, Weihua; Zhao, Hai

2017-01-01

This book presents the current research on safety message dissemination in vehicular networks, covering medium access control and relay selection for multi-hop safety message broadcast. Along with an overall overview of the architecture, characteristics, and applications of vehicular networks, the authors discuss the challenging issues in the research on performance improvement for safety applications, and provide a comprehensive review of the research literature. A cross layer broadcast protocol is included to support efficient safety message broadcast by jointly considering geographical location, physical-layer channel condition, and moving velocity of vehicles in the highway scenario. To further support multi-hop safety message broadcast in a complex road layout, the authors propose an urban multi-hop broadcast protocol that utilizes a novel forwarding node selection scheme. Additionally, a busy tone based medium access control scheme is designed to provide strict priority to safety applications in vehicle...

A theory-based video messaging mobile phone intervention for smoking cessation: randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Whittaker, Robyn; Dorey, Enid; Bramley, Dale; Bullen, Chris; Denny, Simon; Elley, C Raina; Maddison, Ralph; McRobbie, Hayden; Parag, Varsha; Rodgers, Anthony; Salmon, Penny

2011-01-21

Advances in technology allowed the development of a novel smoking cessation program delivered by video messages sent to mobile phones. This social cognitive theory-based intervention (called "STUB IT") used observational learning via short video diary messages from role models going through the quitting process to teach behavioral change techniques. The objective of our study was to assess the effectiveness of a multimedia mobile phone intervention for smoking cessation. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 6-month follow-up. Participants had to be 16 years of age or over, be current daily smokers, be ready to quit, and have a video message-capable phone. Recruitment targeted younger adults predominantly through radio and online advertising. Registration and data collection were completed online, prompted by text messages. The intervention group received an automated package of video and text messages over 6 months that was tailored to self-selected quit date, role model, and timing of messages. Extra messages were available on demand to beat cravings and address lapses. The control group also set a quit date and received a general health video message sent to their phone every 2 weeks. The target sample size was not achieved due to difficulty recruiting young adult quitters. Of the 226 randomized participants, 47% (107/226) were female and 24% (54/226) were Maori (indigenous population of New Zealand). Their mean age was 27 years (SD 8.7), and there was a high level of nicotine addiction. Continuous abstinence at 6 months was 26.4% (29/110) in the intervention group and 27.6% (32/116) in the control group (P = .8). Feedback from participants indicated that the support provided by the video role models was important and appreciated. This study was not able to demonstrate a statistically significant effect of the complex video messaging mobile phone intervention compared with simple general health video messages via mobile phone. However, there was

Effects of Electronic Word - of - Mouth Messages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Choong Hoon Lim

2012-01-01

Full Text Available With the increased usage of online technologies, there has been an escalation of Electronic Word - of –Mouth (eWOM messages related to sport products and services offered and consumed. Therefore, in this original investigation by applying eWOM to the sport industry, this study examined how the combination of the quality of the eWOM message and the provider of the eWOM message affects purchaseintentions depending on the expertise level of the consumer. This study – which involved the collection of data from 134 students at a large university situated in the Midwest of the United States – utilized repeated measures of Analysis of Variance (ANOVA with tripartite groups of expertise and experimental conditions as independent variables. Purchase intention was the dependent variables. The results indicated that the quality of the eWOM message moderated the effect of the provider of the eWOM message. The subject’s level of expertise also had a moderating role on purchase intention.

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF HASH FUNCTION FOR GENERATING HASHED MESSAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Ghaeedi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Steganography is a method of sending confidential information in a way that the existence of the channel in this communication remains secret. A collaborative approach between steganography and digital signature provides a high secure hidden data. Unfortunately, there are wide varieties of attacks that affect the quality of image steganography. Two issues that required to be addressed are large size of the ciphered data in digital signature and high bandwidth. The aim of the research is to propose a new method for producing a dynamic hashed message algorithm in digital signature and then embedded into image for enhancing robustness of image steganography with reduced bandwidth. A digital signature with smaller hash size than other hash algorithms was developed for authentication purposes. A hash function is used in the digital signature generation. The encoder function encoded the hashed message to generate the digital signature and then embedded into an image as a stego-image. In enhancing the robustness of the digital signature, we compressed or encoded it or performed both operations before embedding the data into the image. This encryption algorithm is also computationally efficient whereby for messages with the sizes less than 1600 bytes, the hashed file reduced the original file up to 8.51%.

Individual differences in drivers' cognitive processing of road safety messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaye, Sherrie-Anne; White, Melanie J; Lewis, Ioni M

2013-01-01

Using Gray and McNaughton's (2000) revised reinforcement sensitivity theory (r-RST), we examined the influence of personality on processing of words presented in gain-framed and loss-framed anti-speeding messages and how the processing biases associated with personality influenced message acceptance. The r-RST predicts that the nervous system regulates personality and that behaviour is dependent upon the activation of the behavioural activation system (BAS), activated by reward cues and the fight-flight-freeze system (FFFS), activated by punishment cues. According to r-RST, individuals differ in the sensitivities of their BAS and FFFS (i.e., weak to strong), which in turn leads to stable patterns of behaviour in the presence of rewards and punishments, respectively. It was hypothesised that individual differences in personality (i.e., strength of the BAS and the FFFS) would influence the degree of both message processing (as measured by reaction time to previously viewed message words) and message acceptance (measured three ways by perceived message effectiveness, behavioural intentions, and attitudes). Specifically, it was anticipated that, individuals with a stronger BAS would process the words presented in the gain-frame messages faster than those with a weaker BAS and individuals with a stronger FFFS would process the words presented in the loss-frame messages faster than those with a weaker FFFS. Further, it was expected that greater processing (faster reaction times) would be associated with greater acceptance for that message. Driver licence holding students (N=108) were recruited to view one of four anti-speeding messages (i.e., social gain-frame, social loss-frame, physical gain-frame, and physical loss-frame). A computerised lexical decision task assessed participants' subsequent reaction times to message words, as an indicator of the extent of processing of the previously viewed message. Self-report measures assessed personality and the three message

Reactions to threatening health messages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ten Hoor Gill A

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Threatening health messages that focus on severity are popular, but frequently have no effect or even a counterproductive effect on behavior change. This paradox (i.e. wide application despite low effectiveness may be partly explained by the intuitive appeal of threatening communication: it may be hard to predict the defensive reactions occurring in response to fear appeals. We examine this hypothesis by using two studies by Brown and colleagues, which provide evidence that threatening health messages in the form of distressing imagery in anti-smoking and anti-alcohol campaigns cause defensive reactions. Methods We simulated both Brown et al. experiments, asking participants to estimate the reactions of the original study subjects to the threatening health information (n = 93. Afterwards, we presented the actual original study outcomes. One week later, we assessed whether this knowledge of the actual study outcomes helped participants to more successfully estimate the effectiveness of the threatening health information (n = 72. Results Results showed that participants were initially convinced of the effectiveness of threatening health messages and were unable to anticipate the defensive reactions that in fact occurred. Furthermore, these estimates did not improve after participants had been explained the dynamics of threatening communication as well as what the effects of the threatening communication had been in reality. Conclusions These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the effectiveness of threatening health messages is intuitively appealing. What is more, providing empirical evidence against the use of threatening health messages has very little effect on this intuitive appeal.

Facilitating responsible gambling: the relative effectiveness of education-based animation and monetary limit setting pop-up messages among electronic gaming machine players.

Science.gov (United States)

Wohl, Michael J A; Gainsbury, Sally; Stewart, Melissa J; Sztainert, Travis

2013-12-01

Although most gamblers set a monetary limit on their play, many exceed this limit--an antecedent of problematic gambling. Responsible gambling tools may assist players to gamble within their means. Historically, however, the impact of such tools has been assessed in isolation. In the current research, two responsible gambling tools that target adherence to a monetary limit were assessed among 72 electronic gaming machine (EGM) players. Participants watched an educational animation explaining how EGMs work (or a neutral video) and then played an EGM in a virtual reality environment. All participants were asked to set a monetary limit on their play, but only half were reminded when that limit was reached. Results showed that both the animation and pop-up limit reminder helped gamblers stay within their preset monetary limit; however, an interaction qualified these main effects. Among participants who did not experience the pop-up reminder, those who watched the animation stayed within their preset monetary limits more than those who did not watch the animation. For those who were reminded of their limit, however, there was no difference in limit adherence between those who watched the animation and those who did not watch the animation. From a responsible gambling perspective, the current study suggests that there is no additive effect of exposure to both responsible gambling tools. Therefore, for minimal disruption in play, a pop-up message reminding gamblers of their preset monetary limit might be preferred over the lengthier educational animation.

An Approach to Ad-hoc Messaging Networks Using Time Shifted Propagation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christoph Fuchß

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Many communication devices, like mobile phones and PDAs, are enabled for near field communication by using Bluetooth. Many approaches dealt so far with the attempt to transfer mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET to the mechanism of the “fixed internet” to mobile networks. In order to achieve liability and robustness of common TCP connections routing algorithm in near field communication based networks become more sophisticated and complex. These mechanisms often do not reflect on the application’s particularities.Our approach of an ad-hoc messaging network (AMNET uses simple store-and-forward message passing to spread data asynchronously. We do not aim at the reliability of common internet networks but focus on application specific needs that can be covered by simple message passing mechanism. In this paper we will portray a powerful network by using simple devices and communication protocols on the basis of AMNETs. Simulation results of our AMNET approach provide insights towards speeding up the network setup process and to enable the use of AMNETs even with few participants by introducing a hybrid structure of infrastructure and mobile nodes.

Lol: New Language and Spelling in Instant Messaging

Science.gov (United States)

Varnhagen, Connie K.; McFall, G. Peggy; Pugh, Nicole; Routledge, Lisa; Sumida-MacDonald, Heather; Kwong, Trudy E.

2010-01-01

Written communication in instant messaging, text messaging, chat, and other forms of electronic communication appears to have generated a "new language" of abbreviations, acronyms, word combinations, and punctuation. In this naturalistic study, adolescents collected their instant messaging conversations for a 1-week period and then completed a…

Lumbar Supports for Prevention and Treatment of Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review Within the Framework of the Cochrane Back Review Group

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jellema, Petra; van Tulder, Maurits W; van Poppel, Mireille N M

2001-01-01

Study Design : A systematic review of randomized and nonrandomized controlled trials. Summary of Background Data : Lumbar supports are used in the treatment of low back pain, but also to prevent the onset (primary prevention) or recurrences of a low back pain episode (secondary prevention......). Objectives: To assess the effects of lumbar sup-ports for prevention and treatment of nonspecific low back pain. Methods: The Medline, Cinahl, and Current Contents databases; the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register up to September 1999; and the Embase database up to September 1998 were all searched...... are not effective for primary prevention. No evidence was found on the effectiveness of lumbar supports for secondary prevention. The systematic review of therapeutic trials showed that there is limited evidence that lumbar supports are more effective than no treatment, whereas it is still unclear whether lumbar...

Formal analysis and evaluation of the back-off procedure in IEEE802.11P VANET

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Li; Zhang, Guoan; Zhu, Xiaojun

2017-07-01

The back-off procedure is one of the media access control technologies in 802.11P communication protocol. It plays an important role in avoiding message collisions and allocating channel resources. Formal methods are effective approaches for studying the performances of communication systems. In this paper, we establish a discrete time model for the back-off procedure. We use Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) to model the non-deterministic and probabilistic behaviors of the procedure, and use the probabilistic computation tree logic (PCTL) language to express different properties, which ensure that the discrete time model performs their basic functionality. Based on the model and PCTL specifications, we study the effect of contention window length on the number of senders in the neighborhood of given receivers, and that on the station’s expected cost required by the back-off procedure to successfully send packets. The variation of the window length may increase or decrease the maximum probability of correct transmissions within a time contention unit. We propose to use PRISM model checker to describe our proposed back-off procedure for IEEE802.11P protocol in vehicle network, and define different probability properties formulas to automatically verify the model and derive numerical results. The obtained results are helpful for justifying the values of the time contention unit.

Roles of STATs signaling in cardiovascular diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Kishore, Raj; Verma, Suresh K

2012-04-01

In cardiac and many other systems, chronic stress activates avfamily of structurally and functionally conserved receptors and their downstream signaling molecules that entail tyrosine, serine or threonine phosphorylation to transfer the messages to the genetic machinery. However, the activation of the Janus kinases (JAKs) and their downstream signal transducer and activator of transcription (STATs) proteins is both characteristic of and unique to cytokine and growth factor signaling which plays a central role in heart physiology. Dysregulation of JAK-STAT signaling is associated with various cardiovascular diseases. The molecular signaling and specificity of the JAK-STAT pathway are modulated at many levels by distinct regulatory proteins. Here, we review recent studies on the regulation of the STAT signaling pathway that will enhance our ability to design rational therapeutic strategies for stress-induced heart failure.

Active control of turbulent boundary layer-induced sound transmission through the cavity-backed double panels

Science.gov (United States)

Caiazzo, A.; Alujević, N.; Pluymers, B.; Desmet, W.

2018-05-01

This paper presents a theoretical study of active control of turbulent boundary layer (TBL) induced sound transmission through the cavity-backed double panels. The aerodynamic model used is based on the Corcos wall pressure distribution. The structural-acoustic model encompasses a source panel (skin panel), coupled through an acoustic cavity to the radiating panel (trim panel). The radiating panel is backed by a larger acoustic enclosure (the back cavity). A feedback control unit is located inside the acoustic cavity between the two panels. It consists of a control force actuator and a sensor mounted at the actuator footprint on the radiating panel. The control actuator can react off the source panel. It is driven by an amplified velocity signal measured by the sensor. A fully coupled analytical structural-acoustic model is developed to study the effects of the active control on the sound transmission into the back cavity. The stability and performance of the active control system are firstly studied on a reduced order model. In the reduced order model only two fundamental modes of the fully coupled system are assumed. Secondly, a full order model is considered with a number of modes large enough to yield accurate simulation results up to 1000 Hz. It is shown that convincing reductions of the TBL-induced vibrations of the radiating panel and the sound pressure inside the back cavity can be expected. The reductions are more pronounced for a certain class of systems, which is characterised by the fundamental natural frequency of the skin panel larger than the fundamental natural frequency of the trim panel.

The message is the message-maker.

Science.gov (United States)

Chalkley, A B

1977-03-01

For those engaged in family planning or other demographic work of an active kind, serious errors can be made and much money and skill wasted unless there is a clear idea of available means of communication. Literacy and media-diffusion figures offer vague parameters, especially in Asia, and the role of spoken communication -- considered key in "illiterate" societies -- is even more difficult to assess. For mass media, the starting point is "diffusion rates" representing numbers of TV sets owned or newspapers sold per 1000 population and so on -- measures of quantity. This article surveys the population growth rates, urban-rural distribution, educational levels, literacy rates, numbers of newspapers bought, radios and TVs owned (per 1000 population) for 12 Asian countries, and discusses their meaning in terms of media use. Chief among the points made are that print media still have an enormous role to play in the developing countries -- newspaper diffusion rates are quite high, even in countries with low urban population (especially India). The quality of electronic media (too often considered the natural "wave of the future" everywhere) varies but is generally not high. Where they are fully developed their role is vital -- but it might be noted that it is the message makers themselves who are most vital. Choosing the right medium and the proper message for it is essential.

Comparing tailored and untailored text messages for smoking cessation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skov-Ettrup, L S; Ringgaard, L W; Dalum, P

2014-01-01

The aim was to compare the effectiveness of untailored text messages for smoking cessation to tailored text messages delivered at a higher frequency. From February 2007 to August 2009, 2030 users of an internet-based smoking cessation program with optional text message support aged 15-25 years were...... of text messages increases quit rates among young smokers....

Motivating Smoking Cessation Text Messages: Perspectives from Pregnant Smokers.

Science.gov (United States)

Schindler-Ruwisch, Jennifer M; Leavitt, Leah E; Macherelli, Laura E; Turner, Monique M; Abroms, Lorien C

2018-06-01

The purpose of this research is to analyze cessation text-messages written by pregnant smokers to elucidate the target population's preferred content and message attributes. To achieve this goal, the objectives of this study are three-fold; to qualitatively code messages written by pregnant smokers for frame, type of appeal, and intended target. Study participants were recruited as part of a larger trial of pregnant smokers who were enrolled in a text-messaging program or control group and surveyed 1 month post-enrollment. Each participant was asked to write a brief message to another pregnant smoker and two independent coders qualitatively analyzed responses. User generated messages (N = 51) were equally loss and gain framed, and the most common appeals were: fear, guilt, cognitive, hope and empathy, in order of most to least frequent. The target of the majority of the messages was the baby. Allowing pregnant smokers to write cessation text-messages for other pregnant women can provide relevant insight into intervention content. Specifically, pregnant smokers appear to equally promote gain and loss frames, but may prefer messages that include components of fear and guilt related to the impact of smoking on their baby. Additional research is needed to systematically uncover perspectives of pregnant smokers to ensure interventions are optimally effective.

Creating Effective Media Messaging for Rural Smoke-free Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Riker, Carol A; Butler, Karen M; Ricks, JaNelle M; Record, Rachael A; Begley, Kathy; Anderson, Debra Gay; Hahn, Ellen J

2015-01-01

Objectives were to (1) explore perceived effectiveness of existing smoke-free print advertisements in rural communities and (2) generate message content, characteristics, and media delivery channels that resonate with residents. Qualitative methods design. Thirty-nine rural adults recruited by community partners. Content analysis of findings from individuals in four focus groups who participated in general discussion and reviewed eight print ads related to secondhand smoke (SHS) and smoke-free policy. Six content themes were identified: smoking/SHS dangers, worker health, analogies, economic impact, rights, and nostalgia. Seven message characteristics were recognized: short/to the point, large enough to read, graphic images, poignant stories, statistics/charts/graphs, message sender, and messages targeting different groups. Four media delivery channels were considered most effective: local media, technology, billboard messages, and print materials. Seeking input from key informants is essential to reaching rural residents. Use of analogies in media messaging is a distinct contribution to the literature on effective smoke-free campaigns. Other findings support previous studies of effective messaging and delivery channels. Further research is needed to examine effectiveness of themes related to message content in smoke-free ads and delivery strategies. Effective media messaging can lead to policy change in rural communities to reduce exposure to SHS. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Toward mHealth Brief Contact Interventions in Suicide Prevention: Case Series From the Suicide Intervention Assisted by Messages (SIAM) Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Berrouiguet, Sofian; Larsen, Mark Erik; Mesmeur, Catherine; Gravey, Michel; Billot, Romain; Walter, Michel; Lemey, Christophe; Lenca, Philippe

2018-01-10

Research indicates that maintaining contact either via letter or postcard with at-risk adults following discharge from care services after a suicide attempt (SA) can reduce reattempt risk. Pilot studies have demonstrated that interventions using mobile health (mHealth) technologies are feasible in a suicide prevention setting. The aim of this study was to report three cases of patients recruited in the Suicide Intervention Assisted by Messages (SIAM) study to describe how a mobile intervention may influence follow-up. SIAM is a 2-year, multicenter randomized controlled trial conducted by the Brest University Hospital, France. Participants in the intervention group receive SIAM text messages 48 hours after discharge, then at day 8 and day 15, and months 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The study includes participants aged 18 years or older, who have attended a participating hospital for an SA, and have been discharged from the emergency department (ED) or a psychiatric unit (PU) for a stay of less than 7 days. Eligible participants are randomized between the SIAM intervention messages and a control group. In this study, we present three cases from the ongoing SIAM study that demonstrate the capability of a mobile-based brief contact intervention for triggering patient-initiated contact with a crisis support team at various time points throughout the mobile-based follow-up period. Out of the 244 patients recruited in the SIAM randomized controlled trial, three cases were selected to illustrate the impact of mHealth on suicide risk management. Participants initiated contact with the emergency crisis support service after receiving text messages up to 6 months following discharge from the hospital. Contact was initiated immediately following receipt of a text message or up to 6 days following a message. This text message-based brief contact intervention has demonstrated the potential to reconnect suicidal individuals with crisis support services while they are experiencing

Flow of Emotional Messages in Artificial Social Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Chmiel, Anna; Hołyst, Janusz A.

Models of message flows in an artificial group of users communicating via the Internet are introduced and investigated using numerical simulations. We assumed that messages possess an emotional character with a positive valence and that the willingness to send the next affective message to a given person increases with the number of messages received from this person. As a result, the weights of links between group members evolve over time. Memory effects are introduced, taking into account that the preferential selection of message receivers depends on the communication intensity during the recent period only. We also model the phenomenon of secondary social sharing when the reception of an emotional e-mail triggers the distribution of several emotional e-mails to other people.

Subtle Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamplin de Poinsot, Nan

1999-01-01

Describes a self-portrait assignment inspired by the work of Frida Kahlo. Discusses Frida Kahlo's artwork and use of surrealist and symbolist views. States that each student had to incorporate personal symbolism in the portrait to convey a message about him or herself in a subtle manner. (CMK)

Organizational identification and the communication of identity: effects of message characteristics on cognitive and affective identification.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanis, Martin; Beukeboom, Camiel J

2011-12-01

This paper reports an experimental study (N= 321) that tests how the cognitive and affective component of organizational identification (OI) can be affected by peripheral characteristics of organizational communication. Results show that adding cues in emails that signal organizational identity, such as the company logo, font, and colour of text, positively affect the cognitive component of OI, but not the affective component. In contrast, a personal focus in the message had a positive effect on the affective, but not on the cognitive component of OI. This study supports the idea that OI is a multi-faceted construct comprising a cognitive and affective component, and that these different components can be affected by different characteristics of organizational email messages. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

Art messaging to engage homeless young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyamathi, Adeline; Slagle, Alexandra; Thomas, Alexandra; Hudson, Angela; Kahilifard, Farinaz; Avila, Glenna; Orser, Julie; Cuchilla, Manuel

2011-01-01

Art has been shown to be an empowering and engaging entity with numerous benefits to vulnerable populations, including the homeless persons and young adults. However, little is known how homeless young adults perceive the use of art as messages that can communicate the danger of initiating or continuing drug and alcohol use. The purpose of this study was to solicit perspectives of homeless, drug-using young adults as to how art can be used to design messages for their peers about the danger of initiating or continuing drug and alcohol use. Qualitative methodology via focus group discussions was utilized to engage 24 homeless young adults enrolled from a drop-in site in Santa Monica, California. The findings revealed support for a myriad of delivery styles, including in-person communication, flyers, music, documentary film, and creative writing. The young adults also provided insight into the importance of the thematic framework of messages. Such themes ranged from empowering and hopeful messages to those designed to scare young homeless adults into not experimenting with drugs. The findings indicate that in addition to messages communicating the need to prevent or reduce drug and alcohol use, homeless young adults respond to messages that remind them of goals and dreams they once had for their future, and to content that is personal, real, and truthful. Our research indicates that messages that reinforce protective factors such as hope for the future and self-esteem may be as important to homeless young adults as information about the risks and consequences of drug use.

Predicting low back pain outcome following rehabilitation for low back pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, Andrew J; Dew, Angela; Bridger, Robert; Etherington, John; Kilminster, Shaun

2015-01-01

Psychosocial factors are known to play a key role in determining the progress of back pain patients. However, it is not known whether these factors are applicable to military personnel, who tend to be fitter than the general population. The aim was to identify physical and psychological predictors in a prospective study of the outcome of back pain rehabilitation over 6 months and a longer follow-up time of between 15 and 32 months. Two hundred and fifty military personnel reporting for a residential rehabilitation programme completed a battery of physical and psychological tests. The physical tests included 800 m run time and the Biering-Sorensen test. The psychological/psychosocial measures included items on fear avoidance, self efficacy, anxiety and depression and occupational psychosocial factors such as job satisfaction. Self efficacy and 800 m run time predicted self-reported functional ability at 6 months and medical discharge/return to full fitness at 15–32 months. Patients with 800 m run times of more than 3 minutes 31 seconds had a four times greater chance of medical discharge from the Armed forces. Eight hundred metre run time and self-efficacy were independent predictors of both self-reported functional ability at 6 months and return to full fitness/medical discharge at 15–32 months. Self-efficacy also predicted 40% of the variance in the intensity of back pain and 10% of other non-back pain. Rehabilitation should include greater emphasis on physical fitness and on improving self-efficacy.

A qualitative study of college student responses to conflicting messages in advertising: anti-binge drinking public service announcements versus wine promotion health messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Ho-Young; Wu, Lei; Kelly, Stephanie; Haley, Eric

2011-06-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate how college students deal with conflicting health messages in advertising regarding binge drinking and wine promotion. Phenomenological in-depth long interviews were conducted beyond the point of redundancy (N = 16). The results of this study indicated that students' meaning making regarding the conflicting messages relied greatly upon how consistent either message was with their prior beliefs about alcohol. Additionally, not all students perceived the messages to be contradictory; these students saw the messages as being constructed for different purposes and as such incomparable. Overall, students who perceived conflict responded to the topic with apathy fueled by advertising skepticism. Employing qualitative methodology to understand how college students respond to conflicting messages will assist health promotion practitioners develop more effective alcohol abuse prevention messages and provide suggestions for researchers for studying this phenomenon from other perspectives in the future. Implications are further discussed within.

Military Message Experiment. Volume II.

Science.gov (United States)

1982-04-01

elements of the Department of Defense. This resulted in a memorandum from the Director, Telecomunications and Comand and Control, OSD, in June 1975...1978 to April 1979 and provides a discussion of the telecomunications inter- face aspects of the experiment. This Final Report covers the period of...arise in the telecomunication system which require A retransmission of an outgoing message. A "service" message may be created within the

Use of text messaging for maternal and infant health: a systematic review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Poorman, Elisabeth; Gazmararian, Julie; Parker, Ruth M; Yang, Baiyu; Elon, Lisa

2015-05-01

Text messaging is an increasingly popular communication tool in health interventions, but has been little studied in maternal and infant health. This literature review evaluates studies of text messaging that may be applied to the promotion of maternal and infant health. Articles from peer-reviewed journals published before June 2012 were included if they were experimental or quasi-experimental studies of behaviors endorsed either by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the American Pediatrics Association, or the United States Preventive Services Task Force; included reproductive age women (12-50 years) or infants up to 2 years of age; and were available in English. Qualitative studies of text messaging specific to pregnant women were also included. Studies were compared and contrasted by key variables, including: design, time-period, study population, and results. Forty-eight articles were included, 30 of which were randomized controlled trials. Interventions vary greatly in effectiveness and soundness of methodology, but collectively indicate that there is a wide range of preventative behaviors that text message interventions can effectively promote, including smoking cessation, diabetes control, appointment reminders, medication adherence, weight loss, and vaccine uptake. Common methodological issues include not accounting for attention affect and not aligning text message content to measured outcomes. Those interventions that are based on an established theory of behavior change and use motivational as opposed to informational language are more likely to be successful. Building on the growing body of evidence for text message interventions reviewed here, as well as the growing popularity of text messaging as a medium, researchers should be able to use this technology to engage difficult to reach populations.

The course of low back pain from adolescence to adulthood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hestbaek, Lise; Leboeuf-Yde, Charlotte; Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm

2006-01-01

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study with 8-year follow-up. OBJECTIVE: To describe the evolution of low back pain from adolescence into adulthood. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: High prevalence rates of low back pain among children and adolescents have been demonstrated in several studies, and it has bee...

Top down and bottom up selection drives variations in frequency and form of a visual signal

OpenAIRE

Yeh, Chien-Wei; Blamires, Sean J.; Liao, Chen-Pan; Tso, I.-Min

2015-01-01

The frequency and form of visual signals can be shaped by selection from predators, prey or both. When a signal simultaneously attracts predators and prey, selection may favour a strategy that minimizes risks while attracting prey. Accordingly, varying the frequency and form of the silken decorations added to their web may be a way that Argiope spiders minimize predation while attracting prey. Nonetheless, the role of extraneous factors renders the influences of top down and bottom up selecti...

19 CFR 4.7d - Container status messages.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Container status messages. 4.7d Section 4.7d... TREASURY VESSELS IN FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC TRADES Arrival and Entry of Vessels § 4.7d Container status messages. (a) Container status messages required. In addition to the advance filing requirements pursuant...

Mobile phone messaging for communicating results of medical investigations.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; de Jongh, Thyra; Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; Car, Josip; Atun, Rifat

2012-06-13

� Two review authors independently assessed all studies against the inclusion criteria, with any disagreements resolved by a third review author. Study design features, characteristics of target populations, interventions and controls, and results data were extracted by two review authors and confirmed by a third. Primary outcomes of interest were health outcomes and healthcare utilisation as a result of the intervention. We also considered patients' and providers' evaluation of the intervention, perceptions of safety, costs and potential harms or adverse effects of the intervention. We included one randomised controlled trial involving 2782 participants. The study investigated the effects of mobile phone messaging in alleviating anxiety in women waiting for prenatal biochemical screening results for Down syndrome, by providing fast reporting of results before a follow-up appointment. The study measured health outcomes using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), which includes a scale (20 to 80 points, higher score indicates higher anxiety) to describe how the respondent feels at a particular moment in time (state anxiety). The study, which was at high risk of bias, found that women who had received their test result early by text message had a mean anxiety score 2.48 points lower than women who had not yet received their result (95% CI - 8.79 to 3.84). Women with a serum-negative test result receiving their result early had a mean anxiety score 5.3 points lower (95% CI - 5.99 to -4.61) than women in the control group. Women with a serum-positive test result receiving their result early by text message had a mean anxiety score 1.2 points higher (95% CI - 3.48 to 5.88) than women in the control group.The evidence was of low quality due to high risk of bias in the included study, and the fact that the evidence comes from one study only. The study did not report on other outcomes of interest, such as patient satisfaction, adverse events or cost. We found

QuakeUp: An advanced tool for a network-based Earthquake Early Warning system

Science.gov (United States)

Zollo, Aldo; Colombelli, Simona; Caruso, Alessandro; Elia, Luca; Brondi, Piero; Emolo, Antonio; Festa, Gaetano; Martino, Claudio; Picozzi, Matteo

2017-04-01

predicted P-wave amplitude at a dense spatial grid, including the nodes of the accelerometer/velocimeter array deployed in the earthquake source area. Within times of the order of ten seconds from the earthquake origin, the information about the area where moderate to strong ground shaking is expected to occur, can be sent to inner and outer sites, allowing the activation of emergency measurements to protect people , secure industrial facilities and optimize the site resilience after the disaster. Depending of the network density and spatial source coverage, this method naturally accounts for effects related to the earthquake rupture extent (e.g. source directivity) and spatial variability of strong ground motion related to crustal wave propagation and site amplification. In QuakeUp, the P-wave parameters are continuously measured, using progressively expanded P-wave time windows, and providing evolutionary and reliable estimates of the ground shaking distribution, especially in the case of very large events. Furthermore, to minimize the S-wave contamination on the P-wave signal portion, an efficient algorithm, based on the real-time polarization analysis of the three-component seismogram, for the automatic detection of the S-wave arrival time has been included. The final output of QuakeUp will be an automatic alert message that is transmitted to sites to be secured during the earthquake emergency. The message contains all relevant information about the expected potential damage at the site and the time available for security actions (lead-time) after the warning. A global view of the system performance during and after the event (in play-back mode) is obtained through an end-user visual display, where the most relevant pieces of information will be displayed and updated as soon as new data are available. The software platform Quake-Up is essentially aimed at improving the reliability and the accuracy in terms of parameter estimation, minimizing the uncertainties in the

Identifying spam e-mail messages using an intelligence algorithm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Parichehr Ghaedi

2014-06-01

Full Text Available During the past few years, there have been growing interests in using email for delivering various types of messages such as social, financial, etc. There are also people who use email messages to promote products and services or even to do criminal activities called Spam email. These unwanted messages are sent to different target population for different purposes and there is a growing interest to develop methods to filter such email messages. This paper presents a method to filter Spam email messages based on the keyword pattern. In this article, a multi-agent filter trade based on the Bayes rule, which has benefit of using the users’ interest, keywords and investigation the message content according to its topic, has been used. Then Nested Neural Network has been used to detect the spam messages. To check the authenticity of this proposed method, we test it for a couple of email messages, so that it could determine spams and hams from each other, effectively. The result shows the superiority of this method over the previous ones including filters with Multi-Layer Perceptron that detect spams.

Short Message Service (SMS) Texting Symbols: A Functional Analysis of 10,000 Cellular Phone Text Messages

Science.gov (United States)

Beasley, Robert E.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of symbolic expressions (e.g., "BTW," "LOL," "UR") in an SMS text messaging corpus consisting of over 10,000 text messages. More specifically, the purpose was to determine, not only how frequently these symbolic expressions are used, but how they are utilized in terms of the language functions…

How consumers evaluate eWOM (electronic word-of-mouth) messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Doh, Sun-Jae; Hwang, Jang-Sun

2009-04-01

This experiment explored how consumers evaluate electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) messages about products. Each participant was exposed a 10-message set in a single board. Five groups were manipulated in terms of their ratios of positive and negative messages. The result showed significant differences across various sets of eWOM messages. Although more positive sets showed higher scores in many cases, this was not true in all situations, especially for the case of credibility. Involvement and prior knowledge partially moderated the relationship between the ratio of messages and the eWOM effect. The credibility of Web sites and eWOM messages can be damaged in the long run if all of the eWOM messages are positive.

An Optimal Non-Interactive Message Authentication Protocol

OpenAIRE

Pasini, Sylvain; Vaudenay, Serge

2006-01-01

Vaudenay recently proposed a message authentication protocol which is interactive and based on short authenticated strings (SAS). We study here SAS-based non-interactive message authentication protocols (NIMAP). We start by the analysis of two popular non-interactive message authentication protocols. The first one is based on a collision-resistant hash function and was presented by Balfanz et al. The second protocol is based on a universal hash function family and was proposed by Gehrmann, Mi...

The clinical usefulness of a web-based messaging system between patients with Crohn disease and their physicians.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeong, Da Eun; Kim, Kyeong Ok; Jang, Byung Ik; Kim, Eun Young; Jung, Jin Tae; Jeon, Seong Woo; Lee, Hyun Seok; Kim, Eun Soo; Park, Kyung Sik; Cho, Kwang Bum

2016-06-01

visit. Although longer follow-up is required, this study shows that the devised messaging system provides a clinically relevant communication tool for patients and physicians.

Text messaging-based smoking cessation intervention: a narrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Grace; Ells, Daniel M; Camenga, Deepa R; Krishnan-Sarin, Suchitra

2014-05-01

Smoking cessation interventions delivered via text messaging on mobile phones may enhance motivations to quit smoking. The goal of this narrative review is to describe the text messaging interventions' theoretical contents, frequency and duration, treatment outcome, and sample characteristics such as age and motivation to quit, to better inform the future development of this mode of intervention. Studies were included if text messaging was primarily used to deliver smoking cessation intervention and published in English in a peer-reviewed journal. All articles were coded by two independent raters to determine eligibility and to extract data. Twenty-two studies described 15 text messaging interventions. About half of the interventions recruited adults (ages 30-40) and the other half targeted young adults (ages 18-29). Fourteen interventions sent text messages during the quit phase, 10 had a preparation phase and eight had a maintenance phase. The number of text messages and the duration of the intervention varied. All used motivational messages grounded in social cognitive behavioral theories, 11 used behavioral change techniques, and 14 used individually tailored messages. Eleven interventions also offered other smoking cessation tools. Three interventions yielded smoking cessation outcomes greater than the control condition. The proliferation of text messaging in recent years suggests that text messaging interventions may have the potential to improve smoking cessation rates. Detailed summary of the interventions suggests areas for future research and clinical application. More rigorous studies are needed to identify components of the interventions that can enhance their acceptability, feasibility and efficacy. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Preference for gain- or loss-framed electronic cigarette prevention messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Grace; Cavallo, Dana A; Camenga, Deepa R; Morean, Meghan E; Krishnan-Sarin, Suchitra

2016-11-01

Effective electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) prevention messages are needed to combat the rising popularity/uptake of e-cigarettes among youth. We examined preferences for e-cigarette prevention messages that either emphasized gains (e.g., You save money by not using e-cigarettes) or losses (e.g., You spend money by using e-cigarettes) among adolescents and young adults. Using surveys in two middle schools, four high schools, and one college in CT (N=5405), we assessed students' preferences for gain- or loss-framed e-cigarette prevention messages related to four themes: financial cost, health risks, addiction potential, and social labeling as a smoker. We also assessed whether preferences for each message framing theme differed by sex, school level, cigarette-use status, and e-cigarette use-status. We also examined whether preference for message framing differed by cigarette and e-cigarette susceptibility status among never e-cigarette users. Overall, loss-framing was preferred for message themes related to health risks, addiction potential, and social labeling as a smoker, whereas gain-framing was preferred for message themes related to financial cost. Logistic regression analyses showed that 1) females preferred loss-framed messages for all themes relative to males, 2) lifetime e-cigarette users preferred loss-framed health risks and social labeling messages relative to never users, and 3) high school students preferred gain-framed social labeling messages relative to college students. The preference for message framing did not differ by cigarette or e-cigarette susceptibility. Preference for message framing differed by themes and individual characteristics. This formative research could inform the construction of persuasive e-cigarette prevention messages. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A hazard-independent approach for the standardised multi-channel dissemination of warning messages

Science.gov (United States)

Esbri Palomares, M. A.; Hammitzsch, M.; Lendholt, M.

2012-04-01

capabilities of different dissemination channels such as SMS, email and television, have bearing on the information processing required for delivery and consumption of a DEWS EDXL-DE/CAP message over each dissemination channel. These messages may include additional information in the form of maps, graphs, documents, sensor observations, etc. Therefore, the generated messages are pre-processed by channel adaptors in the information dissemination services converting it into a format that is suitable for end-to-end delivery over the dissemination channels without any semantic distortion. The approach followed by DEWS for disseminating warnings not only relies on traditional communication ways used by the already established early warnings such as the delivery of faxes and phone calls but takes into consideration the use of other broadly used communication channels such as SMS, email, narrowcast and broadcast television, instant messaging, Voice over IP, and radio. It also takes advantage of social media channels like RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter, etc., enabling a multiplier effect, like in the case of radio and television, and thus allowing to create mash-ups by aggregating other sources of information to the original message. Finally, status information is also important in order to assess and understand whether the process of disseminating the warning to the message consumers has been successfully completed or the process failed at some point of the dissemination chain. To that end, CAP-based messages generated within the information dissemination services provide the semantics for those fields that are of interest within the context of reporting the warning dissemination status in DEWS.

Quantum messages with signatures forgeable in arbitrated quantum signature schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Taewan; Choi, Jeong Woon; Jho, Nam-Su; Lee, Soojoon

2015-01-01

Even though a method to perfectly sign quantum messages has not been known, the arbitrated quantum signature scheme has been considered as one of the good candidates. However, its forgery problem has been an obstacle to the scheme becoming a successful method. In this paper, we consider one situation, which is slightly different from the forgery problem, that we use to check whether at least one quantum message with signature can be forged in a given scheme, although all the messages cannot be forged. If there are only a finite number of forgeable quantum messages in the scheme, then the scheme can be secured against the forgery attack by not sending forgeable quantum messages, and so our situation does not directly imply that we check whether the scheme is secure against the attack. However, if users run a given scheme without any consideration of forgeable quantum messages, then a sender might transmit such forgeable messages to a receiver and in such a case an attacker can forge the messages if the attacker knows them. Thus it is important and necessary to look into forgeable quantum messages. We show here that there always exists such a forgeable quantum message-signature pair for every known scheme with quantum encryption and rotation, and numerically show that there are no forgeable quantum message-signature pairs that exist in an arbitrated quantum signature scheme. (paper)

Countering Islamic State Messaging Through “Linkage-Based” Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.M. Berger

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The Islamic State’s recent losses on the battlefield, including significant casualties within its media and propaganda division, offer a unique opportunity to inject competing and alternative messages into the information space. This paper proposes that the content of such messages should be guided by a linkage-based analysis of existing Islamic State messaging. A linkage-based analysis of a top-level 2017 audio message by Islamic State spokesperson Abu Hasan al Muhajir offers several potential insights into crafting effective content for competing and alternative messages. A comparison of the 2017 work to earlier Islamic State messaging also reveals specific opportunities to undermine the credibility of the organisation’s broader propaganda programme by highlighting the organisation’s repeated failure to follow through on its extravagantly promised commitment to achieving its stated goals.

RSA Key Development Using Fingerprint Image on Text Message

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Sayuti; Triana, Indah; Khairani, Sumi; Yasir, Amru; Sundari, Siti

2017-12-01

Along with the development of technology today, humans are very facilitated in accessing information and Communicate with various media, including through the Internet network . Messages are sent by media such as text are not necessarily guaranteed security. it is often found someone that wants to send a secret message to the recipient, but the messages can be known by irresponsible people. So the sender feels dissappointed because the secret message that should be known only to the recipient only becomes known by the irresponsible people . It is necessary to do security the message by using the RSA algorithm, Using fingerprint image to generate RSA key.This is a solution to enrich the security of a message,it is needed to process images firstly before generating RSA keys with feature extraction.

Formal description of the jumpstart just-in-time signaling protocol using EFSM

Science.gov (United States)

Zaim, A. H.; Baldine, Ilia; Cassada, Mark; Rouskas, George N.; Perros, Harry G.; Stevenson, Daniel S.

2002-07-01

We present a formal protocol description for a Just-In-Time (JIT) signaling scheme running over a core dWDM network which utilizes Optical Burst Switches (OBS). We apply an eight-tuple extended finite state machine (EFSM) model to formally specify the protocol. Using the EFSM model, we define the communication between a source client node and a destination client node through an ingress and one or multiple intermediate switches. We worked on single burst connections that means setting up the connection just before sending a single burst and then closing the connection as soon as the burst is sent. The communication between the EFSMs is handled through message transfer between protocol entities.

Influence of low back pain and prognostic value of MRI in sciatica patients in relation to back pain.

Science.gov (United States)

el Barzouhi, Abdelilah; Vleggeert-Lankamp, Carmen L A M; Lycklama à Nijeholt, Geert J; Van der Kallen, Bas F; van den Hout, Wilbert B; Koes, Bart W; Peul, Wilco C

2014-01-01

Patients with sciatica frequently complain about associated back pain. It is not known whether there are prognostic relevant differences in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) findings between sciatica patients with and without disabling back pain. The study population contained patients with sciatica who underwent a baseline MRI to assess eligibility for a randomized trial designed to compare the efficacy of early surgery with prolonged conservative care for sciatica. Two neuroradiologists and one neurosurgeon independently evaluated all MR images. The MRI readers were blinded to symptom status. The MRI findings were compared between sciatica patients with and without disabling back pain. The presence of disabling back pain at baseline was correlated with perceived recovery at one year. Of 379 included sciatica patients, 158 (42%) had disabling back pain. Of the patients with both sciatica and disabling back pain 68% did reveal a herniated disc with nerve root compression on MRI, compared to 88% of patients with predominantly sciatica (Psciatica at baseline was negatively associated with perceived recovery at one year (Odds ratio [OR] 0.32, 95% Confidence Interval 0.18-0.56, PSciatica patients with disabling back pain in absence of nerve root compression on MRI at baseline reported less perceived recovery at one year compared to those with predominantly sciatica and nerve root compression on MRI (50% vs 91%, PSciatica patients with disabling low back pain reported an unfavorable outcome at one-year follow-up compared to those with predominantly sciatica. If additionally a clear herniated disc with nerve root compression on MRI was absent, the results were even worse.

Hybrid Message-Embedded Cipher Using Logistic Map

OpenAIRE

Mishra, Mina; Mankar, V. H.

2012-01-01

The proposed hybrid message embedded scheme consists of hill cipher combined with message embedded chaotic scheme. Message-embedded scheme using non-linear feedback shift register as non-linear function and 1-D logistic map as chaotic map is modified, analyzed and tested for avalanche property and strength against known plaintext attack and brute-force attack. Parameter of logistic map acts as a secret key. As we know that the minimum key space to resist brute-force attack is 2100, and it is ...

Messages about Sexuality: An Ecological Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Boone, Tanya L.

2015-01-01

The goal of this two-part study was to identify the perceived influence of sexuality messages from parents, peers, school and the media--four microsystems within the Ecological Model--on emerging adult US college women's sexual attitudes. Findings suggest that parents were the most likely source of the message to "remain abstinent until…

OMG U got flu? Analysis of shared health messages for bio-surveillance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Collier Nigel

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Micro-blogging services such as Twitter offer the potential to crowdsource epidemics in real-time. However, Twitter posts (‘tweets’ are often ambiguous and reactive to media trends. In order to ground user messages in epidemic response we focused on tracking reports of self-protective behaviour such as avoiding public gatherings or increased sanitation as the basis for further risk analysis. Results We created guidelines for tagging self protective behaviour based on Jones and Salathé (2009’s behaviour response survey. Applying the guidelines to a corpus of 5283 Twitter messages related to influenza like illness showed a high level of inter-annotator agreement (kappa 0.86. We employed supervised learning using unigrams, bigrams and regular expressions as features with two supervised classifiers (SVM and Naive Bayes to classify tweets into 4 self-reported protective behaviour categories plus a self-reported diagnosis. In addition to classification performance we report moderately strong Spearman’s Rho correlation by comparing classifier output against WHO/NREVSS laboratory data for A(H1N1 in the USA during the 2009-2010 influenza season. Conclusions The study adds to evidence supporting a high degree of correlation between pre-diagnostic social media signals and diagnostic influenza case data, pointing the way towards low cost sensor networks. We believe that the signals we have modelled may be applicable to a wide range of diseases.

Real Time Assessment of Young Adults' Attitudes toward Tobacco Messages.

Science.gov (United States)

Hébert, Emily T; Vandewater, Elizabeth A; Businelle, Michael S; Harrell, Melissa B; Kelder, Steven H; Perry, Cheryl L

2018-01-01

We used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine young adults' attitudes towards pro-tobacco messages encountered in real time and their association with intentions to use tobacco. Young adults (N = 92, ages 18-29) recorded sightings of marketing or social media related to tobacco in real time via mobile app for 28 days. Participants reported message characteristics, their attitudes towards the message, and intentions to use the depicted product for each submission. We used generalized linear mixed models to examine factors related to attitude towards message and intentions to use tobacco. Messages depicting e-cigarettes (p < .001) or hookah (p < .05) were associated with significantly more favorable attitudes compared with traditional cigarettes. Positive attitude towards the message was significantly associated with intention to use the depicted product (p < .001). Messages depicting e-cigarettes and hookah were significantly associated with higher intention to use. Message source was not significantly related to attitudes towards the message or product use intentions. Marketing featuring e-cigarettes and hookah is an important target for future regulation. Given that pro-tobacco and e-cigarette messages are prevalent online, future research should consider the Internet and social media as important venues for counter-marketing and intervention efforts.

The impact of text message reminders on adherence to antimalarial treatment in northern Ghana: a randomized trial.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia R G Raifman

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Low rates of adherence to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT regimens increase the risk of treatment failure and may lead to drug resistance, threatening the sustainability of current anti-malarial efforts. We assessed the impact of text message reminders on adherence to ACT regimens. METHODS: Health workers at hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other stationary ACT distributors in Tamale, Ghana provided flyers advertising free mobile health information to individuals receiving malaria treatment. The messaging system automatically randomized self-enrolled individuals to the control group or the treatment group with equal probability; those in the treatment group were further randomly assigned to receive a simple text message reminder or the simple reminder plus an additional statement about adherence in 12-hour intervals. The main outcome was self-reported adherence based on follow-up interviews occurring three days after treatment initiation. We estimated the impact of the messages on treatment completion using logistic regression. RESULTS: 1140 individuals enrolled in both the study and the text reminder system. Among individuals in the control group, 61.5% took the full course of treatment. The simple text message reminders increased the odds of adherence (adjusted OR 1.45, 95% CI [1.03 to 2.04], p-value 0.028. Receiving an additional message did not result in a significant change in adherence (adjusted OR 0.77, 95% CI [0.50 to 1.20], p-value 0.252. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that a simple text message reminder can increase adherence to antimalarial treatment and that additional information included in messages does not have a significant impact on completion of ACT treatment. Further research is needed to develop the most effective text message content and frequency. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01722734.

The impact of text message reminders on adherence to antimalarial treatment in northern Ghana: a randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Raifman, Julia R G; Lanthorn, Heather E; Rokicki, Slawa; Fink, Günther

2014-01-01

Low rates of adherence to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) regimens increase the risk of treatment failure and may lead to drug resistance, threatening the sustainability of current anti-malarial efforts. We assessed the impact of text message reminders on adherence to ACT regimens. Health workers at hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and other stationary ACT distributors in Tamale, Ghana provided flyers advertising free mobile health information to individuals receiving malaria treatment. The messaging system automatically randomized self-enrolled individuals to the control group or the treatment group with equal probability; those in the treatment group were further randomly assigned to receive a simple text message reminder or the simple reminder plus an additional statement about adherence in 12-hour intervals. The main outcome was self-reported adherence based on follow-up interviews occurring three days after treatment initiation. We estimated the impact of the messages on treatment completion using logistic regression. 1140 individuals enrolled in both the study and the text reminder system. Among individuals in the control group, 61.5% took the full course of treatment. The simple text message reminders increased the odds of adherence (adjusted OR 1.45, 95% CI [1.03 to 2.04], p-value 0.028). Receiving an additional message did not result in a significant change in adherence (adjusted OR 0.77, 95% CI [0.50 to 1.20], p-value 0.252). The results of this study suggest that a simple text message reminder can increase adherence to antimalarial treatment and that additional information included in messages does not have a significant impact on completion of ACT treatment. Further research is needed to develop the most effective text message content and frequency. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01722734.

Alternative Data Storage Solution for Mobile Messaging Services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David C. C. Ong

2007-01-01

Full Text Available In recent years, mobile devices have become relatively more powerful with additional features which have the capability to provide multimedia streaming. Better, faster and more reliable data storage solutions in the mobile messaging platform have become more essential with these additional improvements. The existing mobile messaging infrastructure, in particular the data storage platform has become less proficient in coping with the increased demand for its services. This demand especially in the mobile messaging area (i.e. SMS – Short Messaging Service, MMS – Multimedia Messaging Service, which may well exceeded 250,000 requests per second, means that the need to evaluate competing data management systems has become not only necessary but essential. This paper presents an evaluation of SMS and MMS platforms using different database management systems – DBMS and recommends the best data management strategies for these platforms.

Mathematical Models Light Up Plant Signaling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chew, Y.H.; Smith, R.W.; Jones, H.J.; Seaton, D.D.; Grima, R.; Halliday, K.J.

2014-01-01

Plants respond to changes in the environment by triggering a suite of regulatory networks that control and synchronize molecular signaling in different tissues, organs, and the whole plant. Molecular studies through genetic and environmental perturbations, particularly in the model plant Arabidopsis

Social media for message testing: a multilevel approach to linking favorable viewer responses with message, producer, and viewer influence on YouTube.

Science.gov (United States)

Paek, Hye-Jin; Hove, Thomas; Jeon, Jehoon

2013-01-01

To explore the feasibility of social media for message testing, this study connects favorable viewer responses to antismoking videos on YouTube with the videos' message characteristics (message sensation value [MSV] and appeals), producer types, and viewer influences (viewer rating and number of viewers). Through multilevel modeling, a content analysis of 7,561 viewer comments on antismoking videos is linked with a content analysis of 87 antismoking videos. Based on a cognitive response approach, viewer comments are classified and coded as message-oriented thought, video feature-relevant thought, and audience-generated thought. The three mixed logit models indicate that videos with a greater number of viewers consistently increased the odds of favorable viewer responses, while those presenting humor appeals decreased the odds of favorable message-oriented and audience-generated thoughts. Some significant interaction effects show that videos produced by laypeople may hinder favorable viewer responses, while a greater number of viewer comments can work jointly with videos presenting threat appeals to predict favorable viewer responses. Also, for a more accurate understanding of audience responses to the messages, nuance cues should be considered together with message features and viewer influences.

Back pain and low back pain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cotta, H.; Niethard, F.U.

1983-01-01

In patients with back pain there is only a poor correlation between clinical and radiological symptoms. Therefore the interpretation of radiological findings is only possible with respect to the natural history of the disease. Indication for radiological examination is given for early diagnosis and treatment of malinformation of the spine; diagnosis and treatment of functional disturbances of the spine with back- and low back pain and diagnosis and treatment of diseases which affect the stability of the vertebrae. (orig.)

Psychogenic Low-Back Pain and Hysterical Paralysis in Adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanchiku, Tsukasa; Suzuki, Hidenori; Imajo, Yasuaki; Yoshida, Yuichiro; Nishida, Norihiro; Taguchi, Toshihiko

2017-10-01

A retrospective review. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical outcomes in adolescents diagnosed with psychogenic low-back pain and hysterical paralysis and to evaluate the efficacy of differential diagnosis methods. The incidence of low-back pain in adolescence is similar to that in adults, but the causes of low-back pain are difficult to determine in most cases. For these patients, a definitive diagnosis of psychogenic low-back pain and hysterical paralysis as well as adequate treatment are clinically important to avoid unnecessary surgical treatment. Eleven patients (3 males and 8 females; mean age, 16.5 years; range, 13-19 y) diagnosed with psychogenic low-back pain and hysterical paralysis were followed up for 2-10.25 years (mean, 4.67 y). Nonorganic signs were observed in almost all patients. For the purpose of excluding organic disorders, the thiopentone pain study was used in patients who complained mainly of pain, and motor evoked potentials using transcranial magnetic stimulation were measured in patients experiencing primarily muscle weakness. The psychiatric diagnosis was neurosis in 9 patients, whereas it was psychosomatic disorder in 2 patients. Conservative treatment, such as physiotherapy, was performed, and at the final follow-up evaluation, outcomes were regarded as excellent in 7 patients and good in 4 patients. The prognosis of psychogenic low-back pain and hysterical paralysis in adolescence is relatively good. However, it is important to understand the characteristics of psychogenic low-back pain and hysterical paralysis in childhood and young adulthood and to perform accurate diagnosis by screening for nonorganic signs and excluding organic disorders by using the thiopentone pain study and motor evoked potentials obtained using transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Mobile phone messaging for preventive health care.

Science.gov (United States)

Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; de Jongh, Thyra; Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; Atun, Rifat; Car, Josip

2012-12-12

messaging support had a significantly higher likelihood of quitting smoking than those in a control group at 6 weeks (RR 2.20, 95% CI 1.79 to 2.70) and at 12 weeks follow-up (RR 1.55, 95% CI 1.30 to 1.84). At 26 weeks, there was only a significant difference between groups if, for participants with missing data, the last known value was carried forward. There was very low quality evidence from one study that mobile phone messaging interventions for self-monitoring of healthy behaviours related to childhood weight control did not have a statistically significant effect on physical activity, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages or screen time.For the secondary outcome of acceptability, there was very low quality evidence from one study that user evaluation of the intervention was similar between groups. There was moderate quality evidence from one study of no difference in adverse effects of the intervention, measured as rates of pain in the thumb or finger joints, and car crash rates.None of the studies reported the secondary outcomes of health service utilisation or costs of the intervention. We found very limited evidence that in certain cases mobile phone messaging interventions may support preventive health care, to improve health status and health behaviour outcomes. However, because of the low number of participants in three of the included studies, combined with study limitations of risk of bias and lack of demonstrated causality, the evidence for these effects is of low to moderate quality. The evidence is of high quality only for interventions aimed at smoking cessation. Furthermore, there are significant information gaps regarding the long-term effects, risks and limitations of, and user satisfaction with, such interventions.

Driver memory for in-vehicle visual and auditory messages

Science.gov (United States)

1999-12-01

Three experiments were conducted in a driving simulator to evaluate effects of in-vehicle message modality and message format on comprehension and memory for younger and older drivers. Visual icons and text messages were effective in terms of high co...

Mobile phone messaging for facilitating self-management of long-term illnesses.

Science.gov (United States)

de Jongh, Thyra; Gurol-Urganci, Ipek; Vodopivec-Jamsek, Vlasta; Car, Josip; Atun, Rifat

2012-12-12

capacity to self-manage the condition, there is moderate quality evidence from one study that diabetes patients receiving the text messaging intervention demonstrated improved scores on measures of self-management capacity (Self-Efficacy for Diabetes score (MD 6.10, 95% CI 0.45 to 11.75), Diabetes Social Support Interview pooled score (MD 4.39, 95% CI 2.85 to 5.92)), but did not show improved knowledge of diabetes. There is moderate quality evidence from three studies of the effects on treatment compliance. One study showed an increase in hypertensive patients' rates of medication compliance in the intervention group (MD 8.90, 95% CI 0.18 to 17.62) compared with the control group, but in another study there was no statistically significant effect on rates of compliance with peak expiratory flow measurement in asthma patients. Text message prompts for diabetic patients initially also resulted in a higher number of blood glucose results sent back (46.0) than email prompts did (23.5).For the secondary outcome of participants' evaluation of the intervention, there is very low quality evidence from two studies that patients receiving mobile phone messaging support reported perceived improvement in diabetes self-management, wanted to continue receiving messages, and preferred mobile phone messaging to email as a method to access a computerised reminder system.For the secondary outcome of health service utilisation, there is very low quality evidence from two studies. Diabetes patients receiving text messaging support made a comparable number of clinic visits and calls to an emergency hotline as patients without the support. For asthma patients the total number of office visits was higher in the text messaging group, whereas the number of hospital admissions was higher for the control group.Because of the small number of trials included, and the low overall number of participants, for any of the reviewed outcomes the quality of the evidence can at best be considered moderate. We

Belief propagation decoding of quantum channels by passing quantum messages

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Renes, Joseph M

2017-01-01

The belief propagation (BP) algorithm is a powerful tool in a wide range of disciplines from statistical physics to machine learning to computational biology, and is ubiquitous in decoding classical error-correcting codes. The algorithm works by passing messages between nodes of the factor graph associated with the code and enables efficient decoding of the channel, in some cases even up to the Shannon capacity. Here we construct the first BP algorithm which passes quantum messages on the factor graph and is capable of decoding the classical–quantum channel with pure state outputs. This gives explicit decoding circuits whose number of gates is quadratic in the code length. We also show that this decoder can be modified to work with polar codes for the pure state channel and as part of a decoder for transmitting quantum information over the amplitude damping channel. These represent the first explicit capacity-achieving decoders for non-Pauli channels. (fast track communication)

Belief propagation decoding of quantum channels by passing quantum messages

Science.gov (United States)

Renes, Joseph M.

2017-07-01

The belief propagation (BP) algorithm is a powerful tool in a wide range of disciplines from statistical physics to machine learning to computational biology, and is ubiquitous in decoding classical error-correcting codes. The algorithm works by passing messages between nodes of the factor graph associated with the code and enables efficient decoding of the channel, in some cases even up to the Shannon capacity. Here we construct the first BP algorithm which passes quantum messages on the factor graph and is capable of decoding the classical-quantum channel with pure state outputs. This gives explicit decoding circuits whose number of gates is quadratic in the code length. We also show that this decoder can be modified to work with polar codes for the pure state channel and as part of a decoder for transmitting quantum information over the amplitude damping channel. These represent the first explicit capacity-achieving decoders for non-Pauli channels.

Gender messages in contemporary popular Malay songs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Collin Jerome

2013-07-01

Full Text Available Gender has been an important area of research in the field of popular music studies. Numerous scholars have found that contemporary popular music functions as a locus of diverse constructions and expressions of gender. While most studies focus on content analyses of popular music, there is still a need for more research on audience’s perception of popular music’s messages. This study examined adult Malay listeners’ perceptions of gender messages in contemporary Malay songs. A total of 16 contemporary Malay songs were analysed using Fairclough’s (1992 method of text analysis. The content of the songs that conveyed messages about gender were the basis for analysis. The results showed that the messages revolve mainly around socially constructed gender roles and expectations in romantic relationships. Gender stereotypes are also used in the songs to reinforce men’s and women’s roles in romantic relationships. The results also showed that, while listeners acknowledge the songs’ messages about gender, their own perceptions of gender and what it means to be a gendered being in today’s world are neither represented nor discussed fully in the songs analysed. It is hoped the findings from this, particularly the mismatch between projected and perceived notions of gender, contribute to the field of popular Malay music studies in particular, and popular music studies in general where gender messages in popular songs and their influence on listeners’ perceptions of their own gender is concerned.

Fear, threat and efficacy in threat appeals: Message involvement as a key mediator to message acceptance

OpenAIRE

Cauberghe, Verolien; De Pelsmacker, Patrick; JANSSENS, Wim; Dens, Nathalie

2009-01-01

In a sample of 170 youngsters, the effect of two versions of a public service announcement (PSA) threat appeal against speeding, placed in four different contexts. on evoked fear, perceived threat (severity and probability of occurrence), perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy, message involvement and anti-speeding attitude and anti-speeding intention is investigated. Evoked fear and perceived threat and efficacy independently influence message involvement...

Supervising simulations with the Prodiguer Messaging Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Greenslade, Mark; Carenton, Nicolas; Denvil, Sebastien

2015-04-01

At any one moment in time, researchers affiliated with the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) climate modeling group, are running hundreds of global climate simulations. These simulations execute upon a heterogeneous set of High Performance Computing (HPC) environments spread throughout France. The IPSL's simulation execution runtime is called libIGCM (library for IPSL Global Climate Modeling group). libIGCM has recently been enhanced so as to support realtime operational use cases. Such use cases include simulation monitoring, data publication, environment metrics collection, automated simulation control … etc. At the core of this enhancement is the Prodiguer messaging platform. libIGCM now emits information, in the form of messages, for remote processing at IPSL servers in Paris. The remote message processing takes several forms, for example: 1. Persisting message content to database(s); 2. Notifying an operator of changes in a simulation's execution status; 3. Launching rollback jobs upon simulation failure; 4. Dynamically updating controlled vocabularies; 5. Notifying downstream applications such as the Prodiguer web portal; We will describe how the messaging platform has been implemented from a technical perspective and demonstrate the Prodiguer web portal receiving realtime notifications.

Automated Text Messaging as an Adjunct to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression: A Clinical Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilera, Adrian; Bruehlman-Senecal, Emma; Demasi, Orianna; Avila, Patricia

2017-05-08

attended more sessions (median=6 sessions) during this period than patients assigned to the control condition (median =2.5 sessions), but the effect was not significant (Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney z=-1.65, P=.10). Both patients assigned to the text messaging adjunct (B=-.29, 95% CI -0.38 to -0.19, z=-5.80, Ptext messaging as a tool to sustain engagement in CBT for depression over time. There were no differences in depression outcomes between conditions, but this may be influenced by low follow-up rates of patients who dropped out of treatment. ©Adrian Aguilera, Emma Bruehlman-Senecal, Orianna Demasi, Patricia Avila. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 08.05.2017.

Synchronous message-based communication for distributed heterogeneous systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilkinson, N.; Dohan, D.

1992-01-01

The use of a synchronous, message-based real-time operating system (Unison) as the basis of transparent interprocess and inter-processor communication over VME-bus is described. The implementation of a synchronous, message-based protocol for network communication between heterogeneous systems is discussed. In particular, the design and implementation of a message-based session layer over a virtual circuit transport layer protocol using UDP/IP is described. Inter-process communication is achieved via a message-based semantic which is portable by virtue of its ease of implementation in other operating system environments. Protocol performance for network communication among heterogeneous architecture is presented, including VMS, Unix, Mach and Unison. (author)

Determining the impact of text messaging for sexual health promotion to young people.

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, Judy; Lim, Megan S C; Hocking, Jane S; Keogh, Louise A; Spelman, Tim; Hellard, Margaret E

2011-04-01

The use of new technologies, such as mobile phones and internet, has increased dramatically in recent years. Text messages offer a novel method of sexual health promotion to young people who are the greatest users of new technology and are also at high risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In January 2008, young people aged between 16 and 29 years were recruited from a music festival in Melbourne, Australia. They completed a short survey and were asked to provide their mobile phone numbers. Participants received fortnightly short messaging service (SMS) relating to sexual health for 4 months, and then completed an online follow-up survey. Survey data were weighted to account for those lost to follow-up. McNemar's test was used to compare changes in survey responses. A total of 1771 participants were included in analysis as they were sexually active and provided a valid mobile phone number at baseline. In all, 18% (319/1771) withdrew from receiving the SMS during the broadcast period and 40% (587/1452) completed the follow-up survey. The majority reported on the follow-up survey that they found the SMS entertaining (80%), informative (68%), and they showed the SMS to others (73%). Weighted analyses found a significant increase in knowledge (P rate, positive feedback, and an observed improvement in sexual health knowledge and STI testing.

Percutaneous lumbar discectomy in treatment of chronic discogenic low back pain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Xiao; Duang Zhaohui; Xu Zhitao; Wang Jianhui; Yu Xiaolong

2005-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of percutaneous lumbar discectomy in treating chronic discogenic low back pain. Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed the treatment of 26 patients with chronic discogenic low back pain. All of the cases were treated with PLD under TV monitoring. Results: A follow-up of 26 patients for 3 to 48 months showing no severe complication. Followed-up lasting for 3 to 6 months, 15 cases were evaluated as excellent, 7 as good, 3 as fair and 1 as poor with the excellent and good rates reaching 84.6% by MacNab standard. Followed up from 7 to 12 months, 11 cases were evaluated as excellent, 6 as good, 3 as fair and 2 as poor with total effective rate of 77.2%. 14 cases were followed up for 12 to 48 months, the results revealed excellent in 7 patients, good in 4, fair in 1, and poor in 2, the excellent and good rates reached 78.5%. Conclusions: PLD is an effective and safe procedure in treating discogenic low back pain. (authors)

Arbitrated quantum signature scheme with message recovery

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Hwayean; Hong, Changho; Kim, Hyunsang; Lim, Jongin; Yang, Hyung Jin

2004-01-01

Two quantum signature schemes with message recovery relying on the availability of an arbitrator are proposed. One scheme uses a public board and the other does not. However both schemes provide confidentiality of the message and a higher efficiency in transmission

Evaluating the effectiveness of an Australian obesity mass-media campaign: how did the 'Measure-Up' campaign measure up in New South Wales?

Science.gov (United States)

King, E L; Grunseit, A C; O'Hara, B J; Bauman, A E

2013-12-01

In 2008, the Australian Government launched a mass-media campaign 'Measure-Up' to reduce lifestyle-related chronic disease risk. Innovative campaign messages linked waist circumference and chronic disease risk. Communication channels for the campaign included television, press, radio and outdoor advertising and local community activities. This analysis examines the impact of the campaign in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Cross-sectional telephone surveys (n = 1006 adults pre- and post-campaign) covered self-reported diet and physical activity, campaign awareness, knowledge about waist circumference, personal relevance of the message, perceived confidence to make lifestyle changes and waist-measuring behaviours. The campaign achieved high unprompted (38%) and prompted (89%) awareness. From pre- to post-campaign, knowledge and personal relevance of the link between waist circumference and chronic disease and waist measuring behaviour increased, although there were no significant changes in reported fruit and vegetable intake nor in physical activity. Knowledge of the correct waist measurement threshold for chronic disease risk increased over 5-fold, adjusted for demographic characteristics. 'Measure-Up' was successful at communicating the new campaign messages. Continued long-term investment in campaigns such as 'Measure-Up', supplemented with community-based health promotion, may contribute to population risk factor understanding and behaviour change to reduce chronic disease.

OPNET simulation Signaling System No.7 (SS7) network interfaces

OpenAIRE

Ow, Kong Chung.

2000-01-01

This thesis presents an OPNET model and simulation of the Signaling System No.7 (SS7) network, which is dubbed the world's largest data communications network. The main focus of the study is to model one of its levels, the Message Transfer Part Level 3, in accordance with the ITU.T recommendation Q.704. An overview of SS7 that includes the evolution and basics of SS7 architecture is provided to familarize the reader with the topic. This includes the protocol stack, signaling points, signaling...

(In-)Secure messaging with the Silent Circle instant messaging protocol

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verschoor, S.R.; Lange, T.

2016-01-01

Silent Text, the instant messaging application by the company Silent Circle, provides its users with end-to-end encrypted communication on the Blackphone and other smartphones. The underlying protocol, SCimp, has received many extensions during the update to version 2, but has not been subjected to

ZeroMQ: Messaging Made Simple

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2013-01-01

Since its inception in 2007, ZeroMQ has defined a new product category of thin, fast, open source message transports. This little library has now grown into a large, vibrant community of projects tied together with standard protocols and APIs. Applications, written in any language, talk to each other over TCP, multicast, or inproc transports, using a single socket-based API, and a set of "patterns" (pub-sub, request-reply, dealer-router, pipeline). ZeroMQ handles message framing, batching, and I/O, but ignores aspects like serialization and persistence. By focussing on the essentials, and acting as a toolkit rather than a pre-packaged solution, ZeroMQ turns the complex problem of distributed computing into a relatively simple recipe. About the speaker Pieter Hintjens is a writer, programmer, and public speaker who has spent decades building large software systems, organizations, and businesses. He designed the Advanced Message Queuing Protocol (AMQP) in 2006 for JPMorganChase and left ...

Mental health message appeals and audience engagement: Evidence from Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Yap, Jo En; Zubcevic-Basic, Nives; Johnson, Lester W; Lodewyckx, Michaela A

2017-09-07

Social media platforms are increasingly used to disseminate social marketing messages about mental health and wellbeing. This study presents a range of message appeals used in social media enabled mental health promotion and stigma reduction messages. Furthermore, it examines the relationship between the type of message appeals and audience engagement. A content analysis of 65 organisation-generated YouTube videos about depression and anxiety and stigma reduction was conducted. The most utilised message appeal was Sorrow, followed by Affiliation, Ease/Convenience, Hope, Humour, Guilt/Shame, Heroic/Successful, and Fear. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the type of message appeals and audience engagement in terms of the number of likes, comments, and shares. The analysis revealed that Sorrow is the most useful message appeal for generating audience comments. However, Sorrow is negatively associated with the number of likes and shares. The results suggest that mental health promotion messages may engage a larger audience through Affiliation and Hope as they have a positive impact on the number of shares. This could, in effect, turn audiences into vocal advocates for mental health promotion and stigma reduction messages. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Technical Evaluation Reports 15. Chat and Instant Messaging Systems (synchronous: Report 3/ 3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian Ludwig

2002-10-01

Full Text Available [Previous reviews of chat and IM systems are presented in Reports 6 and 14 in this series.]A further set of four text-based instant messaging (IM products was evaluated: AT&T Anywhere, Parachat, Sonork, and Yahoo Messenger, all available at no cost. Yahoo Messenger was judged to be the most effective of the three products for use by distance education (DE teachers and students, being compatible with most common operating systems and accommodating up to 50 chat room participants. Yahoo Messenger also possesses integrated audio and video capabilities. AT&T Anywhere is an efficient product, which supports Windows-based operating systems only. Parachat (Basic version is a basic, browser accessed chat board without instant messaging (IM capabilities.

VISUAL ART AND REGULATORY FIT MESSAGES ON CONSUMER EVALUATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danielle Mantovani

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In this study, we demonstrate that the art infusion effect, in which the presence of visual art causes a positive impact on consumers’ perceptions of products and advertising messages, might have a moderation effect on regulatory fit and non-fit messages. We investigate the impact of visual art on advertisement evaluations in regulatory (non- fit conditions. Regulatory focus theory suggests that consumers rely on their motivational focus (prevention vs. promotion for their evaluations and decisions. Usually, consumers prefer products that fit with their personal motivational focus. In the present study, the results of three experiments indicate that using visual art with a promotion or prevention fit message is recommended, while non-art images increase message persuasiveness when non-fit messages are presented. Therefore, not all information compatible with the consumer’s motivational focus are best evaluated. When non-art images are presented, non-fit messages might be more persuasive.

Back and neck pain and function in females with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: A follow-up at least 23 years after conservative treatment with a Milwaukee brace.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewa Misterska

Full Text Available We aimed to explore the long-term outcomes of back and neck pain and functionality in adult females with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS, who had been treated with a Milwaukee brace, in a follow-up study a minimum of 23 years after the completion of the treatment, using radiological, clinical and socio-demographical data. Thirty AIS patients (scoliosis group-SG, were included in the study based on an extensive search of Pediatric Orthopedics and Traumatology Clinic charts. All treatments were successfully completed between 1974 and 1990. In all cases, scoliosis had not been detected before the age of 10 and was not combined with any major spinal deformities at the time when the brace treatment was implemented. In those patients, the Risser sign 4 and minimum two years post-menarche was defined as a maturity, after that time the brace treatment was completed. Patients were excluded from the study if they, at the time of the follow-up examinations, suffered from any other disease leading to trunk deformity. Forty patients met the criteria for inclusion, but due to change some personal details, not all of them were contacted. Finally, 30 women returned for a follow-up evaluation. Patients' follow-up period was mean 27.77 yrs. ± SD 3.30 (range 23-35. Curvature change from the end of the treatment until the present day was mean 9.1 degrees ± SD 7.64 (range 0-27. A control group of 42 healthy females (healthy controls group-HG matching the age profile of the patient group was randomly selected for comparative purposes.Both SG and HG completed the Polish versions of the Revised Oswestry Lower Back Pain Disability Index (RODI, the Rolland-Morris Questionnaire (RMQ, the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QDS, the Neck Disability Index (NDI and the Copenhagen Neck Functional Disability Scale (CNFDS. Descriptive statistics were calculated for demographics and baseline questionnaire scores. To determine if the investigated sample sizes are equivalent

Integrated health messaging for multiple neglected zoonoses: Approaches, challenges and opportunities in Morocco.

Science.gov (United States)

Ducrotoy, M J; Yahyaoui Azami, H; El Berbri, I; Bouslikhane, M; Fassi Fihri, O; Boué, F; Petavy, A F; Dakkak, A; Welburn, S; Bardosh, K L

2015-12-01

Integrating the control of multiple neglected zoonoses at the community-level holds great potential, but critical data is missing to inform the design and implementation of different interventions. In this paper we present an evaluation of an integrated health messaging intervention, using powerpoint presentations, for five bacterial (brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis) and dog-associated (rabies, cystic echinococcosis and leishmaniasis) zoonotic diseases in Sidi Kacem Province, northwest Morocco. Conducted by veterinary and epidemiology students between 2013 and 2014, this followed a process-based approach that encouraged sequential adaptation of images, key messages, and delivery strategies using auto-evaluation and end-user feedback. We describe the challenges and opportunities of this approach, reflecting on who was targeted, how education was conducted, and what tools and approaches were used. Our results showed that: (1) replacing words with local pictures and using "hands-on" activities improved receptivity; (2) information "overload" easily occurred when disease transmission pathways did not overlap; (3) access and receptivity at schools was greater than at the community-level; and (4) piggy-backing on high-priority diseases like rabies offered an important avenue to increase knowledge of other zoonoses. We conclude by discussing the merits of incorporating our validated education approach into the school curriculum in order to influence long-term behaviour change. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding the effectiveness of the entertainment-education strategy: an investigation of how audience involvement, message processing, and message design influence health information recall.

Science.gov (United States)

Quintero Johnson, Jessie M; Harrison, Kristen; Quick, Brian L

2013-01-01

A growing body of evidence suggests that entertainment-education (EE) is a promising health communication strategy. The purpose of this study was to identify some of the factors that facilitate and hinder audience involvement with EE messages. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the authors introduce a construct they call experiential involvement, which describes the experience of being cognitively and emotionally involved with EE messages and is a product of transportation into an EE text and identification with EE characters. Using an experimental design, the authors also investigated how reports of experiential involvement and health information recall varied depending on the degree to which the educational content was well integrated with the narrative content in EE messages. Findings indicated that integration significantly influenced health information recall. Results indicated that experiential involvement and the perception that the health topic in EE messages was personally relevant predicted participants' systematic processing of the information in EE messages. Contrary to expectation, personal relevance did not predict experiential involvement, and systematic message processing was negatively related to health information recall. Implications for the construction of EE messages and the study of the EE strategy are discussed.

Mobile phone short message service messaging for behaviour modification in a community-based weight control programme in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Joo, Nam-Seok; Kim, Bom-Taeck

2007-01-01

We conducted a community-based anti-obesity programme using mobile phone short message service (SMS) messaging. A total of 927 participants were recruited and visited a public health centre for initial assessment. Mobile phones were used to deliver short messages about diet, exercise and behaviour modification once a week. After a 12-week anti-obesity programme they visited the public health centre again. Four hundred and thirty-three subjects (47%) successfully completed their weight control programme. There were mean reductions of weight, waist circumference and body mass index of 1.6 kg (P behaviour modification in weight control and anti-obesity health education programmes when promoted by community health centres.

Message strategies in direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising: a content analysis using Taylor's six-segment message strategy wheel.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsai, Wan-Hsiu Sunny; Lancaster, Alyse R

2012-01-01

This exploratory study applies Taylor's (1999) six-segment message strategy wheel to direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical television commercials to understand message strategies adopted by pharmaceutical advertisers to persuade consumers. A convenience sample of 96 DTC commercial campaigns was analyzed. The results suggest that most DTC drug ads used a combination approach, providing consumers with medical and drug information while simultaneously appealing to the viewer's ego-related needs and desires. In contrast to ration and ego strategies, other approaches including routine, acute need, and social are relatively uncommon while sensory was the least common message strategy. Findings thus recognized the educational value of DTC commercials.

A Doherty Power Amplifier with Large Back-Off Power Range Using Integrated Enhancing Reactance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wa Kong

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A symmetric Doherty power amplifier (DPA based on integrated enhancing reactance (IER was proposed for large back-off applications. The IER was generated using the peaking amplifier with the help of a desired impedance transformation in the low-power region to enhance the back-off efficiency of the carrier amplifier. To convert the impedances properly, both in the low-power region and at saturation, a two-impedance matching method was employed to design the output matching networks. For verification, a symmetric DPA with large back-off power range over 2.2–2.5 GHz was designed and fabricated. Measurement results show that the designed DPA has the 9 dB back-off efficiency of higher than 45%, while the saturated output power is higher than 44 dBm over the whole operation bandwidth. When driven by a 20 MHz LTE signal, the DPA can achieve good average efficiency of around 50% with adjacent channel leakage ratio of about –50 dBc after linearization over the frequency band of interest. The linearity improvement of the DPA for multistandard wireless communication system was also verified with a dual-band modulated signal.

Porting Gravitational Wave Signal Extraction to Parallel Virtual Machine (PVM)

Science.gov (United States)

Thirumalainambi, Rajkumar; Thompson, David E.; Redmon, Jeffery

2009-01-01

Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a planned NASA-ESA mission to be launched around 2012. The Gravitational Wave detection is fundamentally the determination of frequency, source parameters, and waveform amplitude derived in a specific order from the interferometric time-series of the rotating LISA spacecrafts. The LISA Science Team has developed a Mock LISA Data Challenge intended to promote the testing of complicated nested search algorithms to detect the 100-1 millihertz frequency signals at amplitudes of 10E-21. However, it has become clear that, sequential search of the parameters is very time consuming and ultra-sensitive; hence, a new strategy has been developed. Parallelization of existing sequential search algorithms of Gravitational Wave signal identification consists of decomposing sequential search loops, beginning with outermost loops and working inward. In this process, the main challenge is to detect interdependencies among loops and partitioning the loops so as to preserve concurrency. Existing parallel programs are based upon either shared memory or distributed memory paradigms. In PVM, master and node programs are used to execute parallelization and process spawning. The PVM can handle process management and process addressing schemes using a virtual machine configuration. The task scheduling and the messaging and signaling can be implemented efficiently for the LISA Gravitational Wave search process using a master and 6 nodes. This approach is accomplished using a server that is available at NASA Ames Research Center, and has been dedicated to the LISA Data Challenge Competition. Historically, gravitational wave and source identification parameters have taken around 7 days in this dedicated single thread Linux based server. Using PVM approach, the parameter extraction problem can be reduced to within a day. The low frequency computation and a proxy signal-to-noise ratio are calculated in separate nodes that are controlled by the master

Patient transfers and risk of back injury

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vinstrup, Jonas; Madeleine, Pascal; Jakobsen, Markus Due

2017-01-01

in Danish nurses during patient transfers performed with different types of assistive devices, and (2) to combine the exposure profile for each type of assistive device with fortnightly questionnaires to identify the importance of muscle load (intensity and frequency of transfers) and body position (degree...... which type of assistive devices most efficiently prevent LBP, exposure assessments using technological advancements allow for quantification of muscle load and body positions during common work tasks. OBJECTIVE: The main objectives of this study are (1) to quantify low back and neck/shoulder muscle load....... The prospective cohort study will consist of questionnaires at baseline and 1-year follow-up, as well as follow-up via email every other week for one year on questions regarding the frequency of patient transfers, use of assistive devices, intensity of LBP, and back injuries related to patient transfers...

Suspecting Neurological Dysfunction From E Mail Messages ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A non medical person suspected and confirmed neurological dysfunction in an individual, based only on e mail messages sent by the individual. With email communication becoming rampant “peculiar” email messages may raise the suspicion of neurological dysfunction. Organic pathology explaining the abnormal email ...

Back and neck pain and function in females with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: A follow-up at least 23 years after conservative treatment with a Milwaukee brace

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

We aimed to explore the long-term outcomes of back and neck pain and functionality in adult females with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), who had been treated with a Milwaukee brace, in a follow-up study a minimum of 23 years after the completion of the treatment, using radiological, clinical and socio-demographical data. Thirty AIS patients (scoliosis group–SG), were included in the study based on an extensive search of Pediatric Orthopedics and Traumatology Clinic charts. All treatments were successfully completed between 1974 and 1990. In all cases, scoliosis had not been detected before the age of 10 and was not combined with any major spinal deformities at the time when the brace treatment was implemented. In those patients, the Risser sign 4 and minimum two years post-menarche was defined as a maturity, after that time the brace treatment was completed. Patients were excluded from the study if they, at the time of the follow-up examinations, suffered from any other disease leading to trunk deformity. Forty patients met the criteria for inclusion, but due to change some personal details, not all of them were contacted. Finally, 30 women returned for a follow-up evaluation. Patients’ follow-up period was mean 27.77 yrs. ± SD 3.30 (range 23–35). Curvature change from the end of the treatment until the present day was mean 9.1 degrees ± SD 7.64 (range 0–27). A control group of 42 healthy females (healthy controls group—HG) matching the age profile of the patient group was randomly selected for comparative purposes.Both SG and HG completed the Polish versions of the Revised Oswestry Lower Back Pain Disability Index (RODI), the Rolland-Morris Questionnaire (RMQ), the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QDS), the Neck Disability Index (NDI) and the Copenhagen Neck Functional Disability Scale (CNFDS). Descriptive statistics were calculated for demographics and baseline questionnaire scores. To determine if the investigated sample sizes are equivalent

Tendency to Message Delivery in Internet Viral Marketing

OpenAIRE

Mostafa Ghazizadeh; Ahmad Sardari; Seyyed Reza Shojaee; Mehdi Samizadeh

2011-01-01

Abstract The main goal of this research is to review and determine the factors associated with tendency to forward the marketing messages in viral marketing plans of Fast-food industries. In other words, in this study, the effects of three critical determinants, i.e. commercial intention, attractiveness, and media richness have been examined on receivers' intention to forward marketing message in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz. Findings imply that receivers’ attitude toward the message has pos...

Jet-Tagged Back-Scattering Photons for Quark Gluon Plasma Tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fries, Rainer J. [Cyclotron Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A and M University, College Station, TX 77845 (United States); De, Somnath; Srivastava, Dinesh K. [Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, 1/AF, Bidhan Nagar, Kolkata – 700064 (India)

2013-05-02

Direct photons are important probes for quark gluon plasma created in high energy nuclear collisions. Various sources of direct photons in nuclear collisions are known, each of them endowed with characteristic information about the production process. However, it has been challenging to separate direct photon sources through measurements of single inclusive photon spectra and photon azimuthal asymmetry. Here we explore a method to identify photons created from the back-scattering of high momentum quarks off quark gluon plasma. We show that the correlation of back-scattering photons with a trigger jet leads to a signal that should be measurable at RHIC and LHC.

CUTANEUS STIMULATION: SLOW-STROKE BACK MASSAGE REDUCES THE INTENSITY OF OSTEOARTRITIS PAIN OF ELDERLY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mira Triharini

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Osteoarthritis disease is the result of both mechanical and biological process which lead come to unstable degradation and synthesis of condrozyte cartilage and extracellular matrix. The risk factor of this instability is aging process. The aging process stimulates osteophytes formation and degradation of cartilage, and emerged pain as primary clinical symptom. One of the non pharmacological ways to cope this pain is by applying cutaneus stimulation through slow-stroke back massage method. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of applying cutaneus stimulation with slow-stroke back massage method to osteoarthritis’s pain intensity. Method: Pre experimental design with one group pre test-post test approach was used in this study. The subject of this study were elderly above 50 years old living in Panti Werdha Hargo Dedali Surabaya, 15 participants were involved using purpose sampling technique. This study started on January 29th until February 6th, 2010. Data were collected by interview and observation and analyzed by WIlcoxcon Signed Rank Test α = 0.05, p value <α. Result: The Result showed that the message intervention was significantly affect the elder’s level of osteoarthritis pain in Panti Werdha Hargo Dedali Surabaya (p = 0.003. Discussion: It can be concluded that gives stimulation cutaneus: slow-stroke back massage reduce osteoathritis pain intensity. Slow-stroke back massage increase level of endorphin, so that pain reduction and individual pain perception will decrease.

The feasibility, patterns of use and acceptability of using mobile phone text-messaging to improve treatment adherence and post-treatment review of children with uncomplicated malaria in western Kenya.

Science.gov (United States)

Otieno, Gabriel; Githinji, Sophie; Jones, Caroline; Snow, Robert W; Talisuna, Ambrose; Zurovac, Dejan

2014-02-03

Trials evaluating the impact of mobile phone text-messaging to support management of acute diseases, such as malaria, are urgently needed in Africa. There has been however a concern about the feasibility of interventions that rely on access to mobile phones among caregivers in rural areas. To assess the feasibility and inform development of an intervention to improve adherence to malaria medications and post-treatment review, mobile phone network, access, ownership and use among caregivers in western Kenya was assessed. A cross-sectional survey based on outpatient exit interviews was undertaken among caregivers of children with malaria at four trial facilities. The main outcomes were proportions of caregivers that have mobile signal at home; have access to mobile phones; are able to read; and use text-messaging. Willingness to receive text-message reminders was also explored. Descriptive analyses were performed. Of 400 interviewed caregivers, the majority were female (93.5%), mothers of the sick children (87.8%) and able to read (97.3%). Only 1.7% of caregivers were without any education. Nearly all (99.8%) reported access to a mobile signal at home. 93.0% (site range: 89-98%) had access to a mobile phone within their household while 73.8% (site range: 66-78%) possessed a personal phone. Among caregivers with mobile phone access, 93.6% (site range: 85-99%) used the phone to receive text-messages. Despite only 19% having electricity at home nearly all (99.7%) caregivers reported that they would be able to have permanent phone access to receive text-messages in the next 28 days. Willingness to receive text-message reminders was nearly universal (99.7%) with 41.7% of caregivers preferring texts in English, 32.3% in Kiswahili and 26.1% in Dholuo. Despite concerns that the feasibility of text-messaging interventions targeting caregivers may be compromised in rural high malaria risk areas in Kenya, very favourable conditions were found with respect to mobile network

Teaching Students the Persuasive Message through Small Group Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Creelman, Valerie

2008-01-01

Teaching students to write persuasive messages is a critical feature of any undergraduate business communications course. For the persuasive writing module in the author's course, students write a persuasive message on the basis of the four-part indirect pattern often used for sales or fund-raising messages. The course text she uses identifies…

Message Correlation Analysis Tool for NOvA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu Qiming; Biery, Kurt A; Kowalkowski, James B

2012-01-01

A complex running system, such as the NOvA online data acquisition, consists of a large number of distributed but closely interacting components. This paper describes a generic real-time correlation analysis and event identification engine, named Message Analyzer. Its purpose is to capture run time abnormalities and recognize system failures based on log messages from participating components. The initial design of analysis engine is driven by the data acquisition (DAQ) of the NOvA experiment. The Message Analyzer performs filtering and pattern recognition on the log messages and reacts to system failures identified by associated triggering rules. The tool helps the system maintain a healthy running state and to minimize data corruption. This paper also describes a domain specific language that allows the recognition patterns and correlation rules to be specified in a clear and flexible way. In addition, the engine provides a plugin mechanism for users to implement specialized patterns or rules in generic languages such as C++.

Message Correlation Analysis Tool for NOvA

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

A complex running system, such as the NOvA online data acquisition, consists of a large number of distributed but closely interacting components. This paper describes a generic realtime correlation analysis and event identification engine, named Message Analyzer. Its purpose is to capture run time abnormalities and recognize system failures based on log messages from participating components. The initial design of analysis engine is driven by the DAQ of the NOvA experiment. The Message Analyzer performs filtering and pattern recognition on the log messages and reacts to system failures identified by associated triggering rules. The tool helps the system maintain a healthy running state and to minimize data corruption. This paper also describes a domain specific language that allows the recognition patterns and correlation rules to be specified in a clear and flexible way. In addition, the engine provides a plugin mechanism for users to implement specialized patterns or rules in generic languages such as C++.

Message correlation analysis tool for NOvA

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lu, Qiming [Fermilab; Biery, Kurt A. [Fermilab; Kowalkowski, James B. [Fermilab

2012-01-01

A complex running system, such as the NOvA online data acquisition, consists of a large number of distributed but closely interacting components. This paper describes a generic real-time correlation analysis and event identification engine, named Message Analyzer. Its purpose is to capture run time abnormalities and recognize system failures based on log messages from participating components. The initial design of analysis engine is driven by the data acquisition (DAQ) of the NOvA experiment. The Message Analyzer performs filtering and pattern recognition on the log messages and reacts to system failures identified by associated triggering rules. The tool helps the system maintain a healthy running state and to minimize data corruption. This paper also describes a domain specific language that allows the recognition patterns and correlation rules to be specified in a clear and flexible way. In addition, the engine provides a plugin mechanism for users to implement specialized patterns or rules in generic languages such as C++.

A one-mode-for-all predictor for text messaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vimala Balakrishnan

2011-08-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the enhancements made on the current mobile phone messaging software, namely the predictive text entry. In addition, the application also has a facility to abbreviate any unabbreviated words that exist in the dictionary, so that the message length can be reduced. The application was tested in a computer-simulated mobile environment and the results of the tests are presented here. These additional features will potentially enable users to send messages at a reduced length and thus reduce the cost of sending messages. Moreover, users who are not adept in using the abbreviations can now do so with features made available on their mobile phones. It is believed that these additional features will also encourage more users to use the predictive software as well as further improve users’ messaging satisfaction.

Measurements of SIP Signaling over 802.11b Links

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hesselman, C.E.W.; Eertink, Henk; Eertink, E.H.; Widya, I.A.; Huizer, E.

The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a popular application-level signaling protocol that is used for a wide variety of applications such as session control and mobility handling. In some of these applications, the exchange of SIP messages is time-critical, for instance when SIP is used to handle

Asynchronous Message Service Reference Implementation

Science.gov (United States)

Burleigh, Scott C.

2011-01-01

This software provides a library of middleware functions with a simple application programming interface, enabling implementation of distributed applications in conformance with the CCSDS AMS (Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems Asynchronous Message Service) specification. The AMS service, and its protocols, implement an architectural concept under which the modules of mission systems may be designed as if they were to operate in isolation, each one producing and consuming mission information without explicit awareness of which other modules are currently operating. Communication relationships among such modules are self-configuring; this tends to minimize complexity in the development and operations of modular data systems. A system built on this model is a society of generally autonomous, inter-operating modules that may fluctuate freely over time in response to changing mission objectives, modules functional upgrades, and recovery from individual module failure. The purpose of AMS, then, is to reduce mission cost and risk by providing standard, reusable infrastructure for the exchange of information among data system modules in a manner that is simple to use, highly automated, flexible, robust, scalable, and efficient. The implementation is designed to spawn multiple threads of AMS functionality under the control of an AMS application program. These threads enable all members of an AMS-based, distributed application to discover one another in real time, subscribe to messages on specific topics, and to publish messages on specific topics. The query/reply (client/server) communication model is also supported. Message exchange is optionally subject to encryption (to support confidentiality) and authorization. Fault tolerance measures in the discovery protocol minimize the likelihood of overall application failure due to any single operational error anywhere in the system. The multi-threaded design simplifies processing while enabling application nodes to

Vital Sign Monitoring Through the Back Using an UWB Impulse Radar With Body Coupled Antennas.

Science.gov (United States)

Schires, Elliott; Georgiou, Pantelis; Lande, Tor Sverre