A study of how to implement a successful CRM by identifying challenges using DEMATEL method: An empirical study on small to medium business units

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Bahman Saeidipour

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper identifies and analyzes barriers of customer relationship management (CRM implementation in SMEs. Hence, based on a comprehensive review of the literature and gathering the viewpoint of experts, the influencing barriers are identified. In order to analyze the identified barriers, DEMATEL methodology is applied and a causal model of the relationships between barriers is developed. Furthermore, based on the DEMATEL results the barriers are also categorized into two groups of driver and dependent. The results of study show that inadequate budget, organization culture, obligation of major management to CRM and inadequate access to modern technical knowledge are among effective impediments and play important role in successful establishment of customer relationship management system.

Methods of Developing User-Friendly Keys to Identify Green Sea Turtles (Chelonia mydas L. from Photographs

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Jane R. Lloyd

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Identifying individual animals is important in understanding their ecology and behaviour, as well as providing estimates of population sizes for conservation efforts. We produce identification keys from photographs of green sea turtles to identify them while foraging in Akumal Bay, Mexico. We create three keys, which (a minimise the length of the key, (b present the most obvious differential characteristics first, and (c remove the strict dichotomy from key b. Keys were capable of identifying >99% of turtles in >2500 photographs during the six-month study period. The keys differed significantly in success rate for students to identify individual turtles, with key (c being the best with >70% success and correctly being followed further than other keys before making a mistake. User-friendly keys are, therefore, a suitable method for the photographic identification of turtles and could be used for other large marine vertebrates in conservation or behavioural studies.

Identifying the most successful dose (MSD) in dose-finding studies in cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Zohar, Sarah; O'Quigley, John

2006-01-01

For a dose finding study in cancer, the most successful dose (MSD), among a group of available doses, is that dose at which the overall success rate is the highest. This rate is the product of the rate of seeing non-toxicities together with the rate of tumor response. A successful dose finding trial in this context is one where we manage to identify the MSD in an efficient manner. In practice we may also need to consider algorithms for identifying the MSD which can incorporate certain restrictions, the most common restriction maintaining the estimated toxicity rate alone below some maximum rate. In this case the MSD may correspond to a different level than that for the unconstrained MSD and, in providing a final recommendation, it is important to underline that it is subject to the given constraint. We work with the approach described in O'Quigley et al. [Biometrics 2001; 57(4):1018-1029]. The focus of that work was dose finding in HIV where both information on toxicity and efficacy were almost immediately available. Recent cancer studies are beginning to fall under this same heading where, as before, toxicity can be quickly evaluated and, in addition, we can rely on biological markers or other measures of tumor response. Mindful of the particular context of cancer, our purpose here is to consider the methodology developed by O'Quigley et al. and its practical implementation. We also carry out a study on the doubly under-parameterized model, developed by O'Quigley et al. but not

Method of evaluating the success of the small and medium-sized enterprises

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Aleš Peprný

2010-01-01

Full Text Available At the time of increasing globalization and homogenization of the global markets, the development of information infrastructure technology and world market becomes accessible not only to large multinational companies but also for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs. This has resulted in increasing competition in the domestic market which domestic firms have to face. Therefore the pro­cess of internationalization of business is a step that allows businesses performing their activities in the domestic market to enter foreign markets and to exploit the opportunities and potential which these markets offer. The paper is focused on the draft of the method for quantification of the factors, which determine the success of the SMEs in foreign markets. In the proposed method the multidimensional assessment of indicators of success of SMEs in foreign markets are used, ie. not only the proportion of sales from exports is observed, but also the profitability of international activities in an absolute and in a relative rate. Other indicators of success are the satisfaction of the company management with international activities and the success of achieving defined targets for business activities in foreign markets. Evaluation is made up of both the objective and the subjective indicators of success. Among the objective indicators of success is included the intensity of international activities of SMEs, which is detected as the sum of revenues generated from international activities in relation to total sales company, the profitability of international activities, (ie. whether the foreign activities are profitable or not, and the relative profitability of international activities, where it is ascertained whether the foreign activities generate higher profit than the activities at the domestic market. The next subjective indicator of success is the success of objectives - it was found how many objectives related to operations in foreign markets has been

Development of a new method to identify aminoacylated RNA

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Wang Ji

2014-02-01

Full Text Available A RT-PCR method is developed to isolate RNA aminoacylated on their 3’ end from large pools of RNA. The method is being applied in two separate projects. We are interested in isolating a new class of ribozymes that could successively catalyze the two chemical reactions leading to their own 3’ aminoacylation (ATP activation of an amino acid followed by 3' esterification of the RNA. The catalysis of each of the two reactions has independently been demonstrated for some RNA isolated with the SELEX methodology [1-2]. However, the coupling of both reactions on a same molecule has not been achieved yet. The identification of these still hypothetical ribozymes may help understand how the former translation system started in the absence of the aminoacyltRNA Synthetase, which catalyzes the above two reactions on tRNA in modern cells. In another project, we would like to identify the whole repertoire of aminoacylated RNA (the “aminoacylome” in cells. There are strong indications that other RNA besides tRNA and tmRNA may be aminoacylated for biological purposes [3-4].

Organisational Issues for E-Learning: Critical Success Factors as Identified by HE Practitioners

Science.gov (United States)

McPherson, Maggie; Nunes, Miguel Baptista

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project that identified organisational critical success factors (CSFs) for e-learning implementation in higher education (HE). These CSFs can be used as a theoretical foundation upon which to base decision-making and strategic thinking about e-learning. Design/methodology/approach: The…

Is it a match? a novel method of evaluating medical school success.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Leslie L; Nagler, Alisa; Rudd, Mariah; Grochowski, Colleen O'Connor; Buckley, Edward G; Chudgar, Saumil M; Engle, Deborah L

2018-12-01

Medical education program evaluation allows for curricular improvements to both Undergraduate (UME) and Graduate Medical Education (GME). UME programs are left with little more than match rates and self-report to evaluate success of graduates in The Match. This manuscript shares a novel method of program evaluation through a systematic assessment of Match outcomes. Surveys were developed and distributed to Program Training Directors (PTDs) at our institution to classify residency programs into which our UME graduates matched using an ordinal response scale and open-ended responses. Outcomes-based measures for UME graduates were collected and analyzed. The relationship between PTD survey data and UME graduates' outcomes were explored. Open-ended response data were qualitatively analyzed using iterative cycles of coding and identifying themes. The PTD survey response rate was 100%. 71% of our graduates matched to programs ranked as 'elite' (36%) or 'top' (35%) tier. The mean total number of 'Honors' grades achieved by UME graduates was 2.6. Data showed that graduates entering elite and top GME programs did not consistently earn Honors in their associated clerkships. A positive correlation was identified between USMLE Step 1 score, number of honors, and residency program rankings for a majority of the programs. Qualitative analysis identified research, faculty, and clinical exposure as necessary characteristics of 'elite' programs:. Factors considered by PTDs in the rating of programs included reputation, faculty, research, national presence and quality of graduates. This study describes a novel outcomes-based method of evaluating the success of UME programs. Results provided useful feedback about the quality of our UME program and its ability to produce graduates who match in highly-regarded GME programs. The findings from this study can benefit Clerkship Directors, Student Affairs and Curriculam Deans, and residency PTDs as they help students determine their

Identifying Successful Learners from Interaction Behaviour

Science.gov (United States)

McCuaig, Judi; Baldwin, Julia

2012-01-01

The interaction behaviours of successful, high-achieving learners when using a Learning Management System (LMS) are different than the behaviours of learners who are having more difficulty mastering the course material. This paper explores the idea that conventional Learning Management Systems can exploit data mining techniques to predict the…

A simple and successful sonographic technique to identify the sciatic nerve in the parasacral area.

Science.gov (United States)

Taha, Ahmad Muhammad

2012-03-01

The purpose of this study was to describe detailed sonographic anatomy of the parasacral area for rapid and successful identification of the sciatic nerve. Fifty patients scheduled for knee surgery were included in this observational study. An ultrasound-guided parasacral sciatic nerve block was performed in all patients. The ultrasound probe was placed on an axial plane 8 cm lateral to the uppermost point of the gluteal cleft. Usually, at this level the posterior border of the ischium (PBI), a characteristically curved hyperechoic line, could be identified. The sciatic nerve appeared as a hyperechoic structure just medial to the PBI. The nerve lies deep to the piriformis muscle lateral to the inferior gluteal vessels, and if followed caudally, it rests directly on the back of the ischium. After confirmation with electrical stimulation, a 20-mL mixture of 1% ropivacaine and 1% lidocaine with epinephrine was injected. The sciatic nerve was identified successfully in 48 patients (96%). In those patients, the median time required for its ultrasonographic identification was ten seconds [interquartile range, 8-13.7 sec], and the block success rate was 100%. The described sonographic details of the parasacral area allowed for rapid and successful identification of the sciatic nerve.

Risk and Performance Technologies: Identifying the Keys to Successful Implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McClain, Lynn; Smith, Art; O'Regan, Patrick

2002-01-01

The nuclear power industry has been utilizing risk and performance based technologies for over thirty years. Applications of these technologies have included risk assessment (e.g. Individual Plant Examinations), burden reduction (e.g. Risk-Informed Inservice Inspection, RI-ISI) and risk management (Maintenance Rule, 10CFR50.65). Over the last five to ten years the number of risk-informed (RI) burden reduction initiatives has increased. Unfortunately, the efficiencies of some of these applications have been questionable. This paper investigates those attributes necessary to support successful, cost-effective RI-applications. The premise to this paper is that by understanding the key attributes that support one successful application, insights can be gleaned that will streamline/coordinate future RI-applications. This paper is an extension to a paper presented at the Pressure Vessel and Piping (PVP-2001) Conference. In that paper, a number issues and opportunities were identified that needed to be assessed in order to support future (and efficient) RI-applications. It was noted in the paper that a proper understanding and resolution of these issues will facilitate implementation of risk and performance technology in the operation, maintenance and design disciplines. In addition, it will provide the foundation necessary to support regulatory review and approval. (authors)

An Alternative Method for Identifying Interplanetary Magnetic Cloud Regions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ojeda-Gonzalez, A.; Prestes, A.; Klausner, V. [Laboratory of Physics and Astronomy, IP and D/Universidade do Vale do Paraíba—UNIVAP, São José dos Campos, SP (Brazil); Mendes, O. [Division of Space Geophysics, National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, SP (Brazil); Calzadilla, A. [Department of Space Geophysics, Institute of Geophysics and Astronomy, Havana (Cuba); Domingues, M. O., E-mail: ojeda.gonzalez.a@gmail.com [Associate Laboratory of Applied Computing and Mathematics, National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, SP (Brazil)

2017-03-10

Spatio-temporal entropy (STE) analysis is used as an alternative mathematical tool to identify possible magnetic cloud (MC) candidates. We analyze Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) data using a time interval of only 10 days. We select a convenient data interval of 2500 records moving forward by 200 record steps until the end of the time series. For every data segment, the STE is calculated at each step. During an MC event, the STE reaches values close to zero. This extremely low value of STE is due to MC structure features. However, not all of the magnetic components in MCs have STE values close to zero at the same time. For this reason, we create a standardization index (the so-called Interplanetary Entropy, IE, index). This index is a worthwhile effort to develop new tools to help diagnose ICME structures. The IE was calculated using a time window of one year (1999), and it has a success rate of 70% over other identifiers of MCs. The unsuccessful cases (30%) are caused by small and weak MCs. The results show that the IE methodology identified 9 of 13 MCs, and emitted nine false alarm cases. In 1999, a total of 788 windows of 2500 values existed, meaning that the percentage of false alarms was 1.14%, which can be considered a good result. In addition, four time windows, each of 10 days, are studied, where the IE method was effective in finding MC candidates. As a novel result, two new MCs are identified in these time windows.

Progeny Clustering: A Method to Identify Biological Phenotypes

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Chenyue W.; Kornblau, Steven M.; Slater, John H.; Qutub, Amina A.

2015-01-01

Estimating the optimal number of clusters is a major challenge in applying cluster analysis to any type of dataset, especially to biomedical datasets, which are high-dimensional and complex. Here, we introduce an improved method, Progeny Clustering, which is stability-based and exceptionally efficient in computing, to find the ideal number of clusters. The algorithm employs a novel Progeny Sampling method to reconstruct cluster identity, a co-occurrence probability matrix to assess the clustering stability, and a set of reference datasets to overcome inherent biases in the algorithm and data space. Our method was shown successful and robust when applied to two synthetic datasets (datasets of two-dimensions and ten-dimensions containing eight dimensions of pure noise), two standard biological datasets (the Iris dataset and Rat CNS dataset) and two biological datasets (a cell phenotype dataset and an acute myeloid leukemia (AML) reverse phase protein array (RPPA) dataset). Progeny Clustering outperformed some popular clustering evaluation methods in the ten-dimensional synthetic dataset as well as in the cell phenotype dataset, and it was the only method that successfully discovered clinically meaningful patient groupings in the AML RPPA dataset. PMID:26267476

Research advances in theories and methods of community assembly and succession

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WenJun Zhang

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Community succession refers to the regular and predictable process of species replacement in the environment that all species had been eliminated or that had been disturbed. Community assembly is the process that species growth and interact to establish a community. Community assembly stresses the change of community over a single phase. So far a lot of theories and methods have been proposed for community assembly and succession. In present article I introduced research advances in theories and methods of community assembly and succession. Finally, continuing my past propositions, I further proposed the unified theory and methodology on community assembly and succession. I suggested that community assembly and succession is a process of self-organization. It follows the major principles and mechanisms of self-organization. Agentbased modeling was suggested being used to describe the dynamics of community assembly and succession.

Nurse manager succession planning: synthesis of the evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Titzer, Jennifer; Phillips, Tracy; Tooley, Stephanie; Hall, Norma; Shirey, Maria

2013-10-01

The literature supporting nurse manager succession planning is reviewed and synthesised to discover best practice for identifying and developing future nurse managers. Healthcare succession planning practices are lacking. Nurse managers are historically selected based on clinical skills and lack formal leadership preparation. A systematic literature search appraises and summarises the current literature supporting nurse manager succession planning. Multiple reviewers were used to increase the reliability and validity of article selection and analysis. New nurse managers require months to adapt to their positions. Deliberate nurse manager succession planning should be integrated in the organisation's strategic plan and provide a proactive method for identifying and developing potential leaders. Organisations that identify and develop internal human capital can improve role transition, reduce nurse manager turnover rates and decrease replacement costs. Despite the clear benefits of succession planning, studies show that resource allocation for proactive, deliberate development of current and future nurse leaders is lacking. Additionally, systematic evaluation of succession planning is limited. Deliberate succession planning efforts and appropriate resource allocation require strategic planning and evaluation methods. Detailed evaluation methods demonstrating a positive return on investment utilising a cost-benefit analysis and empirical outcomes are necessary. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Novel fingerprinting method characterises the necessary and sufficient structural connectivity from deep brain stimulation electrodes for a successful outcome

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Henrique M.; Van Hartevelt, Tim J.; Boccard, Sandra G. J.; Owen, Sarah L. F.; Cabral, Joana; Deco, Gustavo; Green, Alex L.; Fitzgerald, James J.; Aziz, Tipu Z.; Kringelbach, Morten L.

2015-01-01

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a remarkably effective clinical tool, used primarily for movement disorders. DBS relies on precise targeting of specific brain regions to rebalance the oscillatory behaviour of whole-brain neural networks. Traditionally, DBS targeting has been based upon animal models (such as MPTP for Parkinson’s disease) but has also been the result of serendipity during human lesional neurosurgery. There are, however, no good animal models of psychiatric disorders such as depression and schizophrenia, and progress in this area has been slow. In this paper, we use advanced tractography combined with whole-brain anatomical parcellation to provide a rational foundation for identifying the connectivity ‘fingerprint’ of existing, successful DBS targets. This knowledge can then be used pre-surgically and even potentially for the discovery of novel targets. First, using data from our recent case series of cingulate DBS for patients with treatment-resistant chronic pain, we demonstrate how to identify the structural ‘fingerprints’ of existing successful and unsuccessful DBS targets in terms of their connectivity to other brain regions, as defined by the whole-brain anatomical parcellation. Second, we use a number of different strategies to identify the successful fingerprints of structural connectivity across four patients with successful outcomes compared with two patients with unsuccessful outcomes. This fingerprinting method can potentially be used pre-surgically to account for a patient’s individual connectivity and identify the best DBS target. Ultimately, our novel fingerprinting method could be combined with advanced whole-brain computational modelling of the spontaneous dynamics arising from the structural changes in disease, to provide new insights and potentially new targets for hitherto impenetrable neuropsychiatric disorders.

Methods and procedures of succession of generations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Homann, A.; Bendzko, R.

2001-01-01

The presentation describes the methods and procedures of the succession of generations in the nuclear industry. The industrial development required specialised knowledge and creativity on a changing level. The relations ship between knowledge-transfer and transfer of the responsibility must be taken into account. The knowledge-transfer has to be planned as an investment. (authors)

The Future of Basic Science in Academic Surgery: Identifying Barriers to Success for Surgeon-scientists.

Science.gov (United States)

Keswani, Sundeep G; Moles, Chad M; Morowitz, Michael; Zeh, Herbert; Kuo, John S; Levine, Matthew H; Cheng, Lily S; Hackam, David J; Ahuja, Nita; Goldstein, Allan M

2017-06-01

The aim of this study was to examine the challenges confronting surgeons performing basic science research in today's academic surgery environment. Multiple studies have identified challenges confronting surgeon-scientists and impacting their ability to be successful. Although these threats have been known for decades, the downward trend in the number of successful surgeon-scientists continues. Clinical demands, funding challenges, and other factors play important roles, but a rigorous analysis of academic surgeons and their experiences regarding these issues has not previously been performed. An online survey was distributed to 2504 members of the Association for Academic Surgery and Society of University Surgeons to determine factors impacting success. Survey results were subjected to statistical analyses. We also reviewed publicly available data regarding funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH data revealed a 27% decline in the proportion of NIH funding to surgical departments relative to total NIH funding from 2007 to 2014. A total of 1033 (41%) members responded to our survey, making this the largest survey of academic surgeons to date. Surgeons most often cited the following factors as major impediments to pursuing basic investigation: pressure to be clinically productive, excessive administrative responsibilities, difficulty obtaining extramural funding, and desire for work-life balance. Surprisingly, a majority (68%) did not believe surgeons can be successful basic scientists in today's environment, including departmental leadership. We have identified important barriers that confront academic surgeons pursuing basic research and a perception that success in basic science may no longer be achievable. These barriers need to be addressed to ensure the continued development of future surgeon-scientists.

Three principles to define the success of a diagnostic study could be identified

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vach, Werner; Gerke, Oke; Høilund-Carlsen, Poul Flemming

2012-01-01

of a diagnostic study on a single binary test and investigation of common statistical approaches in relation to these criteria. RESULTS: Three criteria for defining the overall success of a diagnostic study could be identified: a strong criterion, a liberal criterion, and a weak criterion. The strong criterion...... can be implemented by comparing the lower bounds of the confidence intervals for sensitivity and specificity with prespecified target values, as is typically done in many diagnostic studies. The liberal criterion allows a clinically meaningful compensation between sensitivity and specificity and can...... be implemented in different ways. If the liberal criterion is applied instead of the strong criterion, this can lead to a substantial reduction in the sample size required for a diagnostic study. The weak criterion is not very adequate for defining the success of a diagnostic study. CONCLUSION: When planning...

PCR-RFLP Method to Identify Salmonid Species of Economic Importance

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Andreea Dudu

2011-05-01

Full Text Available The identification of different fish species by molecular methods has become necessary to avoid both the incorrect labelling of individuals involved in repopulation programmes and the commercial frauds on the fish market. Different fish species of great economical importance, like the salmonids, which are very much requested for their meat, can be identified using molecular techniques such as PCR-RFLP. The method is based on the amplification of a target region from the genome by PCR reaction followed by endonucleases digestion to detect the polymorphism of restriction fragments. In our study we analysed the following salmonid species from Romania: Salmo trutta fario, Salmo labrax, Salvelinus fontinalis, Onchorhynchus mykiss, Thymallus thymallus and Hucho hucho. In order to discriminate between the analysed species we amplified a fragment of mitochondrial genome comprising tRNAGlu/ cytochrome b/ tRNAThr/ tRNAPro/ D-loop/ tRNAPhe, followed by digestion with a specific restriction enzyme. The direct digestion of unpurified PCR products generated species-specific restriction patterns and proved to be a simple, reliable, inexpensive and fast method. Thus, it may be successfully utilized in specialized laboratories for the correct identification of the fish species for multiple purposes, including the traceability of fish food products.

BRAVO identifies critical success factors for logistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kokke, C.J.T.M.; Donselaar, van K.H.; Allessie, M.

1997-01-01

Good operational performance depends on knowing which operational factors are critical to success. Bravo, a research project involving 150 transport and distribution companies in The Netherlands, has developed a tool now being adopted nationally by all companies in the sector to find opportunities

Seismic Methods of Identifying Explosions and Estimating Their Yield

Science.gov (United States)

Walter, W. R.; Ford, S. R.; Pasyanos, M.; Pyle, M. L.; Myers, S. C.; Mellors, R. J.; Pitarka, A.; Rodgers, A. J.; Hauk, T. F.

2014-12-01

Seismology plays a key national security role in detecting, locating, identifying and determining the yield of explosions from a variety of causes, including accidents, terrorist attacks and nuclear testing treaty violations (e.g. Koper et al., 2003, 1999; Walter et al. 1995). A collection of mainly empirical forensic techniques has been successfully developed over many years to obtain source information on explosions from their seismic signatures (e.g. Bowers and Selby, 2009). However a lesson from the three DPRK declared nuclear explosions since 2006, is that our historic collection of data may not be representative of future nuclear test signatures (e.g. Selby et al., 2012). To have confidence in identifying future explosions amongst the background of other seismic signals, and accurately estimate their yield, we need to put our empirical methods on a firmer physical footing. Goals of current research are to improve our physical understanding of the mechanisms of explosion generation of S- and surface-waves, and to advance our ability to numerically model and predict them. As part of that process we are re-examining regional seismic data from a variety of nuclear test sites including the DPRK and the former Nevada Test Site (now the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS)). Newer relative location and amplitude techniques can be employed to better quantify differences between explosions and used to understand those differences in term of depth, media and other properties. We are also making use of the Source Physics Experiments (SPE) at NNSS. The SPE chemical explosions are explicitly designed to improve our understanding of emplacement and source material effects on the generation of shear and surface waves (e.g. Snelson et al., 2013). Finally we are also exploring the value of combining seismic information with other technologies including acoustic and InSAR techniques to better understand the source characteristics. Our goal is to improve our explosion models

Coherence method of identifying signal noise model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vavrin, J.

1981-01-01

The noise analysis method is discussed in identifying perturbance models and their parameters by a stochastic analysis of the noise model of variables measured on a reactor. The analysis of correlations is made in the frequency region using coherence analysis methods. In identifying an actual specific perturbance, its model should be determined and recognized in a compound model of the perturbance system using the results of observation. The determination of the optimum estimate of the perturbance system model is based on estimates of related spectral densities which are determined from the spectral density matrix of the measured variables. Partial and multiple coherence, partial transfers, the power spectral densities of the input and output variables of the noise model are determined from the related spectral densities. The possibilities of applying the coherence identification methods were tested on a simple case of a simulated stochastic system. Good agreement was found of the initial analytic frequency filters and the transfers identified. (B.S.)

Inspiring science achievement: a mixed methods examination of the practices and characteristics of successful science programs in diverse high schools

Science.gov (United States)

Scogin, Stephen C.; Cavlazoglu, Baki; LeBlanc, Jennifer; Stuessy, Carol L.

2017-08-01

While the achievement gap in science exists in the US, research associated with our investigation reveals some high school science programs serving diverse student bodies are successfully closing the gap. Using a mixed methods approach, we identified and investigated ten high schools in a large Southwestern state that fit the definition of "highly successful, highly diverse". By conducting interviews with science liaisons associated with each school and reviewing the literature, we developed a rubric identifying specific characteristics associated with successful science programs. These characteristics and practices included setting high expectations for students, providing extensive teacher support for student learning, and utilizing student-centered pedagogy. We used the rubric to assess the successful high school science programs and compare them to other high school science programs in the state (i.e., less successful and less diverse high school science programs). Highly successful, highly diverse schools were very different in their approach to science education when compared to the other programs. The findings from this study will help schools with diverse students to strengthen hiring practices, enhance teacher support mechanisms, and develop student-focused strategies in the classroom that increase science achievement.

Identifying barriers to chronic disease reporting in Chicago Public Schools: a mixed-methods approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Rivkina, Victoria; Tapke, David E; Cardenas, Lilliana D; Harvey-Gintoft, Blair; Whyte, Stephanie A; Gupta, Ruchi S

2014-12-06

Chronic disease among school-aged children is a public health concern, particularly for asthma and food allergy. In Chicago Public Schools (CPS), rates of asthma and food allergy among students are underreported. The aim of this study was to determine the barriers to chronic disease reporting as experienced by CPS parents and school nurses. A mixed-methods approach included focus groups and key informant interviews with parents and school nurses, and a cross-sectional survey was completed by parents. Qualitative data analysis was performed and survey data were analyzed to determine the significant demographic and knowledge variables associated with successfully completing the reporting process. The three main barriers identified were 1) a lack of parental process knowledge; 2) limited communication from schools; and 3) insufficient availability of school nurses. Parents were significantly more likely to successfully complete the reporting process if they knew about special accommodations for chronic diseases, understood the need for physician verification, and/or knew the school nurse. These findings suggest that increasing parental knowledge of the reporting process will allow schools to better identify and manage their students' chronic conditions. A parent-focused intervention informed by these results has been completed.

Identifying critical success factors for designing selection processes into postgraduate specialty training: the case of UK general practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Plint, Simon; Patterson, Fiona

2010-06-01

The UK national recruitment process into general practice training has been developed over several years, with incremental introduction of stages which have been piloted and validated. Previously independent processes, which encouraged multiple applications and produced inconsistent outcomes, have been replaced by a robust national process which has high reliability and predictive validity, and is perceived to be fair by candidates and allocates applicants equitably across the country. Best selection practice involves a job analysis which identifies required competencies, then designs reliable assessment methods to measure them, and over the long term ensures that the process has predictive validity against future performance. The general practitioner recruitment process introduced machine markable short listing assessments for the first time in the UK postgraduate recruitment context, and also adopted selection centre workplace simulations. The key success factors have been identified as corporate commitment to the goal of a national process, with gradual convergence maintaining locus of control rather than the imposition of change without perceived legitimate authority.

Vector-Parallel processing of the successive overrelaxation method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokokawa, Mitsuo

1988-02-01

Successive overrelaxation method, called SOR method, is one of iterative methods for solving linear system of equations, and it has been calculated in serial with a natural ordering in many nuclear codes. After the appearance of vector processors, this natural SOR method has been changed for the parallel algorithm such as hyperplane or red-black method, in which the calculation order is modified. These methods are suitable for vector processors, and more high-speed calculation can be obtained compared with the natural SOR method on vector processors. In this report, a new scheme named 4-colors SOR method is proposed. We find that the 4-colors SOR method can be executed on vector-parallel processors and it gives the most high-speed calculation among all SOR methods according to results of the vector-parallel execution on the Alliant FX/8 multiprocessor system. It is also shown that the theoretical optimal acceleration parameters are equal among five different ordering SOR methods, and the difference between convergence rates of these SOR methods are examined. (author)

A Project Manager's Personal Attributes as Predictors for Success

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Valencia, Vhance V

2007-01-01

...) possess that lead them to project management success. Numerous attributes are identified in the literature through a variety of methods, but very few studies relate specific qualities to success...

Identifying factors associated with perceived success in the transition from hospital to home after brain injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Nalder, Emily; Fleming, Jennifer; Foster, Michele; Cornwell, Petrea; Shields, Cassandra; Khan, Asad

2012-01-01

: To identify the factors associated with perceived success of the transition from hospital to home after traumatic brain injury (TBI). : Prospective longitudinal cohort design with data collection at discharge and 1, 3, and 6 months postdischarge. : A total of 127 individuals with TBI discharged to the community and 83 significant others. : An analog scale (0-100) of perceived success of the transition from hospital to home rated by individuals and significant others; Sentinel Events Questionnaire; EuroQol Group Quality-of-Life measure visual analog scale; Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale; Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory-4; short form of the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales; Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors; and Caregiver Strain Index. : Greater perceived success of transition for individuals with a TBI was associated with higher levels of health-related quality of life, level of community integration, and more severe injury. Among survivors, sentinel events such as returning to work and independent community access and changing living situation were associated with greater perceived success; financial strain and difficulty accessing therapy services were associated with less success. Among significant others, lower ratings of transition success were associated with higher significant other stress levels as well as lower levels of community integration and changes in the living situation of the individual with TBI. : A combination of sentinel events and personal and environmental factors influences the perceptions of individuals and their families regarding the success of the transition from hospital to home.

The study of system function analysis method for success path alarm design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, S. K.; Shin, Y. C.

1999-01-01

The key benefit to the common use of the critical function approach for safety and mission functions is that monitoring methods expected to be used by operaotrs during emergency condition are used continuously during normal operation. For each critical safety function there exists two or more success paths. Information Processing System monitors the availability, operation state and performance of the critical function success paths. In this paper, We have studied System Function Analysis(SFA) for the design of Success Path Alarm(SPA) for applying in KNGR. In here, we thought that SFA will help the design of SPA. The SFA can be applicable to the design of SPA according to NUREG-0711, also can induce the algorithm for alarm of system, train and flow path. We present a method of system function analysis for designing Success Path Alarm

Scientometric methods for identifying emerging technologies

Science.gov (United States)

Abercrombie, Robert K; Schlicher, Bob G; Sheldon, Frederick T

2015-11-03

Provided is a method of generating a scientometric model that tracks the emergence of an identified technology from initial discovery (via original scientific and conference literature), through critical discoveries (via original scientific, conference literature and patents), transitioning through Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) and ultimately on to commercial application. During the period of innovation and technology transfer, the impact of scholarly works, patents and on-line web news sources are identified. As trends develop, currency of citations, collaboration indicators, and on-line news patterns are identified. The combinations of four distinct and separate searchable on-line networked sources (i.e., scholarly publications and citation, worldwide patents, news archives, and on-line mapping networks) are assembled to become one collective network (a dataset for analysis of relations). This established network becomes the basis from which to quickly analyze the temporal flow of activity (searchable events) for the example subject domain.

Identifying and prioritizing different factors influencing the success of advertisement during the economic depression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aram Rashidi

2014-04-01

Full Text Available During the financial crisis of 2007, many businesses and banks faced unexpected circumstances and declared bankruptcy. Market mortgage crisis and the collapse of the economic system in United States created a substantial amount of damage in world economy. Within a few years, the economic downturn was transferred to developing countries such as Iran. The recession has created conditions for Iranian companies that have led them to focus more on the subject of advertising since this is the primary tool of communication and business customers business. Success and failure of many organizations and companies depend on their advertisement planning. In this study, the factors contributing to the success and effectiveness of advertising during the recession time are identified. This survey has been accomplished on investigating an Iranian dairy firm named “Kalle”. Using a questionnaire in Likert scale, the study determines the effects of various factors of advertisement on sales improvement in this firm using Pearson correlation ratio and rank them based on Freedman test. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.93. According to the results, factors that contribute to the success of advertising during a recession include: Responsiveness to customers’ needs, advertising tools, content factors, the amount of money spent and availability.

Method for identifying particulate fluoride compounds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tufts, B J

1960-01-01

A method is described for identifying particulates containing fluorides and other complex fluorine compounds such as fluorosilicate in samples collected on membrane filters. The filter is treated with lead chloride to precipitate lead chlorofluoride at each fluoride-containing spot. This microspot is identified by examination in a light microscope. Sulfate and phosphate, which also precipitate if present, can be distinguished and do not interfere. Calibrations are given for the fluorides and the more insoluble salts, relating the original particle size to the reaction site size. Thus, the mass of the particles can be calculated. Results of some field tests in an area of fluoride pollution are given, and compared with standard testing procedures.

Describing Case Study Method and Identifying the Factors that Contribute to the Successful Conduct of Case Studies

OpenAIRE

Ahmad H. Juma'h; Mustafa Cavus

2001-01-01

This article has attempted to describe case study, the limitations and critiques on case study methodology and how the proponents have responded to these. Our special focus have been on the debate on theory building from case study research, and a framework for conducting case study research as well as the factors for a successful case study research. The overall conclusion is that the case study has been inappropriately used to generate theories.

Regularization of DT-MR images using a successive Fermat median filtering method.

Science.gov (United States)

Kwon, Kiwoon; Kim, Dongyoun; Kim, Sunghee; Park, Insung; Jeong, Jaewon; Kim, Taehwan; Hong, Cheolpyo; Han, Bongsoo

2008-05-21

Tractography using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) is a method to determine the architecture of axonal fibers in the central nervous system by computing the direction of greatest diffusion in the white matter of the brain. To reduce the noise in DT-MRI measurements, a tensor-valued median filter, which is reported to be denoising and structure preserving in the tractography, is applied. In this paper, we proposed the successive Fermat (SF) method, successively using Fermat point theory for a triangle contained in the two-dimensional plane, as a median filtering method. We discussed the error analysis and numerical study about the SF method for phantom and experimental data. By considering the computing time and the image quality aspects of the numerical study simultaneously, we showed that the SF method is much more efficient than the simple median (SM) and gradient descents (GD) methods.

Regularization of DT-MR images using a successive Fermat median filtering method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Kiwoon; Kim, Dongyoun; Kim, Sunghee; Park, Insung; Jeong, Jaewon; Kim, Taehwan; Hong, Cheolpyo; Han, Bongsoo

2008-01-01

Tractography using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) is a method to determine the architecture of axonal fibers in the central nervous system by computing the direction of greatest diffusion in the white matter of the brain. To reduce the noise in DT-MRI measurements, a tensor-valued median filter, which is reported to be denoising and structure preserving in the tractography, is applied. In this paper, we proposed the successive Fermat (SF) method, successively using Fermat point theory for a triangle contained in the two-dimensional plane, as a median filtering method. We discussed the error analysis and numerical study about the SF method for phantom and experimental data. By considering the computing time and the image quality aspects of the numerical study simultaneously, we showed that the SF method is much more efficient than the simple median (SM) and gradient descents (GD) methods

Regularization of DT-MR images using a successive Fermat median filtering method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Kiwoon; Kim, Dongyoun; Kim, Sunghee; Park, Insung; Jeong, Jaewon; Kim, Taehwan [Department of Biomedical Engineering, Yonsei University, Wonju, 220-710 (Korea, Republic of); Hong, Cheolpyo; Han, Bongsoo [Department of Radiological Science, Yonsei University, Wonju, 220-710 (Korea, Republic of)], E-mail: bshan@yonsei.ac.kr

2008-05-21

Tractography using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) is a method to determine the architecture of axonal fibers in the central nervous system by computing the direction of greatest diffusion in the white matter of the brain. To reduce the noise in DT-MRI measurements, a tensor-valued median filter, which is reported to be denoising and structure preserving in the tractography, is applied. In this paper, we proposed the successive Fermat (SF) method, successively using Fermat point theory for a triangle contained in the two-dimensional plane, as a median filtering method. We discussed the error analysis and numerical study about the SF method for phantom and experimental data. By considering the computing time and the image quality aspects of the numerical study simultaneously, we showed that the SF method is much more efficient than the simple median (SM) and gradient descents (GD) methods.

Identifying Sociological Factors for the Success of Space Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Lundquist, C. A.; Tarter, D.; Coleman, A.

Astrosociology factors relevant to success of future space exploration may best be identified through studies of sociological circumstances of past successful explorations, such as the Apollo-Lunar Missions. These studies benefit from access to primary records of the past programs. The Archives and Special Collections Division of the Salmon Library at the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) houses large collections of material from the early periods of the space age. The Huntsville campus of the University of Alabama System had its birth in the mid-1950s at the time when the von Braun rocket team was relocated from Texas to Huntsville. The University, the City of Huntsville and the US Government rocket organizations developed in parallel over subsequent years. As a result, the University has a significant space heritage and focus. This is true not only for the engineering and science disciplines, but also for the social sciences. The life of the University spans the period when Huntsville government and industrial organizations were responsible for producing the rocket vehicles to first take mankind to the Moon. That endeavor was surely as significant sociologically as technologically. In the 1980s, Donald E. Tarter, conducted a series of video interviews with some leading members of the original von Braun team. Although the interviews ranged over many engineering subjects, they also recorded personal features of people involved in the Apollo lunar exploration program and the interactions between these people. Such knowledge was of course an objective. These interviews are now in the collections of the UAH Library Archives, along with extensive documentation from the same period. Under sponsorship of the Archives and the NASA-Marshall Retiree Association, the interview series was restarted in 2006 to obtain comparable oral-history interviews with more than fifty US born members of the rocket team from the 1960s. Again these video interviews are rich with

A Novel Method to Identify Differential Pathways in Hippocampus Alzheimer's Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chun-Han; Liu, Lian

2017-05-08

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia. The objective of this paper is to propose a novel method to identify differential pathways in hippocampus AD. MATERIAL AND METHODS We proposed a combined method by merging existed methods. Firstly, pathways were identified by four known methods (DAVID, the neaGUI package, the pathway-based co-expressed method, and the pathway network approach), and differential pathways were evaluated through setting weight thresholds. Subsequently, we combined all pathways by a rank-based algorithm and called the method the combined method. Finally, common differential pathways across two or more of five methods were selected. RESULTS Pathways obtained from different methods were also different. The combined method obtained 1639 pathways and 596 differential pathways, which included all pathways gained from the four existing methods; hence, the novel method solved the problem of inconsistent results. Besides, a total of 13 common pathways were identified, such as metabolism, immune system, and cell cycle. CONCLUSIONS We have proposed a novel method by combining four existing methods based on a rank product algorithm, and identified 13 significant differential pathways based on it. These differential pathways might provide insight into treatment and diagnosis of hippocampus AD.

Identifying the critical success factors in the coverage of low vision services using the classification analysis and regression tree methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Chiang, Peggy Pei-Chia; Xie, Jing; Keeffe, Jill Elizabeth

2011-04-25

To identify the critical success factors (CSF) associated with coverage of low vision services. Data were collected from a survey distributed to Vision 2020 contacts, government, and non-government organizations (NGOs) in 195 countries. The Classification and Regression Tree Analysis (CART) was used to identify the critical success factors of low vision service coverage. Independent variables were sourced from the survey: policies, epidemiology, provision of services, equipment and infrastructure, barriers to services, human resources, and monitoring and evaluation. Socioeconomic and demographic independent variables: health expenditure, population statistics, development status, and human resources in general, were sourced from the World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank, and the United Nations (UN). The findings identified that having >50% of children obtaining devices when prescribed (χ(2) = 44; P 3 rehabilitation workers per 10 million of population (χ(2) = 4.50; P = 0.034), higher percentage of population urbanized (χ(2) = 14.54; P = 0.002), a level of private investment (χ(2) = 14.55; P = 0.015), and being fully funded by government (χ(2) = 6.02; P = 0.014), are critical success factors associated with coverage of low vision services. This study identified the most important predictors for countries with better low vision coverage. The CART is a useful and suitable methodology in survey research and is a novel way to simplify a complex global public health issue in eye care.

Characteristics Identified for Success by Restorative Dental Science Department Chairpersons.

Science.gov (United States)

Wee, Alvin G; Weiss, Robert O; Wichman, Christopher S; Sukotjo, Cortino; Brundo, Gerald C

2016-03-01

The primary aim of this study was to determine the characteristics that current chairpersons in restorative dentistry, general dentistry, prosthodontics, and operative dentistry departments in U.S. dental schools feel are most relevant in contributing to their success. The secondary aim was to determine these individuals' rankings of the importance of a listed set of characteristics for them to be successful in their position. All 82 current chairs of the specified departments were invited to respond to an electronic survey. The survey first asked respondents to list the five most essential characteristics to serve as chair of a department and to rank those characteristics based on importance. Participants were next given a list of ten characteristics in the categories of management and leadership and, without being aware of the category of each individual item, asked to rank them in terms of importance for their success. A total of 39 chairpersons completed the survey (47.6% response rate; 83.3% male and 16.2% female). In section one, the respondents reported that leadership, vision, work ethic, integrity, communication, and organization were the most essential characteristics for their success. In section two, the respondents ranked the leadership characteristics as statistically more important than the management characteristics (psuccessful in their positions.

Identifying Teaching Methods that Engage Entrepreneurship Students

Science.gov (United States)

Balan, Peter; Metcalfe, Mike

2012-01-01

Purpose: Entrepreneurship education particularly requires student engagement because of the complexity of the entrepreneurship process. The purpose of this paper is to describe how an established measure of engagement can be used to identify relevant teaching methods that could be used to engage any group of entrepreneurship students.…

Identifying Method of Drunk Driving Based on Driving Behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaohua Zhao

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Drunk driving is one of the leading causes contributing to traffic crashes. There are numerous issues that need to be resolved with the current method of identifying drunk driving. Driving behavior, with the characteristic of real-time, was extensively researched to identify impaired driving behaviors. In this paper, the drives with BACs above 0.05% were defined as drunk driving state. A detailed comparison was made between normal driving and drunk driving. The experiment in driving simulator was designed to collect the driving performance data of the groups. According to the characteristics analysis for the effect of alcohol on driving performance, seven significant indicators were extracted and the drunk driving was identified by the Fisher Discriminant Method. The discriminant function demonstrated a high accuracy of classification. The optimal critical score to differentiate normal from drinking state was found to be 0. The evaluation result verifies the accuracy of classification method.

Identifying significant factors which can contribute to successful transitions from school to lasting employment affiliation for pupils in vocational training programs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nils Breilid

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Introduction: This study deals with young people receiving special needs education in schools and their transition to lasting employment in private or public sector. Through a qualitative approach, the article aims at “identifying significant factors which can, contribute to successful transitions from school to lasting employment affiliation for pupils in vocational training programs”Theoretical approach: The theoretical approach of this article is descriptions and interpretation of the Norwegian educational legislation and the theory of «empowerment». These theoretical perspectives will be included in the empirical discussion. Method: The methodological approach is qualitative. Through four semi-structured interviews of young informants who have completed upper secondary school in a vocational education program, and have had a minimum of one-year training in an enterprise. Thematic analysis of the data is conducted with the application of NVivo 11, a computer program that is suitable for qualitative data-analysis and mixed research methods.Results and discussion: Through thematic analysis of the data, we found three significant factors contributing to successful transitions from school to lasting employment:      a Application and development of the pupil’s competence - mastery and meaning      b The significance of relations, communication and well-functioning socio-ecological          networks      c The importance of pupil participation and involvement in decision making

DIETFITS study (diet intervention examining the factors interacting with treatment success) - Study design and methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanton, Michael V; Robinson, Jennifer L; Kirkpatrick, Susan M; Farzinkhou, Sarah; Avery, Erin C; Rigdon, Joseph; Offringa, Lisa C; Trepanowski, John F; Hauser, Michelle E; Hartle, Jennifer C; Cherin, Rise J; King, Abby C; Ioannidis, John P A; Desai, Manisha; Gardner, Christopher D

2017-02-01

Numerous studies have attempted to identify successful dietary strategies for weight loss, and many have focused on Low-Fat vs. Low-Carbohydrate comparisons. Despite relatively small between-group differences in weight loss found in most previous studies, researchers have consistently observed relatively large between-subject differences in weight loss within any given diet group (e.g., ~25kg weight loss to ~5kg weight gain). The primary objective of this study was to identify predisposing individual factors at baseline that help explain differential weight loss achieved by individuals assigned to the same diet, particularly a pre-determined multi-locus genotype pattern and insulin resistance status. Secondary objectives included discovery strategies for further identifying potential genetic risk scores. Exploratory objectives included investigation of an extensive set of physiological, psychosocial, dietary, and behavioral variables as moderating and/or mediating variables and/or secondary outcomes. The target population was generally healthy, free-living adults with BMI 28-40kg/m 2 (n=600). The intervention consisted of a 12-month protocol of 22 one-hour evening instructional sessions led by registered dietitians, with ~15-20 participants/class. Key objectives of dietary instruction included focusing on maximizing the dietary quality of both Low-Fat and Low-Carbohydrate diets (i.e., Healthy Low-Fat vs. Healthy Low-Carbohydrate), and maximally differentiating the two diets from one another. Rather than seeking to determine if one dietary approach was better than the other for the general population, this study sought to examine whether greater overall weight loss success could be achieved by matching different people to different diets. Here we present the design and methods of the study. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A study into first-year engineering education success using a rigorous mixed methods approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van den Bogaard, M.E.D.; de Graaff, Erik; Verbraek, Alexander

2015-01-01

The aim of this paper is to combine qualitative and quantitative research methods into rigorous research into student success. Research methods have weaknesses that can be overcome by clever combinations. In this paper we use a situated study into student success as an example of how methods...... using statistical techniques. The main elements of the model were student behaviour and student disposition, which were influenced by the students’ perceptions of the education environment. The outcomes of the qualitative studies were useful in interpreting the outcomes of the structural equation...

The use of a modified pairwise comparison method in evaluating critical success factors for community-based rural homestay programmes

Science.gov (United States)

Daud, Shahidah Md; Ramli, Razamin; Kasim, Maznah Mat; Kayat, Kalsom; Razak, Rafidah Abd

2014-12-01

Tourism industry has become the highlighted sector which has amazingly increased the national income level. Despite the tourism industry being one of the highest income generating sectors, Homestay Programme as a Community-Based Tourism (CBT) product in Malaysia does not absorbed much of the incoming wealth. Homestay Programme refers to a programme in a community where a tourist stays together with a host family and experiences the everyday way of life of the family in both direct and indirect manner. There are over 100 Homestay Programme currently being registered with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Malaysia which mostly are located in rural areas, but only a few excel and enjoying the fruit of the booming industry. Hence, this article seeks to identify the critical success factors for a Community-Based Rural Homestay Programme in Malaysia. A modified pairwise method is utilized to further evaluate the identified success factors in a more meaningful way. The findings will help Homestay Programme function as a community development tool that manages tourism resources. Thus, help the community in improving local economy and creating job opportunities.

A new screening method to identify inhibitors of the Lol (localization of lipoproteins) system, a novel antibacterial target.

Science.gov (United States)

Ito, Hideaki; Ura, Atsushi; Oyamada, Yoshihiro; Yoshida, Hiroaki; Yamagishi, Jun-Ichi; Narita, Shin-Ichiro; Matsuyama, Shin-Ichi; Tokuda, Hajime

2007-01-01

As the Lol system, which is involved in localization of lipoproteins, is essential for Escherichia coli growth and widely conserved among gram-negative bacteria, it is considered to be a promising target for the development of anti-gram-negative bacterial agents. However, no high-throughput screening method has so far been developed to screen for Lol system inhibitors. By combining three assay systems (anucleate cell blue assay, Lpp assay, and LolA-dependent release inhibition assay) and a drug susceptibility test, we have successfully developed a new screening method for identification of compounds that inhibit the Lol system. Using this new screening method, we screened 23,600 in-house chemical compounds and found 2 Lol system inhibitors. We therefore conclude that our new screening method can efficiently identify new antibacterial agents that target the Lol system.

Information needs assessment of medical equipment offices based on Critical Success Factors (CSF) and Business System Planning (BSP) methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Khorrami, F; Ahmadi, M; Alizadeh, A; Roozbeh, N; Mohseni, S

2015-01-01

Introduction: Given the ever-increasing importance and value of information, providing the management with a reliable information system, which can facilitate decision-making regarding planning, organization and control, is vitally important. This study aimed to analyze and evaluate the information needs of medical equipment offices. Methods: This descriptive applied cross-sectional study was carried out in 2010. The population of the study included the managers of statistic and medical records at the offices of vice-chancellor for treatment in 39 medical universities in Iran. Data were collected by using structured questioners. With regard to different kinds of designing information systems, sampling was done by two methods, BSP (based on processes of job description) and CSF method (based on critical success factors). The data were analyzed by SPSS-16. Results: Our study showed that 41% of information needs were found to be critical success factors of managers of office. The first priority of managers was "the number of bed and bed occupancy in hospitals". Of 29 identified information needs, 62% were initial information needs of managers (from the viewpoints of managers). Of all, 4% of the information needs were obtained through the form, 14% through both the form and database, 11% through the web site, and 71% had no sources (forms, databases, web site). Conclusion: Since 71% of the information needs of medical equipment offices managers had no information sources, the development of information system in these offices seems to be necessary. Despite the important role of users in designing the information systems (identifying 62% of information needs), other scientific methods is also needed to be utilized in designing the information systems.

Information needs assessment of medical equipment offices based on Critical Success Factors (CSF) and Business System Planning (BSP) methods

Science.gov (United States)

Khorrami, F; Ahmadi, M; Alizadeh, A; Roozbeh, N; Mohseni, S

2015-01-01

Introduction: Given the ever-increasing importance and value of information, providing the management with a reliable information system, which can facilitate decision-making regarding planning, organization and control, is vitally important. This study aimed to analyze and evaluate the information needs of medical equipment offices. Methods: This descriptive applied cross-sectional study was carried out in 2010. The population of the study included the managers of statistic and medical records at the offices of vice-chancellor for treatment in 39 medical universities in Iran. Data were collected by using structured questioners. With regard to different kinds of designing information systems, sampling was done by two methods, BSP (based on processes of job description) and CSF method (based on critical success factors). The data were analyzed by SPSS-16. Results: Our study showed that 41% of information needs were found to be critical success factors of managers of office. The first priority of managers was “the number of bed and bed occupancy in hospitals”. Of 29 identified information needs, 62% were initial information needs of managers (from the viewpoints of managers). Of all, 4% of the information needs were obtained through the form, 14% through both the form and database, 11% through the web site, and 71% had no sources (forms, databases, web site). Conclusion: Since 71% of the information needs of medical equipment offices managers had no information sources, the development of information system in these offices seems to be necessary. Despite the important role of users in designing the information systems (identifying 62% of information needs), other scientific methods is also needed to be utilized in designing the information systems. PMID:28255389

An Efficient Approach for Identifying Stable Lobes with Discretization Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baohai Wu

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new approach for quick identification of chatter stability lobes with discretization method. Firstly, three different kinds of stability regions are defined: absolute stable region, valid region, and invalid region. Secondly, while identifying the chatter stability lobes, three different regions within the chatter stability lobes are identified with relatively large time intervals. Thirdly, stability boundary within the valid regions is finely calculated to get exact chatter stability lobes. The proposed method only needs to test a small portion of spindle speed and cutting depth set; about 89% computation time is savedcompared with full discretization method. It spends only about10 minutes to get exact chatter stability lobes. Since, based on discretization method, the proposed method can be used for different immersion cutting including low immersion cutting process, the proposed method can be directly implemented in the workshop to promote machining parameters selection efficiency.

An Ambulatory Method of Identifying Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstructed Gait Patterns

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matthew R. Patterson

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The use of inertial sensors to characterize pathological gait has traditionally been based on the calculation of temporal and spatial gait variables from inertial sensor data. This approach has proved successful in the identification of gait deviations in populations where substantial differences from normal gait patterns exist; such as in Parkinsonian gait. However, it is not currently clear if this approach could identify more subtle gait deviations, such as those associated with musculoskeletal injury. This study investigates whether additional analysis of inertial sensor data, based on quantification of gyroscope features of interest, would provide further discriminant capability in this regard. The tested cohort consisted of a group of anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed (ACL-R females and a group of non-injured female controls, each performed ten walking trials. Gait performance was measured simultaneously using inertial sensors and an optoelectronic marker based system. The ACL-R group displayed kinematic and kinetic deviations from the control group, but no temporal or spatial deviations. This study demonstrates that quantification of gyroscope features can successfully identify changes associated with ACL-R gait, which was not possible using spatial or temporal variables. This finding may also have a role in other clinical applications where small gait deviations exist.

Identifying tropical dry forests extent and succession via the use of machine learning techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wei; Cao, Sen; Campos-Vargas, Carlos; Sanchez-Azofeifa, Arturo

2017-12-01

Information on ecosystem services as a function of the successional stage for secondary tropical dry forests (TDFs) is scarce and limited. Secondary TDFs succession is defined as regrowth following a complete forest clearance for cattle growth or agriculture activities. In the context of large conservation initiatives, the identification of the extent, structure and composition of secondary TDFs can serve as key elements to estimate the effectiveness of such activities. As such, in this study we evaluate the use of a Hyperspectral MAPper (HyMap) dataset and a waveform LIDAR dataset for characterization of different levels of intra-secondary forests stages at the Santa Rosa National Park (SRNP) Environmental Monitoring Super Site located in Costa Rica. Specifically, a multi-task learning based machine learning classifier (MLC-MTL) is employed on the first shortwave infrared (SWIR1) of HyMap in order to identify the variability of aboveground biomass of secondary TDFs along a successional gradient. Our paper recognizes that the process of ecological succession is not deterministic but a combination of transitional forests types along a stochastic path that depends on ecological, edaphic, land use, and micro-meteorological conditions, and our results provide a new way to obtain the spatial distribution of three main types of TDFs successional stages.

Extending existing structural identifiability analysis methods to mixed-effects models.

Science.gov (United States)

Janzén, David L I; Jirstrand, Mats; Chappell, Michael J; Evans, Neil D

2018-01-01

The concept of structural identifiability for state-space models is expanded to cover mixed-effects state-space models. Two methods applicable for the analytical study of the structural identifiability of mixed-effects models are presented. The two methods are based on previously established techniques for non-mixed-effects models; namely the Taylor series expansion and the input-output form approach. By generating an exhaustive summary, and by assuming an infinite number of subjects, functions of random variables can be derived which in turn determine the distribution of the system's observation function(s). By considering the uniqueness of the analytical statistical moments of the derived functions of the random variables, the structural identifiability of the corresponding mixed-effects model can be determined. The two methods are applied to a set of examples of mixed-effects models to illustrate how they work in practice. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Success in Managing Waste With No Identified Path to Disposal at the INEEL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mullen, Carlan K; Carboneau, Michael Leonard; Leavitt, Max Russell

2000-01-01

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is aggressively managing waste with no identified path to disposal (WNPD), which was previously termed special case waste (SCW). As a result of several years of this aggressive management, the INEEL has reduced its WNPD volume from approximately 38,000 m3 in 1993 to approximately 6.33 m3 in 1999. This paper discusses how the INEEL reduced its WNPD volume. It specifically discusses the beryllium reflector waste produced from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) as an example of the INEEL's success in managing its WNPD. The INEEL's success in reducing its WNPD volume is the result of establishing long-range strategic objectives and consistently allocating an annual budget to implement specific work tasks that are consistent with these objectives. In addition, specific short- and long-range work tasks were developed and documented in work control documents. The work tasks are evaluated annually for consistency with the strategic objectives. Since the INEEL has successfully reduced its WNPD volume, it is now focusing on disposing of the remaining volume and preventing future generation of WNPD. As a result of this focused effort, a life-cycle disposal plan was developed for the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) beryllium waste. This plan covers beryllium reflectors currently stored in the ATR canal and beryllium reflectors generated through 2050. This plan includes a pollution prevention (P2) opportunity, which applies to the DOE complex reactor beryllium reflector waste stream. The P2 opportunity also contributes to planning for the international nuclear industry to extend the life and reduce the radionuclide activation of nonfuel material in existing and newly developed test reactor nuclear power systems. In Fiscal Year 2000, the INEEL is focusing on further reducing its WNPD volume. To completely dispose of the INEEL WNPD, it will need a national plan for disposing of some WNPD categories. Therefore, the INEEL

Application of classification-tree methods to identify nitrate sources in ground water

Science.gov (United States)

Spruill, T.B.; Showers, W.J.; Howe, S.S.

2002-01-01

A study was conducted to determine if nitrate sources in ground water (fertilizer on crops, fertilizer on golf courses, irrigation spray from hog (Sus scrofa) wastes, and leachate from poultry litter and septic systems) could be classified with 80% or greater success. Two statistical classification-tree models were devised from 48 water samples containing nitrate from five source categories. Model I was constructed by evaluating 32 variables and selecting four primary predictor variables (??15N, nitrate to ammonia ratio, sodium to potassium ratio, and zinc) to identify nitrate sources. A ??15N value of nitrate plus potassium 18.2 indicated inorganic or soil organic N. A nitrate to ammonia ratio 575 indicated nitrate from golf courses. A sodium to potassium ratio 3.2 indicated spray or poultry wastes. A value for zinc 2.8 indicated poultry wastes. Model 2 was devised by using all variables except ??15N. This model also included four variables (sodium plus potassium, nitrate to ammonia ratio, calcium to magnesium ratio, and sodium to potassium ratio) to distinguish categories. Both models were able to distinguish all five source categories with better than 80% overall success and with 71 to 100% success in individual categories using the learning samples. Seventeen water samples that were not used in model development were tested using Model 2 for three categories, and all were correctly classified. Classification-tree models show great potential in identifying sources of contamination and variables important in the source-identification process.

A New Method for Identifying Hazardous Road Locations Using GPS and Accelerometer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reinau, Kristian Hegner; Andersen, Camilla Sloth; Agerholm, Niels

2016-01-01

and validated through a case study of Aalborg city, where HRLs identified on the basis of accident statistics are compared to the HCLs identified with the new method on a dataset of more than 36.531 hours of driving tracked with accelerometer and GPS, containing 131 million GPS and 1.1 billion acceleration...... a new method relying on GPS data and accelerometer data. The method developed in this article is superior to previous methods since it utilizes acceleration measurements to identify both a deceleration and a significant drop in speed by integrating acceleration measurements over time in a moving time......-window. This calculation is combined with measurements of jerks to distinguish between planned decelerations and unplanned decelerations, which occurs when drivers react to hazardous situations. Finally, using GPS data, the unplanned decelerations identified are linked to specific locations. The method is tested...

DIETFITS Study (Diet Intervention Examining The Factors Interacting with Treatment Success) – Study Design and Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Stanton, Michael; Robinson, Jennifer; Kirkpatrick, Susan; Farzinkhou, Sarah; Avery, Erin; Rigdon, Joseph; Offringa, Lisa; Trepanowski, John; Hauser, Michelle; Hartle, Jennifer; Cherin, Rise; King, Abby C.; Ioannidis, John P.A.; Desai, Manisha; Gardner, Christopher D.

2017-01-01

Numerous studies have attempted to identify successful dietary strategies for weight loss, and many have focused on Low-Fat vs. Low-Carbohydrate comparisons. Despite relatively small between-group differences in weight loss found in most previous studies, researchers have consistently observed relatively large between-subject differences in weight loss within any given diet group (e.g., ~25 kg weight loss to ~5 kg weight gain). The primary objective of this study was to identify predisposing individual factors at baseline that help explain differential weight loss achieved by individuals assigned to the same diet, particularly a pre-determined multi-locus genotype pattern and insulin resistance status. Secondary objectives included discovery strategies for further identifying potential genetic risk scores. Exploratory objectives included investigation of an extensive set of physiological, psychosocial, dietary, and behavioral variables as moderating and/or mediating variables and/or secondary outcomes. The target population was generally healthy, free-living adults with BMI 28-40 kg/m2 (n=600). The intervention consisted of a 12-month protocol of 22 one-hour evening instructional sessions led by registered dietitians, with ~15-20 participants/class. Key objectives of dietary instruction included focusing on maximizing the dietary quality of both Low-Fat and Low-Carbohydrate diets (i.e., Healthy Low-Fat vs. Healthy Low-Carbohydrate), and maximally differentiating the two diets from one another. Rather than seeking to determine if one dietary approach was better than the other for the general population, this study sought to examine whether greater overall weight loss success could be achieved by matching different people to different diets. Here we present the design and methods of the study. PMID:28027950

Issues in identifying germ tube positive yeasts by conventional methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Yazdanpanah, Atta; Khaithir, Tzar Mohd Nizam

2014-01-01

Candida speciation is vital for epidemiology and management of candidiasis. Nonmolecular conventional methods often fail to identify closely related germ tube positive yeasts from clinical specimens. The present study was conducted to identify these yeasts and to highlight issues in conventional versus molecular methods of identification. A total of 98 germ tube positive yeasts from high vaginal swabs were studied over a 12-month period. Isolates were examined with various methods including growth at 42 °C and 45 °C on Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA), color development on CHROMagar Candida medium, chlamydospore production on corn meal agar at 25 °C, carbohydrate assimilation using ID 32C system, and polymerase chain reaction using a single pair of primers targeting the hyphal wall protein 1 (Hwp1) gene. Of all the isolates studied, 97 were molecularly confirmed as C. albicans and one isolate was identified as C. dubliniensis. No C. africana was detected in this study. The molecular method used in our study was an accurate and useful tool for discriminating C. albicans, C. dubliniensis, and C. africana. The conventional methods, however, were less accurate and riddled with many issues that will be discussed in further details. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Exploring Career Success of Late Bloomers from the TVET Background

Science.gov (United States)

Omar, Zoharah; Krauss, Steven Eric; Sail, Rahim M.; Ismail, Ismi Arif

2011-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore objective and subjective career success and to identify factors contributing to career success among a sample of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) "late bloomers" working in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: Incorporating a mixed method design, the authors…

THE USEFULNESS OF USER TESTING METHODS IN IDENTIFYING PROBLEMS ON UNIVERSITY WEBSITES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Layla Hasan

2014-10-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to investigate the usefulness of three user testing methods (observation, and using both quantitative and qualitative data from a post-test questionnaire in terms of their ability or inability to find specific usability problems on university websites. The results showed that observation was the best method, compared to the other two, in identifying large numbers of major and minor usability problems on university websites. The results also showed that employing qualitative data from a post-test questionnaire was a useful complementary method since this identified additional usability problems that were not identified by the observation method. However, the results showed that the quantitative data from the post-test questionnaire were inaccurate and ineffective in terms of identifying usability problems on such websites.

Methods for detrending success metrics to account for inflationary and deflationary factors*

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Petersen, A. M.; Penner, O.; Stanley, H. E.

2011-01-01

Time-dependent economic, technological, and social factors can artificially inflate or deflate quantitative measures for career success. Here we develop and test a statistical method for normalizing career success metrics across time dependent factors. In particular, this method addresses the long standing question: how do we compare the career achievements of professional athletes from different historical eras? Developing an objective approach will be of particular importance over the next decade as major league baseball (MLB) players from the "steroids era" become eligible for Hall of Fame induction. Some experts are calling for asterisks (*) to be placed next to the career statistics of athletes found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs (PED). Here we address this issue, as well as the general problem of comparing statistics from distinct eras, by detrending the seasonal statistics of professional baseball players. We detrend player statistics by normalizing achievements to seasonal averages, which accounts for changes in relative player ability resulting from a range of factors. Our methods are general, and can be extended to various arenas of competition where time-dependent factors play a key role. For five statistical categories, we compare the probability density function (pdf) of detrended career statistics to the pdf of raw career statistics calculated for all player careers in the 90-year period 1920-2009. We find that the functional form of these pdfs is stationary under detrending. This stationarity implies that the statistical regularity observed in the right-skewed distributions for longevity and success in professional sports arises from both the wide range of intrinsic talent among athletes and the underlying nature of competition. We fit the pdfs for career success by the Gamma distribution in order to calculate objective benchmarks based on extreme statistics which can be used for the identification of extraordinary careers.

A method to identify differential expression profiles of time-course gene data with Fourier transformation.

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Kim, Jaehee; Ogden, Robert Todd; Kim, Haseong

2013-10-18

Time course gene expression experiments are an increasingly popular method for exploring biological processes. Temporal gene expression profiles provide an important characterization of gene function, as biological systems are both developmental and dynamic. With such data it is possible to study gene expression changes over time and thereby to detect differential genes. Much of the early work on analyzing time series expression data relied on methods developed originally for static data and thus there is a need for improved methodology. Since time series expression is a temporal process, its unique features such as autocorrelation between successive points should be incorporated into the analysis. This work aims to identify genes that show different gene expression profiles across time. We propose a statistical procedure to discover gene groups with similar profiles using a nonparametric representation that accounts for the autocorrelation in the data. In particular, we first represent each profile in terms of a Fourier basis, and then we screen out genes that are not differentially expressed based on the Fourier coefficients. Finally, we cluster the remaining gene profiles using a model-based approach in the Fourier domain. We evaluate the screening results in terms of sensitivity, specificity, FDR and FNR, compare with the Gaussian process regression screening in a simulation study and illustrate the results by application to yeast cell-cycle microarray expression data with alpha-factor synchronization.The key elements of the proposed methodology: (i) representation of gene profiles in the Fourier domain; (ii) automatic screening of genes based on the Fourier coefficients and taking into account autocorrelation in the data, while controlling the false discovery rate (FDR); (iii) model-based clustering of the remaining gene profiles. Using this method, we identified a set of cell-cycle-regulated time-course yeast genes. The proposed method is general and can be

Identifying Emerging Trends of Financial Business Method Patents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Won Sang Lee

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Financial technology has become an important part of the banking industry in recent times. This study attempts to propose a framework to identify emerging areas and trends using financial business method patents. Based on the abstracts of financial business method patents registered at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, this study first applies latent Dirichlet allocation to identify emerging topics. The probability of the annual occurrence of each topic is adjusted through the exponentially weighted moving average to reflect the importance of the recent probability of topics. Each topic is classified as “hot” or “cold” depending on whether the exponentially weighted moving average of the probabilities exceeds the threshold. We applied survival analysis to the time gap of recurrently becoming hot from a cold status with the associated factor of financial business method patents. The findings suggest that the topic with the short granted period and high forward citation is likely to become hot. In addition, the topic that is aged and specific in narrow areas is likely to continuously change into the hot or cold status. The approach proposed in this study contributes toward understanding topic emergence in the financial area and pursuing sustainable development.

A Method to Evaluate Critical Factors for Successful Implementation of Clinical Pathways.

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Dong, W; Huang, Z

2015-01-01

Clinical pathways (CPs) have been viewed as a multidisciplinary tool to improve the quality and efficiency of evidence-based care. Despite widespread enthusiasm for CPs, research has shown that many CP initiatives are unsuccessful. To this end, this study provides a methodology to evaluate critical success factors (CSFs) that can aid healthcare organizations to achieve successful CP implementation. This study presents a new approach to evaluate CP implementation CSFs, with the aims being: (1) to identify CSFs for implementation of CPs through a comprehensive literature review and interviews with collaborative experts; (2) to use a filed study data with a robust fuzzy DEMATEL (the decision making trial and evaluation laboratory) approach to visualize the structure of complicated causal relationships between CSFs and obtain the influence level of these factors. The filed study data is provided by ten clinical experts of a Chinese hospital. 23 identified CSF factors which are initially identified through a review of the literature and interviews with collaborative experts. Then, a number of direct and indirect relationships are derived from the data such that different perceptions can be integrated into a compromised cause and effect model of CP implementation. The results indicate that the proposed approach can systematically evaluate CSFs and realize the importance of each factor such that the most common causes of failure of CP implementation could be eliminated or avoided. Therefore, the tool proposed would help healthcare organizations to manage CP implementation in a more effective and proactive way.

Method of identifying features in indexed data

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Jarman, Kristin H [Richland, WA; Daly, Don Simone [Richland, WA; Anderson, Kevin K [Richland, WA; Wahl, Karen L [Richland, WA

2001-06-26

The present invention is a method of identifying features in indexed data, especially useful for distinguishing signal from noise in data provided as a plurality of ordered pairs. Each of the plurality of ordered pairs has an index and a response. The method has the steps of: (a) providing an index window having a first window end located on a first index and extending across a plurality of indices to a second window end; (b) selecting responses corresponding to the plurality of indices within the index window and computing a measure of dispersion of the responses; and (c) comparing the measure of dispersion to a dispersion critical value. Advantages of the present invention include minimizing signal to noise ratio, signal drift, varying baseline signal and combinations thereof.

Identifying Creatively Gifted Students: Necessity of a Multi-Method Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Ambrose, Laura; Machek, Greg R.

2015-01-01

The process of identifying students as creatively gifted provides numerous challenges for educators. Although many schools assess for creativity in identifying students for gifted and talented services, the relationship between creativity and giftedness is often not fully understood. This article reviews commonly used methods of creativity…

A method to identify aperiodic disturbances in the ionosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J.-S.; Chen, Z.; Huang, C.-M.

2014-05-01

In this paper, variations in the ionospheric F2 layer's critical frequency are decomposed into their periodic and aperiodic components. The latter include disturbances caused both by geophysical impacts on the ionosphere and random noise. The spectral whitening method (SWM), a signal-processing technique used in statistical estimation and/or detection, was used to identify aperiodic components in the ionosphere. The whitening algorithm adopted herein is used to divide the Fourier transform of the observed data series by a real envelope function. As a result, periodic components are suppressed and aperiodic components emerge as the dominant contributors. Application to a synthetic data set based on significant simulated periodic features of ionospheric observations containing artificial (and, hence, controllable) disturbances was used to validate the SWM for identification of aperiodic components. Although the random noise was somewhat enhanced by post-processing, the artificial disturbances could still be clearly identified. The SWM was then applied to real ionospheric observations. It was found to be more sensitive than the often-used monthly median method to identify geomagnetic effects. In addition, disturbances detected by the SWM were characterized by a Gaussian-type probability density function over all timescales, which further simplifies statistical analysis and suggests that the disturbances thus identified can be compared regardless of timescale.

Identifying Heterogeneities in Subsurface Environment using the Level Set Method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lei, Hongzhuan [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Lu, Zhiming [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Vesselinov, Velimir Valentinov [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-08-25

These are slides from a presentation on identifying heterogeneities in subsurface environment using the level set method. The slides start with the motivation, then explain Level Set Method (LSM), the algorithms, some examples are given, and finally future work is explained.

The use of human factors methods to identify and mitigate safety issues in radiation therapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chan, Alvita J.; Islam, Mohammad K.; Rosewall, Tara; Jaffray, David A.; Easty, Anthony C.; Cafazzo, Joseph A.

2010-01-01

Background and purpose: New radiation therapy technologies can enhance the quality of treatment and reduce error. However, the treatment process has become more complex, and radiation dose is not always delivered as intended. Using human factors methods, a radiotherapy treatment delivery process was evaluated, and a redesign was undertaken to determine the effect on system safety. Material and methods: An ethnographic field study and workflow analysis was conducted to identify human factors issues of the treatment delivery process. To address specific issues, components of the user interface were redesigned through a user-centered approach. Sixteen radiation therapy students were then used to experimentally evaluate the redesigned system through a usability test to determine the effectiveness in mitigating use errors. Results: According to findings from the usability test, the redesigned system successfully reduced the error rates of two common errors (p < .04 and p < .01). It also improved the mean task completion time by 5.5% (p < .02) and achieved a higher level of user satisfaction. Conclusions: These findings demonstrated the importance and benefits of applying human factors methods in the design of radiation therapy systems. Many other opportunities still exist to improve patient safety in this area using human factors methods.

Voces de la frontera/Voices from the Border: Using Case Studies of Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting along the U.S.-Mexico Border to Identify Shared Measures of Success.

Science.gov (United States)

Selchau, Katherine; Babuca, Maricela; Bower, Kara; Castro, Yara; Flores, Araceli; Garcia, Jonah O; Reyes, Maria Lourdes F; Rojas, Yvonne; Shattuck, Laura

2017-12-01

Purpose This research analyzes the cases of five women living along the U.S.-Mexico border who overcame challenges during pregnancy or parenting with the support of a federally funded Healthy Start program, designed to eliminate disparities in perinatal health in disadvantaged communities with the poorest birth outcomes. Study objectives were to: (1) identify common factors that affect healthy maternal and child outcomes for Healthy Start participants; and (2) identify a shared definition of what success looks like for Healthy Start participants and opportunities for further study. Description Five border Healthy Start sites (CA, AZ, NM, and TX) contributed case stories from participants who had overcome access barriers to achieve positive pregnancy, birth or parenting outcomes. Case studies were collected using review of successful participant cases and non-structured interviews by Healthy Start staff, and analyzed using participatory methods and thematic analysis. Assessment Common barriers were: lack of insurance; isolation or unsupportive family relationships; timidness and lack of self-advocacy. Healthy Start programs have been successful in securing supportive relationships through the community health worker model; reducing isolation; obtaining insurance access and a medical home; building self-advocacy skills; and supporting participants to pursue their goals. Conclusion Identified barriers are in line with available literature on health care access and provide a U.S.-Mexico border-specific view. The Healthy Start model is effective at helping women to overcome barriers. Learning from this research may contribute to development of shared measures for more impactful evaluation of Healthy Start and similar programs.

Identifying Barriers and Pathways to Success for Renewable Energy Development on American Indian Lands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Necefer, Len Edward [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States); Jones, Thomas Elisha [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

2016-11-01

American Indian tribes possess lands rich with renewable energy (RE) resources. Tribes have great potential and need to develop these resources, yet face a host of barriers that continue to impede development. Understanding these challenges as well as the pathways that can be taken to overcome them may facilitate more economic development to meet community needs and better position tribes to play a role in securing a low-carbon energy future for the United States. This paper presents the results of an expert elicitation of 24 tribal energy experts from federal, tribal, academic, and private industry backgrounds to identify barriers and opportunities for federally recognized tribes in the lower 48 states. Experts identified a number of unique challenges facing tribes including financing and funding, infrastructure, tribal leadership and staff, state-level influence, and partnerships. Cultural factors were seen only to be of concern with large-scale development. Tribal sovereignty is a significant motivation for RE development and has yet to be fully realized. Cultural considerations are critical to the success of future projects; smaller residential and community-scale projects may be a better fit. Improving partnerships between tribes and the private sector can increase RE deployment and overcome historical distrust. States can have a double-ended influence on projects within tribal lands through taxation.

A simple method for identifying parameter correlations in partially observed linear dynamic models.

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Li, Pu; Vu, Quoc Dong

2015-12-14

Parameter estimation represents one of the most significant challenges in systems biology. This is because biological models commonly contain a large number of parameters among which there may be functional interrelationships, thus leading to the problem of non-identifiability. Although identifiability analysis has been extensively studied by analytical as well as numerical approaches, systematic methods for remedying practically non-identifiable models have rarely been investigated. We propose a simple method for identifying pairwise correlations and higher order interrelationships of parameters in partially observed linear dynamic models. This is made by derivation of the output sensitivity matrix and analysis of the linear dependencies of its columns. Consequently, analytical relations between the identifiability of the model parameters and the initial conditions as well as the input functions can be achieved. In the case of structural non-identifiability, identifiable combinations can be obtained by solving the resulting homogenous linear equations. In the case of practical non-identifiability, experiment conditions (i.e. initial condition and constant control signals) can be provided which are necessary for remedying the non-identifiability and unique parameter estimation. It is noted that the approach does not consider noisy data. In this way, the practical non-identifiability issue, which is popular for linear biological models, can be remedied. Several linear compartment models including an insulin receptor dynamics model are taken to illustrate the application of the proposed approach. Both structural and practical identifiability of partially observed linear dynamic models can be clarified by the proposed method. The result of this method provides important information for experimental design to remedy the practical non-identifiability if applicable. The derivation of the method is straightforward and thus the algorithm can be easily implemented into a

On-line method to identify control rod drops in Pressurized Water Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, T.J.; Martinez, A.S.; Medeiros, J.A.C.C.; Palma, D.A.P.; Gonçalves, A.C.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • On-line method to identify control rod drops in PWR reactors. • Identification method based on the readings of the ex-core detector. • Recognition of the patterns in the ex-core detector responses. - Abstract: A control rod drop event in PWR reactors leads to an unsafe operating condition. It is important to quickly identify the rod to minimise undesirable effects in such a scenario. The goal of this work is to develop an online method to identify control rod drops in PWR reactors. The method entails the construction of a tool based on ex-core detector responses. It proposes to recognize patterns in the neutron ex-core detectors responses and thus to make an online identification of a control rod drop in the core during the reactor operation. The results of the study, as well as the behaviour of the detector responses demonstrated the feasibility of this method

Identifying influential spreaders in complex networks based on kshell hybrid method

Science.gov (United States)

Namtirtha, Amrita; Dutta, Animesh; Dutta, Biswanath

2018-06-01

Influential spreaders are the key players in maximizing or controlling the spreading in a complex network. Identifying the influential spreaders using kshell decomposition method has become very popular in the recent time. In the literature, the core nodes i.e. with the largest kshell index of a network are considered as the most influential spreaders. We have studied the kshell method and spreading dynamics of nodes using Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) epidemic model to understand the behavior of influential spreaders in terms of its topological location in the network. From the study, we have found that every node in the core area is not the most influential spreader. Even a strategically placed lower shell node can also be a most influential spreader. Moreover, the core area can also be situated at the periphery of the network. The existing indexing methods are only designed to identify the most influential spreaders from core nodes and not from lower shells. In this work, we propose a kshell hybrid method to identify highly influential spreaders not only from the core but also from lower shells. The proposed method comprises the parameters such as kshell power, node's degree, contact distance, and many levels of neighbors' influence potential. The proposed method is evaluated using nine real world network datasets. In terms of the spreading dynamics, the experimental results show the superiority of the proposed method over the other existing indexing methods such as the kshell method, the neighborhood coreness centrality, the mixed degree decomposition, etc. Furthermore, the proposed method can also be applied to large-scale networks by considering the three levels of neighbors' influence potential.

Local acceptance of wind energy: Factors of success identified in French and German case studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jobert, Arthur; Laborgne, Pia; Mimler, Solveig

2007-01-01

The objective of this paper is to identify and analyse factors that are important for winning acceptance of wind-energy parks on the local level. The developers of wind-energy parks need to know how to manage 'social acceptance' at the different stages of planning, realisation and operation. Five case studies in France and Germany focused on factors of success in developing a wind-energy project on a given site and illuminated how policy frameworks influence local acceptance. Our hypothesis is that these factors fall into two categories: institutional conditions, such as economic incentives and regulations; and site-specific conditions (territorial factors), such as the local economy, the local geography, local actors, and the actual on-site planning process (project management)

Success/Failure Prediction of Noninvasive Mechanical Ventilation in Intensive Care Units. Using Multiclassifiers and Feature Selection Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Martín-González, Félix; González-Robledo, Javier; Sánchez-Hernández, Fernando; Moreno-García, María N

2016-05-17

This paper addresses the problem of decision-making in relation to the administration of noninvasive mechanical ventilation (NIMV) in intensive care units. Data mining methods were employed to find out the factors influencing the success/failure of NIMV and to predict its results in future patients. These artificial intelligence-based methods have not been applied in this field in spite of the good results obtained in other medical areas. Feature selection methods provided the most influential variables in the success/failure of NIMV, such as NIMV hours, PaCO2 at the start, PaO2 / FiO2 ratio at the start, hematocrit at the start or PaO2 / FiO2 ratio after two hours. These methods were also used in the preprocessing step with the aim of improving the results of the classifiers. The algorithms provided the best results when the dataset used as input was the one containing the attributes selected with the CFS method. Data mining methods can be successfully applied to determine the most influential factors in the success/failure of NIMV and also to predict NIMV results in future patients. The results provided by classifiers can be improved by preprocessing the data with feature selection techniques.

Identifying and prioritizing the factors influencing the success of science and technology foresight in the field of economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afsaneh Raieninezhad

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Promoting complex global environment, tremendous growth and increase of network communication technology in the world, strategic planning and foresight activities in science and technology have become very important. Gradually, organizations and businesses are realizing the importance of foresight; many organizations attempt to execute such activities. However, this concept is not still well known in our country and among our organizations. Therefore, recognizing the factors influencing the success of this concept is a kind of issues that the organizations and activists are faced. Thus, this research seeks to identify and to rank the factors, particularly in the areas of economy, and it has developed five hypotheses. In this paper, factors affecting the success of foresight are given in four groups of rational, structure, scope, and results. Data collection for this study is a questionnaire and the binomial tests, Pearson correlation and Friedman test have been used to prove the hypothesis. According to the analysis of data obtained from the questionnaire conducted by SPSS software, all research hypotheses were confirmed. It also became clear that the rational component had the greatest impact on the future success of science and technology in the field of economic.

Modeling student success in engineering education

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Qu

student's first year of college was about a half of a grade point for both models. The predictors of retention and cumulative GPA while being similar differ in that high school academic metrics play a more important role in predicting cumulative GPA with the affective measures playing a more important role in predicting retention. In the last investigation, multi-outcome neural network models were used to understand and to predict engineering students' retention, GPA, and graduation from entry to departure. The participants were more than 4000 engineering students (cohort years 2004 - 2006) enrolled in a large Midwestern university. Different patterns of important predictors were identified for GPA, retention, and graduation. Overall, this research explores the feasibility of using modeling to enhance a student's educational experience in engineering. Student success modeling was used to identify the most important cognitive and affective predictors for a student's first calculus course retention, GPA, and graduation. The results suggest that the statistical modeling methods have great potential to assist decision making and help ensure student success in engineering education.

Beams configuration design in target area with successive quadratic programming method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi Zhiquan; Tan Jichun; Wei Xiaofeng; Man Jongzai; Zhang Xiaomin; Yuan Jing; Yuan Xiaodong

1998-01-01

The author describes the application of successive quadratic programming method (SQP) to design laser beam configuration in target area. Based on the requirement of ICF experiment physics, a math model of indirect-driver beam geometry is given. A 3D wire-frame is plotted, in which support lines represent 60 laser entireties and 240 turning points of support lines' segments stand for the spatial positions of reflectors

Identifying Shifts in Leaf-Litter Ant Assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae across Ecosystem Boundaries Using Multiple Sampling Methods.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michal Wiezik

Full Text Available Global or regional environmental changes in climate or land use have been increasingly implied in shifts in boundaries (ecotones between adjacent ecosystems such as beech or oak-dominated forests and forest-steppe ecotones that frequently co-occur near the southern range limits of deciduous forest biome in Europe. Yet, our ability to detect changes in biological communities across these ecosystems, or to understand their environmental drivers, can be hampered when different sampling methods are required to characterize biological communities of the adjacent but ecologically different ecosystems. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae have been shown to be particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and vegetation and they require different sampling methods in closed vs. open habitats. We compared ant assemblages of closed-forests (beech- or oak-dominated and open forest-steppe habitats in southwestern Carpathians using methods for closed-forest (litter sifting and open habitats (pitfall trapping, and developed an integrated sampling approach to characterize changes in ant assemblages across these adjacent ecosystems. Using both methods, we collected 5,328 individual ant workers from 28 species. Neither method represented ant communities completely, but pitfall trapping accounted for more species (24 than litter sifting (16. Although pitfall trapping characterized differences in species richness and composition among the ecosystems better, with beech forest being most species poor and ecotone most species rich, litter sifting was more successful in identifying characteristic litter-dwelling species in oak-dominated forest. The integrated sampling approach using both methods yielded more accurate characterization of species richness and composition, and particularly so in species-rich forest-steppe habitat where the combined sample identified significantly higher number of species compared to either of the two methods on their own. Thus, an integrated

Identifying Shifts in Leaf-Litter Ant Assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) across Ecosystem Boundaries Using Multiple Sampling Methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiezik, Michal; Svitok, Marek; Wieziková, Adela; Dovčiak, Martin

2015-01-01

Global or regional environmental changes in climate or land use have been increasingly implied in shifts in boundaries (ecotones) between adjacent ecosystems such as beech or oak-dominated forests and forest-steppe ecotones that frequently co-occur near the southern range limits of deciduous forest biome in Europe. Yet, our ability to detect changes in biological communities across these ecosystems, or to understand their environmental drivers, can be hampered when different sampling methods are required to characterize biological communities of the adjacent but ecologically different ecosystems. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) have been shown to be particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and vegetation and they require different sampling methods in closed vs. open habitats. We compared ant assemblages of closed-forests (beech- or oak-dominated) and open forest-steppe habitats in southwestern Carpathians using methods for closed-forest (litter sifting) and open habitats (pitfall trapping), and developed an integrated sampling approach to characterize changes in ant assemblages across these adjacent ecosystems. Using both methods, we collected 5,328 individual ant workers from 28 species. Neither method represented ant communities completely, but pitfall trapping accounted for more species (24) than litter sifting (16). Although pitfall trapping characterized differences in species richness and composition among the ecosystems better, with beech forest being most species poor and ecotone most species rich, litter sifting was more successful in identifying characteristic litter-dwelling species in oak-dominated forest. The integrated sampling approach using both methods yielded more accurate characterization of species richness and composition, and particularly so in species-rich forest-steppe habitat where the combined sample identified significantly higher number of species compared to either of the two methods on their own. Thus, an integrated sampling

Stakeholders Perspectives on the Success Drivers in Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme – Identifying Policy Translation Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Fusheini, Adam; Marnoch, Gordon; Gray, Ann Marie

2017-01-01

Background: Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), established by an Act of Parliament (Act 650), in 2003 and since replaced by Act 852 of 2012 remains, in African terms, unprecedented in terms of growth and coverage. As a result, the scheme has received praise for its associated legal reforms, clinical audit mechanisms and for serving as a hub for knowledge sharing and learning within the context of South-South cooperation. The scheme continues to shape national health insurance thinking in Africa. While the success, especially in coverage and financial access has been highlighted by many authors, insufficient attention has been paid to critical and context-specific factors. This paper seeks to fill that gap. Methods: Based on an empirical qualitative case study of stakeholders’ views on challenges and success factors in four mutual schemes (district offices) located in two regions of Ghana, the study uses the concept of policy translation to assess whether the Ghana scheme could provide useful lessons to other African and developing countries in their quest to implement social/NHISs. Results: In the study, interviewees referred to both ‘hard and soft’ elements as driving the "success" of the Ghana scheme. The main ‘hard elements’ include bureaucratic and legal enforcement capacities; IT; financing; governance, administration and management; regulating membership of the scheme; and service provision and coverage capabilities. The ‘soft’ elements identified relate to: the background/context of the health insurance scheme; innovative ways of funding the NHIS, the hybrid nature of the Ghana scheme; political will, commitment by government, stakeholders and public cooperation; social structure of Ghana (solidarity); and ownership and participation. Conclusion: Other developing countries can expect to translate rather than re-assemble a national health insurance programme in an incomplete and highly modified form over a period of years

An Analytic Hierarchy Process-based Method to Rank the Critical Success Factors of Implementing a Pharmacy Barcode System.

Science.gov (United States)

Alharthi, Hana; Sultana, Nahid; Al-Amoudi, Amjaad; Basudan, Afrah

2015-01-01

Pharmacy barcode scanning is used to reduce errors during the medication dispensing process. However, this technology has rarely been used in hospital pharmacies in Saudi Arabia. This article describes the barriers to successful implementation of a barcode scanning system in Saudi Arabia. A literature review was conducted to identify the relevant critical success factors (CSFs) for a successful dispensing barcode system implementation. Twenty-eight pharmacists from a local hospital in Saudi Arabia were interviewed to obtain their perception of these CSFs. In this study, planning (process flow issues and training requirements), resistance (fear of change, communication issues, and negative perceptions about technology), and technology (software, hardware, and vendor support) were identified as the main barriers. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP), one of the most widely used tools for decision making in the presence of multiple criteria, was used to compare and rank these identified CSFs. The results of this study suggest that resistance barriers have a greater impact than planning and technology barriers. In particular, fear of change is the most critical factor, and training is the least critical factor.

Central sensitization does not identify patients with carpal tunnel syndrome who are likely to achieve short-term success with physical therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, César; Cleland, Joshua A; Ortega-Santiago, Ricardo; de-la-Llave-Rincon, Ana Isabel; Martínez-Perez, Almudena; Pareja, Juan A

2010-11-01

The aim of the current study was to identify whether hyperexcitability of the central nervous system is a prognostic factor for individuals with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) likely to experience rapid and clinical self-reported improvement following a physical therapy program including soft tissue mobilization and nerve slider neurodynamic interventions. Women presenting with clinical and electrophysiological findings of CTS were involved in a prospective single-arm trial. Participants underwent a standardized examination and then a physical therapy session. The physical therapy sessions included both soft tissue mobilization directed at the anatomical sites of potential median nerve entrapment and a passive nerve slider neurodynamic technique targeted to the median nerve. Pressure pain thresholds (PPT) over the median, radial and ulnar nerves, C5-C6 zygapophyseal joint, carpal tunnel and tibialis anterior muscle were assessed bilaterally. Additionally, thermal detection and pain thresholds were measured over the carpal tunnel and thenar eminence bilaterally to evaluate central nervous system excitability. Subjects were classified as responders (having achieved a successful outcome) or non-responders based on self-perceived recovery. Variables were entered into a stepwise logistic regression model to determine the most accurate variables for determining prognosis. Data from 72 women were included in the analysis, of which 35 experienced a successful outcome (48.6%). Three variables including PPT over the C5-C6 joint affected side 66 points were identified. If 2 out of 3 variables were present (LR + 14.8), the likelihood of success increased from 48.6 to 93.3%. We identified 3 factors that may be associated with a rapid clinical response to both soft tissue mobilization and nerve slider neurodynamic techniques targeted to the median nerve in women presenting with CTS. Our results support that widespread central sensitization may not be present in women with CTS who

A comparison of statistical methods for identifying out-of-date systematic reviews.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Porjai Pattanittum

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Systematic reviews (SRs can provide accurate and reliable evidence, typically about the effectiveness of health interventions. Evidence is dynamic, and if SRs are out-of-date this information may not be useful; it may even be harmful. This study aimed to compare five statistical methods to identify out-of-date SRs. METHODS: A retrospective cohort of SRs registered in the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group (CPCG, published between 2008 and 2010, were considered for inclusion. For each eligible CPCG review, data were extracted and "3-years previous" meta-analyses were assessed for the need to update, given the data from the most recent 3 years. Each of the five statistical methods was used, with random effects analyses throughout the study. RESULTS: Eighty reviews were included in this study; most were in the area of induction of labour. The numbers of reviews identified as being out-of-date using the Ottawa, recursive cumulative meta-analysis (CMA, and Barrowman methods were 34, 7, and 7 respectively. No reviews were identified as being out-of-date using the simulation-based power method, or the CMA for sufficiency and stability method. The overall agreement among the three discriminating statistical methods was slight (Kappa = 0.14; 95% CI 0.05 to 0.23. The recursive cumulative meta-analysis, Ottawa, and Barrowman methods were practical according to the study criteria. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that three practical statistical methods could be applied to examine the need to update SRs.

Why conventional detection methods fail in identifying the existence of contamination events.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shuming; Li, Ruonan; Smith, Kate; Che, Han

2016-04-15

Early warning systems are widely used to safeguard water security, but their effectiveness has raised many questions. To understand why conventional detection methods fail to identify contamination events, this study evaluates the performance of three contamination detection methods using data from a real contamination accident and two artificial datasets constructed using a widely applied contamination data construction approach. Results show that the Pearson correlation Euclidean distance (PE) based detection method performs better for real contamination incidents, while the Euclidean distance method (MED) and linear prediction filter (LPF) method are more suitable for detecting sudden spike-like variation. This analysis revealed why the conventional MED and LPF methods failed to identify existence of contamination events. The analysis also revealed that the widely used contamination data construction approach is misleading. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Array Manipulation And Matrix-Tree Method To Identify High Concentration Regions HCRs

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Rachana Arora

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract-Sequence Alignment and Analysis is one of the most important applications of bioinformatics. It involves alignment a pair or more sequences with each other and identify a common pattern that would ultimately lead to conclusions of homology or dissimilarity. A number of algorithms that make use of dynamic programming to perform alignment between sequences are available. One of their main disadvantages is that they involve complicated computations and backtracking methods that are difficult to implement. This paper describes a much simpler method to identify common regions in 2 sequences and align them based on the density of common sequences identified.

Priority setting: what constitutes success? A conceptual framework for successful priority setting.

Science.gov (United States)

Sibbald, Shannon L; Singer, Peter A; Upshur, Ross; Martin, Douglas K

2009-03-05

The sustainability of healthcare systems worldwide is threatened by a growing demand for services and expensive innovative technologies. Decision makers struggle in this environment to set priorities appropriately, particularly because they lack consensus about which values should guide their decisions. One way to approach this problem is to determine what all relevant stakeholders understand successful priority setting to mean. The goal of this research was to develop a conceptual framework for successful priority setting. Three separate empirical studies were completed using qualitative data collection methods (one-on-one interviews with healthcare decision makers from across Canada; focus groups with representation of patients, caregivers and policy makers; and Delphi study including scholars and decision makers from five countries). This paper synthesizes the findings from three studies into a framework of ten separate but interconnected elements germane to successful priority setting: stakeholder understanding, shifted priorities/reallocation of resources, decision making quality, stakeholder acceptance and satisfaction, positive externalities, stakeholder engagement, use of explicit process, information management, consideration of values and context, and revision or appeals mechanism. The ten elements specify both quantitative and qualitative dimensions of priority setting and relate to both process and outcome components. To our knowledge, this is the first framework that describes successful priority setting. The ten elements identified in this research provide guidance for decision makers and a common language to discuss priority setting success and work toward improving priority setting efforts.

Identifying User Profiles from Statistical Grouping Methods

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Francisco Kelsen de Oliveira

2018-02-01

Full Text Available This research aimed to group users into subgroups according to their levels of knowledge about technology. Statistical hierarchical and non-hierarchical clustering methods were studied, compared and used in the creations of the subgroups from the similarities of the skill levels with these users’ technology. The research sample consisted of teachers who answered online questionnaires about their skills with the use of software and hardware with educational bias. The statistical methods of grouping were performed and showed the possibilities of groupings of the users. The analyses of these groups allowed to identify the common characteristics among the individuals of each subgroup. Therefore, it was possible to define two subgroups of users, one with skill in technology and another with skill with technology, so that the partial results of the research showed two main algorithms for grouping with 92% similarity in the formation of groups of users with skill with technology and the other with little skill, confirming the accuracy of the techniques of discrimination against individuals.

Methods to identify the unexplored diversity of microbial exopolysaccharides.

Science.gov (United States)

Rühmann, Broder; Schmid, Jochen; Sieber, Volker

2015-01-01

Microbial exopolysaccharides (EPS) are a structurally very diverse class of molecules. A number of them have found their application in rather diverging fields that extend from medicine, food, and cosmetics on the one side to construction, drilling, and chemical industry on the other side. The analysis of microbial strains for their competence in polysaccharide production has therefore been a major issue in the past, especially in the search for new polysaccharide variants among natural strain isolates. Concerning the fact that nearly all microbes carry the genetic equipment for the production of polysaccharides under specific conditions, the naturally provided EPS portfolio seems to be still massively underexplored. Therefore, there is a need for high throughput screening techniques capable of identifying novel variants of bacterial EPS with properties superior to the already described ones, or even totally new ones. A great variety of different techniques has been used in screening approaches for identifying microorganisms that are producing EPS in substantial amounts. Mucoid growth is often the method of choice for visual identification of EPS producing strains. Depending on the thickening characteristics of the polysaccharide, observation of viscosity in culture broth can also be an option to evaluate EPS production. Precipitation with different alcohols represents a common detection, isolation, and purification method for many EPS. A more quantitative approach is found in the total carbohydrate content analysis, normally determined, e.g., by phenol-sulfuric-acid-method. In addition, recently a new and reliable method for the detailed analysis of the monomeric composition and the presence of rare sugars and sugar substitutions has become available, which could give a first hint of the polymer structure of unknown EPS. This minireview will compare available methods and novel techniques and discuss their benefits and disadvantages.

Methods to identify the unexplored diversity of microbial exopolysaccharides

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Broder eRühmann

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Microbial exopolysaccharides (EPS are a structurally very diverse class of molecules. A number of them have found their application in rather diverging fields that extend from medicine, food and cosmetics on the one side to construction, drilling and chemical industry on the other side. The analysis of microbial strains for their competence in polysaccharide production has therefore been a major issue in the past, especially in the search for new polysaccharide variants among natural strain isolates. Concerning the fact that nearly all microbes carry the genetic equipment for the production of polysaccharides under specific conditions, the naturally provided EPS portfolio seems to be still massively underexplored. Therefore, there is a need for high throughput screening techniques capable of identifying novel variants of bacterial exopolysaccharides with properties superior to the already described ones, or even totally new ones. A great variety of different techniques has been used in screening approaches for identifying microorganisms that are producing EPS in substantial amounts. Mucoid growth is often the method of choice for visual identification of EPS producing strains. Depending on the thickening characteristics of the polysaccharide, observation of viscosity in culture broth can also be an option to evaluate EPS production. Precipitation with different alcohols represents a common detection, isolation and purification method for many EPS. A more quantitative approach is found in the total carbohydrate content analysis, normally determined e.g. by phenol-sulfuric-acid-method. In addition, recently a new and reliable method for the detailed analysis of the monomeric composition and the presence of rare sugars and sugar substitutions has become available, which could give a first hint of the polymer structure of unknown EPS. This minireview will compare available methods and novel techniques and discuss their benefits and disadvantages.

Estimating New Product Success with the Use of Intelligent Systems

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Relich Marcin

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents identifying success factors in new product development and selecting new product portfolio. The critical success factors are identified on the basis of an enterprise system, including the fields of project management, marketing and customer’s comments concerning the previous products. The model of measuring the success of a product includes the indicators such as duration and cost of product development, and net profit from a product. The proposed methodology is based on identification of the relationships between product success and project environment parameters with the use of artificial neural networks and fuzzy neural system that is compared with the results from linear model. The presented method contains the stages of knowledge discovery process such as data selection, data preprocessing, and data mining in the context of an enterprise resource planning system database. The illustrative example enhances a performance comparison of intelligent systems in the context of data preprocessing.

DIETFITS Study (Diet Intervention Examining The Factors Interacting with Treatment Success) – Study Design and Methods

OpenAIRE

Stanton, Michael; Robinson, Jennifer; Kirkpatrick, Susan; Farzinkhou, Sarah; Avery, Erin; Rigdon, Joseph; Offringa, Lisa; Trepanowski, John; Hauser, Michelle; Hartle, Jennifer; Cherin, Rise; King, Abby C.; Ioannidis, John P.A.; Desai, Manisha; Gardner, Christopher D.

2016-01-01

Numerous studies have attempted to identify successful dietary strategies for weight loss, and many have focused on Low-Fat vs. Low-Carbohydrate comparisons. Despite relatively small between-group differences in weight loss found in most previous studies, researchers have consistently observed relatively large between-subject differences in weight loss within any given diet group (e.g., ~25 kg weight loss to ~5 kg weight gain). The primary objective of this study was to identify predisposing ...

Empowering Teachers: Characteristics, Strategies, and Practices of Successful Principals

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, Cailin Patrice

2012-01-01

This study implemented an exploratory mixed-methods design to better understand how the characteristics of a principal, specifically the strategies, behaviors, and actions, lead to the perception of empowerment as perceived by the teachers themselves. An expert panel identified three "highly successful" principals assigned to elementary…

Lessons for public health campaigns from analysing commercial food marketing success factors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; JA Perez-Cueto, Federico; Niedzwiedzka, Barbara

2012-01-01

Background: Commercial food marketing has considerably shaped consumer food choice behaviour. Meanwhile, public health campaigns for healthier eating have had limited impact to date. Social marketing suggests that successful commercial food marketing campaigns can provide useful lessons for public...... sector activities. The aim of the present study was to empirically identify food marketing success factors that, using the social marketing approach, could help improve public health campaigns to promote healthy eating. Methods: In this case-study analysis, 27 recent and successful commercial food...... in the communication related to the food. Visual as well as written material was gathered, complemented by semi-structured interviews with 12 food market trend experts and 19 representatives of food companies and advertising agencies. Success factors were identified by a group of experts who reached consensus through...

A simple negative selection method to identify adenovirus recombinants using colony PCR

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Yongliang Zhao

2014-01-01

Conclusions: The negative selection method to identify AdEasy adenovirus recombinants by colony PCR can identify the recombined colony within a short time-period, and maximally avoid damage to the recombinant plasmid by limiting recombination time, resulting in improved adenovirus packaging.

Strategies of Successful Synthesis Solutions: Mapping, Mechanisms, and More

Science.gov (United States)

Bodé, Nicholas E.; Flynn, Alison B.

2016-01-01

Organic synthesis problems require the solver to integrate knowledge and skills from many parts of their courses. Without a well-defined, systematic method for approaching them, even the strongest students can experience difficulties. Our research goal was to identify the most successful problem-solving strategies and develop associated teaching…

A Simple Method for Identifying the Acromioclavicular Joint During Arthroscopic Procedures

OpenAIRE

Javed, Saqib; Heasley, Richard; Ravenscroft, Matt

2013-01-01

Arthroscopic acromioclavicular joint excision is performed via an anterior portal and is technically demanding. We present a simple method for identifying the acromioclavicular joint during arthroscopic procedures.

The concept of key success factors: Theory and method

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grunert, Klaus G.; Ellegaard, Charlotte

1992-01-01

Executive summary: 1. The term key success factors can be used in four different ways: a) as a necessary ingre-dient in a management information system, b) as a unique characteristic of a company, c) as a heuristic tool for managers to sharpen their thinking, d) as a description of the major skills...... and resources required to be successful in a given market. We adopt the last view. 2. The actual key success factors on a market, and those key success factors perceived by decision-makers in companies operating in the market, will be different. A number of psychological mechanisms result in misperceptions...... or resource that a business can i in, which, on the market the business is operating on, explains a major part of the observable differences in perceived value and/or relative costs. 4. Key success factors differ from core skills and resources, which are prerequisites for being on a market, but do not explain...

Comparison of methods to identify crop productivity constraints in developing countries. A review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kraaijvanger, R.G.M.; Sonneveld, M.P.W.; Almekinders, C.J.M.; Veldkamp, T.

2015-01-01

Selecting a method for identifying actual crop productivity constraints is an important step for triggering innovation processes. Applied methods can be diverse and although such methods have consequences for the design of intervention strategies, documented comparisons between various methods are

The struggling reader: Identifying and addressing reading problems successfully at an early stage

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Le Cordeur, Michael

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The standard of reading of learners in the intermediate phase is cause for considerable concern. In this article, the intermediate phase refers to grades 4, 5 and 6 (roughly ages 10 – 12. According to the 2008 Evaluation Assessment Tests for Reading, only 15% of learners in Grade 6 achieved the required literacy level. Clearly, reading achievement is a problem in South Africa. Although approximately 4% of any given population experience neurological reading problems, the focus of this article is on the significant number of learners in the intermediate phase who experience reading problems and the generic causes of reading problems for learners in general. The intent is to alert teachers and parents to the characteristics of a struggling reader so that the problem can be identified and addressed early. Firstly, ways in which learning problems are manifested are described. Secondly, a discussion of various types of reading problems, of which four, namely poor reading comprehension, inadequate reading fluency, a lack of vocabulary and a negative attitude towards reading, are discussed in depth. Strategies for struggling readers are presented and recommendations are made. The conclusion is that learners who experience reading problems can learn to read successfully when given the necessary support.

Characteristics of successful aviation leaders of Oklahoma

Science.gov (United States)

Kutz, Mary N. Hill

Scope and method of study. The purpose of the study was to examine the personal traits, skills, practices, behaviors, background, academic, and career success patterns of selected aviation leaders in Oklahoma. A purposive sample of 18 leaders who had achieved a top-ranked position of aviation leadership in an organization or a position of influence in the community was selected for interview. The leaders chosen for interview came from a variety of aviation organizations including government, academia, military, corporate aviation, and air carrier leadership as well as community leadership (specifically those aviation personnel who were engaged in a political or civic leadership role). Findings and conclusions. This study identified no common career choices, educational, family, or other background factors exclusively responsible for leadership success of all of the participants. Some of the more significant findings were that a high percentage of the leaders held undergraduate and advanced degrees; however, success had been achieved by some who had little or no college education. Aviation technical experience was not a prerequisite for aviation leadership success in that a significant number of the participants held no airman rating and some had entered positions of aviation leadership from non-aviation related careers. All had received some positive learning experience from their family background even those backgrounds which were less than desirable. All of the participants had been involved in volunteer civic or humanitarian leadership roles, and all had received numerous honors. The most frequently identified value expressed by the leaders was honesty; the predominant management style was participative with a strong backup style for directing, the most important skills were communication and listening skills, and the most frequently mentioned characteristics of success were honesty, credibility, vision, high standards, love for aviation and fiscal

A method for isolating identifying and culturing of rat trachea-bronchia epithelial cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cui Fengmei; Su Shibiao; Nie Jihua; Li Bingyan; Tong Jian

2005-01-01

Objective: To explore a method for isolating identifying and culturing the rat trachea-bronchia epithelial cells. Methods: The rat trachea-bronchia epithelial cells were isolated by digestion with pronase and brushing with cell brush, identified using confocul and cultured in entire F12 media with no serum. Results: With this method, cells in high purity and high viability could be obtained, and about 10 6 cells per rat. The cells grow well in entire F12 media with no serum. Conclusion: The method is useful for isolating rate trachea-bronchia epithelial cells and the entire F12 media with no serum is effective for culturing. (authors)

Obstacles to and motivation for successful breast-feeding

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A-M Bergh

1993-03-01

Full Text Available This study determined obstetric physiotherapists' perceptions about major obstacles to and methods of motivation for successful breast-feeding by means of the Friedman non-parametric procedure for the two-way analysis of variance. Three categories of obstacles were identified: maternal obstacles, health professionals and society. Maternal obstacles mentioned most were insufficient motivation (25% and knowledge (24%, anxiety (14%, fatigue (14%, and employment (14%. Obstacles related to health professionals included tack of support for mothers (20%, inappropriate lactation management (19%, lack of knowledge (15%, negative attitudes (5% and staff shortages (5%. With regard to society, lack of support (27% and life-styles (29% were identified as significant obstacles. The two most significantly important methods of motivation were information and education (53% and contact with other breast-feeders (27%. It is concluded that breast-feeding education efforts can be improved by identifying obstacles to breast-feeding and methods of motivation and that the Friedman test may be a statistical procedure to consider for determining priorities.

Lessons for public health campaigns from analysing commercial food marketing success factors: a case study

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Commercial food marketing has considerably shaped consumer food choice behaviour. Meanwhile, public health campaigns for healthier eating have had limited impact to date. Social marketing suggests that successful commercial food marketing campaigns can provide useful lessons for public sector activities. The aim of the present study was to empirically identify food marketing success factors that, using the social marketing approach, could help improve public health campaigns to promote healthy eating. Methods In this case-study analysis, 27 recent and successful commercial food and beverage marketing cases were purposively sampled from different European countries. The cases involved different consumer target groups, product categories, company sizes and marketing techniques. The analysis focused on cases of relatively healthy food types, and nutrition and health-related aspects in the communication related to the food. Visual as well as written material was gathered, complemented by semi-structured interviews with 12 food market trend experts and 19 representatives of food companies and advertising agencies. Success factors were identified by a group of experts who reached consensus through discussion structured by a card sorting method. Results Six clusters of success factors emerged from the analysis and were labelled as "data and knowledge", "emotions", "endorsement", "media", "community" and "why and how". Each cluster subsumes two or three success factors and is illustrated by examples. In total, 16 factors were identified. It is argued that the factors "nutritional evidence", "trend awareness", "vertical endorsement", "simple naturalness" and "common values" are of particular importance in the communication of health with regard to food. Conclusions The present study identified critical factors for the success of commercial food marketing campaigns related to the issue of nutrition and health, which are possibly transferable to the public health

Discussion on the method to increase the successful rate of L5/S1 intervertebral disc puncture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhong Xianyi; Li Liangjun; Yu Chengxin

2007-01-01

Objective: To study the effective methods of L 5 /S 1 intervertebral disc puncture without drilling to solve the barriers from iliaca. Methods: (1) puncturing with belly-buttock sticking out: to enlarge waist sacro-iliaca angle to move the puncture point up; (2) puncturing through intervertebral edge: puncturing through L 5 to 1/3 intervertebral disc to make the puncture point move Up; (3) puncturing through L 5 /S 1 intervertebral disc with the self-made puncture location instrument. Results with the methods, 280 cases with L 5 /S 1 intervertebral disc protrusion have been successfully punctured, with successful rate 100%. Conclusion: These methods are ideal and easy to use to treat L 5 /S 1 intervertebral disc protrusion puncture, and worth popularizing. (authors)

A Nondestructive Method to Identify POP Contamination Sources in Omnivorous Seabirds.

Science.gov (United States)

Michielsen, Rosanne J; Shamoun-Baranes, Judy; Parsons, John R; Kraak, Michiel H S

2018-03-13

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are present in almost all environments due to their high bioaccumulation potential. Especially species that adapted to human activities, like gulls, might be exposed to harmful concentrations of these chemicals. The nature and degree of the exposure to POPs greatly vary between individual gulls, due to their diverse foraging behavior and specialization in certain foraging tactics. Therefore, in order clarify the effect of POP-contaminated areas on gull populations, it is important to identify the sources of POP contamination in individual gulls. Conventional sampling methods applied when studying POP contamination are destructive and ethically undesired. The aim of this literature review was to evaluate the potential of using feathers as a nondestructive method to determine sources of POP contamination in individual gulls. The reviewed data showed that high concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs in feathers together with a large proportion of less bioaccumulative congeners may indicate that the contamination originates from landfills. Low PCB and PBDE concentrations in feathers and a large proportion of more bioaccumulative congeners could indicate that the contamination originates from marine prey. We propose a nondestructive approach to identify the source of contamination in individual gulls based on individual contamination levels and PCB and PBDE congener profiles in feathers. Despite some uncertainties that might be reduced by future research, we conclude that especially when integrated with other methods like GPS tracking and the analysis of stable isotopic signatures, identifying the source of POP contamination based on congener profiles in feathers could become a powerful nondestructive method.

PCR-RFLP diagnostic method for identifying Globodera species in Slovenia

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Sasa ŠIRCA

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Species identification within the genus Globodera is based on the morphological and morphometrical characters of the cysts and second stage juveniles, and these are included in the majority of identification keys. Morphometrical methods are fast and can be applied to most of samples but they demand a trained and experienced specialist. Furthermore, some morphometrical characters may overlap between populations and beetwen species, leading to inaccurate identification. To confirm and complement the morphometrical identification of Globodera species molecular methods have been developed. Sequences of the internal transcribed spacer regions ITS1 and ITS2 of the rDNA gene cluster proved to be useful for identifying nematode species identification. A PCR-RFLP molecular method was used to identify Globodera rostochiensis, G. pallida, G. tabacum and G. achilleae. Globodera rostochiensis, G. pallida, G. tabacum and G. achilleae can be distinguished with PCR-RFLP analysis of the rDNA ITS fragment using five restriction enzymes. The RFLP patterns of G. rostochiensis, G. tabacum and G. achilleae were species-specific, while those of G. pallida varied. South American populations of G. pallida differed from other populations as their RFLP patterns were demonstrated to be distinct by in silico restriction of the ITS sequences deposited at NCBI.

Football refereeing: Identifying innovative methods

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Reza MohammadKazemi

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study is to identify the potentials innovation in football industry. Data were collected from 10 national and international referees, assistant referees and referees’ supervisors in Iran. In this study, technological innovations are identified that assist better refereeing performances. The analysis revealed a significant relationship between using new technologies and referees ‘performance. The results indicate that elite referees, assistant referees and supervisors agreed to use new technological innovations during the game. According to their comments, this kind of technology causes the referees’ performance development.

Onto-clust--a methodology for combining clustering analysis and ontological methods for identifying groups of comorbidities for developmental disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Peleg, Mor; Asbeh, Nuaman; Kuflik, Tsvi; Schertz, Mitchell

2009-02-01

Children with developmental disorders usually exhibit multiple developmental problems (comorbidities). Hence, such diagnosis needs to revolve on developmental disorder groups. Our objective is to systematically identify developmental disorder groups and represent them in an ontology. We developed a methodology that combines two methods (1) a literature-based ontology that we created, which represents developmental disorders and potential developmental disorder groups, and (2) clustering for detecting comorbid developmental disorders in patient data. The ontology is used to interpret and improve clustering results and the clustering results are used to validate the ontology and suggest directions for its development. We evaluated our methodology by applying it to data of 1175 patients from a child development clinic. We demonstrated that the ontology improves clustering results, bringing them closer to an expert generated gold-standard. We have shown that our methodology successfully combines an ontology with a clustering method to support systematic identification and representation of developmental disorder groups.

Engineering students' and faculty perceptions of teaching methods and the level of faculty involvement that promotes academic success

Science.gov (United States)

Karpilo, Lacy N.

Student academic success is a top priority of higher education institutions in the United States and the trend of students leaving school prior to finishing their degree is a serious concern. Accountability has become a large part of university and college ratings and perceived success. Retention is one component of the accountability metrics used by accreditation agencies. In addition, there are an increasing number of states allocating funds based in part on retention (Seidman, 2005). Institutions have created initiatives, programs, and even entire departments to address issues related to student academic success to promote retention. Universities and colleges have responded by focusing on methods to retain and better serve students. Retention and student academic success is a primary concern for high education institutions; however, engineering education has unique retention issues. The National Science Board (2004) reports a significant decline in the number of individuals in the United States who are training to become engineers, despite the fact that the number of jobs that utilize an engineering background continues to increase. Engineering education has responded to academic success issues by changing curriculum and pedagogical methods (Sheppard, 2001). This descriptive study investigates the perception of engineering students and faculty regarding teaching methods and faculty involvement to create a picture of what is occurring in engineering education. The population was the engineering students and faculty of Colorado State University's College of Engineering. Data from this research suggests that engaging teaching methods are not being used as often as research indicates they should and that there is a lack of student-faculty interaction outside of the classroom. This research adds to the breadth of knowledge and understanding of the current environment of engineering education. Furthermore, the data allows engineering educators and other higher

Blind Forensics of Successive Geometric Transformations in Digital Images Using Spectral Method: Theory and Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chenglong; Ni, Jiangqun; Shen, Zhaoyi; Shi, Yun Qing

2017-06-01

Geometric transformations, such as resizing and rotation, are almost always needed when two or more images are spliced together to create convincing image forgeries. In recent years, researchers have developed many digital forensic techniques to identify these operations. Most previous works in this area focus on the analysis of images that have undergone single geometric transformations, e.g., resizing or rotation. In several recent works, researchers have addressed yet another practical and realistic situation: successive geometric transformations, e.g., repeated resizing, resizing-rotation, rotation-resizing, and repeated rotation. We will also concentrate on this topic in this paper. Specifically, we present an in-depth analysis in the frequency domain of the second-order statistics of the geometrically transformed images. We give an exact formulation of how the parameters of the first and second geometric transformations influence the appearance of periodic artifacts. The expected positions of characteristic resampling peaks are analytically derived. The theory developed here helps to address the gap left by previous works on this topic and is useful for image security and authentication, in particular, the forensics of geometric transformations in digital images. As an application of the developed theory, we present an effective method that allows one to distinguish between the aforementioned four different processing chains. The proposed method can further estimate all the geometric transformation parameters. This may provide useful clues for image forgery detection.

Modeling community succession and assembly: A novel method for network evolution

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

WenJun Zhang

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The process of modeling community succession and assembly is in some sense a method for network evolution, as done by Barabasi and Albert (1999. It is also one of the methods to create a sample networkfrom the statistic network I proposed earlier. I think that the mechanism of network evolution supposed by Barabasi and Albert is most likely applicable to the natural phenomena with emergency property. For natural phenomena without emergency property, the present study indicated that a scale-free network may be produced through a new mechanism, i.e., whether the connection of a taxon x occurs, dependent on the type and property of taxon y (in particular, the degree of its direct correlation with x to be connected but not necessarily the existing number of connections of taxon y, as proposed in present study.

Betweenness-Based Method to Identify Critical Transmission Sectors for Supply Chain Environmental Pressure Mitigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Sai; Qu, Shen; Xu, Ming

2016-02-02

To develop industry-specific policies for mitigating environmental pressures, previous studies primarily focus on identifying sectors that directly generate large amounts of environmental pressures (a.k.a. production-based method) or indirectly drive large amounts of environmental pressures through supply chains (e.g., consumption-based method). In addition to those sectors as important environmental pressure producers or drivers, there exist sectors that are also important to environmental pressure mitigation as transmission centers. Economy-wide environmental pressure mitigation might be achieved by improving production efficiency of these key transmission sectors, that is, using less upstream inputs to produce unitary output. We develop a betweenness-based method to measure the importance of transmission sectors, borrowing the betweenness concept from network analysis. We quantify the betweenness of sectors by examining supply chain paths extracted from structural path analysis that pass through a particular sector. We take China as an example and find that those critical transmission sectors identified by betweenness-based method are not always identifiable by existing methods. This indicates that betweenness-based method can provide additional insights that cannot be obtained with existing methods on the roles individual sectors play in generating economy-wide environmental pressures. Betweenness-based method proposed here can therefore complement existing methods for guiding sector-level environmental pressure mitigation strategies.

Business Intelligence Success Factors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gaardboe, Rikke; Jonasen, Tanja Svarre

2018-01-01

Business intelligence (BI) is a strategically important practice in many organizations. Several studies have investigated the factors that contribute to BI success; however, an overview of the critical success factors (CSFs) involved is lacking in the extant literature. We have integrated...... 34 CSFs related to BI success. The distinct CSFs identified in the extant literature relate to project management skills (13 papers), management support (20 papers), and user involvement (11 papers). In the articles with operationalized BI success, we found several distinct factors: system quality...

An Efficient, Noniterative Method of Identifying the Cost-Effectiveness Frontier.

Science.gov (United States)

Suen, Sze-chuan; Goldhaber-Fiebert, Jeremy D

2016-01-01

Cost-effectiveness analysis aims to identify treatments and policies that maximize benefits subject to resource constraints. However, the conventional process of identifying the efficient frontier (i.e., the set of potentially cost-effective options) can be algorithmically inefficient, especially when considering a policy problem with many alternative options or when performing an extensive suite of sensitivity analyses for which the efficient frontier must be found for each. Here, we describe an alternative one-pass algorithm that is conceptually simple, easier to implement, and potentially faster for situations that challenge the conventional approach. Our algorithm accomplishes this by exploiting the relationship between the net monetary benefit and the cost-effectiveness plane. To facilitate further evaluation and use of this approach, we also provide scripts in R and Matlab that implement our method and can be used to identify efficient frontiers for any decision problem. © The Author(s) 2015.

Predictors of successful external cephalic version and assessment of success for vaginal delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Salzer, Liat; Nagar, Ran; Melamed, Nir; Wiznitzer, Arnon; Peled, Yoav; Yogev, Yariv

2015-01-01

To identify predictors of successful external cephalic version (ECV) and to compare delivery outcome between women who had a successful ECV and women with spontaneous vertex presentation. A retrospective cohort study of all women who underwent ECV in a single tertiary medical center between 2007 and 2011. Delivery outcome was compared between women who underwent a trial of vaginal delivery following successful ECV with that of a control group in a 2:1 ratio. Multivariate analysis was used to identify predictors of successful ECV. Overall 287 were eligible for the study group. Of these 130 (45.3%) had a successful ECV. Polyhydramnios was the strongest factor associated with successful ECV (OR=3.1, 95%-CI 1.4-7.2), followed by transverse lie (versus breech presentation, OR=2.6, 95%-CI 1.2-6.7) and a posterior placenta (OR=1.7, 95%-CI 1.1-3.9), while nulliparity was associated with a lower likelihood of successful ECV (OR=0.4, 95%-CI 0.2-0.6). Women who had a successful ECV and underwent a trial of labor were more likely to deliver by operative vaginal delivery (OVD) (OR=1.8, 95%-CI 1.2-3.6), mainly due to a higher rate of prolonged 2nd, but were not at an increased risk for CS (OR=0.9, 95%-CI 0.4-2.4). Counselling to women prior to ECV should address the likelihood of success based on the predicting factors described above, as well as the increased risk for OVD in the case of successful ECV.

Failure of ETV in patients with the highest ETV success scores.

Science.gov (United States)

Gianaris, Thomas J; Nazar, Ryan; Middlebrook, Emily; Gonda, David D; Jea, Andrew; Fulkerson, Daniel H

2017-09-01

OBJECTIVE Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is a surgical alternative to placing a CSF shunt in certain patients with hydrocephalus. The ETV Success Score (ETVSS) is a reliable, simple method to estimate the success of the procedure by 6 months of postoperative follow-up. The highest score is 90, estimating a 90% chance of the ETV effectively treating hydrocephalus without requiring a shunt. Treatment with ETV fails in certain patients, despite their being the theoretically best candidates for the procedure. In this study the authors attempted to identify factors that further predicted success in patients with the highest ETVSSs. METHODS A retrospective review was performed of all patients treated with ETV at 3 institutions. Demographic, radiological, and clinical data were recorded. All patients by definition were older than 1 year, had obstructive hydrocephalus, and did not have a prior shunt. Failure of ETV was defined as the need for a shunt by 1 year. The ETV was considered a success if the patient did not require another surgery (either shunt placement or a repeat endoscopic procedure) by 1 year. A statistical analysis was performed to identify factors associated with success or failure. RESULTS Fifty-nine patients met the entry criteria for the study. Eleven patients (18.6%) required further surgery by 1 year. All of these patients received a shunt. The presenting symptom of lethargy statistically correlated with success (p = 0.0126, odds ratio [OR] = 0.072). The preoperative radiological finding of transependymal flow (p = 0.0375, OR 0.158) correlated with success. A postoperative larger maximum width of the third ventricle correlated with failure (p = 0.0265). CONCLUSIONS The preoperative findings of lethargy and transependymal flow statistically correlated with success. This suggests that the best candidates for ETV are those with a relatively acute elevation of intracranial pressure. Cases without these findings may represent the failures in this

A structured elicitation method to identify key direct risk factors for the management of natural resources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Smith

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The high level of uncertainty inherent in natural resource management requires planners to apply comprehensive risk analyses, often in situations where there are few resources. In this paper, we demonstrate a broadly applicable, novel and structured elicitation approach to identify important direct risk factors. This new approach combines expert calibration and fuzzy based mathematics to capture and aggregate subjective expert estimates of the likelihood that a set of direct risk factors will cause management failure. A specific case study is used to demonstrate the approach; however, the described methods are widely applicable in risk analysis. For the case study, the management target was to retain all species that characterise a set of natural biological elements. The analysis was bounded by the spatial distribution of the biological elements under consideration and a 20-year time frame. Fourteen biological elements were expected to be at risk. Eleven important direct risk factors were identified that related to surrounding land use practices, climate change, problem species (e.g., feral predators, fire and hydrological change. In terms of their overall influence, the two most important risk factors were salinisation and a lack of water which together pose a considerable threat to the survival of nine biological elements. The described approach successfully overcame two concerns arising from previous risk analysis work: (1 the lack of an intuitive, yet comprehensive scoring method enabling the detection and clarification of expert agreement and associated levels of uncertainty; and (2 the ease with which results can be interpreted and communicated while preserving a rich level of detail essential for informed decision making.

Identifying significant factors which can contribute to successful transitions from school to lasting employment affiliation for pupils in vocational training programs

OpenAIRE

Nils Breilid; Eva Dyrnes

2017-01-01

Introduction: This study deals with young people receiving special needs education in schools and their transition to lasting employment in private or public sector. Through a qualitative approach, the article aims at “identifying significant factors which can, contribute to successful transitions from school to lasting employment affiliation for pupils in vocational training programs”Theoretical approach: The theoretical approach of this article is descriptions and interpretation of the Norw...

Self-Assessment Methods in Writing Instruction: A Conceptual Framework, Successful Practices and Essential Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Kristen

2014-01-01

Student writing achievement is essential to lifelong learner success, but supporting writing can be challenging for teachers. Several large-scale analyses of publications on writing have called for further study of instructional methods, as the current literature does not sufficiently address the need to support best teaching practices.…

The Contribution of Qualitative Methods for Identifying the Educational Needs of Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Boz, Hayat; Dagli, Yakup

2017-01-01

This study addresses the contribution of applying qualitative research methods for identifying the educational activities planned for adults. The paper is based on the experience gained during in-depth interviews with 39 elderly and 33 middle-aged participants, by purposive sampling method and maximum variation technique, within a needs analysis…

North Country Successes: Case Studies of Successful Entrepreneurs in the ANCA Region.

Science.gov (United States)

Chugh, Ram L.; Gandhi, Prem P.

This study identifies the characteristics of both successful small businesses and their entrepreneurial owners in a 14-county area of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA). Of the 100 survey respondents representing successful small businesses, 50% had been in business for less than 14 years; 38% were in manufacturing; 48% employed more…

Operational Forces soldiers’ perceptions of attributes and skills for career success

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ishreen Rawoot

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Orientation: A career within the South African Operational Forces is physically, mentally and emotionally challenging. It is a diverse working environment with its own organisational culture and unique challenges. Research purpose: The aim of the study was to explore the perceptions of Operational Forces soldiers regarding the unique requirements that facilitated their career success. Motivation for the study: A low percentage of candidates successfully complete the Operational Forces training. The financial implications of training candidates make it important to be able to identify candidates who have the potential to be successful, early on in the process. Research design, approach and method: Data were collected through a self-administered qualitative survey (n = 98. All participants were permanent Operational Forces soldiers with varying ranks and years of experience. The data were thematically analysed in order to identify themes and specific attributes and skills associated with a successful career in the Operational Forces. Main findings: A number of themes emerged from the data, each of which contributed to our understanding of the research question. The themes included self-concept, personality, interests, cognitive and physical factors. Practical and managerial implications: The research findings may help to inform decisions about approaches, practices and methodologies of the South African Operational Forces recruitment and selection process. Results also provide military organisations with the key characteristics to consider when identifying candidates with the highest potential for successful careers. Contribution and value-add: The study extends previous career success research by contributing an additional base of information regarding career success and factors that are perceived to influence it.

Predicting Success in Product Development: The Application of Principal Component Analysis to Categorical Data and Binomial Logistic Regression

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Glauco H.S. Mendes

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Critical success factors in new product development (NPD in the Brazilian small and medium enterprises (SMEs are identified and analyzed. Critical success factors are best practices that can be used to improve NPD management and performance in a company. However, the traditional method for identifying these factors is survey methods. Subsequently, the collected data are reduced through traditional multivariate analysis. The objective of this work is to develop a logistic regression model for predicting the success or failure of the new product development. This model allows for an evaluation and prioritization of resource commitments. The results will be helpful for guiding management actions, as one way to improve NPD performance in those industries.

A comparison of visual and quantitative methods to identify interstitial lung abnormalities

OpenAIRE

Kliment, Corrine R.; Araki, Tetsuro; Doyle, Tracy J.; Gao, Wei; Dupuis, Jos?e; Latourelle, Jeanne C.; Zazueta, Oscar E.; Fernandez, Isis E.; Nishino, Mizuki; Okajima, Yuka; Ross, James C.; Est?par, Ra?l San Jos?; Diaz, Alejandro A.; Lederer, David J.; Schwartz, David A.

2015-01-01

Background: Evidence suggests that individuals with interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA) on a chest computed tomogram (CT) may have an increased risk to develop a clinically significant interstitial lung disease (ILD). Although methods used to identify individuals with ILA on chest CT have included both automated quantitative and qualitative visual inspection methods, there has been not direct comparison between these two methods. To investigate this relationship, we created lung density met...

High-Impact Succession Management. Executive Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Lamoureux, Kim; Campbell, Michael; Smith, Roland

2009-01-01

Most companies have an opportunity to improve their succession management programs. The number one challenge for succession management (as identified by both HR leaders and executives) is developing a succession planning strategy. This comprehensive industry study sets out to determine how succession management (when done well) helps improve…

Improving applicant selection: identifying qualities of the unsuccessful otolaryngology resident.

Science.gov (United States)

Badran, Karam W; Kelley, Kanwar; Conderman, Christian; Mahboubi, Hossein; Armstrong, William B; Bhandarkar, Naveen D

2015-04-01

To identify the prevalence and management of problematic residents. Additionally, we hope to identify the factors associated with successful remediation of unsuccessful otolaryngology residents. Self-reported Internet and paper-based survey. An anonymous survey was distributed to 152 current and former program directors (PDs) in 2012. The factors associated with unsuccessful otolaryngology residents and those associated with the successful remediation of problematic residents were investigated. An unsuccessful resident is defined as one who quit or was removed from the program for any reason, or one whose actions resulted in criminal action or citation against their medical license after graduation from residency. Remediation is defined as an individualized program implemented to correct documented weaknesses. The overall response rate was 26% (40 PDs). Seventy-three unsuccessful or problematic residents were identified. Sixty-six problematic or unsuccessful residents were identified during residency, with 58 of 66 (88%) undergoing remediation. Thirty-one (47%) residents did not graduate. The most commonly identified factors of an unsuccessful resident were: change in specialty (21.5%), interpersonal and communication skills with health professionals (13.9%), and clinical judgment (10.1%). Characteristics of those residents who underwent successful remediation include: poor performance on in-training examination (17%, P otolaryngology PDs in this sample identified at least one unsuccessful resident. Improved methods of applicant screening may assist in optimizing otolaryngology resident selection. © 2014 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Secondary successions of biota in oil-polluted peat soil upon different biological remediation methods

Science.gov (United States)

Melekhina, E. N.; Markarova, M. Yu.; Shchemelinina, T. N.; Anchugova, E. M.; Kanev, V. A.

2015-06-01

The effects of different bioremediation methods on restoration of the oil-polluted peat soil (Histosol) in the northernmost taiga subzone of European Russia was studied. The population dynamics of microorganisms belonging to different trophic groups (hydrocarbon-oxidizing, ammonifying, nitrifying, and oligonitrophilic) were analyzed together with data on the soil enzyme (catalase and dehydrogenase) activities, population densities of soil microfauna groups, their structures, and states of phytocenoses during a sevenyear-long succession. The remediation with biopreparations Roder composed of oil-oxidizing microorganisms-Roder with Rhodococcus rubber and R. erythropolis and Universal with Rhodotorula glutinis and Rhodococcus sp.-was more efficient than the agrochemical and technical remediation. It was concluded that the biopreparations activate microbiological oil destruction, thereby accelerating restoration succession of phytocenosis and zoocenosis. The succession of dominant microfauna groups was observed: the dipteran larvae and Mesostigmata mites predominant at the early stages were replaced by collembolans at later stages. The pioneer oribatid mite species were Tectocepheus velatus, Oppiella nova, Liochthonius sellnicki, Oribatula tibialis, and Eupelops sp.

Interpersonal success factors for strategy implementation: a case study using group model building

OpenAIRE

Rodney J Scott; Robert Y Cavana; Donald Cameron

2015-01-01

Strategy implementation has been identified as an area of system dynamics literature requiring greater attention. Most strategies fail to be implemented successfully, and processes for effectively implementing strategy are yet to be fully explained and explored. The reported interpersonal success factors for strategy implementation are reported outcomes for group model building, suggesting potential applicability. A case study using validated survey methods yielded promising results, and sugg...

A method for identifying compromised clients based on DNS traffic analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stevanovic, Matija; Pedersen, Jens Myrup; D’Alconzo, Alessandro

2017-01-01

DNS is widely abused by Internet criminals in order to provide reliable communication within malicious network infrastructure as well as flexible and resilient hosting of malicious content. This paper presents a novel detection method that can be used for identifying potentially compromised clien...

Identifying critical success factors (CSFs) of Facilities Management (FM) in non-low cost high-rise residential buildings

Science.gov (United States)

Dahlan, F. M.; Zainuddin, A.

2018-02-01

Critical success factors (CSFs) are important key areas of activity that must be performed well in any Facilities Management (FM) organisation to achieve its missions, objectives or goals. Before implementing CSFs, an FM organisation must identify the key areas where things must be done properly to enable the business to flourish. Although many performance measurements in FM organisation have been discussed in previous research, not much research has been done on CSFs from the perspective of FM business in non-low cost high-rise residential buildings. The purpose of this study is to develop a methodology in developing the CSFs group and CSFs for FM organisation in non-low cost residential buildings. This research will involve three (3) phases of research strategy to achieve the objective of this research.

Stakeholders Perspectives on the Success Drivers in Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme – Identifying Policy Translation Issues

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Adam Fusheini

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Background Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS, established by an Act of Parliament (Act 650, in 2003 and since replaced by Act 852 of 2012 remains, in African terms, unprecedented in terms of growth and coverage. As a result, the scheme has received praise for its associated legal reforms, clinical audit mechanisms and for serving as a hub for knowledge sharing and learning within the context of South-South cooperation. The scheme continues to shape national health insurance thinking in Africa. While the success, especially in coverage and financial access has been highlighted by many authors, insufficient attention has been paid to critical and context-specific factors. This paper seeks to fill that gap. Methods Based on an empirical qualitative case study of stakeholders’ views on challenges and success factors in four mutual schemes (district offices located in two regions of Ghana, the study uses the concept of policy translation to assess whether the Ghana scheme could provide useful lessons to other African and developing countries in their quest to implement social/NHISs. Results In the study, interviewees referred to both ‘hard and soft’ elements as driving the “success” of the Ghana scheme. The main ‘hard elements’ include bureaucratic and legal enforcement capacities; IT; financing; governance, administration and management; regulating membership of the scheme; and service provision and coverage capabilities. The ‘soft’ elements identified relate to: the background/context of the health insurance scheme; innovative ways of funding the NHIS, the hybrid nature of the Ghana scheme; political will, commitment by government, stakeholders and public cooperation; social structure of Ghana (solidarity; and ownership and participation. Conclusion Other developing countries can expect to translate rather than re-assemble a national health insurance programme in an incomplete and highly modified form over a period

The Integrative Method Based on the Module-Network for Identifying Driver Genes in Cancer Subtypes

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Xinguo Lu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available With advances in next-generation sequencing(NGS technologies, a large number of multiple types of high-throughput genomics data are available. A great challenge in exploring cancer progression is to identify the driver genes from the variant genes by analyzing and integrating multi-types genomics data. Breast cancer is known as a heterogeneous disease. The identification of subtype-specific driver genes is critical to guide the diagnosis, assessment of prognosis and treatment of breast cancer. We developed an integrated frame based on gene expression profiles and copy number variation (CNV data to identify breast cancer subtype-specific driver genes. In this frame, we employed statistical machine-learning method to select gene subsets and utilized an module-network analysis method to identify potential candidate driver genes. The final subtype-specific driver genes were acquired by paired-wise comparison in subtypes. To validate specificity of the driver genes, the gene expression data of these genes were applied to classify the patient samples with 10-fold cross validation and the enrichment analysis were also conducted on the identified driver genes. The experimental results show that the proposed integrative method can identify the potential driver genes and the classifier with these genes acquired better performance than with genes identified by other methods.

A general method for identifying major hybrid male sterility genes in Drosophila.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, L W; Singh, R S

1995-10-01

The genes responsible for hybrid male sterility in species crosses are usually identified by introgressing chromosome segments, monitored by visible markers, between closely related species by continuous backcrosses. This commonly used method, however, suffers from two problems. First, it relies on the availability of markers to monitor the introgressed regions and so the portion of the genome examined is limited to the marked regions. Secondly, the introgressed regions are usually large and it is impossible to tell if the effects of the introgressed regions are the result of single (or few) major genes or many minor genes (polygenes). Here we introduce a simple and general method for identifying putative major hybrid male sterility genes which is free of these problems. In this method, the actual hybrid male sterility genes (rather than markers), or tightly linked gene complexes with large effects, are selectively introgressed from one species into the background of another species by repeated backcrosses. This is performed by selectively backcrossing heterozygous (for hybrid male sterility gene or genes) females producing fertile and sterile sons in roughly equal proportions to males of either parental species. As no marker gene is required for this procedure, this method can be used with any species pairs that produce unisexual sterility. With the application of this method, a small X chromosome region of Drosophila mauritiana which produces complete hybrid male sterility (aspermic testes) in the background of D. simulans was identified. Recombination analysis reveals that this region contains a second major hybrid male sterility gene linked to the forked locus located at either 62.7 +/- 0.66 map units or at the centromere region of the X chromosome of D. mauritiana.

Method æ, the agile software development method tailored for the pharmaceutical industry.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hajou, A.; Batenburg, R.S.; Jansen, S.

2015-01-01

Agile software development methods have a high adoption rate due to their proven business benefits. Its success has not yet been identified in the pharmaceutical industry, due to the industry’s incompatibility with generic agile methods. Comprehensive research has been done to engineer a tailored

The Comparison of Biochemical and Sequencing 16S rDNA Gene Methods to Identify Nontuberculous Mycobacteria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shafipour1, M.

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The identification of Mycobacteria in the species level has great medical importance. Biochemical tests are laborious and time-consuming, so new techniques could be used to identify the species. This research aimed to the comparison of biochemical and sequencing 16S rDNA gene methods to identify nontuberculous Mycobacteria in patients suspected to tuberculosis in Golestan province which is the most prevalent region of tuberculosis in Iran. Among 3336 patients suspected to tuberculosis referred to hospitals and health care centres in Golestan province during 2010-2011, 319 (9.56% culture positive cases were collected. Identification of species by using biochemical tests was done. On the samples recognized as nontuberculous Mycobacteria, after DNA extraction by boiling, 16S rDNA PCR was done and their sequencing were identified by NCBI BLAST. Of the 319 positive samples in Golestan Province, 300 cases were M.tuberculosis and 19 cases (5.01% were identified as nontuberculous Mycobacteria by biochemical tests. 15 out of 19 nontuberculous Mycobacteria were identified by PCR and sequencing method as similar by biochemical methods (similarity rate: 78.9%. But after PCR, 1 case known as M.simiae by biochemical test was identified as M. lentiflavum and 3 other cases were identified as Nocardia. Biochemical methods corresponded to the 16S rDNA PCR and sequencing in 78.9% of cases. However, in identification of M. lentiflavum and Nocaria sp. the molecular method is better than biochemical methods.

A method of identifying and weighting indicators of energy efficiency assessment in Chinese residential buildings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Yulan; Li Baizhan; Yao Runming

2010-01-01

This paper describes a method of identifying and weighting indicators for assessing the energy efficiency of residential buildings in China. A list of indicators of energy efficiency assessment in residential buildings in the hot summer and cold winter zone in China has been proposed, which supplies an important reference for policy makings in energy efficiency assessment in buildings. The research method applies a wide-ranging literature review and a questionnaire survey involving experts in the field. The group analytic hierarchy process (group AHP) has been used to weight the identified indicators. The size of survey samples are sufficient to support the results, which has been validated by consistency estimation. The proposed method could also be extended to develop the weighted indicators for other climate zones in China. - Research highlights: →Method of identifying indicators of building energy efficiency assessment. →The group AHP method for weighting indicators. →Method of solving multi-criteria decision making problems of choice and prioritisation in policy makings.

A method of identifying and weighting indicators of energy efficiency assessment in Chinese residential buildings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang Yulan [Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region' s Eco-Environment under Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing (China); College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou (China); Li Baizhan [Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region' s Eco-Environment under the Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing (China); Yao Runming, E-mail: r.yao@reading.ac.u [School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, Reading (United Kingdom); Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region' s Eco-Environment under Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing (China)

2010-12-15

This paper describes a method of identifying and weighting indicators for assessing the energy efficiency of residential buildings in China. A list of indicators of energy efficiency assessment in residential buildings in the hot summer and cold winter zone in China has been proposed, which supplies an important reference for policy makings in energy efficiency assessment in buildings. The research method applies a wide-ranging literature review and a questionnaire survey involving experts in the field. The group analytic hierarchy process (group AHP) has been used to weight the identified indicators. The size of survey samples are sufficient to support the results, which has been validated by consistency estimation. The proposed method could also be extended to develop the weighted indicators for other climate zones in China. - Research highlights: {yields}Method of identifying indicators of building energy efficiency assessment. {yields}The group AHP method for weighting indicators. {yields}Method of solving multi-criteria decision making problems of choice and prioritisation in policy makings.

The Use of Key Informant Method for Identifying Children with Blindness and Severe Visual Impairment in Developing Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

du Toit, Rènée; Courtright, Paul; Lewallen, Susan

2017-06-01

An estimated 19 million children are visually impaired; of these, 1.4 million are irreversibly blind. A key challenge is to identify them early in life to benefit maximally from visual rehabilitation, and/or treatment. This aggregative review and structured literature analysis summarizes evidence of what it is about the key informant (KI) approach that works to identify children with blindness or severe visual impairment (B/SVI) in the community (for whom, to what extent, in what circumstances, in what respect, how and why). Peer-reviewed (PubMed, hand search) and grey literature (Google, World Health Organization website, academic theses, direct requests) were included, and methods and criteria used for identification, productivity (number of children referred per KI), accuracy of referrals (positive predictive value, PPV), age of children with B/SVI, KI definition, sex, information about cost and comparisons aggregated. We included 31 documents describing 22 unique KI programs. Mostly KIs identified children with B/SVI in 1-3 weeks, i.e. "campaign mode." In 60%, KIs were community volunteers, others formal health sector workers (FHSW). Around 0.02-1.56 children per KI (median = 0.25) were successfully recruited. PPV ranged from 12 to 66%. In two studies comparing FHSWs and community KIs, the latter were 8 and 10 times more productive. KIs working in campaign mode may provide an effective approach to identifying children with B/SVI in communities. Including identification of ocular problems and/or other impairments has been recommended. Research on factors that influence effectiveness and on whether KIs continue to contribute could inform programs.

Domains associated with successful quality improvement in healthcare - a nationwide case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandrud, Aleidis Skard; Nyen, Bjørnar; Hjortdahl, Per; Sandvik, Leiv; Helljesen Haldorsen, Gro Sævil; Bergli, Maria; Nelson, Eugene C; Bretthauer, Michael

2017-09-13

There is a distinct difference between what we know and what we do in healthcare: a gap that is impairing the quality of the care and increasing the costs. Quality improvement efforts have been made worldwide by learning collaboratives, based on recognized continual improvement theory with limited scientific evidence. The present study of 132 quality improvement projects in Norway explores the conditions for improvement from the perspectives of the frontline healthcare professionals, and evaluates the effectiveness of the continual improvement method. An instrument with 25 questions was developed on prior focus group interviews with improvement project members who identified features that may promote or inhibit improvement. The questionnaire was sent to 189 improvement projects initiated by the Norwegian Medical Association, and responded by 70% (132) of the improvement teams. A sub study of their final reports by a validated instrument, made us able to identify the successful projects and compare their assessments with the assessments of the other projects. A factor analysis with Varimax rotation of the 25 questions identified five domains. A multivariate regression analysis was used to evaluate the association with successful quality improvements. Two of the five domains were associated with success: Measurement and Guidance (p = 0.011), and Professional environment (p = 0.015). The organizational leadership domain was not associated with successful quality improvements (p = 0.26). Our findings suggest that quality improvement projects with good guidance and focus on measurement for improvement have increased likelihood of success. The variables in these two domains are aligned with improvement theory and confirm the effectiveness of the continual improvement method provided by the learning collaborative. High performing professional environments successfully engaged in patient-centered quality improvement if they had access to: (a) knowledge of best

A simple field method to identify foot strike pattern during running.

Science.gov (United States)

Giandolini, Marlène; Poupard, Thibaut; Gimenez, Philippe; Horvais, Nicolas; Millet, Guillaume Y; Morin, Jean-Benoît; Samozino, Pierre

2014-05-07

Identifying foot strike patterns in running is an important issue for sport clinicians, coaches and footwear industrials. Current methods allow the monitoring of either many steps in laboratory conditions or only a few steps in the field. Because measuring running biomechanics during actual practice is critical, our purpose is to validate a method aiming at identifying foot strike patterns during continuous field measurements. Based on heel and metatarsal accelerations, this method requires two uniaxial accelerometers. The time between heel and metatarsal acceleration peaks (THM) was compared to the foot strike angle in the sagittal plane (αfoot) obtained by 2D video analysis for various conditions of speed, slope, footwear, foot strike and state of fatigue. Acceleration and kinematic measurements were performed at 1000Hz and 120Hz, respectively, during 2-min treadmill running bouts. Significant correlations were observed between THM and αfoot for 14 out of 15 conditions. The overall correlation coefficient was r=0.916 (Pstrike except for extreme forefoot strike during which the heel rarely or never strikes the ground, and for different footwears and states of fatigue. We proposed a classification based on THM: FFS<-5.49msmethod, it is reliable for distinguishing rearfoot and non-rearfoot strikers in situ. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simplified LCA and matrix methods in identifying the environmental aspects of a product system.

Science.gov (United States)

Hur, Tak; Lee, Jiyong; Ryu, Jiyeon; Kwon, Eunsun

2005-05-01

In order to effectively integrate environmental attributes into the product design and development processes, it is crucial to identify the significant environmental aspects related to a product system within a relatively short period of time. In this study, the usefulness of life cycle assessment (LCA) and a matrix method as tools for identifying the key environmental issues of a product system were examined. For this, a simplified LCA (SLCA) method that can be applied to Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) was developed to efficiently identify their significant environmental aspects for eco-design, since a full scale LCA study is usually very detailed, expensive and time-consuming. The environmentally responsible product assessment (ERPA) method, which is one of the matrix methods, was also analyzed. Then, the usefulness of each method in eco-design processes was evaluated and compared using the case studies of the cellular phone and vacuum cleaner systems. It was found that the SLCA and the ERPA methods provided different information but they complemented each other to some extent. The SLCA method generated more information on the inherent environmental characteristics of a product system so that it might be useful for new design/eco-innovation when developing a completely new product or method where environmental considerations play a major role from the beginning. On the other hand, the ERPA method gave more information on the potential for improving a product so that it could be effectively used in eco-redesign which intends to alleviate environmental impacts of an existing product or process.

An approach to identify issues affecting ERP implementation in Indian SMEs

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Rana Basu

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a study which is based on the results of a comprehensive compilation of literature and subsequent analysis of ERP implementation success issues in context to Indian Small and Medium scale Enterprises (SME’s. This paper attempts to explore the existing literature and highlight those issues on ERP implementation and further to this the researchers applied TOPSIS (Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution method to prioritize issues affecting successful implementation of ERP. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the literature review certain issues leading to successful ERP implementation have been identified and to identify key issues Pareto Analysis (80-20 Rule have been applied. Further to extraction of key issues a survey based on TOPSIS was carried out in Indian small and medium scale enterprises. Findings: Based on review of literature 25 issues have been identified and further Pareto analysis has been done to extract key issues which is further prioritized by applying Topsis method. Research limitations/implications: Beside those identified issues there may be other issues that need to be explored. There is scope to enhance this study by taking into consideration different type of industries and by extending number of respondents. Practical implications: By identifying key issues for SMEs, managers can better prioritize issues to make implementation process smooth without disruption. ERP vendors can take inputs from this study to change their implementation approach while targeting small scale enterprises. Originality/value: There is no published literature available which followed a similar approach in identification of the critical issues affecting ERP in small and mid-sized companies in India or in any developing economy.

Success of Family Company: Critical Evidence from the United States

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Anastasia Petlina

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Purpose of the article: The purpose of the paper is to define the point of family company’s success. The object of research is family business as an economical phenomenon. There is a double subject of this study: firstly, to find out the main resources, from which information about successful companies can be detected and, secondly, to analyze one big family company as case study for identification its key success factors. Methodology/methods: The article was prepared on the basis of general theoretical scientific methods, in particular analysis, synthesis, analogy, comparison, generalizations, deduction and methods of expert estimates. In the first phase secondary research of scientific literature and electronic resources about the paper topic was conducted. On the base of that result, the primary research was conduct, which is based on analysis of family company E. & J. Gallo Winery. Based on the received information, the key success factors were identified. The sources of the research are internet web-pages of the company, articles about company in famous Czech business magazines and scientific journals form Emerald database, reports of company and financial data from Amadeus database and The Global Family Business Index. Scientific aim: The aim of scientific research is to improve the understanding of family company’s success from the perspective of difficulties faced by family company. Findings: The results of this study allowed the finding of a main point for the family company’s success based on review of key sources about successful family companies. In addition, activity of E. & J. Gallo Winery was analyzed as the case study for critical evidence that phenomenon. Conclusions: This study has contributed to the theoretical body of family business research providing an important first step to gaining insights into the family company’s success and its key factors which influence effective functioning of family company.

Determining of factors influencing the success and failure of hospital information system and their evaluation methods: a systematic review.

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Sadoughi, Farahnaz; Kimiafar, Khalil; Ahmadi, Maryam; Shakeri, Mohammad Taghi

2013-12-01

Nowadays, using new information technology (IT) has provided remarkable opportunities to decrease medical errors, support health care specialist, increase the efficiency and even the quality of patient's care and safety. The purpose of this study was the identification of Hospital Information System (HIS) success and failure factors and the evaluation methods of these factors. This research emphasizes the need to a comprehensive evaluation of HISs which considers a wide range of success and failure factors in these systems. We searched for relevant English language studies based on keywords in title and abstract, using PubMed, Ovid Medline (by applying MeSH terms), Scopus, ScienceDirect and Embase (earliest entry to march 17, 2012). Studies which considered success models and success or failure factors, or studied the evaluation models of HISs and the related ones were chosen. Since the studies used in this systematic review were heterogeneous, the combination of extracted data was carried out by using narrative synthesis method. We found 16 articles which required detailed analysis. Finally, the suggested framework includes 12 main factors (functional, organizational, behavioral, cultural, management, technical, strategy, economy, education, legal, ethical and political factors), 67 sub factors, and 33 suggested methods for the evaluation of these sub factors. The results of the present research indicates that the emphasis of the HIS evaluation moves from technical subjects to human and organizational subjects, and from objective to subjective issues. Therefore, this issue entails more familiarity with more qualitative evaluation methods. In most of the reviewed studies, the main focus has been laid on the necessity of using multi-method approaches and combining methods to obtain more comprehensive and useful results.

Identifying effective pathways in a successful continuous quality improvement programme: the GEDAPS study.

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Bodicoat, Danielle H; Mundet, Xavier; Gray, Laura J; Cos, Xavier; Davies, Melanie J; Khunti, Kamlesh; Cano, Juan-Franciso

2014-12-01

Continuous quality improvement programmes often target several aspects of care, some of which may be more effective meaning that resources could be focussed on these. The objective was to identify the effective and ineffective aspects of a successful continuous quality improvement programme for individuals with type 2 diabetes in primary care. Data were from a series of cross-sectional studies (GEDAPS) in primary care, Catalonia, Spain, in 55 centres (2239 participants) in 1993, and 92 centres (5819 participants) in 2002. A structural equation modelling approach was used. The intervention was associated with improved microvascular outcomes through microalbuminuria and funduscopy screening, which had a direct effect on microvascular outcomes, and through attending 2-4 nurse visits and having ≥1 blood pressure measurement, which acted through reducing systolic blood pressure. The intervention was associated with improved macrovascular outcomes through blood pressure measurement and attending 2-4 nurse visits (through systolic blood pressure) and having ≥3 education topics, ≥1 HbA1c measurement and adequate medication (through HbA1c). Cholesterol measurement, weight measurement and foot examination did not contribute towards the effectiveness of the intervention. The pathways through which a continuous quality improvement programme appeared to act to reduce microvascular and macrovascular complications were driven by reductions in systolic blood pressure and HbA1c, which were attained through changes in nurse and education visits, measurement and medication. This suggests that these factors are potential areas on which future quality improvement programmes should focus. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Impact of Functional Characteristics on Usage of LSS Methods in IT and Perceived Project Success

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Mushi, Francis Jeremiah

2014-01-01

High rates of Information Technology (IT) project failures continues; fail to meet established deadlines, exceeding budget, or not agreed-upon functionality. Failure often results from a fundamental confusion over what is involved in the project. Methods that have provided project success in Service and Manufacturing industries have not been…

Factors determining the success of public private partnership projects in Nigeria

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Afeez Olalekan Sanni

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The implementation of public private partnership (PPP procurement method is expected to help governments in the development of infrastructures and provides an opportunity for the reduction in the governments’ debt profiles. This method has been adopted in Nigeria for more than a decade and with these years of implementation, few infrastructural projects have been developed using this method while some have been unsuccessful. This study aims to examine the PPP projects implementation in Nigeria and identify the most critical factors that could determine the success of such projects. A total of 184 questionnaires were received from public and private sectors’ participants in the implementation of PPP projects. An exploratory factor analysis identified seven critical success factors as projects feedback, leadership focus, risk allocation and economic policy, good governance and political support, short construction period, favourable socio-economic factors, and delivering publicly needed service. This study shows that more developmental projects could be delivered through PPP if the government could focus on these main factors in the implementation process. The result will influence policy development towards PPP and guide the partners in the development of PPP projects.

A simple and effective method to achieve the successful start-up of a current reference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han Lei; Zhang Xiaoxing; Dai Yujie; Lü Yingjie; Wang Yujun

2012-01-01

Start-up design is a critical issue in current reference as it is very closely related to production yield. However, its function is difficult to predict using normal transaction simulations before the device is put into diffusion. In this paper, we discuss a simple and effective simulation approach which ensures a successful start-up process in a self-biased temperature independent current reference. The circuit is implemented in a class-D power amplifier with a 0.35 μm BiCMOS process and the experimental result validates that, by using this method, the start-up success rate can be greatly improved to 100%. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

Methods for identifying surgical wound infection after discharge from hospital: a systematic review

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Moore Peter J

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Wound infections are a common complication of surgery that add significantly to the morbidity of patients and costs of treatment. The global trend towards reducing length of hospital stay post-surgery and the increase in day case surgery means that surgical site infections (SSI will increasingly occur after hospital discharge. Surveillance of SSIs is important because rates of SSI are viewed as a measure of hospital performance, however accurate detection of SSIs post-hospital discharge is not straightforward. Methods We conducted a systematic review of methods of post discharge surveillance for surgical wound infection and undertook a national audit of methods of post-discharge surveillance for surgical site infection currently used within United Kingdom NHS Trusts. Results Seven reports of six comparative studies which examined the validity of post-discharge surveillance methods were located; these involved different comparisons and some had methodological limitations, making it difficult to identify an optimal method. Several studies evaluated automated screening of electronic records and found this to be a useful strategy for the identification of SSIs that occurred post discharge. The audit identified a wide range of relevant post-discharge surveillance programmes in England, Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; however, these programmes used varying approaches for which there is little supporting evidence of validity and/or reliability. Conclusion In order to establish robust methods of surveillance for those surgical site infections that occur post discharge, there is a need to develop a method of case ascertainment that is valid and reliable post discharge. Existing research has not identified a valid and reliable method. A standardised definition of wound infection (e.g. that of the Centres for Disease Control should be used as a basis for developing a feasible, valid and reliable approach to defining post

Bacterial Succession on Rat Carcasses and Applications for PMI Estimation.

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Zhang, Lin; Guo, Juan-juan; Telet-Siyit; Peng, Yu-long; Xie, Dan; Guo, Ya-dong; Yan, Jie; Zha, Lagabaiyila; Cai, Ji-feng

2016-02-01

Abstract: To investigate the bacterial succession on rat carcasses and to evaluate the use of bacterial succession for postmortem interval (PMI) estimation. Adult female SD rat remains were placed in carton boxes. The bacterial colonization of circumocular skin, mouth and vagina was collected to be identified using culture-dependent biochemical methods. The changes in community composition were regularly documented. The bacterial succession in three habitats showed that Staphylococcus and Neisseria were predominated in early PMI, especially Staphylococcus aureus and Neisseria lactamica in 6 hours after death. Lactobacillus casei developed on the 3-4 days regularly, and kept stable at a certain level in late PMI. The involvement of normal and putrefactive bacteria in three body habitats of rat remains can be used for PMI estimation.

Using Standardized Tests to Identify Prior Knowledge Necessary for Success in Algebra: A Predictive Analysis

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Jensen, Jennifer

2014-01-01

This study sought to determine if there is a relationship between students' scores on the eighth-grade Indiana State Test of Education Progress Plus (ISTEP+) exam and success on Indiana's Algebra End-of-Course Assessment (ECA). Additionally, it sought to determine if algebra success could be significantly predicted by the achievement in one or…

Success Factors of Business Process Management Systems Implementation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Johan Versendaal; J.P.P. Ravesteijn

2007-01-01

In this research (critical) success factors for Business Process Management Systems implementation are identified and qualitatively validated. Furthermore a list of critical success factors is constructed. Based on the identified factors a BPMS implementation approach is suggested. Future research

msiDBN: A Method of Identifying Critical Proteins in Dynamic PPI Networks

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Yuan Zhang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Dynamics of protein-protein interactions (PPIs reveals the recondite principles of biological processes inside a cell. Shown in a wealth of study, just a small group of proteins, rather than the majority, play more essential roles at crucial points of biological processes. This present work focuses on identifying these critical proteins exhibiting dramatic structural changes in dynamic PPI networks. First, a comprehensive way of modeling the dynamic PPIs is presented which simultaneously analyzes the activity of proteins and assembles the dynamic coregulation correlation between proteins at each time point. Second, a novel method is proposed, named msiDBN, which models a common representation of multiple PPI networks using a deep belief network framework and analyzes the reconstruction errors and the variabilities across the time courses in the biological process. Experiments were implemented on data of yeast cell cycles. We evaluated our network construction method by comparing the functional representations of the derived networks with two other traditional construction methods. The ranking results of critical proteins in msiDBN were compared with the results from the baseline methods. The results of comparison showed that msiDBN had better reconstruction rate and identified more proteins of critical value to yeast cell cycle process.

Structural Identifiability of Dynamic Systems Biology Models.

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Villaverde, Alejandro F; Barreiro, Antonio; Papachristodoulou, Antonis

2016-10-01

A powerful way of gaining insight into biological systems is by creating a nonlinear differential equation model, which usually contains many unknown parameters. Such a model is called structurally identifiable if it is possible to determine the values of its parameters from measurements of the model outputs. Structural identifiability is a prerequisite for parameter estimation, and should be assessed before exploiting a model. However, this analysis is seldom performed due to the high computational cost involved in the necessary symbolic calculations, which quickly becomes prohibitive as the problem size increases. In this paper we show how to analyse the structural identifiability of a very general class of nonlinear models by extending methods originally developed for studying observability. We present results about models whose identifiability had not been previously determined, report unidentifiabilities that had not been found before, and show how to modify those unidentifiable models to make them identifiable. This method helps prevent problems caused by lack of identifiability analysis, which can compromise the success of tasks such as experiment design, parameter estimation, and model-based optimization. The procedure is called STRIKE-GOLDD (STRuctural Identifiability taKen as Extended-Generalized Observability with Lie Derivatives and Decomposition), and it is implemented in a MATLAB toolbox which is available as open source software. The broad applicability of this approach facilitates the analysis of the increasingly complex models used in systems biology and other areas.

An Efficient, Non-iterative Method of Identifying the Cost-Effectiveness Frontier

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Suen, Sze-chuan; Goldhaber-Fiebert, Jeremy D.

2015-01-01

Cost-effectiveness analysis aims to identify treatments and policies that maximize benefits subject to resource constraints. However, the conventional process of identifying the efficient frontier (i.e., the set of potentially cost-effective options) can be algorithmically inefficient, especially when considering a policy problem with many alternative options or when performing an extensive suite of sensitivity analyses for which the efficient frontier must be found for each. Here, we describe an alternative one-pass algorithm that is conceptually simple, easier to implement, and potentially faster for situations that challenge the conventional approach. Our algorithm accomplishes this by exploiting the relationship between the net monetary benefit and the cost-effectiveness plane. To facilitate further evaluation and use of this approach, we additionally provide scripts in R and Matlab that implement our method and can be used to identify efficient frontiers for any decision problem. PMID:25926282

Guenter Tulip Filter Retrieval Experience: Predictors of Successful Retrieval

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turba, Ulku Cenk; Arslan, Bulent; Meuse, Michael; Sabri, Saher; Macik, Barbara Gail; Hagspiel, Klaus D.; Matsumoto, Alan H.; Angle, John F.

2010-01-01

We report our experience with Guenter Tulip filter placement indications, retrievals, and procedural problems, with emphasis on alternative retrieval techniques. We have identified 92 consecutive patients in whom a Guenter Tulip filter was placed and filter removal attempted. We recorded patient demographic information, filter placement and retrieval indications, procedures, standard and nonstandard filter retrieval techniques, complications, and clinical outcomes. The mean time to retrieval for those who experienced filter strut penetration was statistically significant [F(1,90) = 8.55, p = 0.004]. Filter strut(s) IVC penetration and successful retrieval were found to be statistically significant (p = 0.043). The filter hook-IVC relationship correlated with successful retrieval. A modified guidewire loop technique was applied in 8 of 10 cases where the hook appeared to penetrate the IVC wall and could not be engaged with a loop snare catheter, providing additional technical success in 6 of 8 (75%). Therefore, the total filter retrieval success increased from 88 to 95%. In conclusion, the Guenter Tulip filter has high successful retrieval rates with low rates of complication. Additional maneuvers such as a guidewire loop method can be used to improve retrieval success rates when the filter hook is endothelialized.

Identifying patient risks during hospitalization

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Lucélia Ferreira Lima

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To identify the risks reported at a public institution andto know the main patient risks from the nursing staff point of view.Methods: A retrospective, descriptive and exploratory study. Thesurvey was developed at a hospital in the city of Taboão da Serra, SãoPaulo, Brazil. The study included all nurses working in care areas whoagreed to participate in the study. At the same time, sentinel eventsoccurring in the period from July 2006 to July 2007 were identified.Results: There were 440 sentinel events reported, and the main risksincluded patient falls, medication errors and pressure ulcers. Sixty-fivenurses were interviewed. They also reported patient falls, medicationerrors and pressure ulcers as the main risks. Conclusions: Riskassessment and implementation of effective preventive actions arenecessary to ensure patient’s safety. Involvement of a multidisciplinaryteam is one of the steps for a successful process.

Methods and Techniques of Sampling, Culturing and Identifying of Subsurface Bacteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Seung Yeop; Baik, Min Hoon

2010-11-01

This report described sampling, culturing and identifying of KURT underground bacteria, which existed as iron-, manganese-, and sulfate-reducing bacteria. The methods of culturing and media preparation were different by bacteria species affecting bacteria growth-rates. It will be possible for the cultured bacteria to be used for various applied experiments and researches in the future

Identifying research priorities for public health research to address health inequalities: use of Delphi-like survey methods.

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Turner, S; Ollerhead, E; Cook, A

2017-10-09

In the funding of health research and public health research it is vital that research questions posed are important and that funded research meets a research need or a gap in evidence. Many methods are used in the identification of research priorities, however, these can be resource intensive, costly and logistically challenging. Identifying such research priorities can be particularly challenging for complex public health problems as there is a need to consult a number of experts across disciplines and with a range of expertise. This study investigated the use of Delphi-like survey methods in identifying important research priorities relating to health inequalities and framing tractable research questions for topic areas identified. The study was conducted in two phases, both using Delphi-like survey methods. Firstly, public health professionals with an interest in health inequalities were asked to identify research priorities. Secondly academic researchers were asked to frame tractable research questions relating to the priorities identified. These research priorities identified using Delphi-like survey methods were subsequently compared to those identified using different methods. A total of 52 public health professionals and 21 academics across the United Kingdom agreed to take part. The response rates were high, from public health professionals across three survey rounds (69%, 50% and 40%) and from academics across one round (52%), indicating that participants were receptive to the method and motivated to respond. The themes identified as encompassing the most important research priorities were mental health, healthy environment and health behaviours. Within these themes, the topic areas that emerged most strongly included community interventions for prevention of mental health problems and the food and alcohol environment. Some responses received from academic researchers were (as requested) in the form of tractable research questions, whereas others

Determining Success Criteria and Success Factors for International Construction Projects for Malaysian Contractors

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Ali Mohammed Alashwal

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The success of international construction projects is fraught with various challenges such as competitiveness, lack of resources, versatile global economy, and specific conditions in the host country. Malaysian contractors have been venturing into global construction market since early 1980s. However, their venturing was not successful all the time. The number of international projects awarded to Malaysian contractors has reduced drastically during the past decade. Taking advantage of this experience, this paper aims to identify the success criteria and success factors of international construction projects. The data was collected from 120 respondents using a questionnaire survey and analysed using principal component analysis and regression analysis. The results revealed three principal criteria of project success namely, Management Success, Functional Success, and Organisation Success. The main components of success factors include Team Power and Skills, Resource Availability, External Environment, Organisation Capability, Project Support, and Project Organisation. Further analysis emphasized the importance of strong financing capacity of contractors, project social environment, and competence of the project manager in achieving project success. The results of this paper can serve as a guideline for contractors and project managers to achieve success in this context. Future studies may provide in-depth analysis of success criteria and success factors specific for construction project type and host-country location.

Human Resource Outsourcing Success

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Hasliza Abdul-Halim

2014-07-01

Full Text Available The existing literature on partnership seems to take the relationship between partnership quality and outsourcing success for granted. Therefore, this article aims at examining the role of service quality in strengthening the relationship between partnership quality and human resource (HR outsourcing success. The samples were obtained from 96 manufacturing organizations in Penang, Malaysia. The results showed that partnership quality variables such as trust, business understanding, and communication have significant positive impact on HR outsourcing success, whereas in general, service quality was found to partially moderate these relationships. Therefore, comprehending the HR outsourcing relationship in the context of service quality may assist the organizations to accomplish HR outsourcing success by identifying areas of expected benefits and improvements.

Terahertz spectral unmixing based method for identifying gastric cancer

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Yuqi; Huang, Pingjie; Li, Xian; Ge, Weiting; Hou, Dibo; Zhang, Guangxin

2018-02-01

At present, many researchers are exploring biological tissue inspection using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) techniques. In this study, based on a modified hard modeling factor analysis method, terahertz spectral unmixing was applied to investigate the relationships between the absorption spectra in THz-TDS and certain biomarkers of gastric cancer in order to systematically identify gastric cancer. A probability distribution and box plot were used to extract the distinctive peaks that indicate carcinogenesis, and the corresponding weight distributions were used to discriminate the tissue types. The results of this work indicate that terahertz techniques have the potential to detect different levels of cancer, including benign tumors and polyps.

Stakeholders Perspectives on the Success Drivers in Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme - Identifying Policy Translation Issues.

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Fusheini, Adam; Marnoch, Gordon; Gray, Ann Marie

2016-10-01

Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), established by an Act of Parliament (Act 650), in 2003 and since replaced by Act 852 of 2012 remains, in African terms, unprecedented in terms of growth and coverage. As a result, the scheme has received praise for its associated legal reforms, clinical audit mechanisms and for serving as a hub for knowledge sharing and learning within the context of South-South cooperation. The scheme continues to shape national health insurance thinking in Africa. While the success, especially in coverage and financial access has been highlighted by many authors, insufficient attention has been paid to critical and context-specific factors. This paper seeks to fill that gap. Based on an empirical qualitative case study of stakeholders' views on challenges and success factors in four mutual schemes (district offices) located in two regions of Ghana, the study uses the concept of policy translation to assess whether the Ghana scheme could provide useful lessons to other African and developing countries in their quest to implement social/NHISs. In the study, interviewees referred to both 'hard and soft' elements as driving the "success" of the Ghana scheme. The main 'hard elements' include bureaucratic and legal enforcement capacities; IT; financing; governance, administration and management; regulating membership of the scheme; and service provision and coverage capabilities. The 'soft' elements identified relate to: the background/context of the health insurance scheme; innovative ways of funding the NHIS, the hybrid nature of the Ghana scheme; political will, commitment by government, stakeholders and public cooperation; social structure of Ghana (solidarity); and ownership and participation. Other developing countries can expect to translate rather than re-assemble a national health insurance programme in an incomplete and highly modified form over a period of years, amounting to a process best conceived as germination as opposed

Methods and Measures: Growth Mixture Modeling--A Method for Identifying Differences in Longitudinal Change among Unobserved Groups

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Ram, Nilam; Grimm, Kevin J.

2009-01-01

Growth mixture modeling (GMM) is a method for identifying multiple unobserved sub-populations, describing longitudinal change within each unobserved sub-population, and examining differences in change among unobserved sub-populations. We provide a practical primer that may be useful for researchers beginning to incorporate GMM analysis into their…

Successful adaptation of a research methods course in South America.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamariz, Leonardo; Vasquez, Diego; Loor, Cecilia; Palacio, Ana

2017-01-01

South America has low research productivity. The lack of a structured research curriculum is one of the barriers to conducting research. To report our experience adapting an active learning-based research methods curriculum to improve research productivity at a university in Ecuador. We used a mixed-method approach to test the adaptation of the research curriculum at Universidad Catolica Santiago de Guayaquil. The curriculum uses a flipped classroom and active learning approach to teach research methods. When adapted, it was longitudinal and had 16-hour programme of in-person teaching and a six-month follow-up online component. Learners were organized in theme groups according to interest, and each group had a faculty leader. Our primary outcome was research productivity, which was measured by the succesful presentation of the research project at a national meeting, or publication in a peer-review journal. Our secondary outcomes were knowledge and perceived competence before and after course completion. We conducted qualitative interviews of faculty members and students to evaluate themes related to participation in research. Fifty university students and 10 faculty members attended the course. We had a total of 15 groups. Both knowledge and perceived competence increased by 17 and 18 percentage points, respectively. The presentation or publication rate for the entire group was 50%. The qualitative analysis showed that a lack of research culture and curriculum were common barriers to research. A US-based curriculum can be successfully adapted in low-middle income countries. A research curriculum aids in achieving pre-determined milestones. UCSG: Universidad Catolica Santiago de Guayaquil; UM: University of Miami.

DEVELOPMENT OF A MOLECULAR METHOD TO IDENTIFY HEPATITIS E VIRUS IN WATER

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Hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes an infectious form of hepatitis associated with contaminated water. By analyzing the sequence of several HEV isolates, a reverse transciption-polymerase chain reaction method was developed and optimized that should be able to identify all of the kn...

Critical success factors for managing purchasing groups

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schotanus, Fredo; Telgen, Jan; de Boer, L.

2010-01-01

In this article, we identify critical success factors for managing small and intensive purchasing groups by comparing successful and unsuccessful purchasing groups in a large-scale survey. The analysis of our data set suggests the following success factors: no enforced participation, sufficient

Uninformed Decisions? The Online Presentation of Success and Failure of IVF and Related Methods on German IVF Centre Websites.

Science.gov (United States)

Kadi, S; Wiesing, U

2015-12-01

Background: Patients increasingly use the internet as a source of medical information before initial contact with doctors and during treatment. This applies to reproductive medicine too, where the internet could offer patients the chance to inform themselves in advance about specific procedures and the treatment centres that offer them. In this way it could potentially contribute to informed patient decision-making. This article analyses the web presence of German fertility treatment centres with respect to the provision of information on success rates, risks and side effects of treatment. Methods: Analysis of published success rates and information on the risks and adverse effects of IVF and related methods on German IVF centre websites. Results: Over half of the 129 centres (62.02 %) state a general success rate or their own institution's success rate. Less than a quarter (24.03 %) states their own institution's pregnancy rate and only 7.75 % their own birth rate. The published success rates are mostly pregnancy rates (pregnancy per embryo transfer), which by definition are higher than baby take-home-rates creating unrealistic expectations. Only 61 centres (47.29 %) mention risks and side effects of the procedures offered, and that in varying detail. Only 7 centres (5.43 %) provide information on the risk of psychological stress associated with unsuccessful fertility treatment. Conclusion: There is insufficient opportunity for women and their partners to inform themselves adequately on the internet in advance of treatment about available treatment methods, their success rates and associated risks/side effects; this applies both to specific facilities as well as to the procedures in general. In contrast to other countries, in Germany there is a lack of discussion on content requirements for fertility treatment facility websites.

Modelling the critical success factors of agile software development projects in South Africa

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Tawanda B. Chiyangwa

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Background: The continued in failure of agile and traditional software development projects have led to the consideration, attention and dispute to critical success factors that are the aspects which are most vital to make a software engineering methodology fruitful. Although there is an increasing variety of critical success factors and methodologies, the conceptual frameworks which have causal relationship are limited. Objective: The objective of this study was to identify and provide insights into the critical success factors that influence the success of software development projects using agile methodologies in South Africa. Method: Quantitative method of collecting data was used. Data were collected in South Africa through a Web-based survey using structured questionnaires. Results: These results show that organisational factors have a great influence on performance expectancy characteristics. Conclusion: The results of this study discovered a comprehensive model that could provide guidelines to the agile community and to the agile professionals.

GAUSS-SEIDEL AND SUCCESSIVE OVERRELAXATION METHODS FOR RADIATIVE TRANSFER WITH PARTIAL FREQUENCY REDISTRIBUTION

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sampoorna, M.; Bueno, J. Trujillo

2010-01-01

The linearly polarized solar limb spectrum that is produced by scattering processes contains a wealth of information on the physical conditions and magnetic fields of the solar outer atmosphere, but the modeling of many of its strongest spectral lines requires solving an involved non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiative transfer problem accounting for partial redistribution (PRD) effects. Fast radiative transfer methods for the numerical solution of PRD problems are also needed for a proper treatment of hydrogen lines when aiming at realistic time-dependent magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the solar chromosphere. Here we show how the two-level atom PRD problem with and without polarization can be solved accurately and efficiently via the application of highly convergent iterative schemes based on the Gauss-Seidel and successive overrelaxation (SOR) radiative transfer methods that had been previously developed for the complete redistribution case. Of particular interest is the Symmetric SOR method, which allows us to reach the fully converged solution with an order of magnitude of improvement in the total computational time with respect to the Jacobi-based local accelerated lambda iteration method.

Gauss-Seidel and Successive Overrelaxation Methods for Radiative Transfer with Partial Frequency Redistribution

Science.gov (United States)

Sampoorna, M.; Trujillo Bueno, J.

2010-04-01

The linearly polarized solar limb spectrum that is produced by scattering processes contains a wealth of information on the physical conditions and magnetic fields of the solar outer atmosphere, but the modeling of many of its strongest spectral lines requires solving an involved non-local thermodynamic equilibrium radiative transfer problem accounting for partial redistribution (PRD) effects. Fast radiative transfer methods for the numerical solution of PRD problems are also needed for a proper treatment of hydrogen lines when aiming at realistic time-dependent magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the solar chromosphere. Here we show how the two-level atom PRD problem with and without polarization can be solved accurately and efficiently via the application of highly convergent iterative schemes based on the Gauss-Seidel and successive overrelaxation (SOR) radiative transfer methods that had been previously developed for the complete redistribution case. Of particular interest is the Symmetric SOR method, which allows us to reach the fully converged solution with an order of magnitude of improvement in the total computational time with respect to the Jacobi-based local accelerated lambda iteration method.

Measuring strategic success.

Science.gov (United States)

Gish, Ryan

2002-08-01

Strategic triggers and metrics help healthcare providers achieve financial success. Metrics help assess progress toward long-term goals. Triggers signal market changes requiring a change in strategy. All metrics may not move in concert. Organizations need to identify indicators, monitor performance.

Application of multi-locus analytical methods to identify interacting loci in case-control studies.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vermeulen, S.; Heijer, M. den; Sham, P.; Knight, J.

2007-01-01

To identify interacting loci in genetic epidemiological studies the application of multi-locus methods of analysis is warranted. Several more advanced classification methods have been developed in the past years, including multiple logistic regression, sum statistics, logic regression, and the

Evaluating Methods for Isolating Total RNA and Predicting the Success of Sequencing Phylogenetically Diverse Plant Transcriptomes

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Bruskiewich, Richard; Burris, Jason N.; Carrigan, Charlotte T.; Chase, Mark W.; Clarke, Neil D.; Covshoff, Sarah; dePamphilis, Claude W.; Edger, Patrick P.; Goh, Falicia; Graham, Sean; Greiner, Stephan; Hibberd, Julian M.; Jordon-Thaden, Ingrid; Kutchan, Toni M.; Leebens-Mack, James; Melkonian, Michael; Miles, Nicholas; Myburg, Henrietta; Patterson, Jordan; Pires, J. Chris; Ralph, Paula; Rolf, Megan; Sage, Rowan F.; Soltis, Douglas; Soltis, Pamela; Stevenson, Dennis; Stewart, C. Neal; Surek, Barbara; Thomsen, Christina J. M.; Villarreal, Juan Carlos; Wu, Xiaolei; Zhang, Yong; Deyholos, Michael K.; Wong, Gane Ka-Shu

2012-01-01

Next-generation sequencing plays a central role in the characterization and quantification of transcriptomes. Although numerous metrics are purported to quantify the quality of RNA, there have been no large-scale empirical evaluations of the major determinants of sequencing success. We used a combination of existing and newly developed methods to isolate total RNA from 1115 samples from 695 plant species in 324 families, which represents >900 million years of phylogenetic diversity from green algae through flowering plants, including many plants of economic importance. We then sequenced 629 of these samples on Illumina GAIIx and HiSeq platforms and performed a large comparative analysis to identify predictors of RNA quality and the diversity of putative genes (scaffolds) expressed within samples. Tissue types (e.g., leaf vs. flower) varied in RNA quality, sequencing depth and the number of scaffolds. Tissue age also influenced RNA quality but not the number of scaffolds ≥1000 bp. Overall, 36% of the variation in the number of scaffolds was explained by metrics of RNA integrity (RIN score), RNA purity (OD 260/230), sequencing platform (GAIIx vs HiSeq) and the amount of total RNA used for sequencing. However, our results show that the most commonly used measures of RNA quality (e.g., RIN) are weak predictors of the number of scaffolds because Illumina sequencing is robust to variation in RNA quality. These results provide novel insight into the methods that are most important in isolating high quality RNA for sequencing and assembling plant transcriptomes. The methods and recommendations provided here could increase the efficiency and decrease the cost of RNA sequencing for individual labs and genome centers. PMID:23185583

Identification of External Critical Success Factors in Microbial Biotechnology Firms

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Alireza AZIMI

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Microbial biotechnology is expected to change production methods, the products themselves and the structure of the industries in the new economies. Hopefully, countries in the Middle-East, Latin America, Asia and Africa have already recognized the importance of microbial biotechnology's promise. In this sense, the importance of externalities which might affect the success or failure of these companies becomes an issue of paramount importance. In the present study, we will try to identify the main external factors which could lead in the success of microbial biotechnology firms in Iran. To do so, the research follows a qualitative research design to answer this main question. Based on our findings, critical success factors are categorized in the following categories: General Environment (GE, Political Position (PP, Economic Position (EP, and Market Position (MP.

Prognostic factors for the success of thermal balloon ablation in the treatment of menorrhagia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bongers, M. Y.; Mol, B. W. J.; Brölmann, H. A. M.

2002-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To identify predictive factors that will ensure successful menorrhagia treatment using hot fluid balloon endometrial ablation. METHODS: This is a prospective study on patients referred for menorrhagia and treated with hot fluid thermal balloon ablation. Potential prognostic factors for

Biosphere reserves: Attributes for success.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Cuong, Chu; Dart, Peter; Hockings, Marc

2017-03-01

Biosphere reserves established under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program aim to harmonise biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Concerns over the extent to which the reserve network was living up to this ideal led to the development of a new strategy in 1995 (the Seville Strategy) to enhance the operation of the network of reserves. An evaluation of effectiveness of management of the biosphere reserve network was called for as part of this strategy. Expert opinion was assembled through a Delphi Process to identify successful and less successful reserves and investigate common factors influencing success or failure. Ninety biosphere reserves including sixty successful and thirty less successful reserves in 42 countries across all five Man and the Biosphere Program regions were identified. Most successful sites are the post-Seville generation while the majority of unsuccessful sites are pre-Seville that are managed as national parks and have not been amended to conform to the characteristics that are meant to define a biosphere reserve. Stakeholder participation and collaboration, governance, finance and resources, management, and awareness and communication are the most influential factors in the success or failure of the biosphere reserves. For success, the biosphere reserve concept needs to be clearly understood and applied through landscape zoning. Designated reserves then need a management system with inclusive good governance, strong participation and collaboration, adequate finance and human resource allocation and stable and responsible management and implementation. All rather obvious but it is difficult to achieve without commitment to the biosphere reserve concept by the governance authorities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Twenty-eight Days to a Climax community: A Succession Laboratory Using Periphyton

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Denicola, D. M.

2005-05-01

Succession in benthic algal communities (periphyton) occurs in a relatively short time scale because of the rapid reproductive rates of algae. To examine primary succession of periphyton in a lake and stream, unglazed tiles are placed in the respective habitats and sampled on days 4, 8, 16 and 28. Students count the preserved samples at 400X and identify taxa to genera based on customized picture keys (does not require a high degree of instructor expertise). Genera also are categorized according to algal growth forms, based on the size, shape, motility and attachment mechanism. After pooling the class data, students present the change in community structure, contrast succession between the lake and stream, and hypothesize which mechanisms may apply (facilitation, inhibition, tolerance). Successional sequences also are examined to see whether they agree with published growth form models for periphyton succession in lotic and lentic habitats. The laboratory uses the more intuitive method of repeated measures to study succession as an alternative to the often infeasible chronosequence method traditionally done for terrestrial communities. Additional outcomes include, reinforcement of the concept of species guilds (growth forms), an introduction into the use of empirical models, and an increased awareness of microorganism communities.

Optimization method for identifying the source term in an inverse wave equation

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Arumugam Deiveegan

2017-08-01

Full Text Available In this work, we investigate the inverse problem of identifying a space-wise dependent source term of wave equation from the measurement on the boundary. On the basis of the optimal control framework, the inverse problem is transformed into an optimization problem. The existence and necessary condition of the minimizer for the cost functional are obtained. The projected gradient method and two-parameter model function method are applied to the minimization problem and numerical results are illustrated.

actors of Success and Failure for International Retailers in Poland

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Florance Feldmann

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Purpose: This article provides an understanding of international retailers’ successes and failures when expanding in the Polish market. Accordingly, the objectives of this article were to define and identify what are the critical factors of success and failures of international retailers’ strategies while expanding in the Polish market according to the retailers themselves. Methodology: Adopting an interpretative research approach, this article elaborates a multiple explanatory case study design to discover how existing theory on internationalization compared to how internationalization is experienced and conceptualized by practitioners in their natural contexts. Findings: Twenty cases were studied among which were found four successful retailers and two who had failed. Coding of categories highlighted five critical success factors and five critical failure factors. Pricing strategy, necessity of adapting operations to local market, learning by doing, e-commerce and early entry timing appeared as factors of success or at least as “facilitating factors.” Choosing the inappropriate entry method, underestimating competition, developing the retail network and retail environment at a slow pace and not giving enough means of abnegation led to failures in Poland. Originality: This article contributes to filling two main gaps identified in the literature review. Many different theoretical approaches exist but no conclusive framework has emerged. Besides, most concepts were developed and tested on western European countries and nothing proved adequate to the specific retail landscape of eastern Europeans countries such as Poland.

Identifying Bacterial Immune Evasion Proteins Using Phage Display.

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Fevre, Cindy; Scheepmaker, Lisette; Haas, Pieter-Jan

2017-01-01

Methods aimed at identification of immune evasion proteins are mainly rely on in silico prediction of sequence, structural homology to known evasion proteins or use a proteomics driven approach. Although proven successful these methods are limited by a low efficiency and or lack of functional identification. Here we describe a high-throughput genomic strategy to functionally identify bacterial immune evasion proteins using phage display technology. Genomic bacterial DNA is randomly fragmented and ligated into a phage display vector that is used to create a phage display library expressing bacterial secreted and membrane bound proteins. This library is used to select displayed bacterial secretome proteins that interact with host immune components.

Lessons for public health campaigns from analysing commercial food marketing success factors: a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Perez-Cueto, Federico J A; Niedzwiedzka, Barbara; Verbeke, Wim; Bech-Larsen, Tino

2012-02-21

Commercial food marketing has considerably shaped consumer food choice behaviour. Meanwhile, public health campaigns for healthier eating have had limited impact to date. Social marketing suggests that successful commercial food marketing campaigns can provide useful lessons for public sector activities. The aim of the present study was to empirically identify food marketing success factors that, using the social marketing approach, could help improve public health campaigns to promote healthy eating. In this case-study analysis, 27 recent and successful commercial food and beverage marketing cases were purposively sampled from different European countries. The cases involved different consumer target groups, product categories, company sizes and marketing techniques. The analysis focused on cases of relatively healthy food types, and nutrition and health-related aspects in the communication related to the food. Visual as well as written material was gathered, complemented by semi-structured interviews with 12 food market trend experts and 19 representatives of food companies and advertising agencies. Success factors were identified by a group of experts who reached consensus through discussion structured by a card sorting method. Six clusters of success factors emerged from the analysis and were labelled as "data and knowledge", "emotions", "endorsement", "media", "community" and "why and how". Each cluster subsumes two or three success factors and is illustrated by examples. In total, 16 factors were identified. It is argued that the factors "nutritional evidence", "trend awareness", "vertical endorsement", "simple naturalness" and "common values" are of particular importance in the communication of health with regard to food. The present study identified critical factors for the success of commercial food marketing campaigns related to the issue of nutrition and health, which are possibly transferable to the public health sector. Whether or not a particular

BDA: A novel method for identifying defects in body-centered cubic crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Möller, Johannes J; Bitzek, Erik

2016-01-01

The accurate and fast identification of crystallographic defects plays a key role for the analysis of atomistic simulation output data. For face-centered cubic (fcc) metals, most existing structure analysis tools allow for the direct distinction of common defects, such as stacking faults or certain low-index surfaces. For body-centered cubic (bcc) metals, on the other hand, a robust way to identify such defects is currently not easily available. We therefore introduce a new method for analyzing atomistic configurations of bcc metals, the BCC Defect Analysis (BDA). It uses existing structure analysis algorithms and combines their results to uniquely distinguish between typical defects in bcc metals. In essence, the BDA method offers the following features:•Identification of typical defect structures in bcc metals.•Reduction of erroneously identified defects by iterative comparison to the defects in the atom's neighborhood.•Availability as ready-to-use Python script for the widespread visualization tool OVITO [http://ovito.org].

The Motivational Effects of Success or Failure in Urban Elementary School Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Waterman, Bradford H.

2012-01-01

This study describes teachers' experiences of success and failure in teaching through interviews. The analytical framework for this study was based on Activity Theory (Leon'tev, 1978), and the research methods were developed by Herzberg et al. (1959). The inclusion of factors identified by Seligman (2006) and Maslach (1982) allowed for…

First year student conceptions of success: What really matters?

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Ryan Naylor

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Success at university is a complex idea, with evidence that what “counts” as success is conceived differently by students and academics. This study contrasts two methodologies (“Likert-type” ordered response and quadratic voting, which does not appear to have been applied to education research previously to identify which factors are important in university success to first year health science students. Completion (passing subjects and obtaining qualifications and achievement (getting good grades were the most important factors in both methodologies, but important differences were found between the two in the relative importance of four factors, particularly in the importance of a sense of belonging and personalisation of study options. Contrasting data from the two methods potentially separates factors students think are vital from those that are important but not essential—a distinction which is concealed using Likert-type instruments alone.

International Student Success

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Clayton

2016-01-01

This article, with a focus on North American postsecondary education, identifies international students as a strategic enrollment management institutional priority; presents themes in the international student retention, satisfaction, and success research literature; and describes related best practices. It also presents the findings from an…

Structural identifiability of systems biology models: a critical comparison of methods.

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Oana-Teodora Chis

Full Text Available Analysing the properties of a biological system through in silico experimentation requires a satisfactory mathematical representation of the system including accurate values of the model parameters. Fortunately, modern experimental techniques allow obtaining time-series data of appropriate quality which may then be used to estimate unknown parameters. However, in many cases, a subset of those parameters may not be uniquely estimated, independently of the experimental data available or the numerical techniques used for estimation. This lack of identifiability is related to the structure of the model, i.e. the system dynamics plus the observation function. Despite the interest in knowing a priori whether there is any chance of uniquely estimating all model unknown parameters, the structural identifiability analysis for general non-linear dynamic models is still an open question. There is no method amenable to every model, thus at some point we have to face the selection of one of the possibilities. This work presents a critical comparison of the currently available techniques. To this end, we perform the structural identifiability analysis of a collection of biological models. The results reveal that the generating series approach, in combination with identifiability tableaus, offers the most advantageous compromise among range of applicability, computational complexity and information provided.

Validation of MIMGO: a method to identify differentially expressed GO terms in a microarray dataset

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Yamada Yoichi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We previously proposed an algorithm for the identification of GO terms that commonly annotate genes whose expression is upregulated or downregulated in some microarray data compared with in other microarray data. We call these “differentially expressed GO terms” and have named the algorithm “matrix-assisted identification method of differentially expressed GO terms” (MIMGO. MIMGO can also identify microarray data in which genes annotated with a differentially expressed GO term are upregulated or downregulated. However, MIMGO has not yet been validated on a real microarray dataset using all available GO terms. Findings We combined Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA with MIMGO to identify differentially expressed GO terms in a yeast cell cycle microarray dataset. GSEA followed by MIMGO (GSEA + MIMGO correctly identified (p Conclusions MIMGO is a reliable method to identify differentially expressed GO terms comprehensively.

Identifying complications of interventional procedures from UK routine healthcare databases: a systematic search for methods using clinical codes.

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Keltie, Kim; Cole, Helen; Arber, Mick; Patrick, Hannah; Powell, John; Campbell, Bruce; Sims, Andrew

2014-11-28

Several authors have developed and applied methods to routine data sets to identify the nature and rate of complications following interventional procedures. But, to date, there has been no systematic search for such methods. The objective of this article was to find, classify and appraise published methods, based on analysis of clinical codes, which used routine healthcare databases in a United Kingdom setting to identify complications resulting from interventional procedures. A literature search strategy was developed to identify published studies that referred, in the title or abstract, to the name or acronym of a known routine healthcare database and to complications from procedures or devices. The following data sources were searched in February and March 2013: Cochrane Methods Register, Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science, Econlit, EMBASE, Health Management Information Consortium, Health Technology Assessment database, MathSciNet, MEDLINE, MEDLINE in-process, OAIster, OpenGrey, Science Citation Index Expanded and ScienceDirect. Of the eligible papers, those which reported methods using clinical coding were classified and summarised in tabular form using the following headings: routine healthcare database; medical speciality; method for identifying complications; length of follow-up; method of recording comorbidity. The benefits and limitations of each approach were assessed. From 3688 papers identified from the literature search, 44 reported the use of clinical codes to identify complications, from which four distinct methods were identified: 1) searching the index admission for specified clinical codes, 2) searching a sequence of admissions for specified clinical codes, 3) searching for specified clinical codes for complications from procedures and devices within the International Classification of Diseases 10th revision (ICD-10) coding scheme which is the methodology recommended by NHS Classification Service, and 4) conducting manual clinical

Tutoring for Success: Empowering Graduate Nurses After Failure on the NCLEX-RN.

Science.gov (United States)

Lutter, Stacy L; Thompson, Cheryl W; Condon, Marian C

2017-12-01

Failure on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN) is a devastating experience. Most research related to NCLEX-RN is focused on predicting and preventing failure. Despite these efforts, more than 20,000 nursing school graduates experience failure on the NCLEX-RN each year, and there is a paucity of literature regarding remediation after failure. The aim of this article is to describe an individualized tutoring approach centered on establishing a trusting relationship and incorporating two core strategies for remediation: the nugget method, and a six-step strategy for question analysis. This individualized tutoring method has been used by three nursing faculty with a 95% success rate on an NCLEX retake attempt. Further research is needed to identify the elements of this tutoring method that influence success. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(12):758-761.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

A consensus successive projections algorithm--multiple linear regression method for analyzing near infrared spectra.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ke; Chen, Xiaojing; Li, Limin; Chen, Huiling; Ruan, Xiukai; Liu, Wenbin

2015-02-09

The successive projections algorithm (SPA) is widely used to select variables for multiple linear regression (MLR) modeling. However, SPA used only once may not obtain all the useful information of the full spectra, because the number of selected variables cannot exceed the number of calibration samples in the SPA algorithm. Therefore, the SPA-MLR method risks the loss of useful information. To make a full use of the useful information in the spectra, a new method named "consensus SPA-MLR" (C-SPA-MLR) is proposed herein. This method is the combination of consensus strategy and SPA-MLR method. In the C-SPA-MLR method, SPA-MLR is used to construct member models with different subsets of variables, which are selected from the remaining variables iteratively. A consensus prediction is obtained by combining the predictions of the member models. The proposed method is evaluated by analyzing the near infrared (NIR) spectra of corn and diesel. The results of C-SPA-MLR method showed a better prediction performance compared with the SPA-MLR and full-spectra PLS methods. Moreover, these results could serve as a reference for combination the consensus strategy and other variable selection methods when analyzing NIR spectra and other spectroscopic techniques. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Batswana female managers’ career experiences and perspectives on corporate mobility and success

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Mpho M. Pheko

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Orientation: Corporate mobility remains elusive for female managers. Research purpose: To investigate Batswana female managers’ strategies for entering and succeeding in managerial positions, the challenges they face and the consequences of success. Motivation for the study: There is a lack of research into the way Batswana female managers obtain management positions, as well as their experiences as female managers. Research approach, design and method: An interpretive approach using a case study strategy was employed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted which were shaped by the objectives of the study. A sample of female employees (n = 10, representing different organisations and professions, was obtained from various organisations in Botswana. Main findings: Findings revealed that female managers do experience a number of challenges. Various factors were identified that accounted for their career advancement as well as the consequences of success. The consequences of success were identified as being both positive and negative. Practical/managerial implications: The current study is important as the strategies for success that were identified can be used to assist interested women to obtain management-level positions. Furthermore, the challenges identified may assist both researchers and practitioners to design interventions that help to mitigate the challenges, in turn enabling the inclusion and advancement of women in leadership or managerial positions. Contributions: The current study may contribute new knowledge as past research conducted in Botswana seems to have focused mainly on the impact of regulatory and legislative challenges on women’s advancement. Such a focus ignores the other aspects of female managers’ experiences, which are addressed by the current study.

Non-technical success factors for bioenergy projects—Learning from a multiple case study in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blumer, Yann B.; Stauffacher, Michael; Lang, Daniel J.; Hayashi, Kiyotada; Uchida, Susumu

2013-01-01

There is wide agreement in the literature that non-technical factors play a decisive role in the successful implementation of bioenergy projects. One underlying reason is that such projects require the involvement of many stakeholders, such as feedstock producers, engineers, authorities and the concerned public. We analyze the role of bioenergy-specific non-technical factors for the success of bioenergy projects. In a broad literature review we first identify potential success factors belonging to the five dimensions project characteristics, policy framework, regional integration, public perception and stakeholders. Using these factors as conceptual framework, we next analyze six Japanese pilot projects for bioenergy utilization supported by Japans Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Council. We apply Rough Set Analysis, a data mining method that can be used for small sample sizes to identify patterns in a dataset. We find that, by and large, non-technical factors from all five dimensions – such as the stability of the local policy framework – co-occur with project success. Furthermore, we show that there are diverging interpretations as to what success in a bioenergy project means. This requires tradeoffs between various goals, which should be identified and addressed explicitly at early stages of such a project. - Highlights: • We collect a broad list of non-technical success factors for bioenergy projects. • These are applied to six pilot projects in Japan and shown to be relevant. • We acknowledge different aspects of project success and their potential conflicts

Novel Application of Statistical Methods to Identify New Urinary Incontinence Risk Factors

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Theophilus O. Ogunyemi

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Longitudinal data for studying urinary incontinence (UI risk factors are rare. Data from one study, the hallmark Medical, Epidemiological, and Social Aspects of Aging (MESA, have been analyzed in the past; however, repeated measures analyses that are crucial for analyzing longitudinal data have not been applied. We tested a novel application of statistical methods to identify UI risk factors in older women. MESA data were collected at baseline and yearly from a sample of 1955 men and women in the community. Only women responding to the 762 baseline and 559 follow-up questions at one year in each respective survey were examined. To test their utility in mining large data sets, and as a preliminary step to creating a predictive index for developing UI, logistic regression, generalized estimating equations (GEEs, and proportional hazard regression (PHREG methods were used on the existing MESA data. The GEE and PHREG combination identified 15 significant risk factors associated with developing UI out of which six of them, namely, urinary frequency, urgency, any urine loss, urine loss after emptying, subject’s anticipation, and doctor’s proactivity, are found most highly significant by both methods. These six factors are potential candidates for constructing a future UI predictive index.

A Method for Identifying Contours in Processing Digital Images from Computer Tomograph

Science.gov (United States)

Roşu, Şerban; Pater, Flavius; Costea, Dan; Munteanu, Mihnea; Roşu, Doina; Fratila, Mihaela

2011-09-01

The first step in digital processing of two-dimensional computed tomography images is to identify the contour of component elements. This paper deals with the collective work of specialists in medicine and applied mathematics in computer science on elaborating new algorithms and methods in medical 2D and 3D imagery.

A systematic method for identifying vital areas at complex nuclear facilities.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beck, David Franklin; Hockert, John

2005-05-01

Identifying the areas to be protected is an important part of the development of measures for physical protection against sabotage at complex nuclear facilities. In June 1999, the International Atomic Energy Agency published INFCIRC/225/Rev.4, 'The Physical Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear Facilities.' This guidance recommends that 'Safety specialists, in close cooperation with physical protection specialists, should evaluate the consequences of malevolent acts, considered in the context of the State's design basis threat, to identify nuclear material, or the minimum complement of equipment, systems or devices to be protected against sabotage.' This report presents a structured, transparent approach for identifying the areas that contain this minimum complement of equipment, systems, and devices to be protected against sabotage that is applicable to complex nuclear facilities. The method builds upon safety analyses to develop sabotage fault trees that reflect sabotage scenarios that could cause unacceptable radiological consequences. The sabotage actions represented in the fault trees are linked to the areas from which they can be accomplished. The fault tree is then transformed (by negation) into its dual, the protection location tree, which reflects the sabotage actions that must be prevented in order to prevent unacceptable radiological consequences. The minimum path sets of this fault tree dual yield, through the area linkage, sets of areas, each of which contains nuclear material, or a minimum complement of equipment, systems or devices that, if protected, will prevent sabotage. This method also provides guidance for the selection of the minimum path set that permits optimization of the trade-offs among physical protection effectiveness, safety impact, cost and operational impact.

A side-effect free method for identifying cancer drug targets.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashraf, Md Izhar; Ong, Seng-Kai; Mujawar, Shama; Pawar, Shrikant; More, Pallavi; Paul, Somnath; Lahiri, Chandrajit

2018-04-27

Identifying effective drug targets, with little or no side effects, remains an ever challenging task. A potential pitfall of failing to uncover the correct drug targets, due to side effect of pleiotropic genes, might lead the potential drugs to be illicit and withdrawn. Simplifying disease complexity, for the investigation of the mechanistic aspects and identification of effective drug targets, have been done through several approaches of protein interactome analysis. Of these, centrality measures have always gained importance in identifying candidate drug targets. Here, we put forward an integrated method of analysing a complex network of cancer and depict the importance of k-core, functional connectivity and centrality (KFC) for identifying effective drug targets. Essentially, we have extracted the proteins involved in the pathways leading to cancer from the pathway databases which enlist real experimental datasets. The interactions between these proteins were mapped to build an interactome. Integrative analyses of the interactome enabled us to unearth plausible reasons for drugs being rendered withdrawn, thereby giving future scope to pharmaceutical industries to potentially avoid them (e.g. ESR1, HDAC2, F2, PLG, PPARA, RXRA, etc). Based upon our KFC criteria, we have shortlisted ten proteins (GRB2, FYN, PIK3R1, CBL, JAK2, LCK, LYN, SYK, JAK1 and SOCS3) as effective candidates for drug development.

Critical Success Factors and information needs in Estonian industry

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Aiki Tibar

2002-01-01

Full Text Available The article reports the results of the study on the critical success factors and related information needs in Estonian industry conducted in 1999. Data were collected by interviews with 27 managers and engineers from 16 manufacturing companies in various industries. Most of the critical success factors taken up were related to marketing, information management, quality management, product development and technological innovations. The information needs of managers and engineers were related to competitors, customers, markets, technology, regulations, etc. Some identified CSFs expressed also priorities for development by Estonian economic authorities: to support the implementation of new technologies and introduction of quality management methods. The finding that information management was perceived as a very critical area supports the result of the recent Finnish study on CSFs.

21st Century Extravehicular Activities: Synergizing Past and Present Training Methods for Future Spacewalking Success

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Sandra K.; Gast, Matthew A.

2009-01-01

Neil Armstrong's understated words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." were spoken from Tranquility Base forty years ago. Even today, those words resonate in the ears of millions, including many who had yet to be born when man first landed on the surface of the moon. By their very nature, and in the the spirit of exploration, extravehicular activities (EVAs) have generated much excitement throughout the history of manned spaceflight. From Ed White's first space walk in June of 1965, to the first steps on the moon in 1969, to the expected completion of the International Space Station (ISS), the ability to exist, live and work in the vacuum of space has stood as a beacon of what is possible. It was NASA's first spacewalk that taught engineers on the ground the valuable lesson that successful spacewalking requires a unique set of learned skills. That lesson sparked extensive efforts to develop and define the training requirements necessary to ensure success. As focus shifted from orbital activities to lunar surface activities, the required skill-set and subsequently the training methods, changed. The requirements duly changed again when NASA left the moon for the last time in 1972 and have continued to evolve through the Skylab, Space Shuttle; and ISS eras. Yet because the visits to the moon were so long ago, NASA's expertise in the realm of extra-terrestrial EVAs has diminished. As manned spaceflight again shifts its focus beyond low earth orbit, EVA success will depend on the ability to synergize the knowledge gained over 40+ years of spacewalking to create a training method that allows a single crewmember to perform equally well, whether performing an EVA on the surface of the Moon, while in the vacuum of space, or heading for a rendezvous with Mars. This paper reviews NASA's past and present EVA training methods and extrapolates techniques from both to construct the basis for future EVA astronaut training.

21st Century extravehicular activities: Synergizing past and present training methods for future spacewalking success

Science.gov (United States)

Moore, Sandra K.; Gast, Matthew A.

2010-10-01

Neil Armstrong's understated words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" were spoken from Tranquility Base forty years ago. Even today, those words resonate in the ears of millions, including many who had yet to be born when man first landed on the surface of the moon. By their very nature, and in the true spirit of exploration, extravehicular activities (EVAs) have generated much excitement throughout the history of manned spaceflight. From Ed White's first spacewalk in the June of 1965, to the first steps on the moon in 1969, to the expected completion of the International Space Station (ISS), the ability to exist, live and work in the vacuum of space has stood as a beacon of what is possible. It was NASA's first spacewalk that taught engineers on the ground the valuable lesson that successful spacewalking requires a unique set of learned skills. That lesson sparked extensive efforts to develop and define the training requirements necessary to ensure success. As focus shifted from orbital activities to lunar surface activities, the required skill set and subsequently the training methods changed. The requirements duly changed again when NASA left the moon for the last time in 1972 and have continued to evolve through the SkyLab, Space Shuttle, and ISS eras. Yet because the visits to the moon were so long ago, NASA's expertise in the realm of extra-terrestrial EVAs has diminished. As manned spaceflight again shifts its focus beyond low earth orbit, EVA's success will depend on the ability to synergize the knowledge gained over 40+ years of spacewalking to create a training method that allows a single crewmember to perform equally well, whether performing an EVA on the surface of the Moon, while in the vacuum of space, or heading for a rendezvous with Mars. This paper reviews NASA's past and present EVA training methods and extrapolates techniques from both to construct the basis for future EVA astronaut training.

Machine learning of big data in gaining insight into successful treatment of hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Koren, Gideon; Nordon, Galia; Radinsky, Kira; Shalev, Varda

2018-06-01

Despite effective medications, rates of uncontrolled hypertension remain high. Treatment protocols are largely based on randomized trials and meta-analyses of these studies. The objective of this study was to test the utility of machine learning of big data in gaining insight into the treatment of hypertension. We applied machine learning techniques such as decision trees and neural networks, to identify determinants that contribute to the success of hypertension drug treatment on a large set of patients. We also identified concomitant drugs not considered to have antihypertensive activity, which may contribute to lowering blood pressure (BP) control. Higher initial BP predicts lower success rates. Among the medication options and their combinations, treatment with beta blockers appears to be more commonly effective, which is not reflected in contemporary guidelines. Among numerous concomitant drugs taken by hypertensive patients, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), and HMG CO-A reductase inhibitors (statins) significantly improved the success rate of hypertension. In conclusions, machine learning of big data is a novel method to identify effective antihypertensive therapy and for repurposing medications already on the market for new indications. Our results related to beta blockers, stemming from machine learning of a large and diverse set of big data, in contrast to the much narrower criteria for randomized clinic trials (RCTs), should be corroborated and affirmed by other methods, as they hold potential promise for an old class of drugs which may be presently underutilized. These previously unrecognized effects of PPIs and statins have been very recently identified as effective in lowering BP in preliminary clinical observations, lending credibility to our big data results.

Navy Contracting Analyzing Critical Success Factors and Perceived Impact on Success within an Organization

OpenAIRE

Hill, Josh R.; McGraw, Kevin L.

2012-01-01

MBA Professional Report Approved for public release, distribution unlimited Critical Success Factors (CSF) are essential ingredients within an organization that are necessary to meet critical mission objectives. Identifying those factors can be a vital asset and assist leadership in achieving successful outcomes in contract management. This report will focus on three major contracting commands within the United States Navy Naval Supply Systems Command, Global Logistics Support (NAVSUP-G...

Research into Success

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogomir Novak

1997-12-01

Full Text Available As competition is becoming ever more fierce, research into the prerequisites for success is gaining ground. By most people, success is perceived as an external phenomenon, but it is in fact the consequence of a person's readiness to perform in the world (of business. In the paper, Novak distinguishes between internal, external and group success. The essence of interna!success, which is the condition for the other two types of success, is assuming responsibility for, and exercising self-control over one's psychic phenomena. This in fact means that one needs to "reprogramme" the old patterns of behaviour and substitute them for the new, which leads to personality changes based on the understanding and acceptance of the self and others as they are. In realizing personal abilities, motives and goals, mental guiding laws must also be taken into account. Nowadays, the overall success of an organization is an important indicator of the quality of gro up work. The working patterns of individuals comply with the patterns used by his or her colleagues. When we do something for ourselves, we do it for others. In certain organizations, through accepted ways of communication all people become successful, and no body needs to be paid off. Employees wholly identify themselves with their organization, and vice versa. This three-part paradigm (I-Others-Community is the basis for various models of practical training for success, which are often idealized, but are primarily aimed at abolishing passivity and flaws in the system and its wider environment.

Intelligent Method for Identifying Driving Risk Based on V2V Multisource Big Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jinshuan Peng

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Risky driving behavior is a major cause of traffic conflicts, which can develop into road traffic accidents, making the timely and accurate identification of such behavior essential to road safety. A platform was therefore established for analyzing the driving behavior of 20 professional drivers in field tests, in which overclose car following and lane departure were used as typical risky driving behaviors. Characterization parameters for identification were screened and used to determine threshold values and an appropriate time window for identification. A neural network-Bayesian filter identification model was established and data samples were selected to identify risky driving behavior and evaluate the identification efficiency of the model. The results obtained indicated a successful identification rate of 83.6% when the neural network model was solely used to identify risky driving behavior, but this could be increased to 92.46% once corrected by the Bayesian filter. This has important theoretical and practical significance in relation to evaluating the efficiency of existing driver assist systems, as well as the development of future intelligent driving systems.

Identifying Keys to Success in Innovative Teaching: Student Engagement and Instructional Practices as Predictors of Student Learning in a Course Using a Team-Based Learning Approach

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Rosa M. Alvarez-Bell

2017-09-01

Full Text Available When implementing innovative teaching techniques, instructors often seek to gauge the success of their methods. Proposing one approach to assessing classroom innovation, this study examines the ability of students’ ratings of engagement and instructional practices to predict their learning in a cooperative (team-based framework. After identifying the factor structures underlying measures of student engagement and instructional practices, these factors were used as predictors of self-reported student learning in a general chemistry course delivered using a team-based learning approach. Exploratory factor analyses showed a four-factor structure of engagement: teamwork involvement, investment in the learning process, feelings about team-based learning, level of academic challenge; and a three-factor structure of instructional practices: instructional guidance, fostering self-directed learning skills, and cognitive level. Multiple linear regression revealed that feelings about team-based learning and perceptions of instructional guidance had significant effects on learning, beyond other predictors, while controlling gender, GPA, class level, number of credit hours, whether students began college at their current institution, expected highest level of education, racial or ethnic identification, and parental level of education. These results yield insight into student perceptions about team-based learning, and how to measure learning in a team-based learning framework, with implications for how to evaluate innovative instructional methods.

Using mixed methods to identify and answer clinically relevant research questions.

Science.gov (United States)

Shneerson, Catherine L; Gale, Nicola K

2015-06-01

The need for mixed methods research in answering health care questions is becoming increasingly recognized because of the complexity of factors that affect health outcomes. In this article, we argue for the value of using a qualitatively driven mixed method approach for identifying and answering clinically relevant research questions. This argument is illustrated by findings from a study on the self-management practices of cancer survivors and the exploration of one particular clinically relevant finding about higher uptake of self-management in cancer survivors who had received chemotherapy treatment compared with those who have not. A cross-sectional study generated findings that formed the basis for the qualitative study, by informing the purposive sampling strategy and generating new qualitative research questions. Using a quantitative research component to supplement a qualitative study can enhance the generalizability and clinical relevance of the findings and produce detailed, contextualized, and rich answers to research questions that would be unachievable through quantitative or qualitative methods alone. © The Author(s) 2015.

Method of evaluating the impact of ERP implementation critical success factors - a case study in oil and gas industries

Science.gov (United States)

Gajic, Gordana; Stankovski, Stevan; Ostojic, Gordana; Tesic, Zdravko; Miladinovic, Ljubomir

2014-01-01

The so far implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have in many cases failed to meet the requirements regarding the business process control, decrease of business costs and increase of company profit margin. Therefore, there is a real need for an evaluation of the influence of ERP on the company's performance indicators. Proposed in this article is an advanced model for the evaluation of the success of ERP implementation on organisational and operational performance indicators in oil-gas companies. The recommended method establishes a correlation between a process-based method, a scorecard model and ERP critical success factors. The method was verified and tested on two case studies in oil-gas companies using the following procedure: the model was developed, tested and implemented in a pilot gas-oil company, while the results were implemented and verified in another gas-oil company.

Psychological factors of professional success of nuclear power plant main control room operators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kosenkov A.A.

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Aim: to conduct a comparative analysis of the psychological characteristics of the most and least successful main control room operators. Material and Methods. Two NPP staff groups: the most and least successful main control room operators, who worked in routine operating conditions, were surveyed. Expert evaluation method has been applied to identify the groups. The subjects were administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI, Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF form A and Raven's Progressive Matrices test. Results. Numerous significant psychological differences between the groups of most and least successful control room operators were obtained: the best operators were significantly more introverted and correctly solved more logical tasks with smaller percentage of mistakes under time pressure than worst ones. Conclusions: 1. The psychodiagnostic methods used in the study were adequate to meet research objective 2. Tendency to introversion, as well as developed the ability to solve logic problems undertime pressure, apparently, are important professional qualities for control room operators. These indicators should be considered in the process of psychological selection and professional guidance of nuclear power plant operators.

Mean centering of ratio spectra and successive derivative ratio spectrophotometric methods for determination of isopropamide iodide, trifluoperazine hydrochloride and trifluoperazine oxidative degradate

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Maha M. Abdelrahman

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Two sensitive, selective and precise stability indicating methods for the determination of isopropamide iodide (ISO, trifluoperazine hydrochloride (TPZ and trifluoperazine oxidative degradate (DEG were developed and validated. Method A is a successive derivative ratio spectrophotometric one, which depends on the successive derivative of ratio spectra in two steps using 0.1 N HCl as a solvent and measuring TPZ at 250.4 and 257.2 nm, ISO at 223 and 228 nm and DEG at 210.6, 213 and 270.2 nm. Method B is mean centering of ratio spectra which depends on using the mean centered ratio spectra in two successive steps and measuring the mean centered values of the second ratio spectra at 322, 355 and 339 nm for TPZ, ISO and DEG, respectively. Factors affecting the developed methods were studied and optimized, moreover, they have been validated as per ICH guidelines and the results demonstrated that the suggested methods are reliable, reproducible and suitable for routine use with short analysis time. Statistical analysis of the two developed methods with the reported one using F- and Student’s t-test showed no significant difference regarding accuracy and precision.

Locus of control and academic success among ethnically diverse baccalaureate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, April Moy; Saylor, Coleen; Cohen, Jayne

2009-01-01

This descriptive study used quantitative and qualitative methods to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of locus of control and the academic success of baccalaureate nursing students from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Students who were more likely to attribute academic outcomes to forces beyond their personal control were more likely to have lower medical-surgical theory grades, more likely to be Filipino or from other Asian groups, and more likely to be students for whom English was their second language. The most frequently reported factors students identified as contributors to academic success were good study strategies, persistence, and supportive social connections.

A framework for successful hotel developments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chris E Cloete

2013-04-01

Various critical success factors for hotel development are identified in this article, and incorporated into a hotel property development framework, establishing a practical ‘road map’ for successful hotel developments. The validity of the proposed hotel property development framework has been assessed by intensive direct interviews with hotel development professionals.

Exploring the Requisite Skills and Competencies of Pharmacists Needed for Success in an Evolving Health Care Environment.

Science.gov (United States)

McLaughlin, Jacqueline E; Bush, Antonio A; Rodgers, Philip T; Scott, Mollie Ashe; Zomorodi, Meg; Pinelli, Nicole R; Roth, Mary T

2017-08-01

Objective. To identify and describe the core competencies and skills considered essential for success of pharmacists in today's rapidly evolving health care environment. Methods. Six breakout groups of 15-20 preceptors, pharmacists, and partners engaged in a facilitated discussion about the qualities and characteristics relevant to the success of a pharmacy graduate. Data were analyzed using qualitative methods. Peer-debriefing, multiple coders, and member-checking were used to promote trustworthiness of findings. Results. Eight overarching themes were identified: critical thinking and problem solving; collaboration across networks and leading by influence; agility and adaptability; initiative and entrepreneurialism; effective oral and written communication; accessing and analyzing information; curiosity and imagination; and self-awareness. Conclusion. This study is an important step toward understanding how to best prepare pharmacy students for the emerging health care needs of society.

Identification of factors contributing to successful self-directed weight loss: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rafiei, N; Gill, T

2017-11-21

Despite the number of weight management programmes and their wide promotion, most overweight and obese individuals tend to lose weight on their own. The present study aimed to understand the characteristics and strategies of those who successfully engage in self-directed weight loss, which could empower other overweight and obese individuals with information and strategies to manage their weight on their own. Men and women who had lost at least 5% of their body weight without direct interaction with professionals or weight management programmes were recruited. Demographic data were collected by questionnaire and participants' weight-loss experiences were explored using semi- structured interviews to elicit in-depth individual experiences and perspectives. Iterative thematic method data analysis was used to generate themes describing contributing factors to the success of self-directed weight loss identified by participants. Most characteristics of those who successfully self-managed their weight loss were in line with those reported by successful weight losers participating in professional-led projects. However, strategies such as early embedding of new lifestyle behaviours into daily routine, the ability to learn from previous weight-loss experiences, and not requiring social support were identified as distinctive factors that contributed to the success of self-directed weight loss by participants of the present study. Overweight or obese individuals with strong internal motivation, problem-solving skills and self-reliance are more likely to be successful at achieving self-directed weight loss. The patients identified with these characteristics could be encouraged to self-manage their weight-loss process, leaving the places available in more resource-intensive professional-led programmes to those individuals unlikely to succeed on their own. © 2017 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

United States Marine Corps Basic Reconnaissance Course: Predictors of Success

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-01

experts identify grit as important in the success of an individual. The U.S. Army is the leader in conducting research on methods to measure grit in...Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188) Washington, DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE March 2017 3. REPORT TYPE AND...percent over the last three years, illustrating there is room for improvement. This study conducts a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the

Systematically Identified Failure Is the Route to a Successful Health System.

Science.gov (United States)

Zwarenstein, Merrick

2015-01-01

Although we have a systematic approach to innovation and evaluation (and scale-up) for treatments, medical technologies and diagnostic tests in healthcare, we have no equivalent for service delivery innovations. Service delivery innovation is common but frequently goes unevaluated, leading to less systematic decisions about which innovations are scaled up and which ones are not. The absence of a formal evaluation system for service delivery innovation means that there is no objective standard for evaluating an innovation's success or failure, and thus no way to decide whether it should be scaled up, adapted and retested, or not scaled up at all. This results in "bad failure" - the scale-up of innovations that are untested, and the failure to scale-up other innovations that might have been effective but no one measured their effectiveness in a systematic way.

ORCID @ CMU: Successes and Failures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise Troll Covey

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Setting and Objectives: Carnegie Mellon University (CMU recently planned and implemented a project to help CMU researchers get an Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID and to enable administrators to integrate the ORCIDs into university systems. This article describes and assesses the planning, performance, and outcome of this initiative, branded ORCID @ CMU. Design and Methods: The article chronicles why and how ORCID was integrated at CMU, including the rationale for changes in strategic plans. It assesses researcher participation in the project using transaction log and content analyses, and the performance of the ORCID project team using recommendations in the Jisc ORCID project report, frankly reporting the team’s successes and failures. The article concludes with lessons learned that should inform ORCID integration projects and expectations at other institutions. Results: The ORCID @ CMU web application was a great success. However, the project team did not allow enough time to prepare or devote enough attention to advocacy. The marketing message was not sufficiently persuasive and the marketing channels were not particularly effective. The overall participation rate in ORCID @ CMU was far below the target of 40%, though participation in many demographics exceeded the goal. Conclusions: Strategic planning does not guarantee success. Secure more than lip service from senior administrators. Recruit champions from across the institution. Develop a message that resonates with researchers. Allow sufficient time to prepare. Empower the project manager. Start with the low hanging fruit. Develop special outreach to doctoral students and postdocs.

Common genetic variants associated with cognitive performance identified using the proxy-phenotype method

NARCIS (Netherlands)

C.A. Rietveld (Niels); T. Esko (Tõnu); G. Davies (Gail); T.H. Pers (Tune); P. Turley (Patrick); B. Benyamin (Beben); C.F. Chabris (Christopher F.); V. Emilsson (Valur); A.D. Johnson (Andrew); J.J. Lee (James J.); C. de Leeuw (Christiaan); R.E. Marioni (Riccardo); S.E. Medland (Sarah Elizabeth); M. Miller (Mike); O. Rostapshova (Olga); S.J. van der Lee (Sven); A.A.E. Vinkhuyzen (Anna A.); N. Amin (Najaf); D. Conley (Dalton); J. Derringer; C.M. van Duijn (Cornelia); R.S.N. Fehrmann (Rudolf); L. Franke (Lude); E.L. Glaeser (Edward L.); N.K. Hansell (Narelle); C. Hayward (Caroline); W.G. Iacono (William); C.A. Ibrahim-Verbaas (Carla); V.W.V. Jaddoe (Vincent); J. Karjalainen (Juha); D. Laibson (David); P. Lichtenstein (Paul); D.C. Liewald (David C.); P.K. Magnusson (Patrik); N.G. Martin (Nicholas); M. McGue (Matt); G. Mcmahon (George); N.L. Pedersen (Nancy); S. Pinker (Steven); D.J. Porteous (David J.); D. Posthuma (Danielle); F. Rivadeneira Ramirez (Fernando); B.H. Smithk (Blair H.); J.M. Starr (John); H.W. Tiemeier (Henning); N.J. Timpsonm (Nicholas J.); M. Trzaskowskin (Maciej); A.G. Uitterlinden (André); F.C. Verhulst (Frank); M.E. Ward (Mary); M.J. Wright (Margaret); G.D. Smith; I.J. Deary (Ian J.); M. Johannesson (Magnus); R. Plomin (Robert); P.M. Visscher (Peter); D.J. Benjamin (Daniel J.); D. Cesarini (David); Ph.D. Koellinger (Philipp)

2014-01-01

textabstractWe identify common genetic variants associated with cognitive performance using a two-stage approach, which we call the proxyphenotype method. First, we conduct a genome-wide association study of educational attainment in a large sample (n = 106,736), which produces a set of 69

Women with physical disability and the mammogram: An observational study to identify barriers and facilitators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poulos, Ann; Balandin, Susan; Llewellyn, Gwynnyth; McCarthy, Louella; Dark, Leigha

2011-01-01

Purpose: To identify barriers and facilitators experienced by women with physical disability having a mammogram. Method: Direct observation of the mammography procedure for women with a range of physical disability at screening facilities of BreastScreen NSW Australia. Results: A volunteer sample of 13 women with varying degrees of physical disability participated in the study. The outcomes suggested that many barriers for women with physical disability can be ameliorated by environmental adaptations and guidelines for both radiographers and women. Some women however cannot be screened successfully, or can be screened only with a level of trauma and/or pain which militates against their continuation within the screening program. This study has identified physical limitations which preclude a successful outcome, those which increase the discomfort/pain of the procedure and aspects of the procedure which can be improved to minimise the experience of discomfort/pain. Conclusion: From the outcomes of the study the development of a decision tool is indicated as a method of providing information for women with physical disability and their doctors as to the likelihood of a successful outcome to participation in mammography screening.

Women with physical disability and the mammogram: An observational study to identify barriers and facilitators

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poulos, Ann, E-mail: ann.poulos@sydney.edu.a [University of Sydney, Faculty of Health Sciences, Discipline of Medical Radiation Sciences, PO Box 170, Lidcombe, NSW 1825 (Australia); Balandin, Susan [University of Sydney, Faculty of Health Sciences, Discipline of Speech Pathology, PO Box 170, Lidcombe, NSW 1825 (Australia); Avdeling for helse- og sosialfag, Hogskolen i Molde, Postboks 2110, 6402 Molde (Norway); Llewellyn, Gwynnyth; McCarthy, Louella [University of Sydney, Faculty of Health Sciences, Discipline of Occupational Therapy, PO Box 170, Lidcombe, NSW 1825 (Australia); Dark, Leigha [University of Sydney, Faculty of Health Sciences, Discipline of Speech Pathology, PO Box 170, Lidcombe, NSW 1825 (Australia)

2011-02-15

Purpose: To identify barriers and facilitators experienced by women with physical disability having a mammogram. Method: Direct observation of the mammography procedure for women with a range of physical disability at screening facilities of BreastScreen NSW Australia. Results: A volunteer sample of 13 women with varying degrees of physical disability participated in the study. The outcomes suggested that many barriers for women with physical disability can be ameliorated by environmental adaptations and guidelines for both radiographers and women. Some women however cannot be screened successfully, or can be screened only with a level of trauma and/or pain which militates against their continuation within the screening program. This study has identified physical limitations which preclude a successful outcome, those which increase the discomfort/pain of the procedure and aspects of the procedure which can be improved to minimise the experience of discomfort/pain. Conclusion: From the outcomes of the study the development of a decision tool is indicated as a method of providing information for women with physical disability and their doctors as to the likelihood of a successful outcome to participation in mammography screening.

Critical success factors in ERP implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Blerta Abazi Chaushi

2016-11-01

Full Text Available This study conducts state of the art literature review of critical success factors for enterprise resource planning systems implementation success. Since research on critical success factors for ERP implementation success is very rare and fragmented, this study provides a more comprehensive list of ten factors that companies that have adopted and struggle with the implementation, as well as companies who are in the process of considering implementation of ERP system can easily adopt and follow. The main contribution of this paper is that these ten new critical success factors are identifi ed through a thorough analysis of 22 selected research papers and is more comprehensive and straightforwardly employable for use.

Potential success factors in brand development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Esbjerg, Lars; Grunert, Klaus G.; Poulsen, Carsten Stig

2005-01-01

to the marketing of the brand." The branding literature mentions many important aspects, factors, issues, brand requirements, steps, building blocks or guidelines for building strong brands. However, these are all quite general and abstract. Given the substantial body of literature on branding, surprisingly few......? This is the question we want to answer. More specifically, we want to identify potential success factors in building strong brands, understood as brands with high consumer-based brand equity. Keller (1993, p. 2) defined customer-based brand equity as "the differential effect of brand knowledge on consumer response...... of this paper is to identify potential success factors in developing strong brands and to test whether these factors can be used to discriminate between strong and weak brands. It does so through a review of the literature for potential success factors. Furthermore, to ensure that important factors have...

[Success factors in public healthy eating campaigns: a case study].

Science.gov (United States)

Aschemann-Witzel, J; Pérez-Cueto, F J A; Strand, M; Verbeke, W; Bech-Larsen, T

2012-01-01

Public campaigns and interventions are rarely fully evaluated regarding their effectiveness. The analysis of past, successful activities can contribute to the future development of public campaigns and interventions for healthier eating. The study of public campaigns and interventions for healthier eating aimed at identifying the underlying success factors and describing their relation. Interviews were conducted with representatives of 11 cases that had been identified as especially successful in an earlier research step. The interviews were analysed with regard to possible success factors and the latter used to develop a model of success factor interrelation. It was found that success of the cases was first, attributed to characteristics of the macro environment or to public private partnerships in the initiation of campaigns, second, to the engagement of social communities, elements of empowerment of the target group and the implementation of social marketing measures, and thirdly, in citizens adoption of the campaign and in accompanying structural changes. The model and identified success factors underline that success can stem from three crucial phases: the set up of a campaign, the conduction and finally, the interrelation with the citizen. The model can serve as a guide in the future development of campaigns.

Quantitative methods for analysing cumulative effects on fish migration success: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, J E; Patterson, D A; Martins, E G; Cooke, S J; Hinch, S G

2012-07-01

It is often recognized, but seldom addressed, that a quantitative assessment of the cumulative effects, both additive and non-additive, of multiple stressors on fish survival would provide a more realistic representation of the factors that influence fish migration. This review presents a compilation of analytical methods applied to a well-studied fish migration, a more general review of quantitative multivariable methods, and a synthesis on how to apply new analytical techniques in fish migration studies. A compilation of adult migration papers from Fraser River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka revealed a limited number of multivariable methods being applied and the sub-optimal reliance on univariable methods for multivariable problems. The literature review of fisheries science, general biology and medicine identified a large number of alternative methods for dealing with cumulative effects, with a limited number of techniques being used in fish migration studies. An evaluation of the different methods revealed that certain classes of multivariable analyses will probably prove useful in future assessments of cumulative effects on fish migration. This overview and evaluation of quantitative methods gathered from the disparate fields should serve as a primer for anyone seeking to quantify cumulative effects on fish migration survival. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Fish Biology © 2012 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

An empirical study on identifying critical success factors on chaos management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Naser Azad

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Chaos management is one of the most necessary efforts on managing business units. Many organizations fail to cope with undesirable circumstances, which may happen without any prior notice and as a result, they may face with significant financial losses. In this paper, we present an empirical study to determine critical success factors, which could help handle any possible chaos in organizations. The proposed study of this paper is implemented for a set of travel agencies located in Tehran, Iran. Chronbach alpha is calculated as 0.821, which is well above the minimum desirable level. In addition, we have also performed factor analysis, which yields a KMO value of 0.576 with the level of significance of 0.000. The results indicate that there are six important factors including effective management strategy, internal environmental factors, creative and innovative attitudes, external environmental factors and top level management thoughts.

Succession planning and leadership development: critical business strategies for healthcare organizations.

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Sandra K; Collins, Kevin S

2007-01-01

As labor shortages intensify, succession planning and leadership development have become strategic initiatives requiring rigorous consideration. Traditional methods of replacing personnel will not accommodate the vacancies expected to plague healthcare organizations. Managers should focus on identifying potential gaps of key personnel and adapting programs to accommodate organizational need. Attention should be placed on capturing the intellectual capital existent in the organization and developing diverse groups of leadership candidates.

New technique of identifying the hierarchy of dynamic domains in proteins using a method of molecular dynamics simulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yesylevskyy S. O.

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Aim. Despite a large number of existing domain identification techniques there is no universally accepted method, which identifies the hierarchy of dynamic domains using the data of molecular dynamics (MD simulations. The goal of this work is to develop such technique. Methods. The dynamic domains are identified by eliminating systematic motions from MD trajectories recursively in a model-free manner. Results. The technique called the Hierarchical Domain-Wise Alignment (HDWA to identify hierarchically organized dynamic domains in proteins using the MD trajectories has been developed. Conclusion. A new method of domain identification in proteins is proposed

Nurse manager succession planning: A cost-benefit analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips, Tracy; Evans, Jennifer L; Tooley, Stephanie; Shirey, Maria R

2018-03-01

This commentary presents a cost-benefit analysis to advocate for the use of succession planning to mitigate the problems ensuing from nurse manager turnover. An estimated 75% of nurse managers will leave the workforce by 2020. Many benefits are associated with proactively identifying and developing internal candidates. Fewer than 7% of health care organisations have implemented formal leadership succession planning programmes. A cost-benefit analysis of a formal succession-planning programme from one hospital illustrates the benefits of the programme in their organisation and can be replicated easily. Assumptions of nursing manager succession planning cost-benefit analysis are identified and discussed. The succession planning exemplar demonstrates the integration of cost-benefit analysis principles. Comparing the costs of a formal nurse manager succession planning strategy with the status quo results in a positive cost-benefit ratio. The implementation of a formal nurse manager succession planning programme effectively reduces replacement costs and time to transition into the new role. This programme provides an internal pipeline of future leaders who will be more successful than external candidates. Using an actual cost-benefit analysis equips nurse managers with valuable evidence depicting succession planning as a viable business strategy. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Elementary Schoolchildren's Self- and Social Perceptions of Success

Science.gov (United States)

Määttä, Elina; Mykkänen, Arttu; Järvelä, Sanna

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate children's self- and social perceptions of success to identify how success could be promoted in a classroom context. Using a participatory approach, this study explored children's subjective experiences with success in 41 learning situations selected by researchers (Phase 1: self-perceptions) and 48…

The Model for Understanding Success in Quality (MUSIQ): building a theory of context in healthcare quality improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Heather C; Provost, Lloyd P; Froehle, Craig M; Margolis, Peter A

2012-01-01

BACKGROUND Quality improvement (QI) efforts have become widespread in healthcare, however there is significant variability in their success. Differences in context are thought to be responsible for some of the variability seen. To develop a conceptual model that can be used by organisations and QI researchers to understand and optimise contextual factors affecting the success of a QI project. 10 QI experts were provided with the results of a systematic literature review and then participated in two rounds of opinion gathering to identify and define important contextual factors. The experts subsequently met in person to identify relationships among factors and to begin to build the model. The Model for Understanding Success in Quality (MUSIQ) is organised based on the level of the healthcare system and identifies 25 contextual factors likely to influence QI success. Contextual factors within microsystems and those related to the QI team are hypothesised to directly shape QI success, whereas factors within the organisation and external environment are believed to influence success indirectly. The MUSIQ framework has the potential to guide the application of QI methods in healthcare and focus research. The specificity of MUSIQ and the explicit delineation of relationships among factors allows a deeper understanding of the mechanism of action by which context influences QI success. MUSIQ also provides a foundation to support further studies to test and refine the theory and advance the field of QI science.

Tracers and Tracer Testing: Design, Implementation, Tracer Selection, and Interpretation Methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

G. Michael Shook; Shannon L.; Allan Wylie

2004-01-01

Conducting a successful tracer test requires adhering to a set of steps. The steps include identifying appropriate and achievable test goals, identifying tracers with the appropriate properties, and implementing the test as designed. When these steps are taken correctly, a host of tracer test analysis methods are available to the practitioner. This report discusses the individual steps required for a successful tracer test and presents methods for analysis. The report is an overview of tracer technology; the Suggested Reading section offers references to the specifics of test design and interpretation.

Succession planning for technical experts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirk, Bernadette Lugue; Cain, Ronald A.; Dewji, Shaheen A.; Agreda, Carla L.

2017-01-01

This report describes a methodology for identifying, evaluating, and mitigating the loss of key technical skills at nuclear operations facilities. The methodology can be adapted for application within regulatory authorities and research and development organizations, and can be directly applied by international engagement partners of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The resultant product will be of direct benefit to two types of NNSA missions: (1) domestic human capital development programs tasked to provide focused technical expertise to succeed an aging nuclear operations workforce, and (2) international safeguards programs charged with maintaining operational safeguards for developing/existing nuclear power program in nations where minimal available resources must be used effectively. This report considers succession planning and the critical skills necessary to meet an institution’s goals and mission. Closely tied to succession planning are knowledge management and mentorship. In considering succession planning, critical skill sets are identified and are greatly dependent on the subject matter expert in question. This report also provides examples of critical skills that are job specific.

Succession planning for technical experts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kirk, Bernadette Lugue [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Cain, Ronald A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Dewji, Shaheen A. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Agreda, Carla L. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2017-07-01

This report describes a methodology for identifying, evaluating, and mitigating the loss of key technical skills at nuclear operations facilities. The methodology can be adapted for application within regulatory authorities and research and development organizations, and can be directly applied by international engagement partners of the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The resultant product will be of direct benefit to two types of NNSA missions: (1) domestic human capital development programs tasked to provide focused technical expertise to succeed an aging nuclear operations workforce, and (2) international safeguards programs charged with maintaining operational safeguards for developing/existing nuclear power program in nations where minimal available resources must be used effectively. This report considers succession planning and the critical skills necessary to meet an institution’s goals and mission. Closely tied to succession planning are knowledge management and mentorship. In considering succession planning, critical skill sets are identified and are greatly dependent on the subject matter expert in question. This report also provides examples of critical skills that are job specific.

A scalable method for identifying frequent subtrees in sets of large phylogenetic trees.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramu, Avinash; Kahveci, Tamer; Burleigh, J Gordon

2012-10-03

We consider the problem of finding the maximum frequent agreement subtrees (MFASTs) in a collection of phylogenetic trees. Existing methods for this problem often do not scale beyond datasets with around 100 taxa. Our goal is to address this problem for datasets with over a thousand taxa and hundreds of trees. We develop a heuristic solution that aims to find MFASTs in sets of many, large phylogenetic trees. Our method works in multiple phases. In the first phase, it identifies small candidate subtrees from the set of input trees which serve as the seeds of larger subtrees. In the second phase, it combines these small seeds to build larger candidate MFASTs. In the final phase, it performs a post-processing step that ensures that we find a frequent agreement subtree that is not contained in a larger frequent agreement subtree. We demonstrate that this heuristic can easily handle data sets with 1000 taxa, greatly extending the estimation of MFASTs beyond current methods. Although this heuristic does not guarantee to find all MFASTs or the largest MFAST, it found the MFAST in all of our synthetic datasets where we could verify the correctness of the result. It also performed well on large empirical data sets. Its performance is robust to the number and size of the input trees. Overall, this method provides a simple and fast way to identify strongly supported subtrees within large phylogenetic hypotheses.

Identifying essential genes in bacterial metabolic networks with machine learning methods

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background Identifying essential genes in bacteria supports to identify potential drug targets and an understanding of minimal requirements for a synthetic cell. However, experimentally assaying the essentiality of their coding genes is resource intensive and not feasible for all bacterial organisms, in particular if they are infective. Results We developed a machine learning technique to identify essential genes using the experimental data of genome-wide knock-out screens from one bacterial organism to infer essential genes of another related bacterial organism. We used a broad variety of topological features, sequence characteristics and co-expression properties potentially associated with essentiality, such as flux deviations, centrality, codon frequencies of the sequences, co-regulation and phyletic retention. An organism-wise cross-validation on bacterial species yielded reliable results with good accuracies (area under the receiver-operator-curve of 75% - 81%). Finally, it was applied to drug target predictions for Salmonella typhimurium. We compared our predictions to the viability of experimental knock-outs of S. typhimurium and identified 35 enzymes, which are highly relevant to be considered as potential drug targets. Specifically, we detected promising drug targets in the non-mevalonate pathway. Conclusions Using elaborated features characterizing network topology, sequence information and microarray data enables to predict essential genes from a bacterial reference organism to a related query organism without any knowledge about the essentiality of genes of the query organism. In general, such a method is beneficial for inferring drug targets when experimental data about genome-wide knockout screens is not available for the investigated organism. PMID:20438628

Building America Guidance for Identifying and Overcoming Code, Standard, and Rating Method Barriers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cole, P. C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Halverson, M. A. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2013-09-01

This guidance document was prepared using the input from the meeting summarized in the draft CSI Roadmap to provide Building America research teams and partners with specific information and approaches to identifying and overcoming potential barriers to Building America innovations arising in and/or stemming from codes, standards, and rating methods.

The efficiency of parameter estimation of latent path analysis using summated rating scale (SRS) and method of successive interval (MSI) for transformation of score to scale

Science.gov (United States)

Solimun, Fernandes, Adji Achmad Rinaldo; Arisoesilaningsih, Endang

2017-12-01

Research in various fields generally investigates systems and involves latent variables. One method to analyze the model representing the system is path analysis. The data of latent variables measured using questionnaires by applying attitude scale model yields data in the form of score, before analyzed should be transformation so that it becomes data of scale. Path coefficient, is parameter estimator, calculated from scale data using method of successive interval (MSI) and summated rating scale (SRS). In this research will be identifying which data transformation method is better. Path coefficients have smaller varieties are said to be more efficient. The transformation method that produces scaled data and used in path analysis capable of producing path coefficients (parameter estimators) with smaller varieties is said to be better. The result of analysis using real data shows that on the influence of Attitude variable to Intention Entrepreneurship, has relative efficiency (ER) = 1, where it shows that the result of analysis using data transformation of MSI and SRS as efficient. On the other hand, for simulation data, at high correlation between items (0.7-0.9), MSI method is more efficient 1.3 times better than SRS method.

Russia and hybrid warfare: identifying critical elements in successful applications of hybrid tactics

OpenAIRE

Neville, Seth B.

2015-01-01

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited With the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, hybrid war became a buzzword within political and academic circles. This thesis examines hybrid warfare applications using contemporary and historical examples. The analysis seeks to determine why a country was or was not successful in its execution of hybrid war, and it assesses the geo-political context of cost, benefit, and risk for an aggressor state contributing to its decision to eng...

Processes underlying treatment success and failure in assertive community treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Stull, Laura G; McGrew, John H; Salyers, Michelle P

2012-02-01

Processes underlying success and failure in assertive community treatment (ACT), a widely investigated treatment model for persons with severe mental illness, are poorly understood. The purpose of the current study was to examine processes in ACT by (1) understanding how consumers and staff describe the processes underlying treatment success and failure and (2) comparing processes identified by staff and consumers. Investigators conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 staff and 23 consumers from four ACT teams. Both staff and consumers identified aspects of the ACT team itself as the most critical in the process of consumer success. For failure, consumers identified consumer characteristics as most critical and staff identified lack of social relationships. Processes underlying failure were not viewed as merely the opposite of processes underlying success. In addition, there was notable disagreement between staff and consumers on important processes. Findings overlap with critical ingredients identified in previous studies, including aspects of the ACT team, social involvement and employment. In contrast to prior studies, there was little emphasis on hospitalizations and greater emphasis on not abusing substances, obtaining wants and desires, and consumer characteristics.

Five Strategies of Successful Part-Time Work.

Science.gov (United States)

Corwin, Vivien; Lawrence, Thomas B.; Frost, Peter J.

2001-01-01

Identifies commonalities in the approaches of successful part-time professionals. Discusses five strategies for success: (1) communicating work-life priorities and schedules to the organization; (2) making the business case for part-time arrangements; (3) establishing time management routines; (4) cultivating advocates in senior management; and…

Technical evaluation of methods for identifying chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia in healthcare claims databases

OpenAIRE

Weycker Derek; Sofrygin Oleg; Seefeld Kim; Deeter Robert G; Legg Jason; Edelsberg John

2013-01-01

Abstract Background Healthcare claims databases have been used in several studies to characterize the risk and burden of chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia (FN) and effectiveness of colony-stimulating factors against FN. The accuracy of methods previously used to identify FN in such databases has not been formally evaluated. Methods Data comprised linked electronic medical records from Geisinger Health System and healthcare claims data from Geisinger Health Plan. Subjects were classifie...

Control-based method to identify underlying delays of a nonlinear dynamical system.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Dongchuan; Frasca, Mattia; Liu, Fang

2008-10-01

We suggest several stationary state control-based delay identification methods which do not require any structural information about the controlled systems and are applicable to systems described by delayed ordinary differential equations. This proposed technique includes three steps: (i) driving a system to a steady state; (ii) perturbing the control signal for shifting the steady state; and (iii) identifying all delays by detecting the time that the system is abruptly drawn out of stationarity. Some aspects especially important for applications are discussed as well, including interaction delay identification, stationary state convergence speed, performance comparison, and the influence of noise on delay identification. Several examples are presented to illustrate the reliability and robustness of all delay identification methods suggested.

Quality control methods in accelerometer data processing: identifying extreme counts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carly Rich

Full Text Available Accelerometers are designed to measure plausible human activity, however extremely high count values (EHCV have been recorded in large-scale studies. Using population data, we develop methodological principles for establishing an EHCV threshold, propose a threshold to define EHCV in the ActiGraph GT1M, determine occurrences of EHCV in a large-scale study, identify device-specific error values, and investigate the influence of varying EHCV thresholds on daily vigorous PA (VPA.We estimated quantiles to analyse the distribution of all accelerometer positive count values obtained from 9005 seven-year old children participating in the UK Millennium Cohort Study. A threshold to identify EHCV was derived by differentiating the quantile function. Data were screened for device-specific error count values and EHCV, and a sensitivity analysis conducted to compare daily VPA estimates using three approaches to accounting for EHCV.Using our proposed threshold of ≥ 11,715 counts/minute to identify EHCV, we found that only 0.7% of all non-zero counts measured in MCS children were EHCV; in 99.7% of these children, EHCV comprised < 1% of total non-zero counts. Only 11 MCS children (0.12% of sample returned accelerometers that contained negative counts; out of 237 such values, 211 counts were equal to -32,768 in one child. The medians of daily minutes spent in VPA obtained without excluding EHCV, and when using a higher threshold (≥19,442 counts/minute were, respectively, 6.2% and 4.6% higher than when using our threshold (6.5 minutes; p<0.0001.Quality control processes should be undertaken during accelerometer fieldwork and prior to analysing data to identify monitors recording error values and EHCV. The proposed threshold will improve the validity of VPA estimates in children's studies using the ActiGraph GT1M by ensuring only plausible data are analysed. These methods can be applied to define appropriate EHCV thresholds for different accelerometer models.

Identifying Effective Methods of Instruction for Adult Emergent Readers through Community-Based Research

Science.gov (United States)

Blackmer, Rachel; Hayes-Harb, Rachel

2016-01-01

We present a community-based research project aimed at identifying effective methods and materials for teaching English literacy skills to adult English as a second language emergent readers. We conducted a quasi-experimental study whereby we evaluated the efficacy of two approaches, one based on current practices at the English Skills Learning…

Analytical study of dynamic aperture for storage ring by using successive linearization method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Jiancheng; Xia Jiawen; Wu Junxia; Xia Guoxing; Liu Wei; Yin Xuejun

2004-01-01

The determination of dynamic aperture is a critical issue in circular accelerator. In this paper, authors solved the equation of motion including non-linear forces by using successive linearization method and got a criterion for the determining of the dynamic aperture of the machine. Applying this criterion, a storage ring with FODO lattice has been studied. The results are agree well with the tracking results in a large range of linear turn (Q). The purpose is to improve our understanding of the mechanisms driving the particle motion in the presence of non-linear forces and got another mechanism driving instability of particle in storage ring-parametric resonance caused by 'fluctuating transfer matrices' at small amplification

Successful modeling?

Science.gov (United States)

Lomnitz, Cinna

Tichelaar and Ruff [1989] propose to “estimate model variance in complicated geophysical problems,” including the determination of focal depth in earthquakes, by means of unconventional statistical methods such as bootstrapping. They are successful insofar as they are able to duplicate the results from more conventional procedures.

Practitioner and scientist perceptions of successful amphibian conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Meredith, Helen M R; St John, Freya A V; Collen, Ben; Black, Simon A; Griffiths, Richard A

2018-04-01

Conservation requires successful outcomes. However, success is perceived in many different ways depending on the desired outcome. Through a questionnaire survey, we examined perceptions of success among 355 scientists and practitioners working on amphibian conservation from over 150 organizations in more than 50 countries. We also sought to identify how different types of conservation actions and respondent experience and background influenced perceptions. Respondents identified 4 types of success: species and habitat improvements (84% of respondents); effective program management (36%); outreach initiatives such as education and public engagement (25%); and the application of science-based conservation (15%). The most significant factor influencing overall perceived success was reducing threats. Capacity building was rated least important. Perceptions were influenced by experience, professional affiliation, involvement in conservation practice, and country of residence. More experienced practitioners associated success with improvements to species and habitats and less so with education and engagement initiatives. Although science-based conservation was rated as important, this factor declined in importance as the number of programs a respondent participated in increased, particularly among those from less economically developed countries. The ultimate measure of conservation success-population recovery-may be difficult to measure in many amphibians; difficult to relate to the conservation actions intended to drive it; and difficult to achieve within conventional funding time frames. The relaunched Amphibian Conservation Action Plan provides a framework for capturing lower level processes and outcomes, identifying gaps, and measuring progress. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

Compression of Semesters or Intensity of Study: What is it that Increases Student Success?

Science.gov (United States)

Spurling, Steven

This study examined the relationship between intensity of study (defined as more hours per week of class within a subject matter area) and student success. The researcher identified two possible methods for increasing the intensity of study: (1) Compression Hypothesis--shortening the length of terms and increasing the amount of time per week spent…

A successive over-relaxation for slab geometry Simplified SN method with interface flux iteration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yavuz, M.

1995-01-01

A Successive Over-Relaxation scheme is proposed for speeding up the solution of one-group slab geometry transport problems using a Simplified S N method. The solution of the Simplified S N method that is completely free from all spatial truncation errors is based on the expansion of the angular flux in spherical-harmonics solutions. One way to obtain the (numerical) solution of the Simplified S N method is to use Interface Flux Iteration, which can be considered as the Gauss-Seidel relaxation scheme; the new information is immediately used in the calculations. To accelerate the convergence, an over relaxation parameter is employed in the solution algorithm. The over relaxation parameters for a number of cases depending on scattering ratios and mesh sizes are determined by Fourier analyzing infinite-medium Simplified S 2 equations. Using such over relaxation parameters in the iterative scheme, a significant increase in the convergence of transport problems can be achieved for coarse spatial cells whose spatial widths are greater than one mean-free-path

Use of rank sum method in identifying high occupational dose jobs for ALARA implementation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Yeong Ho; Kang, Chang Sun

1998-01-01

The cost-effective reduction of occupational radiation exposure (ORE) dose at a nuclear power plant could not be achieved without going through an extensive analysis of accumulated ORE dose data of existing plants. It is necessary to identify what are high ORE jobs for ALARA implementation. In this study, the Rank Sum Method (RSM) is used in identifying high ORE jobs. As a case study, the database of ORE-related maintenance and repair jobs for Kori Units 3 and 4 is used for assessment, and top twenty high ORE jobs are identified. The results are also verified and validated using the Friedman test, and RSM is found to be a very efficient way of analyzing the data. (author)

Growth of Cu thin films by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lindroos, S.; Ruuskanen, T.; Ritala, M.; Leskelae, M.

2004-01-01

Copper thin films were grown on reduced indium tin oxide, molybdenum and polymer substrates using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method. Copper films were grown sequentially in a controlled way using simple copper salt and basic solution of formaldehyde as precursors. The copper films were polycrystalline with no preferred orientation as characterised by X-ray diffraction. On all substrates, the growth was clearly island growth in the beginning but after the whole surface was covered, the growth was more homogeneous

Bridging the Gap: Identifying Perceptions of Effective Teaching Methods for Age 50+ Baby Boomer Learners

Science.gov (United States)

Newberry, Sheila

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify effective teaching methods for age 50+ baby boomer learners. The study used a mixed methods research design. The qualitative paradigm used focus group sessions and the quantitative paradigm was completed through surveys. Fifteen age 50+ baby boomer learners and 11 faculty who teach them comprised the two…

Sustaining Innovative Success: A Case Study on Consumer-Centric Innovation in the ICT Industry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Minkyung Choy

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The phenomenon of innovation growing rapidly and having a shorter lifespan is a structural change due to the development of ICT (Information and Communications Technology, diverse investment methods, and reduced pattern of innovation adoption. For ICT companies to survive and maintain their success in this ever-changing environment, they need to succeed in fulfilling both productivity and accuracy of innovation. To sustain their innovative success, ICT companies should consistently maintain the direction of innovation towards consumers. The present study analyzes various cases of ICT companies which succeeded or failed to maintain their prior innovative success, and suggests consumer-centric innovation as a solution. To create consumer-centric innovations, companies have to (1 predict the dynamically evolving demand of consumers and continuously transform; (2 proactively employ observation method and big data analysis to discover hidden demands; and (3 identify hassles such as wastes, inconveniences, and anxieties, and put effort in solving these hassles.

A new 3-D ray tracing method based on LTI using successive partitioning of cell interfaces and traveltime gradients

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Dong; Zhang, Ting-Ting; Zhang, Xiao-Lei; Yang, Yan; Hu, Ying; Qin, Qian-Qing

2013-05-01

We present a new method of three-dimensional (3-D) seismic ray tracing, based on an improvement to the linear traveltime interpolation (LTI) ray tracing algorithm. This new technique involves two separate steps. The first involves a forward calculation based on the LTI method and the dynamic successive partitioning scheme, which is applied to calculate traveltimes on cell boundaries and assumes a wavefront that expands from the source to all grid nodes in the computational domain. We locate several dynamic successive partition points on a cell's surface, the traveltimes of which can be calculated by linear interpolation between the vertices of the cell's boundary. The second is a backward step that uses Fermat's principle and the fact that the ray path is always perpendicular to the wavefront and follows the negative traveltime gradient. In this process, the first-arriving ray path can be traced from the receiver to the source along the negative traveltime gradient, which can be calculated by reconstructing the continuous traveltime field with cubic B-spline interpolation. This new 3-D ray tracing method is compared with the LTI method and the shortest path method (SPM) through a number of numerical experiments. These comparisons show obvious improvements to computed traveltimes and ray paths, both in precision and computational efficiency.

Critical Success Factors for Malaysian Construction Projects: An Investigative Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yee Cheong Yong

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Construction projects play an important role in the advancement of a nation through infrastructure development that leads to economic growth. They are planned carefully to accomplish certain goals. However, not all the projects achieved the goals as per planned. Many factors contribute to the successes and failures, and it becomes an interesting arena for research. The primary objective of this paper is to outline the development trend of project success measurement globally and locally. The research method employed was to make selected reviews on critical success factors' (CSFs literature and to compare international standards and progress in incorporating human behavioural aspects of project management to the situation in Malaysia. A somewhat similar pattern can be observed in Malaysia where the studies have departed from the usual criteria of time, cost and quality, to define project success in a more holistic way. However, the domestic industry has failed to respond to the emerging trend globally as there has yet been any widely published research on the importance of human-related factors towards project success. A consolidated framework of CSFs has therefore, been proposed in responding to the findings. This paper fulfils an identified need as there has been a dearth of research on the subject matter locally.

Mechatronics in the mining industrie. With (development) method towards success; Mechatronik im Bergbau. Mit (Entwicklungs-) Methode zum Erfolg

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brandt, Thorsten; Bruckmann, Tobias [Mercatronics GmbH, Duisburg (Germany)

2009-10-01

Germany is a high-wage country. Hence the internationally competitive extraction of raw materials in Germany can only be ensured by highly efficient working processes. Tackling the associated extreme requirements on road-driving, coal winning and transport equipment has resulted in the German mining industry and its suppliers achieving the role of an international leader in technology. To safeguard this position also in the future the successful mechanisation will now be followed by the mechatronisation in the mining industry. Efficiency will be increased by (partial) automation and assistance systems. This contribution is a first step towards a series of articles, which explain the principles of mechatronic development methods in the mining industry and will make the development engineers in the mines aware of the high potential of mechatronics in the mining industry. (orig.)

Systematic review of the use of Statistical Process Control methods to measure the success of pressure ulcer prevention.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Michael; Young, Trudie; Fallon, Maureen

2018-06-01

Successful prevention of pressure ulcers is the end product of a complex series of care processes including, but not limited to, the assessment of vulnerability to pressure damage; skin assessment and care; nutritional support; repositioning; and the use of beds, mattresses, and cushions to manage mechanical loads on the skin and soft tissues. The purpose of this review was to examine where and how Statistical Process Control (SPC) measures have been used to assess the success of quality improvement initiatives intended to improve pressure ulcer prevention. A search of 7 electronic bibliographic databases was performed on May 17th, 2017, for studies that met the inclusion criteria. SPC methods have been reported in 9 publications since 2010 to interpret changes in the incidence of pressure ulcers over time. While these methods offer rapid interpretation of changes in incidence than is gained from a comparison of 2 arbitrarily selected time points pre- and post-implementation of change, more work is required to ensure that the clinical and scientific communities adopt the most appropriate SPC methods. © 2018 Medicalhelplines.com Inc and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Environmental Factors Associated with Success Rates of Australian Stock Herding Dogs

Science.gov (United States)

Arnott, Elizabeth R.; Early, Jonathan B.; Wade, Claire M.; McGreevy, Paul D.

2014-01-01

This study investigated the current management practices associated with stock herding dogs on Australian farms. A parallel goal was to determine whether these practices and the characteristics of the dog handlers were associated with success rates. Success rate refers to the proportion of dogs acquired by the farmer that were retained as working dogs. Data on a total of 4,027 dogs were obtained through The Farm Dog Survey which gathered information from 812 herding dog owners around Australia. Using logistic regression, significant associations were identified between success rate and seven variables: dog breed, housing method, trial participation, age of the dog at acquisition, electric collar use, hypothetical maximum treatment expenditure and the conscientiousness score of the owner's personality. These findings serve as a guide to direct further research into ways of optimising herding dog performance and welfare. They emphasise the importance of not only examining the genetic predispositions of the working dog but also the impact the handler can have on a dog's success in the workplace. PMID:25136828

Environmental factors associated with success rates of Australian stock herding dogs.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth R Arnott

Full Text Available This study investigated the current management practices associated with stock herding dogs on Australian farms. A parallel goal was to determine whether these practices and the characteristics of the dog handlers were associated with success rates. Success rate refers to the proportion of dogs acquired by the farmer that were retained as working dogs. Data on a total of 4,027 dogs were obtained through The Farm Dog Survey which gathered information from 812 herding dog owners around Australia. Using logistic regression, significant associations were identified between success rate and seven variables: dog breed, housing method, trial participation, age of the dog at acquisition, electric collar use, hypothetical maximum treatment expenditure and the conscientiousness score of the owner's personality. These findings serve as a guide to direct further research into ways of optimising herding dog performance and welfare. They emphasise the importance of not only examining the genetic predispositions of the working dog but also the impact the handler can have on a dog's success in the workplace.

Supervision, support and mentoring interventions for health practitioners in rural and remote contexts: an integrative review and thematic synthesis of the literature to identify mechanisms for successful outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Moran, Anna M; Coyle, Julia; Pope, Rod; Boxall, Dianne; Nancarrow, Susan A; Young, Jennifer

2014-02-13

To identify mechanisms for the successful implementation of support strategies for health-care practitioners in rural and remote contexts. This is an integrative review and thematic synthesis of the empirical literature that examines support interventions for health-care practitioners in rural and remote contexts. This review includes 43 papers that evaluated support strategies for the rural and remote health workforce. Interventions were predominantly training and education programmes with limited evaluations of supervision and mentoring interventions. The mechanisms associated with successful outcomes included: access to appropriate and adequate training, skills and knowledge for the support intervention; accessible and adequate resources; active involvement of stakeholders in programme design, implementation and evaluation; a needs analysis prior to the intervention; external support, organisation, facilitation and/or coordination of the programme; marketing of the programme; organisational commitment; appropriate mode of delivery; leadership; and regular feedback and evaluation of the programme. Through a synthesis of the literature, this research has identified a number of mechanisms that are associated with successful support interventions for health-care practitioners in rural and remote contexts. This research utilised a methodology developed for studying complex interventions in response to the perceived limitations of traditional systematic reviews. This synthesis of the evidence will provide decision-makers at all levels with a collection of mechanisms that can assist the development and implementation of support strategies for staff in rural and remote contexts.

Designing for success

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Altounyan, P.; Hurt, K.; Bigby, D. [Rock Mechanics Technology, Stanhope Bretby (United Kingdom)

1999-07-01

Successful underground coal mining is dependent on a number of key factors, particularly geotechnical suitability. The impact of rock mechanics on underground mine design and mining methods is discussed in this article. Methods on minimising stress effects in room and pillar mining, and longwall mining are outlined. The use of computer numerical modelling in mine design is mentioned. 8 figs.

The READI Assessment as a Possible Predictor of Student Success in Online Communication Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Fair, Brandy; Wickersham, Leah E.

2012-01-01

The problem under investigation for this study was to identify a method for determining a student's potential for success in an online communication course using the Readiness for Education At a Distance Indicator (READI) assessment instrument as a predictor. The READI tool focuses on six areas that students should score well on in order to be…

[Effect of stock abundance and environmental factors on the recruitment success of small yellow croaker in the East China Sea].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zun-lei; Yuan, Xing-wei; Yang, Lin-lin; Yan, Li-ping; Zhang, Hui; Cheng, Jia-hua

2015-02-01

Multiple hypotheses are available to explain recruitment rate. Model selection methods can be used to identify the best model that supports a particular hypothesis. However, using a single model for estimating recruitment success is often inadequate for overexploited population because of high model uncertainty. In this study, stock-recruitment data of small yellow croaker in the East China Sea collected from fishery dependent and independent surveys between 1992 and 2012 were used to examine density-dependent effects on recruitment success. Model selection methods based on frequentist (AIC, maximum adjusted R2 and P-values) and Bayesian (Bayesian model averaging, BMA) methods were applied to identify the relationship between recruitment and environment conditions. Interannual variability of the East China Sea environment was indicated by sea surface temperature ( SST) , meridional wind stress (MWS), zonal wind stress (ZWS), sea surface pressure (SPP) and runoff of Changjiang River ( RCR). Mean absolute error, mean squared predictive error and continuous ranked probability score were calculated to evaluate the predictive performance of recruitment success. The results showed that models structures were not consistent based on three kinds of model selection methods, predictive variables of models were spawning abundance and MWS by AIC, spawning abundance by P-values, spawning abundance, MWS and RCR by maximum adjusted R2. The recruitment success decreased linearly with stock abundance (P recruitment success might be due to cannibalism or food competition. Meridional wind intensity showed marginally significant and positive effects on the recruitment success (P = 0.06), while runoff of Changjiang River showed a marginally negative effect (P = 0.07). Based on mean absolute error and continuous ranked probability score, predictive error associated with models obtained from BMA was the smallest amongst different approaches, while that from models selected based on the P

Healthcare succession planning: an integrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Carriere, Brian K; Muise, Melanie; Cummings, Greta; Newburn-Cook, Chris

2009-12-01

Succession planning is a business strategy that has recently gained attention in the healthcare literature, primarily because of nursing shortage concerns and the demand for retaining knowledgeable personnel to meet organizational needs. Little research has been conducted in healthcare settings that clearly defines best practices for succession planning frameworks. To effectively carry out such organizational strategies during these challenging times, an integrative review of succession planning in healthcare was performed to identify consistencies in theoretical approaches and strategies for chief nursing officers and healthcare managers to initiate. Selected articles were compared with business succession planning to determine whether healthcare strategies were similar to best practices already established in business contexts. The results of this integrative review will aid leaders and managers to use succession planning as a tool in their recruitment, retention, mentoring, and administration activities and also provide insights for future development of healthcare succession planning frameworks.

EPA Lean Government Initiative: How to Replicate Lean Successes

Science.gov (United States)

This Lean Replication Primer describes how EPA Offices and Regions can identify and adapt successful practices from previous Lean projects to “replicate” their successes and generate further improvements.

Exploring women’s perceptions regarding successful investment planning practices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elmarie Venter

2017-08-01

Aim: Therefore, the primary objective of this research was to investigate the factors that influence women’s perceived successful investment planning in the Nelson Mandela Bay area. After conducting a comprehensive literature study, six factors (independent variables, namely, values, attitudes, time horizon, personal life cycle, risks and returns, and investment knowledge, were identified as influencing the perceived successful investment planning (dependent variable of women. Setting: As this study focussed on the perceptions of women concerning the factors that influence successful investment planning, the target population was all women in the Nelson Mandela Bay area older than 20 years with some investment experience. Methods: A quantitative research methodology was followed, and data were collected from 207 women using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Results: The results of the multiple regression analysis revealed that only one independent variable emerged as having a significant influence on perceived successful investment planning of women, namely, investment knowledge. Conclusion: Based on the empirical results of this study, several recommendations have been made in an attempt to assist women to make more informed investment decisions and manage their investment planning more effectively as they progress through life.

Least-squares methods for identifying biochemical regulatory networks from noisy measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heslop-Harrison Pat

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We consider the problem of identifying the dynamic interactions in biochemical networks from noisy experimental data. Typically, approaches for solving this problem make use of an estimation algorithm such as the well-known linear Least-Squares (LS estimation technique. We demonstrate that when time-series measurements are corrupted by white noise and/or drift noise, more accurate and reliable identification of network interactions can be achieved by employing an estimation algorithm known as Constrained Total Least Squares (CTLS. The Total Least Squares (TLS technique is a generalised least squares method to solve an overdetermined set of equations whose coefficients are noisy. The CTLS is a natural extension of TLS to the case where the noise components of the coefficients are correlated, as is usually the case with time-series measurements of concentrations and expression profiles in gene networks. Results The superior performance of the CTLS method in identifying network interactions is demonstrated on three examples: a genetic network containing four genes, a network describing p53 activity and mdm2 messenger RNA interactions, and a recently proposed kinetic model for interleukin (IL-6 and (IL-12b messenger RNA expression as a function of ATF3 and NF-κB promoter binding. For the first example, the CTLS significantly reduces the errors in the estimation of the Jacobian for the gene network. For the second, the CTLS reduces the errors from the measurements that are corrupted by white noise and the effect of neglected kinetics. For the third, it allows the correct identification, from noisy data, of the negative regulation of (IL-6 and (IL-12b by ATF3. Conclusion The significant improvements in performance demonstrated by the CTLS method under the wide range of conditions tested here, including different levels and types of measurement noise and different numbers of data points, suggests that its application will enable

Understanding the Entrepreneur: An Index of Entrepreneurial Success

OpenAIRE

Fried, Harold O.; Tauer, Loren W.

2009-01-01

A measure of entrepreneur success is important to identify current and future successful ventures, to further our understanding of the entrepreneurial process and to guide public policies to improve the success rate of start-ups. In this paper we propose an index of entrepreneur success that accommodates multiple inputs and outputs, that is predicated on inputs and that mitigates the impact of outliers. We relate the index to characteristics of the entrepreneur and the venture: age, experienc...

Initial radioiodine remnant ablation success rates compared by diagnostic scan methods: I123 versus I131

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, W.; Choi, E.; Yoo, I.; Kim, S.; Han, E.; Lee, S.; Lee, W.

2015-01-01

Full text of publication follows. Objective: to see if diagnostic whole body scan (DxWBS) performed with I-131 prior diminishes the success rate of initial radioiodine remnant ablation (RRA) compared to I-123 DxWBS in differentiated thyroid cancer patients. Material and methods: consecutive thyroid cancer patients who received total thyroidectomy for differentiated thyroid cancer and then high dose RRA (either 100 mCi or 150 mCi) within 6 months were included. DxWBSs were performed with I-123 or with I-131. Prior to the DxWBSs, all patients followed strict low iodine diet for 2 weeks and withdrew hormone to stimulate TSH above 30 mIU/l. Patients with extra-thyroidal extension of tumor, lymph node metastasis, or distant metastasis were excluded. The initial RRA was defined as successful if the next DxWBS done 6 months to 1 year later was negative and stimulated thyroglobulin level was below 2 ng/ml. Results: of 71 patients who had I-123 DxWBSs, 31 patients went on to receive RRA with 100 mCi and 40 patients received 150 mCi. Of 73 patients who had I-131 DxWBSs, 66 received 100 mCi and 7 patients received 150 mCi. The overall success rate was 79% for patients who had I-123 DxWBS prior to RRA (68% for 100 mCi and 86% for 150 mCi), and 68% for patient who had I-131 DxWBSs (68% for 100 mCi and 71% for 150 mCi). Conclusion: for patients who received 100 mCi, the RRA success rate was the same for I-123 DxWBS and I-131 DxWBS. For patients treated with 150 mCi, the success rate may be lower in patients who receive RRA following DxWBS with I-131 compared to DxWBS with I-123. (authors)

Critical Success Factors in Online Language Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Alberth

2011-01-01

With the proliferation of online courses nowadays, it is necessary to ask what defines the success of teaching and learning in these new learning environments exactly. This paper identifies and critically discusses a number of factors for successful implementation of online delivery, particularly as far as online language learning is concerned.…

The Comparison of Early Maladaptive Schema’s Domains Between Successful And Non-Successful Opiate Addicts and Non-Clinical Persons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bahram Sahand

2009-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The current research was done in order to compare the early maladaptive schema’s domains between successful and non-successful opiate addicts and non-clinical persons in Tehran. Method: The research design was causal effect method. In this purpose 90 men (include successful and non-successful opiate addicts, and non-clinical persons (30 for each group, were selected by the available sampling method. Young Schema Questionnaire (YSQ-RE2R, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ, and Personal Characteristic Questionnaire were administered among selected sample. The results were analyzed by ANOVA, chi square, MANOVA, and tukey test. Results: The findings of this research indicated that there was a significant difference on “Early Maladaptive Schema’s domains” between these three groups. Conclusion: The results have important clinical interpretations. It is assumed that medical interference with the aim of modifying and correcting the “Early Maladaptive Schema’s domains” can be effective on the level of success for opiate addicts to give up their addiction.

Ability of Slovakian Pupils to Identify Birds

Science.gov (United States)

Prokop, Pavol; Rodak, Rastislav

2009-01-01

A pupil's ability to identify common organisms is necessary for acquiring further knowledge of biology. We investigated how pupils were able to identify 25 bird species following their song, growth habits, or both features presented simultaneously. Just about 19% of birds were successfully identified by song, about 39% by growth habit, and 45% of…

Virus isolation vs RT-PCR: which method is more successful in detecting VHSV and IHNV in fish tissue sampled under field conditions?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knüsel, R.; Bergmann, S. M.; Einer-Jensen, Katja

2007-01-01

in Switzerland. Compared to SPNT, the RT-PCR method detected, as with virus isolation, a much lower number of positive cases; reasons for this discrepancy are discussed. Our results indicate that RT-PCR can not only be successfully applied in field surveys, but may also be slightly more sensitive than virus......This study compared the results of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and traditional virus isolation on cell culture in detection of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus (VHSV) and infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV). RT-PCR was used for 172 tissue sample pools...... (total of 859 fish) originating from a field survey on the occurrence of VHSV and IHNV in farmed and wild salmonids in Switzerland. These samples represented all sites with fish that were either identified as virus-positive by means of virus isolation (three sites, four positive tissue sample pools) and...

Urban freight transportation : challenges, failures and successes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kant, G.; Quak, H.; Peeters, R.; van Woensel, T.; Zijm, H.; Klumpp, M.; Clausen, U.; ten Hompel, M.

2016-01-01

In this paper, we present the challenges, failures and successes on urban freight transportation. We first identify the various involved stakeholders with their interests. Then we evaluate a large number of urban freight transport initiatives and identify lessons learned, which are distinguished in

Urban freight transportation : Challenges, failure, and successes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kant, Goos; Quak, H.; Peeters, Rene; Woensel van, T.; Zijm, H.; Klumpp, M.; Clausen, U.; Ten Hompel, M.

2016-01-01

In this paper, we present the challenges, failures and successes on urban freight transportation. We first identify the various involved stakeholders with their interests. Then we evaluate a large number of urban freight transport initiatives and identify lessons learned, which are distinguished in

Reducing uncertainty at minimal cost: a method to identify important input parameters and prioritize data collection

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Uwizeye, U.A.; Groen, E.A.; Gerber, P.J.; Schulte, Rogier P.O.; Boer, de I.J.M.

2016-01-01

The study aims to illustrate a method to identify important input parameters that explain most of the output variance ofenvironmental assessment models. The method is tested for the computation of life-cycle nitrogen (N) use efficiencyindicators among mixed dairy production systems in Rwanda. We

Link-based quantitative methods to identify differentially coexpressed genes and gene Pairs

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Ye Zhi-Qiang

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Differential coexpression analysis (DCEA is increasingly used for investigating the global transcriptional mechanisms underlying phenotypic changes. Current DCEA methods mostly adopt a gene connectivity-based strategy to estimate differential coexpression, which is characterized by comparing the numbers of gene neighbors in different coexpression networks. Although it simplifies the calculation, this strategy mixes up the identities of different coexpression neighbors of a gene, and fails to differentiate significant differential coexpression changes from those trivial ones. Especially, the correlation-reversal is easily missed although it probably indicates remarkable biological significance. Results We developed two link-based quantitative methods, DCp and DCe, to identify differentially coexpressed genes and gene pairs (links. Bearing the uniqueness of exploiting the quantitative coexpression change of each gene pair in the coexpression networks, both methods proved to be superior to currently popular methods in simulation studies. Re-mining of a publicly available type 2 diabetes (T2D expression dataset from the perspective of differential coexpression analysis led to additional discoveries than those from differential expression analysis. Conclusions This work pointed out the critical weakness of current popular DCEA methods, and proposed two link-based DCEA algorithms that will make contribution to the development of DCEA and help extend it to a broader spectrum.

Factors influencing the success of animal husbandry cooperatives: A case study in Southwest Iran

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aligholi Heydari

2010-10-01

Full Text Available This survey study aimed at identifying the factors influencing the success of animal husbandry cooperatives in Southwest Iran. Using a questionnaire, the data were collected from 95 managing directors of the cooperatives who were chosen through a multi-stage stratified random sampling method. This study showed an essential need for a systemic framework to analyze the cooperatives’ success. The results showed that the “Honey Bee”, “Cattle (dairy”, and “Lamb” cooperatives were the most successful among different kinds of the cooperatives. Also, among individual attributes, “interest”, “technical knowledge”, and “understanding the concept of cooperative”; among economic variables, “income” and “current investment”; and among external factors, “market access” have significant correlation with the success while structural variables have no significant relation. Furthermore, among all the factors, four variables (“interest”, “understanding the concept of cooperative”, “market access”, and “other incomes” can explain the variations of the success.

Critical success factors in infrastructure projects

Science.gov (United States)

Zakaria, Siti Fairus; Zin, Rosli Mohamad; Mohamad, Ismail; Balubaid, Saeed; Mydin, Shaik Hussein; Mohd Rahim, E. M. Roodienyanto

2017-11-01

Construction of infrastructure project is different from buildings. The main difference is term of project site where infrastructure project need to command a long stretch while building mostly confine to a limited area. As such factors that are critical to infrastructure project may not be that significant to building project and vice versa. Flood mitigation can be classified under infrastructure projects under which their developments are planned by the government with the specific objective to reduce or avoid the negative effects of flood to the environment and livelihood. One of the indicators in project success is delay. The impact of project delay in construction industry is significant that it decelerates the projects implementation, specifically the government projects. This study attempted to identify and compare the success factors between infrastructure and building projects, as such comparison rarely found in the current literature. A model of flood mitigation projects' success factors was developed by merging the experts' views and reports from the existing literature. The experts' views were obtained from the responses to open-ended questions on the required fundamentals to achieve successful completion of flood mitigation projects. An affinity analysis was applied to these responses to develop the model. The developed model was then compared to the established success factors found in building project, extracted from the previous studies to identify the similarities and differences between the two models. This study would assist the government and construction players to become more effective in constructing successful flood mitigation projects for the future practice in a flood-prone country like Malaysia.

Performance of the lot quality assurance sampling method compared to surveillance for identifying inadequately-performing areas in Matlab, Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhuiya, Abbas; Hanifi, S M A; Roy, Nikhil; Streatfield, P Kim

2007-03-01

This paper compared the performance of the lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) method in identifying inadequately-performing health work-areas with that of using health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) data and examined the feasibility of applying the method by field-level programme supervisors. The study was carried out in Matlab, the field site of ICDDR,B, where a HDSS has been in place for over 30 years. The LQAS method was applied in 57 work-areas of community health workers in ICDDR,B-served areas in Matlab during July-September 2002. The performance of the LQAS method in identifying work-areas with adequate and inadequate coverage of various health services was compared with those of the HDSS. The health service-coverage indicators included coverage of DPT, measles, BCG vaccination, and contraceptive use. It was observed that the difference in the proportion of work-areas identified to be inadequately performing using the LQAS method with less than 30 respondents, and the HDSS was not statistically significant. The consistency between the LQAS method and the HDSS in identifying work-areas was greater for adequately-performing areas than inadequately-performing areas. It was also observed that the field managers could be trained to apply the LQAS method in monitoring their performance in reaching the target population.

A novel method to identify hub pathways of rheumatoid arthritis based on differential pathway networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Shi-Tong; Sun, Yong-Hua; Zong, Shi-Hua

2017-09-01

The aim of the current study was to identify hub pathways of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using a novel method based on differential pathway network (DPN) analysis. The present study proposed a DPN where protein‑protein interaction (PPI) network was integrated with pathway‑pathway interactions. Pathway data was obtained from background PPI network and the Reactome pathway database. Subsequently, pathway interactions were extracted from the pathway data by building randomized gene‑gene interactions and a weight value was assigned to each pathway interaction using Spearman correlation coefficient (SCC) to identify differential pathway interactions. Differential pathway interactions were visualized using Cytoscape to construct a DPN. Topological analysis was conducted to identify hub pathways that possessed the top 5% degree distribution of DPN. Modules of DPN were mined according to ClusterONE. A total of 855 pathways were selected to build pathway interactions. By filtrating pathway interactions of weight values >0.7, a DPN with 312 nodes and 791 edges was obtained. Topological degree analysis revealed 15 hub pathways, such as heparan sulfate/heparin‑glycosaminoglycan (HS‑GAG) degradation, HS‑GAG metabolism and keratan sulfate degradation for RA based on DPN. Furthermore, hub pathways were also important in modules, which validated the significance of hub pathways. In conclusion, the proposed method is a computationally efficient way to identify hub pathways of RA, which identified 15 hub pathways that may be potential biomarkers and provide insight to future investigation and treatment of RA.

High-throughput sequencing enhanced phage display identifies peptides that bind mycobacteria

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ngubane, NAC

2013-11-01

Full Text Available . The displayed peptides are flanked by two cysteine residues, which are oxidized during phage assembly to a disulfide bond, resulting in a loop constrained peptide. We initially used the traditional clone picking method to identify the enriched clones... of the library, 1.236109 heptapeptides, it represented sufficient depth to measure the quantitative enrich- ment of relevant peptides. To confirm successful enrichment during selection, we characterized the reduction in diversity of the pool in the consecutive...

Succession Planning and Financial Performance: Does Competition Matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Patidar, Nitish; Gupta, Shivani; Azbik, Ginger; Weech-Maldonado, Robert

2016-01-01

Succession planning has been defined as the process by which one or more successors are identified for key positions, development activities are planned for identified successors, or both. Limited research exists pertaining to the relationship between hospital succession planning and financial performance, particularly in the context of market competition. We used the resource-based view framework to analyze the differential effect of succession planning on hospitals' financial performance based on market competition. According to RBV, organizations can achieve higher performance by using their superior resources and capabilities. We used a panel design consisting of a national sample of hospitals in the United States for 2006-2010. We analyzed data using multivariate linear regression with facility random effects and year and state fixed effects. The sample included 22,717 hospital-year observations; more than one half of the hospitals (55.4%) had a succession planning program. The study found a positive relationship between the presence of succession planning and financial performance (β = 1.41, p planning programs on the basis of competition in their market.

A rapid and robust method of identifying transformed Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings following floral dip transformation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gray John C

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The floral dip method of transformation by immersion of inflorescences in a suspension of Agrobacterium is the method of choice for Arabidopsis transformation. The presence of a marker, usually antibiotic- or herbicide-resistance, allows identification of transformed seedlings from untransformed seedlings. Seedling selection is a lengthy process which does not always lead to easily identifiable transformants. Selection for kanamycin-, phosphinothricin- and hygromycin B-resistance commonly takes 7–10 d and high seedling density and fungal contamination may result in failure to recover transformants. Results A method for identifying transformed seedlings in as little as 3.25 d has been developed. Arabidopsis T1 seeds obtained after floral dip transformation are plated on 1% agar containing MS medium and kanamycin, phosphinothricin or hygromycin B, as appropriate. After a 2-d stratification period, seeds are subjected to a regime of 4–6 h light, 48 h dark and 24 h light (3.25 d. Kanamycin-resistant and phosphinothricin-resistant seedlings are easily distinguished from non-resistant seedlings by green expanded cotyledons whereas non-resistant seedlings have pale unexpanded cotyledons. Seedlings grown on hygromycin B differ from those grown on kanamycin and phosphinothricin as both resistant and non-resistant seedlings are green. However, hygromycin B-resistant seedlings are easily identified as they have long hypocotyls (0.8–1.0 cm whereas non-resistant seedlings have short hypocotyls (0.2–0.4 cm. Conclusion The method presented here is an improvement on current selection methods as it allows quicker identification of transformed seedlings: transformed seedlings are easily discernable from non-transformants in as little as 3.25 d in comparison to the 7–10 d required for selection using current protocols.

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR INFRASTRUCTURE EUROPEAN FUNDED PROJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian-Ion Ceptureanu

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Absorption of European funds is on top of Romania’s public agenda for the last years although the first programming period has ended and the necessary lessons were learned so far. To have a high degree of absorption of funds provided by the EU must be of quality projects and their implementation to be successful. Through this work we aimed to investigate the success factors of infrastructure projects with European funding in Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Ukraine, Serbia and Kosovo, and identify critical success factors of these projects through a research surveying the teams of consultants and support personnel from the countries in an international consulting company. The research results are therefore constitute the empirical evidence of what constitutes critical success factors of infrastructure projects financed by the European Union and can be used as a starting point for scientific studies of the management of European projects or other actions that investigates measures that can be taken to improve the success rate of projects implemented in the area mentioned above.One of the contributions of this paper is to identify the critical success factors of success factors present in literature. With more so as they are critical success factors of infrastructure projects with European funding still required field studies and analysis performed in the present context. In addition, the critical factors were operationalized in a conceptual framework. Moreover, this framework includes leadership style of project manager as critical success factor has been identified in the research as the most important in the context in which it was conducted. As such, this paper demonstrates, with the necessary limitations, the importance of management style of project managers in the context of specific European funded infrastructure projects. And this is happening even though there are sophisticated project management tools availabe and relevant knowledge exists

Systems and methods for automatically identifying and linking names in digital resources

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Charles T.; Lyons, Catherine M.; Roston, Gerald P.; Garrity, George M.

2017-06-06

The present invention provides systems and methods for automatically identifying name-like-strings in digital resources, matching these name-like-string against a set of names held in an expertly curated database, and for those name-like-strings found in said database, enhancing the content by associating additional matter with the name, wherein said matter includes information about the names that is held within said database and pointers to other digital resources which include the same name and it synonyms.

Identifying deterministic signals in simulated gravitational wave data: algorithmic complexity and the surrogate data method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Yi; Small, Michael; Coward, David; Howell, Eric; Zhao Chunnong; Ju Li; Blair, David

2006-01-01

We describe the application of complexity estimation and the surrogate data method to identify deterministic dynamics in simulated gravitational wave (GW) data contaminated with white and coloured noises. The surrogate method uses algorithmic complexity as a discriminating statistic to decide if noisy data contain a statistically significant level of deterministic dynamics (the GW signal). The results illustrate that the complexity method is sensitive to a small amplitude simulated GW background (SNR down to 0.08 for white noise and 0.05 for coloured noise) and is also more robust than commonly used linear methods (autocorrelation or Fourier analysis)

Predictors of treatment success in smoking cessation with ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background. Identification of the predictors of treatment success in smoking cessation may help healthcare workers to improve the effectiveness of attempts at quitting. Objective. To identify the predictors of success in a randomised controlled trial comparing varenicline alone or in combination with nicotine replacement ...

Weight loss methods and changes in eating habits among successful weight losers.

Science.gov (United States)

Soini, Sirpa; Mustajoki, Pertti; Eriksson, Johan G

2016-01-01

Changes in several lifestyle related factors are required for successful long-term weight loss. Identification of these factors is of major importance from a public health point of view. This study was based upon findings from the Finnish Weight Control Registry (FWCR), a web-based registry. In total, 316 people were recruited and 184 met the study inclusion criteria. The aims of this study were to assess means and typical changes in eating habits associated with successful long-term weight loss. Half of the participants (48%) reported that they lost weight slowly primarily with dietary changes. Self-weighing frequency was high, 92% was weighing themselves at least once a week during the weight loss phase, and 75% during the maintenance phase. Dietary aspects associated with successful weight loss and weight maintenance included an increase in intake of vegetables, a reduction in frequency of eating candies and fast food, regular meal frequency and application of the Plate model. Both slow and fast weight loss may lead to successful long-term results and weight maintenance. A decrease in energy intake was achieved by reducing intake of energy-dense food, applying the Plate model and by regular meal frequency. Key messages Successful long-term weight loss is associated with a reduction in intake of energy-dense food. A more regular meal frequency and a high frequency of self-weighing seem to be helpful.

Predicting success of oligomerized pool engineering (OPEN for zinc finger target site sequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goodwin Mathew J

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Precise and efficient methods for gene targeting are critical for detailed functional analysis of genomes and regulatory networks and for potentially improving the efficacy and safety of gene therapies. Oligomerized Pool ENgineering (OPEN is a recently developed method for engineering C2H2 zinc finger proteins (ZFPs designed to bind specific DNA sequences with high affinity and specificity in vivo. Because generation of ZFPs using OPEN requires considerable effort, a computational method for identifying the sites in any given gene that are most likely to be successfully targeted by this method is desirable. Results Analysis of the base composition of experimentally validated ZFP target sites identified important constraints on the DNA sequence space that can be effectively targeted using OPEN. Using alternate encodings to represent ZFP target sites, we implemented Naïve Bayes and Support Vector Machine classifiers capable of distinguishing "active" targets, i.e., ZFP binding sites that can be targeted with a high rate of success, from those that are "inactive" or poor targets for ZFPs generated using current OPEN technologies. When evaluated using leave-one-out cross-validation on a dataset of 135 experimentally validated ZFP target sites, the best Naïve Bayes classifier, designated ZiFOpT, achieved overall accuracy of 87% and specificity+ of 90%, with an ROC AUC of 0.89. When challenged with a completely independent test set of 140 newly validated ZFP target sites, ZiFOpT performance was comparable in terms of overall accuracy (88% and specificity+ (92%, but with reduced ROC AUC (0.77. Users can rank potentially active ZFP target sites using a confidence score derived from the posterior probability returned by ZiFOpT. Conclusion ZiFOpT, a machine learning classifier trained to identify DNA sequences amenable for targeting by OPEN-generated zinc finger arrays, can guide users to target sites that are most likely to function

Supervision, support and mentoring interventions for health practitioners in rural and remote contexts: an integrative review and thematic synthesis of the literature to identify mechanisms for successful outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Objective To identify mechanisms for the successful implementation of support strategies for health-care practitioners in rural and remote contexts. Design This is an integrative review and thematic synthesis of the empirical literature that examines support interventions for health-care practitioners in rural and remote contexts. Results This review includes 43 papers that evaluated support strategies for the rural and remote health workforce. Interventions were predominantly training and education programmes with limited evaluations of supervision and mentoring interventions. The mechanisms associated with successful outcomes included: access to appropriate and adequate training, skills and knowledge for the support intervention; accessible and adequate resources; active involvement of stakeholders in programme design, implementation and evaluation; a needs analysis prior to the intervention; external support, organisation, facilitation and/or coordination of the programme; marketing of the programme; organisational commitment; appropriate mode of delivery; leadership; and regular feedback and evaluation of the programme. Conclusion Through a synthesis of the literature, this research has identified a number of mechanisms that are associated with successful support interventions for health-care practitioners in rural and remote contexts. This research utilised a methodology developed for studying complex interventions in response to the perceived limitations of traditional systematic reviews. This synthesis of the evidence will provide decision-makers at all levels with a collection of mechanisms that can assist the development and implementation of support strategies for staff in rural and remote contexts. PMID:24521004

Improving vascular access outcomes: attributes of arteriovenous fistula cannulation success

Science.gov (United States)

Harwood, Lori E.; Wilson, Barbara M.; Oudshoorn, Abe

2016-01-01

Background Arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) are the preferred access for hemodialysis (HD) yet they are underutilized. Cannulation of the fistula is a procedure requiring significant skill development and refinement and if not done well can have negative consequences for patients. The nurses' approach, attitude and skill with cannulation impacts greatly on the patient experience. Complications from miscannulation or an inability to needle fistulas can result in the increased use of central venous catheters. Some nurses remain in a state of a ‘perpetual novice’ resulting in a viscous cycle of negative patient consequences (bruising, pain), further influencing patients' decisions not to pursue a fistula or abandon cannulation. Method This qualitative study used organizational development theory (appreciative inquiry) and research method to determine what attributes/activities contribute to successful cannulation. This can be applied to interventions to promote change and skill development in staff members who have not advanced their proficiency. Eighteen HD nurses who self-identified with performing successful cannulation participated in audio-recorded interviews. The recordings were transcribed verbatim. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Results Four common themes, including patient-centered care, teamwork, opportunity and skill and nurse self-awareness, represented successful fistula cannulation. Successful cannulation is more than a learned technique to correctly insert a needle, but rather represents contextual influences and interplay between the practice environment and personal attributes. Conclusions Practice changes based on these results may improve cannulation, decrease complications and result in better outcomes for patients. Efforts to nurture positive patient experiences around cannulation may influence patient decision-making regarding fistula use. PMID:26985384

Four malaria success stories: how malaria burden was successfully reduced in Brazil, Eritrea, India, and Vietnam.

Science.gov (United States)

Barat, Lawrence M

2006-01-01

While many countries struggle to control malaria, four countries, Brazil, Eritrea, India, and Vietnam, have successfully reduced malaria burden. To determine what led these countries to achieve impact, published and unpublished reports were reviewed and selected program and partner staff were interviewed to identify common factors that contributed to these successes. Common success factors included conducive country conditions, a targeted technical approach using a package of effective tools, data-driven decision-making, active leadership at all levels of government, involvement of communities, decentralized implementation and control of finances, skilled technical and managerial capacity at national and sub-national levels, hands-on technical and programmatic support from partner agencies, and sufficient and flexible financing. All these factors were essential in achieving success. If the goals of Roll Back Malaria are to be achieved, governments and their partners must take the lessons learned from these program successes and apply them in other affected countries.

Building America Guidance for Identifying and Overcoming Code, Standard, and Rating Method Barriers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cole, Pamala C.; Halverson, Mark A.

2013-09-01

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building America program implemented a new Codes and Standards Innovation (CSI) Team in 2013. The Team’s mission is to assist Building America (BA) research teams and partners in identifying and resolving conflicts between Building America innovations and the various codes and standards that govern the construction of residences. A CSI Roadmap was completed in September, 2013. This guidance document was prepared using the information in the CSI Roadmap to provide BA research teams and partners with specific information and approaches to identifying and overcoming potential barriers to Building America (BA) innovations arising in and/or stemming from codes, standards, and rating methods. For more information on the BA CSI team, please email: CSITeam@pnnl.gov

A mixed-methods investigation of successful aging among older women engaged in sports-based versus exercise-based leisure time physical activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Berlin, Kathryn; Kruger, Tina; Klenosky, David B

2018-01-01

This mixed-methods study compares active older women in different physically based leisure activities and explores the difference in subjective ratings of successful aging and quantifiable predictors of success. A survey was administered to 256 women, 60-92 years of age, engaged in a sports- or exercise-based activity. Quantitative data were analyzed through ANOVA and multiple regression. Qualitative data (n = 79) was analyzed using the approach associated with means-end theory. While participants quantitatively appeared similar in terms of successful aging, qualitative interviews revealed differences in activity motivation. Women involved in sports highlighted social/psychological benefits, while those involved in exercise-based activities stressed fitness outcomes.

A Review on Critical Success Factors of Governance towards Sustainable Campus Operations

Science.gov (United States)

Halid Abdullah, Abd; Razman, Ruzaimah; Muslim, Rahmat

2017-08-01

Campus Sustainability is an effort that integrates environmentally sustainable practices into institutional practices. A successful transition to a sustainable campus requires the involvement of the university community; the administration, academics departments (faculty and students), researchers and he local community. Our research seeks to identify Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of university governance that contribute to the success in implementing Sustainable Campus Operation (SCO) initiatives. The common CSFs have been identified from 22 published and unpublished articles, conference proceedings, university reports, books, and website documents. The CSFs are mapped and ranked based on the frequency of the identified CSFs. 23 CSFs of SCO have been identified through this research. This research revealed that the CSF that contributes the highest frequency as indicated by most researchers is “developing network with external parties for gaining consensus and commitment”. By identifying these CSFs, this research will help assist universities in successfully plan and implement their SCO initiatives.

Pediatric extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy: Predicting successful outcomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sean McAdams

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL is currently a first-line procedure of most upper urinary tract stones <2 cm of size because of established success rates, its minimal invasiveness and long-term safety with minimal complications. Given that alternative surgical and endourological options exist for the management of stone disease and that ESWL failure often results in the need for repeat ESWL or secondary procedures, it is highly desirable to identify variables predicting successful outcomes of ESWL in the pediatric population. Despite numerous reports and growing experience, few prospective studies and guidelines for pediatric ESWL have been completed. Variation in the methods by which study parameters are measured and reported can make it difficult to compare individual studies or make definitive recommendations. There is ongoing work and a need for continuing improvement of imaging protocols in children with renal colic, with a current focus on minimizing exposure to ionizing radiation, perhaps utilizing advancements in ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. This report provides a review of the current literature evaluating the patient attributes and stone factors that may be predictive of successful ESWL outcomes along with reviewing the role of pre-operative imaging and considerations for patient safety.

Crop succession requirements in agricultural production planning

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klein Haneveld, W.K.; Stegeman, A.

2005-01-01

A method is proposed to write crop succession requirements as linear constraints in an LP-based model for agricultural production planning. Crop succession information is given in the form of a set of inadmissible successions of crops. The decision variables represent the areas where a certain

Critical success factors for renewable energy projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

This project highlighted best practice in the planning and assessment of proposals with the aim of: encouraging more successful renewable energy projects and proposals; lowering financial and other barriers; and stimulating a climate for success. Based on the analysis of a number of case studies, data was collected through a series of extensive interviews to identify why certain schemes were considered successful, what might have been done differently and which factors were considered important when entering a market. The Critical Success Factors can be broken down into five groups: Universal CSFs; CSFs for funding bodies; CSFs for managing agencies; CSFs for niche markets; CSFs for individual technologies. (author)

A novel data mining method to identify assay-specific signatures in functional genomic studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guidarelli Jack W

2006-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background: The highly dimensional data produced by functional genomic (FG studies makes it difficult to visualize relationships between gene products and experimental conditions (i.e., assays. Although dimensionality reduction methods such as principal component analysis (PCA have been very useful, their application to identify assay-specific signatures has been limited by the lack of appropriate methodologies. This article proposes a new and powerful PCA-based method for the identification of assay-specific gene signatures in FG studies. Results: The proposed method (PM is unique for several reasons. First, it is the only one, to our knowledge, that uses gene contribution, a product of the loading and expression level, to obtain assay signatures. The PM develops and exploits two types of assay-specific contribution plots, which are new to the application of PCA in the FG area. The first type plots the assay-specific gene contribution against the given order of the genes and reveals variations in distribution between assay-specific gene signatures as well as outliers within assay groups indicating the degree of importance of the most dominant genes. The second type plots the contribution of each gene in ascending or descending order against a constantly increasing index. This type of plots reveals assay-specific gene signatures defined by the inflection points in the curve. In addition, sharp regions within the signature define the genes that contribute the most to the signature. We proposed and used the curvature as an appropriate metric to characterize these sharp regions, thus identifying the subset of genes contributing the most to the signature. Finally, the PM uses the full dataset to determine the final gene signature, thus eliminating the chance of gene exclusion by poor screening in earlier steps. The strengths of the PM are demonstrated using a simulation study, and two studies of real DNA microarray data – a study of

LGscore: A method to identify disease-related genes using biological literature and Google data.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jeongwoo; Kim, Hyunjin; Yoon, Youngmi; Park, Sanghyun

2015-04-01

Since the genome project in 1990s, a number of studies associated with genes have been conducted and researchers have confirmed that genes are involved in disease. For this reason, the identification of the relationships between diseases and genes is important in biology. We propose a method called LGscore, which identifies disease-related genes using Google data and literature data. To implement this method, first, we construct a disease-related gene network using text-mining results. We then extract gene-gene interactions based on co-occurrences in abstract data obtained from PubMed, and calculate the weights of edges in the gene network by means of Z-scoring. The weights contain two values: the frequency and the Google search results. The frequency value is extracted from literature data, and the Google search result is obtained using Google. We assign a score to each gene through a network analysis. We assume that genes with a large number of links and numerous Google search results and frequency values are more likely to be involved in disease. For validation, we investigated the top 20 inferred genes for five different diseases using answer sets. The answer sets comprised six databases that contain information on disease-gene relationships. We identified a significant number of disease-related genes as well as candidate genes for Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, colon cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer. Our method was up to 40% more accurate than existing methods. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Determinants of successful clinical networks: the conceptual framework and study protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Haines, Mary; Brown, Bernadette; Craig, Jonathan; D'Este, Catherine; Elliott, Elizabeth; Klineberg, Emily; McInnes, Elizabeth; Middleton, Sandy; Paul, Christine; Redman, Sally; Yano, Elizabeth M

2012-03-13

Clinical networks are increasingly being viewed as an important strategy for increasing evidence-based practice and improving models of care, but success is variable and characteristics of networks with high impact are uncertain. This study takes advantage of the variability in the functioning and outcomes of networks supported by the Australian New South Wales (NSW) Agency for Clinical Innovation's non-mandatory model of clinical networks to investigate the factors that contribute to the success of clinical networks. The objective of this retrospective study is to examine the association between external support, organisational and program factors, and indicators of success among 19 clinical networks over a three-year period (2006-2008). The outcomes (health impact, system impact, programs implemented, engagement, user perception, and financial leverage) and explanatory factors will be collected using a web-based survey, interviews, and record review. An independent expert panel will provide judgements about the impact or extent of each network's initiatives on health and system impacts. The ratings of the expert panel will be the outcome used in multivariable analyses. Following the rating of network success, a qualitative study will be conducted to provide a more in-depth examination of the most successful networks. This is the first study to combine quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the factors that contribute to the success of clinical networks and, more generally, is the largest study of clinical networks undertaken. The adaptation of expert panel methods to rate the impacts of networks is the methodological innovation of this study. The proposed project will identify the conditions that should be established or encouraged by agencies developing clinical networks and will be of immediate use in forming strategies and programs to maximise the effectiveness of such networks.

A Bayesian method for identifying missing enzymes in predicted metabolic pathway databases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karp Peter D

2004-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The PathoLogic program constructs Pathway/Genome databases by using a genome's annotation to predict the set of metabolic pathways present in an organism. PathoLogic determines the set of reactions composing those pathways from the enzymes annotated in the organism's genome. Most annotation efforts fail to assign function to 40–60% of sequences. In addition, large numbers of sequences may have non-specific annotations (e.g., thiolase family protein. Pathway holes occur when a genome appears to lack the enzymes needed to catalyze reactions in a pathway. If a protein has not been assigned a specific function during the annotation process, any reaction catalyzed by that protein will appear as a missing enzyme or pathway hole in a Pathway/Genome database. Results We have developed a method that efficiently combines homology and pathway-based evidence to identify candidates for filling pathway holes in Pathway/Genome databases. Our program not only identifies potential candidate sequences for pathway holes, but combines data from multiple, heterogeneous sources to assess the likelihood that a candidate has the required function. Our algorithm emulates the manual sequence annotation process, considering not only evidence from homology searches, but also considering evidence from genomic context (i.e., is the gene part of an operon? and functional context (e.g., are there functionally-related genes nearby in the genome? to determine the posterior belief that a candidate has the required function. The method can be applied across an entire metabolic pathway network and is generally applicable to any pathway database. The program uses a set of sequences encoding the required activity in other genomes to identify candidate proteins in the genome of interest, and then evaluates each candidate by using a simple Bayes classifier to determine the probability that the candidate has the desired function. We achieved 71% precision at a

Failure after Success: Correlates of Recidivism among Individuals Who Successfully Completed Coerced Drug Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Sung, Hung-En; Belenko, Steven

2005-01-01

A subset of criminal offenders diverted from prison to treatment return to crime after successful completion of treatment. Identifying correlates of recidivism among treatment completers will improve our ability to help treated offenders to better capitalize on their treatment experiences. Data from 156 mandated clients of long-term residential…

Success factors of energy performance contracting (EPC) for sustainable building energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) of hotel buildings in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Pengpeng; Chan, Edwin Hon-Wan; Queena Kun Qian

2011-01-01

Hotel building is a type of high-energy-consuming building and most existing hotel buildings need energy efficiency improvement in China. Energy performance contracting (EPC) is considered a win-win mechanism to organize building energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) project. However, EPC mechanism has been introduced into China relatively recently and many EPCs have not been successful in building energy efficiency retrofit projects. This research aims to develop a set of critical success factors (CSFs) of EPC for sustainable energy efficiency retrofit (BEER) of hotel buildings in China. Semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey with practitioners and other professionals were conducted. The findings reveal the relative importance of the 21 number of identified success factors. In order to explore the underlying relationship among the identified critical success factors (CSFs), factor analysis method was adopted for further investigation, which leads to grouping the 21 identified CSFs into six clusters. These are (1) project organization process, (2) EPC project financing for hotel retrofit, (3) knowledge and innovation of EPC, sustainable development (SD), and M and V, (4) implementation of sustainable development strategy, (5) contractual arrangement, and (6) external economic environment. Finally, several relevant policies were proposed to implement EPC successfully in sustainable BEER in hotel buildings. - Highlights: → EPC is a win-win mechanism to organize building energy efficiency retrofit project. → CSFs of EPC mechanism for sustainable BEER of hotel building in China are examined. → Six clusters are extracted from 21 identified CSFs based on factor analysis.

4C-ker: A Method to Reproducibly Identify Genome-Wide Interactions Captured by 4C-Seq Experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

Raviram, Ramya; Rocha, Pedro P; Müller, Christian L; Miraldi, Emily R; Badri, Sana; Fu, Yi; Swanzey, Emily; Proudhon, Charlotte; Snetkova, Valentina; Bonneau, Richard; Skok, Jane A

2016-03-01

4C-Seq has proven to be a powerful technique to identify genome-wide interactions with a single locus of interest (or "bait") that can be important for gene regulation. However, analysis of 4C-Seq data is complicated by the many biases inherent to the technique. An important consideration when dealing with 4C-Seq data is the differences in resolution of signal across the genome that result from differences in 3D distance separation from the bait. This leads to the highest signal in the region immediately surrounding the bait and increasingly lower signals in far-cis and trans. Another important aspect of 4C-Seq experiments is the resolution, which is greatly influenced by the choice of restriction enzyme and the frequency at which it can cut the genome. Thus, it is important that a 4C-Seq analysis method is flexible enough to analyze data generated using different enzymes and to identify interactions across the entire genome. Current methods for 4C-Seq analysis only identify interactions in regions near the bait or in regions located in far-cis and trans, but no method comprehensively analyzes 4C signals of different length scales. In addition, some methods also fail in experiments where chromatin fragments are generated using frequent cutter restriction enzymes. Here, we describe 4C-ker, a Hidden-Markov Model based pipeline that identifies regions throughout the genome that interact with the 4C bait locus. In addition, we incorporate methods for the identification of differential interactions in multiple 4C-seq datasets collected from different genotypes or experimental conditions. Adaptive window sizes are used to correct for differences in signal coverage in near-bait regions, far-cis and trans chromosomes. Using several datasets, we demonstrate that 4C-ker outperforms all existing 4C-Seq pipelines in its ability to reproducibly identify interaction domains at all genomic ranges with different resolution enzymes.

4C-ker: A Method to Reproducibly Identify Genome-Wide Interactions Captured by 4C-Seq Experiments.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramya Raviram

2016-03-01

Full Text Available 4C-Seq has proven to be a powerful technique to identify genome-wide interactions with a single locus of interest (or "bait" that can be important for gene regulation. However, analysis of 4C-Seq data is complicated by the many biases inherent to the technique. An important consideration when dealing with 4C-Seq data is the differences in resolution of signal across the genome that result from differences in 3D distance separation from the bait. This leads to the highest signal in the region immediately surrounding the bait and increasingly lower signals in far-cis and trans. Another important aspect of 4C-Seq experiments is the resolution, which is greatly influenced by the choice of restriction enzyme and the frequency at which it can cut the genome. Thus, it is important that a 4C-Seq analysis method is flexible enough to analyze data generated using different enzymes and to identify interactions across the entire genome. Current methods for 4C-Seq analysis only identify interactions in regions near the bait or in regions located in far-cis and trans, but no method comprehensively analyzes 4C signals of different length scales. In addition, some methods also fail in experiments where chromatin fragments are generated using frequent cutter restriction enzymes. Here, we describe 4C-ker, a Hidden-Markov Model based pipeline that identifies regions throughout the genome that interact with the 4C bait locus. In addition, we incorporate methods for the identification of differential interactions in multiple 4C-seq datasets collected from different genotypes or experimental conditions. Adaptive window sizes are used to correct for differences in signal coverage in near-bait regions, far-cis and trans chromosomes. Using several datasets, we demonstrate that 4C-ker outperforms all existing 4C-Seq pipelines in its ability to reproducibly identify interaction domains at all genomic ranges with different resolution enzymes.

Re-engineering of Products and Processes How to Achieve Global Success in the Changing Marketplace

CERN Document Server

Rotini, Federico; Cascini, Gaetano

2012-01-01

Whilst previous methods for business process re-engineering have focused on time and cost reduction policies to preserve competitive services and products, Re-engineering of Products and Processes: How to Achieve Global Success in the Changing Marketplace presents a new approach which aims to include aspects that impact the customer perceived value. This method supports business re-engineering initiatives by identifying process bottlenecks as well as new products and services available to overcome market competition. This original approach is described step-by-step, explaining the theory through examples of performable tasks and the selection of relevant tools according to the nature of the problem. Supported by illustrations, tables and diagrams, Re-engineering of Products and Processes: How to Achieve Global Success in the Changing Marketplace clearly explains a method which is then applied to several case studies across different industrial sectors. Re-engineering of Products and Processes: How to Achieve...

Leadership and effective succession planning in health-system pharmacy departments.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellinger, Lara Kathryn; Trapskin, Philip J; Black, Raymond; Kotis, Despina; Alexander, Earnest

2014-04-01

Leadership succession planning is crucial to the continuity of the comprehensive vision of the hospital pharmacy department. Leadership development is arguably the main component of training and preparing pharmacists to assume managerial positions. Succession planning begins with a review of the organizational chart in the context of the institution's strategic plan. Then career ladders are developed and key positions that require succession plans are identified. Employee profiles and talent inventory should be performed for all employees to identify education, talent, and experience, as well as areas that need improvement. Employees should set objective goals that align with the department's strategic plan, and management should work collaboratively with employees on how to achieve their goals within a certain timeframe. The succession planning process is dynamic and evolving, and periodic assessments should be conducted to determine how improvements can be made. Succession planning can serve as a marker for the success of hospital pharmacy departments.

Stakeholders' perception of critical success factors for sustainable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

interval' and 'adherence to the tenets of the SD agenda (supply chain)' were selected as most critical of the success factors identified. It is expected that the study's findings will contribute to the development of a viable SFM strategy in SSA universities. Keywords: Facilities management, sub-Saharan Africa, success factors, ...

An assessment of bank merger success in Germany

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koetter, Michael

German banks have experienced a merger wave since the early 1990s. However, the success or bank mergers remains a continuous matter or debate. This paper suggests a taxonomy to evaluate post-merger performance on the basis of cost and profit efficiency (CE and PE). I identify successful mergers as

Clinical indicators for success of misoprostol treatment after early pregnancy failure.

Science.gov (United States)

Robledo, C; Zhang, J; Troendle, J; Barnhart, K; Creinin, M D; Westhoff, C; Huang, X; Frederick, M

2007-10-01

To identify clinical indicators for success of misoprostol treatment after early pregnancy failure. A total of 473 women with early pregnancy failure received 800 microg of vaginal misoprostol on treatment day 1. At the follow-up visit on day 3, a second dose was given if expulsion was incomplete. On day 8, vacuum aspiration was offered if expulsion had not occurred. Ultrasonography was used as gold standard for success. A Classification and Regression Tree analysis was undertaken to derive two decision trees for the success of misoprostol treatment on study days 3 and 8. Heavy bleeding after the first dose and an open cervical os were identified as clinical indicators of treatment success on day 3. Treatment success occurred in 84% of women with either or both indicators. Reporting passage of tissue after a second misoprostol dose and old blood in the vagina were potential indicators of treatment success or failure on day 8. A woman with either of these indicators has a 65% chance of treatment success after the second dose. Conversely, a woman with neither indicator on day 8 has a 94% chance of treatment failure. Standard clinical findings may be useful as indicators for success or failure of medical management of early pregnancy failure in settings with limited or no access to ultrasonography. More research to identify even better indicators is warranted.

What Does Successful Aging Mean? Lay Perception of Successful Aging Among Elderly Singaporeans.

Science.gov (United States)

Feng, Qiushi; Straughan, Paulin Tay

2017-03-01

We explore the culturally specific meaning of successful aging in Singapore, an ethnically diverse city-state in Asia. We aim to investigate lay perceptions of successful aging among the elderly individuals in Singapore and further examine variations of these perceptions. We applied a mixed-method research design. Firstly, we conducted qualitative interviews with 49 elderly respondents, generating 12 main subjective components of successful aging. Next, we did a national survey with a sample of 1,540 local residents aged 50 to 69 years, in which respondents were asked to evaluate the importance of each subjective component of successful aging. We used the regression models and latent class analysis to analyze the correlatives of successful aging and to classify the elderly individuals by perception types. Among 12 components of successful aging, those related to self-sufficiency received the highest acknowledgment among the elderly individuals in Singapore. At least half of them simultaneously highlighted independence from family and dependence on family. Malays and Indians in Singapore valued more of the roles of spouse and children in successful aging, as compared with Chinese. The latent class analysis classified four groups of the elderly individuals according to their lay views on successful aging. As compared with the western model of successful aging, the elderly individuals in Singapore perceived successful aging with a strong focus on familism. These lay perceptions also significantly varied among these elderly individuals. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

A mixed methods systematic review of success factors of mhealth and telehealth for maternal health in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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Ag Ahmed, Mohamed Ali; Gagnon, Marie-Pierre; Hamelin-Brabant, Louise; Mbemba, Gisele Irène Claudine; Alami, Hassane

2017-01-01

Access to health care is still limited for many women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), while it remains an important determinant of maternal mortality and morbidity. Information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as mhealth and telehealth, can help to facilitate this access by acting on the various obstacles encountered by women, be they socio-cultural, economic, geographical or organizational. However, various factors contribute to the success of mhealth and telehealth implementation and use, and must be considered for these technologies to go beyond the pilot project stage. The objective of this systematic literature review is to synthesize the empirical knowledge on the success factors of the implementation and use of telehealth and mhealth to facilitate access to maternal care in SSA. The methodology used is based on that of the Cochrane Collaboration, including a documentary search using standardized language in six databases, selection of studies corresponding to the inclusion criteria, data extraction, evaluation of study quality, and synthesis of the results. A total of 93 articles were identified, which allowed the inclusion of seven studies, six of which were on mhealth. Based on the framework proposed by Broens et al ., we synthesized success factors into five categories: (I) technology, such as technical support to maintain, troubleshoot and train users, good network coverage, existence of a source of energy and user friendliness; (II) user acceptance, which is facilitated by factors such as unrestricted use of the device, perceived usefulness to the worker, adequate literacy, or previous experience of use ; (III) short- and long-term funding; (IV) organizational factors, such as the existence of a well-organized health system and effective coordination of interventions; and (V) political or legislative aspects, in this case strong government support to deploy technology on a large scale. Telehealth and mhealth are promising solutions to reduce

An Immunohistochemical Approach to Identify the Sex of Young Marine Turtles.

Science.gov (United States)

Tezak, Boris M; Guthrie, Kathleen; Wyneken, Jeanette

2017-08-01

Marine turtles exhibit temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). During critical periods of embryonic development, the nest's thermal environment directs whether an embryo will develop as a male or female. At warmer sand temperatures, nests tend to produce female-biased sex ratios. The rapid increase of global temperature highlights the need for a clear assessment of its effects on sea turtle sex ratios. However, estimating hatchling sex ratios at rookeries remains imprecise due to the lack of sexual dimorphism in young marine turtles. We rely mainly upon laparoscopic procedures to verify hatchling sex; however, in some species, morphological sex can be ambiguous even at the histological level. Recent studies using immunohistochemical (IHC) techniques identified that embryonic snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) ovaries overexpressed a particular cold-induced RNA-binding protein in comparison to testes. This feature allows the identification of females vs. males. We modified this technique to successfully identify the sexes of loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) hatchlings, and independently confirmed the results by standard histological and laparoscopic methods that reliably identify sex in this species. We next tested the CIRBP IHC method on gonad samples from leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea). Leatherbacks display delayed gonad differentiation, when compared to other sea turtles, making hatchling gonads difficult to sex using standard H&E stain histology. The IHC approach was successful in both C. caretta and D. coriacea samples, offering a much-needed tool to establish baseline hatchling sex ratios, particularly for assessing impacts of climate change effects on leatherback turtle hatchlings and sea turtle demographics. Anat Rec, 300:1512-1518, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Tensor-optimized antisymmetrized molecular dynamics as a successive variational method in nuclear many-body system

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Myo, Takayuki, E-mail: takayuki.myo@oit.ac.jp [General Education, Faculty of Engineering, Osaka Institute of Technology, Osaka 535-8585 (Japan); Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University, Ibaraki 567-0047 (Japan); Toki, Hiroshi [Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University, Ibaraki 567-0047 (Japan); Ikeda, Kiyomi [RIKEN Nishina Center, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan); Horiuchi, Hisashi [Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University, Ibaraki 567-0047 (Japan); Suhara, Tadahiro [Matsue College of Technology, Matsue 690-8518 (Japan)

2017-06-10

We study the tensor-optimized antisymmetrized molecular dynamics (TOAMD) as a successive variational method in many-body systems with strong interaction for nuclei. In TOAMD, the correlation functions for the tensor force and the short-range repulsion and their multiples are operated to the AMD state as the variational wave function. The total wave function is expressed as the sum of all the components and the variational space can be increased successively with the multiple correlation functions to achieve convergence. All the necessary matrix elements of many-body operators, consisting of the multiple correlation functions and the Hamiltonian, are expressed analytically using the Gaussian integral formula. In this paper we show the results of TOAMD with up to the double products of the correlation functions for the s-shell nuclei, {sup 3}H and {sup 4}He, using the nucleon–nucleon interaction AV8′. It is found that the energies and Hamiltonian components of two nuclei converge rapidly with respect to the multiple of correlation functions. This result indicates the efficiency of TOAMD for the power series expansion in terms of the tensor and short-range correlation functions.

New successive variational method of tensor-optimized antisymmetrized molecular dynamics for nuclear many-body systems

Science.gov (United States)

Myo, Takayuki; Toki, Hiroshi; Ikeda, Kiyomi; Horiuchi, Hisashi; Suhara, Tadahiro

2017-07-01

We recently proposed a new variational theory of “tensor-optimized antisymmetrized molecular dynamics” (TOAMD), which treats the strong interaction explicitly for finite nuclei [T. Myo et al., Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys. 2015, 073D02 (2015)]. In TOAMD, the correlation functions for the tensor force and the short-range repulsion and their multiple products are successively operated to the AMD state. The correlated Hamiltonian is expanded into many-body operators by using the cluster expansion and all the resulting operators are taken into account in the calculation without any truncation. We show detailed results for TOAMD with the nucleon-nucleon interaction AV8‧ for s-shell nuclei. The binding energy and the Hamiltonian components are successively converged to exact values of the few-body calculations. We also apply TOAMD to the Malfliet-Tjon central potential having a strong short-range repulsion. TOAMD can treat the short-range correlation and provided accurate energies of s-shell nuclei, reproducing the results of few-body calculations. It turns out that the numerical accuracy of TOAMD with double products of the correlation functions is beyond the variational Monte Carlo method with Jastrow's product-type correlation functions.

Motivational Factors of Student Nurse Athletes Attributing to Academic Success.

Science.gov (United States)

Forst, Kimberly A

Student nurse athletes experience difficulties achieving academic success in nursing programs. The purpose of this study was to identify facilitators, barriers, and motivators of student nurse athletes that attribute to their academic success. Athletes ranked time management and prioritization as critical skills to success in the nursing program. This study reinforced the importance of academic support services for student nurse athletes to assist in their academic success.

Brief report: Comparison of methods to identify Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans using Department of Veterans Affairs administrative data.

Science.gov (United States)

Bangerter, Ann; Gravely, Amy; Cutting, Andrea; Clothier, Barb; Spoont, Michele; Sayer, Nina

2010-01-01

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has made treatment and care of Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) veterans a priority. Researchers face challenges identifying the OIF/OEF population because until fiscal year 2008, no indicator of OIF/OEF service was present in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) administrative databases typically used for research. In this article, we compare an algorithm we developed to identify OIF/OEF veterans using the Austin Information Technology Center administrative data with the VHA Support Service Center OIF/OEF Roster and veterans' self-report of military service. We drew data from two different institutional review board-approved funded studies. The positive predictive value of our algorithm compared with the VHA Support Service Center OIF/OEF Roster and self-report was 92% and 98%, respectively. However, this method of identifying OIF/OEF veterans failed to identify a large proportion of OIF/OEF veterans listed in the VHA Support Service Center OIF/OEF Roster. Demographic, diagnostic, and VA service use differences were found between veterans identified using our method and those we failed to identify but who were in the VHA Support Service Center OIF/OEF Roster. Therefore, depending on the research objective, this method may not be a viable alternative to the VHA Support Service Center OIF/OEF Roster for identifying OIF/OEF veterans.

How Analysis Informs Regulation:Success and Failure of ...

Science.gov (United States)

How Analysis Informs Regulation:Success and Failure of Evolving Approaches to Polyfluoroalkyl Acid Contamination The National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize the movement of pollutants from the source to contact with humans. Our multidisciplinary research program produces Methods, Measurements, and Models to identify relationships between and characterize processes that link source emissions, environmental concentrations, human exposures, and target-tissue dose. The impact of these tools is improved regulatory programs and policies for EPA.

A Novel Application of a Hybrid Delphi-Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Technique: Identifying Key Success Factors in the Strategic Alignment of Collaborative Heterarchical Transportation Networks for Supply Chains

OpenAIRE

Yasanur Kayikci; Volker Stix; Larry J. LeBlanc; Michael R. Bartolacci

2014-01-01

This research studies heterarchical collaboration in logistical transport. Specifically, it utilizes a hybrid Delphi-Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach to explore the relevant criteria for the formation and maintenance of a strategic alignment for heterarchical transport collaboration. The importance of this work is that it applies a novel hybrid approach for identifying criteria for success to a little-studied form of supply chain collaboration: heterarchical collaborative transport. ...

New Method to Identify Field Joint Coating Failures Based on MFL In-Line Inspection Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lianshuang Dai

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Above ground indirect detections and random excavations that have applied the past years for buried long distance oil and gas pipelines can only identify some damaged coating locations. Hence, large number of field joint coating (FJC failures happen unconsciously until they lead to failures of the pipelines. Based on the analysis of magnetic flux leakage (MFL in-line inspection (ILI signals, combined with the statistical results of 414 excavations from two different pipeline sections, a new method to identify the failed FJC is established. Though it can only identify FJC failures when there are signs of corrosion on pipe body, it is much more efficient and cost-saving. The concluded identification rule still needs more validations and improvements to be more applicable and accuracy.

Methods for identifying 30 chronic conditions: application to administrative data.

Science.gov (United States)

Tonelli, Marcello; Wiebe, Natasha; Fortin, Martin; Guthrie, Bruce; Hemmelgarn, Brenda R; James, Matthew T; Klarenbach, Scott W; Lewanczuk, Richard; Manns, Braden J; Ronksley, Paul; Sargious, Peter; Straus, Sharon; Quan, Hude

2015-04-17

Multimorbidity is common and associated with poor clinical outcomes and high health care costs. Administrative data are a promising tool for studying the epidemiology of multimorbidity. Our goal was to derive and apply a new scheme for using administrative data to identify the presence of chronic conditions and multimorbidity. We identified validated algorithms that use ICD-9 CM/ICD-10 data to ascertain the presence or absence of 40 morbidities. Algorithms with both positive predictive value and sensitivity ≥70% were graded as "high validity"; those with positive predictive value ≥70% and sensitivity <70% were graded as "moderate validity". To show proof of concept, we applied identified algorithms with high to moderate validity to inpatient and outpatient claims and utilization data from 574,409 people residing in Edmonton, Canada during the 2008/2009 fiscal year. Of the 40 morbidities, we identified 30 that could be identified with high to moderate validity. Approximately one quarter of participants had identified multimorbidity (2 or more conditions), one quarter had a single identified morbidity and the remaining participants were not identified as having any of the 30 morbidities. We identified a panel of 30 chronic conditions that can be identified from administrative data using validated algorithms, facilitating the study and surveillance of multimorbidity. We encourage other groups to use this scheme, to facilitate comparisons between settings and jurisdictions.

Black Artists' Music Videos: Three Successful Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson-Lewis, Sonja; Chennault, Shirley A.

1986-01-01

Identifies three successful self-presentational patterns used by black artists to penetrate the music television market. Discusses the historical relationship between minorities and the mass media. (MS)

Impact of Leadership Styles on Project Success – The Case of a Multinational Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bálint Blaskovics

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Literature on project success mainly focused on identifying and analyzing success criteria and critical success factors. Success criteria are used for evaluating the success of a project and critical success factors are those factors which increase the potential for achieving project success. However, the interrelationships among them were rarely analyzed, although researchers highlighted the importance of these interrelationships. The aim of the paper is to identify a leadership style, of which project managers can maximize the potential for achieving project success. Project success is analyzed from the point of view of success criteria. This approach manages the shortcoming mentioned above, the lack of analyzing interrelationships among critical success factors and success criteria. This outcome is drawn from qualitative field research at a subsidiary of a Scandinavian-based multinational company.

A method to identify dependencies between organizational factors using statistical independence test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Y.; Chung, C.H.; Kim, C.; Jae, M.; Jung, J.H.

2004-01-01

A considerable number of studies on organizational factors in nuclear power plants have been made especially in recent years, most of which have assumed organizational factors to be independent. However, since organizational factors characterize the organization in terms of safety and efficiency etc. and there would be some factors that have close relations between them. Therefore, from whatever point of view, if we want to identify the characteristics of an organization, the dependence relationships should be considered to get an accurate result. In this study the organization of a reference nuclear power plant in Korea was analyzed for the trip cases of that plant using 20 organizational factors that Jacobs and Haber had suggested: 1) coordination of work, 2) formalization, 3) organizational knowledge, 4) roles and responsibilities, 5) external communication, 6) inter-department communications, 7) intra-departmental communications, 8) organizational culture, 9) ownership, 10) safety culture, 11) time urgency, 12) centralization, 13) goal prioritization, 14) organizational learning, 15) problem identification, 16) resource allocation, 17) performance evaluation, 18) personnel selection, 19) technical knowledge, and 20) training. By utilizing the results of the analysis, a method to identify the dependence relationships between organizational factors is presented. The statistical independence test for the analysis result of the trip cases is adopted to reveal dependencies. This method is geared to the needs to utilize many kinds of data that has been obtained as the operating years of nuclear power plants increase, and more reliable dependence relations may be obtained by using these abundant data

Results from an exploratory study to identify the factors that contribute to success for UK medical device small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Science.gov (United States)

Hourd, P C; Williams, D J

2008-07-01

This paper reports the results from an exploratory study that sets out to identify and compare the strategic approaches and patterns of business practice employed by 14 UK small- and medium-sized enterprises to achieve success in the medical device sector of the health-care industry. An interview-based survey was used to construct individual case studies of the medical device technology (MDT) companies. A cross-case analysis was performed to search for patterns and themes that cut across these individual cases. Exploratory results revealed the heterogeneity of MDT companies and the distinctive features of the MDT innovation process that emphasize the importance of a strategic approach for achieving milestones in the product development and exploitation process and for creating value for the company and its stakeholders. Recognizing the heterogeneity of MDT companies, these exploratory findings call for further investigation to understand better the influence of components of the MDT innovation process on the commercialization life cycle and value trajectory. This is required to assist start-up or spin-out MDT companies in the UK and worldwide to navigate the critical transitions that determine access to financial and consumer markets and enhance the potential to build a successful business. This will be important not only for bioscience-based companies but also for engineering-based companies aiming to convert their activities into medical devices and the health- and social-care market.

WMAXC: a weighted maximum clique method for identifying condition-specific sub-network.

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Bayarbaatar Amgalan

Full Text Available Sub-networks can expose complex patterns in an entire bio-molecular network by extracting interactions that depend on temporal or condition-specific contexts. When genes interact with each other during cellular processes, they may form differential co-expression patterns with other genes across different cell states. The identification of condition-specific sub-networks is of great importance in investigating how a living cell adapts to environmental changes. In this work, we propose the weighted MAXimum clique (WMAXC method to identify a condition-specific sub-network. WMAXC first proposes scoring functions that jointly measure condition-specific changes to both individual genes and gene-gene co-expressions. It then employs a weaker formula of a general maximum clique problem and relates the maximum scored clique of a weighted graph to the optimization of a quadratic objective function under sparsity constraints. We combine a continuous genetic algorithm and a projection procedure to obtain a single optimal sub-network that maximizes the objective function (scoring function over the standard simplex (sparsity constraints. We applied the WMAXC method to both simulated data and real data sets of ovarian and prostate cancer. Compared with previous methods, WMAXC selected a large fraction of cancer-related genes, which were enriched in cancer-related pathways. The results demonstrated that our method efficiently captured a subset of genes relevant under the investigated condition.

MODEL OF TRAINING OF SUCCESS IN LIFE

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Екатерина Александровна Лежнева

2014-04-01

Full Text Available The article explains the importance of the development of motive to succeed in adolescence. It is determined the value of the motive to achieve success in the further development of the teenager: a motive to achieve effective internal forces mobilized for the implementation of successful operation ensures the active involvement of teenagers in social and interpersonal relationships. As the primary means of motive development success is considered training. The author provides a definition of "training for success in life," creates a model of training for success in life, and describes its units (targeted, informative, technological, productive, reveals the successful development of the technology life strategy used during the training (self-presentation, targets, incentives, subject-orientation. The author pays attention to the need for a future psychologist to develop teenagers’ motive to achieve success through the mastery of competence in constructing a model of training for success in life, and its implementation in the course of professional activities. The main means of training students of psychology to the use of training success in life identified the additional educational programs and psychological section.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12731/2218-7405-2013-9-77

What influences success in family medicine maternity care education programs?

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Biringer, Anne; Forte, Milena; Tobin, Anastasia; Shaw, Elizabeth; Tannenbaum, David

2018-01-01

Abstract Objective To ascertain how program leaders in family medicine characterize success in family medicine maternity care education and determine which factors influence the success of training programs. Design Qualitative research using semistructured telephone interviews. Setting Purposive sample of 6 family medicine programs from 5 Canadian provinces. Participants Eighteen departmental leaders and program directors. METHODS Semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with program leaders in family medicine maternity care. Departmental leaders identified maternity care programs deemed to be “successful.” Interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim. Team members conducted thematic analysis. Main findings Participants considered their education programs to be successful in family medicine maternity care if residents achieved competency in intrapartum care, if graduates planned to include intrapartum care in their practices, and if their education programs were able to recruit and retain family medicine maternity care faculty. Five key factors were deemed to be critical to a program’s success in family medicine maternity care: adequate clinical exposure, the presence of strong family medicine role models, a family medicine–friendly hospital environment, support for the education program from multiple sources, and a dedicated and supportive community of family medicine maternity care providers. Conclusion Training programs wishing to achieve greater success in family medicine maternity care education should employ a multifaceted strategy that considers all 5 of the interdependent factors uncovered in our research. By paying particular attention to the informal processes that connect these factors, program leaders can preserve the possibility that family medicine residents will graduate with the competence and confidence to practise full-scope maternity care. PMID:29760273

Supporting successful inclusive practices for learners with disabilities in high schools: a multisite, mixed method collective case study.

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Maciver, Donald; Hunter, Cathleen; Adamson, Amanda; Grayson, Zoe; Forsyth, Kirsty; McLeod, Iona

2018-07-01

The increase in the number of individuals with disabilities in general education has led to an increased interest in how to best provide support. Despite an emphasis on inclusion and participation in policy and practice, defining and describing the support provided for these learners is still an important task. This multisite, mixed method collective case study reports on 125 education and other staff from seven schools who took part in interviews and focus groups to reflect on a range of topics related to learners with disabilities in high schools. We focused on what the participants did, what they considered to be successful and what their "best" practices were. Descriptions of practices were rich, nuanced and complex. The analysis identified over 200 "strategies" which were synthesized into two meta-themes and eight subthemes. We discuss the results in the context of an ecological perspective, and the importance of focusing on the full range of influences and outcomes for young people in designing supports. We have drawn on evidence from this study as a basis for professional development activities and identified that focusing on the environment and the role of practitioners has a potential to improve the inclusion outcomes for older learners with disabilities. Implications for Rehabilitation Inclusion is influenced by the physical environment, attitudes, expectations and opportunities, in addition to a learner's skills and abilities. Schools should focus on the environment and teachers' practices, rather than on what an individual learner can or cannot do. The practices discussed in this study reflect those that a range of educators and related services personnel agree are realistic, appropriate and effective. Change may be led by the school management team; however, there are many ways in which all staff can contribute; indeed, approaches will not work effectively unless they are understood and implemented by everyone.

Successful Business Intelligence System for SME: An Analytical Study in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Qushem, Umar Bin; Zeki, Akram M.; Abubakar, Adamu

2017-08-01

While many larger organizations is adhering to a new level of competence by adoption of advanced Business Intelligence (BI) systems, in the same time there are other small-medium companies who are left behind in terms of updating them for better success in the industry. Thus the aim of the research is to identify Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) specific determinants for Business Intelligence efficiency which will lead those organizations a better understanding of development and testing of BI framework in the business world. In this study, it is therefore considered extensive literature reviews to measure the efficiently factors and proposed a holistic conceptual framework. In the same time, feedbacks of the Business Intelligent experts were taken into consideration to provide new insights for SME companies to ensure where to focus and which type of sector is crucial for an SME organization in order to be successful in parallel with Big organizations. Thus in this regard, Quantitative Survey research method is used and Statistical analysis were used for analyzing the data. The results revealed that SME Companies should focus on Environmental factor (EF) as it is the most identified factor lead BI efficiency in Business Organization.

Predicting Success in an Online Course Using Expectancies, Values, and Typical Mode of Instruction

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmerman, Whitney Alicia

2017-01-01

Expectancies of success and values were used to predict success in an online undergraduate-level introductory statistics course. Students who identified as primarily face-to-face learners were compared to students who identified as primarily online learners. Expectancy value theory served as a model. Expectancies of success were operationalized as…

Surveillance of extreme hyperbilirubinaemia in Denmark. A method to identify the newborn infants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerre, J.V.; Petersen, Jes Reinholdt; Ebbesen, F.

2008-01-01

birth and the others after having been discharged. The maximum TSB was 485 (450-734) micromol/L (median [range]) and appeared latest amongst those infants admitted from home, but was not different from the maximum TSB of the nondischarged infants. Forty-three infants had symptoms of early-phase acute....... The observed incidence of extreme hyperbilirubinaemia is higher than previously reported in Denmark. This is mainly due to a very sensitive method of identifying the study group Udgivelsesdato: 2008/8...

An extended data mining method for identifying differentially expressed assay-specific signatures in functional genomic studies

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Rollins Derrick K

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Microarray data sets provide relative expression levels for thousands of genes for a small number, in comparison, of different experimental conditions called assays. Data mining techniques are used to extract specific information of genes as they relate to the assays. The multivariate statistical technique of principal component analysis (PCA has proven useful in providing effective data mining methods. This article extends the PCA approach of Rollins et al. to the development of ranking genes of microarray data sets that express most differently between two biologically different grouping of assays. This method is evaluated on real and simulated data and compared to a current approach on the basis of false discovery rate (FDR and statistical power (SP which is the ability to correctly identify important genes. Results This work developed and evaluated two new test statistics based on PCA and compared them to a popular method that is not PCA based. Both test statistics were found to be effective as evaluated in three case studies: (i exposing E. coli cells to two different ethanol levels; (ii application of myostatin to two groups of mice; and (iii a simulated data study derived from the properties of (ii. The proposed method (PM effectively identified critical genes in these studies based on comparison with the current method (CM. The simulation study supports higher identification accuracy for PM over CM for both proposed test statistics when the gene variance is constant and for one of the test statistics when the gene variance is non-constant. Conclusions PM compares quite favorably to CM in terms of lower FDR and much higher SP. Thus, PM can be quite effective in producing accurate signatures from large microarray data sets for differential expression between assays groups identified in a preliminary step of the PCA procedure and is, therefore, recommended for use in these applications.

Identifying attendance patterns in a smoking cessation treatment and their relationships with quit success.

Science.gov (United States)

Jacquart, Jolene; Papini, Santiago; Davis, Michelle L; Rosenfield, David; Powers, Mark B; Frierson, Georita M; Hopkins, Lindsey B; Baird, Scarlett O; Marcus, Bess H; Church, Timothy S; Otto, Michael W; Zvolensky, Michael J; Smits, Jasper A J

2017-05-01

While important for substance use outcomes, knowledge about treatment attendance patterns, and their relation with clinical outcomes is limited. We examined the association between attendance patterns and smoking outcomes in a randomized, controlled smoking cessation intervention trial. In addition to standard smoking cessation treatment, participants were randomized to 15 weeks of an exercise intervention (n=72) or an education control condition (n=64). Latent class growth analysis (LCGA) tested whether intervention attendance would be better modeled as qualitatively distinct attendance patterns rather than as a single mean pattern. Multivariate generalized linear mixed modeling (GLMM) was used to evaluate associations between the attendance patterns and abstinence at the end of treatment and at 6-month follow-up. The LCGA solution with three patterns characterized by high probability of attendance throughout (Completers, 46.3%), gradual decreasing probability of attendance (Titrators, 23.5%), and high probability of dropout within the first few weeks (Droppers, 30.1%) provided the best fit. The GLMM analysis indicated an interaction of attendance pattern by treatment condition, such that titration was associated with lower probability of quit success for those in the control condition. Probability of quit success was not significantly different between Titrators and Completers in the exercise condition. These findings underscore the importance of examining how treatment efficacy may vary as a function of attendance patterns. Importantly, treatment discontinuation is not necessarily indicative of poorer abstinence outcome. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Project management practice and its effects on project success in Malaysian construction industry

Science.gov (United States)

Haron, N. A.; Devi, P.; Hassim, S.; Alias, A. H.; Tahir, M. M.; Harun, A. N.

2017-12-01

The rapid economic development has increased the demand for construction of infrastructure and facilities globally. Sustainable development and globalization are the new ‘Zeitgeist’ of the 21st century. In order to implement these projects successfully and to meet the functional aim of the projects within their lifetime, an efficient project management practice is needed. The aim of this study is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) and the extent of use of project management practice which affects project success, especially during the implementation stage. Data were obtained from self-administered questionnaires with 232 respondents. A mixed method of data collection was adopted using semi-structured interview and questionnaire approach. The result of the analysis of data obtained showed that new and emerging criteria such as customer satisfaction, competency of the project team, and performance of subcontractors/suppliers are becoming measures of success in addition to the classic iron triangle’s view of time, cost and quality. An insight on the extent of use of different project management practice in the industry was also achieved from the study.

Biotinylation of lysine method identifies acetylated histone H3 lysine 79 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a substrate for Sir2.

Science.gov (United States)

Bheda, Poonam; Swatkoski, Stephen; Fiedler, Katherine L; Boeke, Jef D; Cotter, Robert J; Wolberger, Cynthia

2012-04-17

Although the biological roles of many members of the sirtuin family of lysine deacetylases have been well characterized, a broader understanding of their role in biology is limited by the challenges in identifying new substrates. We present here an in vitro method that combines biotinylation and mass spectrometry (MS) to identify substrates deacetylated by sirtuins. The method permits labeling of deacetylated residues with amine-reactive biotin on the ε-nitrogen of lysine. The biotin can be utilized to purify the substrate and identify the deacetylated lysine by MS. The biotinyl-lysine method was used to compare deacetylation of chemically acetylated histones by the yeast sirtuins, Sir2 and Hst2. Intriguingly, Sir2 preferentially deacetylates histone H3 lysine 79 as compared to Hst2. Although acetylation of K79 was not previously reported in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we demonstrate that a minor population of this residue is indeed acetylated in vivo and show that Sir2, and not Hst2, regulates the acetylation state of H3 lysine 79. The in vitro biotinyl-lysine method combined with chemical acetylation made it possible to identify this previously unknown, low-abundance histone acetyl modification in vivo. This method has further potential to identify novel sirtuin deacetylation substrates in whole cell extracts, enabling large-scale screens for new deacetylase substrates.

The phylogenetics of succession can guide restoration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shooner, Stephanie; Chisholm, Chelsea Lee; Davies, T. Jonathan

2015-01-01

Phylogenetic tools have increasingly been used in community ecology to describe the evolutionary relationships among co-occurring species. In studies of succession, such tools may allow us to identify the evolutionary lineages most suited for particular stages of succession and habitat...... rehabilitation. However, to date, these two applications have been largely separate. Here, we suggest that information on phylogenetic community structure might help to inform community restoration strategies following major disturbance. Our study examined phylogenetic patterns of succession based...... for species sorting along abiotic gradients (slope and aspect) on the mine sites that had been abandoned for the longest. Synthesis and applications. Understanding the trajectory of succession is critical for restoration efforts. Our results suggest that early colonizers represent a phylogenetically random...

Highly effective cystic fibrosis clinical research teams: critical success factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Retsch-Bogart, George Z; Van Dalfsen, Jill M; Marshall, Bruce C; George, Cynthia; Pilewski, Joseph M; Nelson, Eugene C; Goss, Christopher H; Ramsey, Bonnie W

2014-08-01

Bringing new therapies to patients with rare diseases depends in part on optimizing clinical trial conduct through efficient study start-up processes and rapid enrollment. Suboptimal execution of clinical trials in academic medical centers not only results in high cost to institutions and sponsors, but also delays the availability of new therapies. Addressing the factors that contribute to poor outcomes requires novel, systematic approaches tailored to the institution and disease under study. To use clinical trial performance metrics data analysis to select high-performing cystic fibrosis (CF) clinical research teams and then identify factors contributing to their success. Mixed-methods research, including semi-structured qualitative interviews of high-performing research teams. CF research teams at nine clinical centers from the CF Foundation Therapeutics Development Network. Survey of site characteristics, direct observation of team meetings and facilities, and semi-structured interviews with clinical research team members and institutional program managers and leaders in clinical research. Critical success factors noted at all nine high-performing centers were: 1) strong leadership, 2) established and effective communication within the research team and with the clinical care team, and 3) adequate staff. Other frequent characteristics included a mature culture of research, customer service orientation in interactions with study participants, shared efficient processes, continuous process improvement activities, and a businesslike approach to clinical research. Clinical research metrics allowed identification of high-performing clinical research teams. Site visits identified several critical factors leading to highly successful teams that may help other clinical research teams improve clinical trial performance.

Identifying Pornographic Materials with Judgment Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Houston, Judith A.; Houston, Samuel R.

1974-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if a policy-capturing methodology (JAN) which has been successfully utilized in military and educational research could be adapted for use as a procedure in identifying pornographic material. (Author)

MANAGEMENT APPROACH BETWEEN BUSINESS CLUSTER SUCCESS AND SOFT LEADER CHARACTERISTICS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Lippert

2014-05-01

Full Text Available One of the potential aspects of economic growth lies in focusing on furtherance the development of business clusters. By linking the complementary competencies of profit oriented enterprises, NGO-s, universities, research institutes and local authorities, the innovation potential and the productivity are significantly increased. The present study investigates a specific and challenging managerial activity, the role of the cluster manager. The aim of the research is to reveal the intrinsic motivation of cluster operations and to demonstrate the importance of the manager in the efficient and sustainable operation. An empirical research has been conducted involving cluster managers and member organisations through an extensive questionnaire survey in Hungary. First, determinant factors of cluster success have been identified. By using these factors, as the operational activity of the cluster, as well as the satisfaction of the members in the field of innovation and productivity, a new continuous three-dimensional maturity model has been introduced to evaluate the cluster success. Mapping the soft factors, organisational culture and leadership roles have been assessed by applying Competing Values Framework method. The results of the research depict the correlation found between soft leader characteristics and cluster success.

Nurse manager succession planning: a concept analysis.

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Titzer, Jennifer L; Shirey, Maria R

2013-01-01

The current nursing leadership pipeline is inadequate and demands strategic succession planning methods. This article provides concept clarification regarding nurse manager succession planning. Attributes common to succession planning include organizational commitment and resource allocation, proactive and visionary leadership approach, and a mentoring and coaching environment. Strategic planning, current and future leadership analysis, high-potential identification, and leadership development are succession planning antecedents. Consequences of succession planning are improved leadership and organizational culture continuity, and increased leadership bench strength. Health care has failed to strategically plan for future leadership. Developing a strong nursing leadership pipeline requires deliberate and strategic succession planning. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Dietary patterns as predictors of successful ageing.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodge, A M; O'Dea, K; English, D R; Giles, G G; Flicker, L

2014-03-01

To examine associations between dietary patterns identified by factor analysis, and successful ageing. Prospective cohort study with diet measured in 1990-4, and successful ageing in 2003-7. Ordered logistic regression with outcome determined as dead/usual ageing/successful ageing was used to examine associations with quintile groups of dietary factor scores. Men and women (n=6308), without history of major illness at baseline, and aged >70 years at follow-up, or who had died before follow-up but would have been aged >70 at the commencement of follow-up, from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study. Frequencies of intake of 121 foods at baseline were collected in a food frequency questionnaire. Anthropometry and other health and lifestyle data were collected. At follow-up, questionnaire data relating to mental health, physical function and medical history were used to define successful ageing. Four dietary factors were identified, characterized by higher loadings for (1) vegetables; (2) fruit, (3) feta, legumes, salad, olive oil, and inverse loadings for tea, margarine, cake, sweet biscuits and puddings; (4) meat, white bread, savoury pastry dishes and fried foods. In models excluding body size, the second factor 'Fruit' was positively associated with successful ageing (OR in top 20% vs lowest 20% of score 1.31, 95%CI (1.05-1.63), p trend across quintile groups 0.001); while the fourth factor 'Meat/fatty foods' was inversely associated (OR in top 20% vs lowest 20% of score 0.69, 95%CI (0.55-0.86), p trend across quintile groups 0.001). Factors 1 and 3 did not show significant associations with successful ageing. The association for 'Fruit' was little altered after adjustment for body size, while for 'Meat/fatty foods' the association was somewhat attenuated. A dietary pattern including plenty of fruit while limiting meat and fried foods may improve the likelihood of ageing successfully.

Galectin-3, osteopontin and successful aging.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchis-Gomar, Fabian; Santos-Lozano, Alejandro; Pareja-Galeano, Helios; Garatachea, Nuria; Alis, Rafael; Fiuza-Luces, Carmen; Morán, María; Emanuele, Enzo; Lucia, Alejandro

2016-05-01

Individuals who reach exceptional longevity (100+ years of age) free of common chronic age diseases (i.e. 'dodgers') arguably represent the paradigm of successful aging in humans. As such, identification of potential biomarkers associated with this phenomenon is of medical interest. We measured serum levels of galectin-3 and osteopontin, both of which have been shown to be linked with major chronic or aging-related disorders in younger populations, in centenarian 'dodgers' (n=81; 40 men; 100-104 years) and healthy controls (n=41; 24 men, 70-80 years). Both biomarkers showed significantly lower values (p<0.001) in the former (galectin-3: 2.4±1.7 vs. 4.8±2.8 ng/mL; osteopontin: 38.1±27.7 vs. 72.6±33.1 μg/mL). Logistic regression analysis identified the combination of these two biomarkers as a significant predictor variable associated with successful aging regardless of sex (p<0.001). The area under the curve (AUC) classified the ability of galectin-3 and osteopontin to predict the likelihood of successful aging as 'fair' (AUC=0.75) and 'good' (AUC=0.80), respectively. Particularly, the combination of the two biomarkers showed good discriminatory power for successful aging (AUC=0.86), with sensitivity=83% and specificity=74%. Lower levels of both galectin-3 and osteopontin are associated with successful aging, representing potential biomarkers of this condition. Our cross-sectional data must be however approached with caution. Further research is necessary to replicate the present preliminary results in other cohorts and to identify the potential use of galectin-3 and osteopontin as potential targets (or at least predictors) in future personalized anti-aging therapies.

Factors Determining the Success and Failure of eHealth Interventions: Systematic Review of the Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Janssen, Wouter; Johansen, Monika Alise

2018-01-01

Background eHealth has an enormous potential to improve healthcare cost, effectiveness, and quality of care. However, there seems to be a gap between the foreseen benefits of research and clinical reality. Objective Our objective was to systematically review the factors influencing the outcome of eHealth interventions in terms of success and failure. Methods We searched the PubMed database for original peer-reviewed studies on implemented eHealth tools that reported on the factors for the success or failure, or both, of the intervention. We conducted the systematic review by following the patient, intervention, comparison, and outcome framework, with 2 of the authors independently reviewing the abstract and full text of the articles. We collected data using standardized forms that reflected the categorization model used in the qualitative analysis of the outcomes reported in the included articles. Results Among the 903 identified articles, a total of 221 studies complied with the inclusion criteria. The studies were heterogeneous by country, type of eHealth intervention, method of implementation, and reporting perspectives. The article frequency analysis did not show a significant discrepancy between the number of reports on failure (392/844, 46.5%) and on success (452/844, 53.6%). The qualitative analysis identified 27 categories that represented the factors for success or failure of eHealth interventions. A quantitative analysis of the results revealed the category quality of healthcare (n=55) as the most mentioned as contributing to the success of eHealth interventions, and the category costs (n=42) as the most mentioned as contributing to failure. For the category with the highest unique article frequency, workflow (n=51), we conducted a full-text review. The analysis of the 23 articles that met the inclusion criteria identified 6 barriers related to workflow: workload (n=12), role definition (n=7), undermining of face-to-face communication (n=6), workflow

A Meta-Analysis of Bilateral Essure® Procedural Placement Success Rates on First Attempt.

Science.gov (United States)

Frietze, Gabriel; Leyser-Whalen, Ophra; Rahman, Mahbubur; Rouhani, Mahta; Berenson, Abbey B

2015-12-01

Background: The Essure ® (Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Leverkusen, Germany) female sterilization procedure entails using a hysteroscope to guide a microinsert into the Fallopian tube openings. Failed placement can lead to patient dissatisfaction, repeat procedures, unintended or ectopic pregnancy, perforation of internal organs, or need for subsequent medical interventions. Additional interventions increase women's health risks, and costs for patients and the health care industry. Demonstrated successful placement rates are 63%-100%. To date, there have not been any systematic analyses of variables associated with placement rates. Objectives: The aims of this review were: (1) to estimate the average rate of successful bilateral Essure microinsert placement on first attempt; and (2) to identify variables associated with successful placement. Materials and Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted on 64 published studies and 19 variables. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, all published studies between November 2001 and February 2015 were reviewed. The studies were taken from from PubMed and Google Scholar, and by using the the "snowball" method that reported variables associated with successful bilateral Essure placement rates. Results: The weighted average rate of successful bilateral microinsert placement on first attempt was 92% (0.92 [95% confidence interval: 0.904-0.931]). Variables associated with successful placements were: (1) newer device models; (2) higher body mass index; and (3) a higher percent of patients who received local anesthesia. Conclusions: The data gathered for this review indicate that the highest bilateral success rates may be obtained by utilizing the newest Essure device model with local anesthesia in heavier patients. More standardized data reporting in published Essure studies is recommended. (J GYNECOL SURG 31:308).

Success Factors for Personal Sale - Transaction Oriented

OpenAIRE

Daniel Mihai Vasiliu

2011-01-01

This paper aims to demonstrate that a complex of factors, which I called “the success factors", which decisively influence the sale process. Currently, companies spend significant amounts of money each year to train sales representatives in the art sale. Banking institutions are designed to successfully meet the financial needs of the customers, to identify new needs, to reshape banking products and services, to create and launch new products and services on market.

Validation of a Consensus Method for Identifying Delirium from Hospital Records

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhn, Elvira; Du, Xinyi; McGrath, Keith; Coveney, Sarah; O'Regan, Niamh; Richardson, Sarah; Teodorczuk, Andrew; Allan, Louise; Wilson, Dan; Inouye, Sharon K.; MacLullich, Alasdair M. J.; Meagher, David; Brayne, Carol; Timmons, Suzanne; Davis, Daniel

2014-01-01

Background Delirium is increasingly considered to be an important determinant of trajectories of cognitive decline. Therefore, analyses of existing cohort studies measuring cognitive outcomes could benefit from methods to ascertain a retrospective delirium diagnosis. This study aimed to develop and validate such a method for delirium detection using routine medical records in UK and Ireland. Methods A point prevalence study of delirium provided the reference-standard ratings for delirium diagnosis. Blinded to study results, clinical vignettes were compiled from participants' medical records in a standardised manner, describing any relevant delirium symptoms recorded in the whole case record for the period leading up to case-ascertainment. An expert panel rated each vignette as unlikely, possible, or probable delirium and disagreements were resolved by consensus. Results From 95 case records, 424 vignettes were abstracted by 5 trained clinicians. There were 29 delirium cases according to the reference standard. Median age of subjects was 76.6 years (interquartile range 54.6 to 82.5). Against the original study DSM-IV diagnosis, the chart abstraction method gave a positive likelihood ratio (LR) of 7.8 (95% CI 5.7–12.0) and the negative LR of 0.45 (95% CI 0.40–0.47) for probable delirium (sensitivity 0.58 (95% CI 0.53–0.62); specificity 0.93 (95% CI 0.90–0.95); AUC 0.86 (95% CI 0.82–0.89)). The method diagnosed possible delirium with positive LR 3.5 (95% CI 2.9–4.3) and negative LR 0.15 (95% CI 0.11–0.21) (sensitivity 0.89 (95% CI 0.85–0.91); specificity 0.75 (95% CI 0.71–0.79); AUC 0.86 (95% CI 0.80–0.89)). Conclusions This chart abstraction method can retrospectively diagnose delirium in hospitalised patients with good accuracy. This has potential for retrospectively identifying delirium in cohort studies where routine medical records are available. This example of record linkage between hospitalisations and epidemiological data may lead to

Using Critical Thinking Teaching Methods to Increase Student Success: An Action Research Project

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Nold, Herbert

2017-01-01

Numerous studies and United States Department of Education reports indicate that university graduates lack critical thinking and problem solving skills that are needed for success in both the classroom and the modern workplace. Success in the classroom and workplace is a function of many attributes that change with the situation, but the ability…

A Partial Theory of Executive Succession.

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Thiemann, Francis C.

This study has two purposes: (1) To construct a partial theory of succession, and (2) to utilize a method of theory construction which combines some of the concepts of Hans Zetterberg with the principles of formal symbolic logic. A bibliography on succession in complex organizations with entries on descriptive and empirical studies from various…

Success and Near Misses: Pre-Service Teachers' Use, Confidence and Success in Various Classroom Management Strategies

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Reupert, Andrea; Woodcock, Stuart

2010-01-01

While the importance of effective classroom management is repeatedly made, there is little comprehensive research identifying the management strategies pre-service teachers employ, nor how successful or confident they find various strategies. Accordingly, 336 Canadian pre-service teachers were surveyed. It was found that pre-service teachers…

Methods for simultaneously identifying coherent local clusters with smooth global patterns in gene expression profiles

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Lee Yun-Shien

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The hierarchical clustering tree (HCT with a dendrogram 1 and the singular value decomposition (SVD with a dimension-reduced representative map 2 are popular methods for two-way sorting the gene-by-array matrix map employed in gene expression profiling. While HCT dendrograms tend to optimize local coherent clustering patterns, SVD leading eigenvectors usually identify better global grouping and transitional structures. Results This study proposes a flipping mechanism for a conventional agglomerative HCT using a rank-two ellipse (R2E, an improved SVD algorithm for sorting purpose seriation by Chen 3 as an external reference. While HCTs always produce permutations with good local behaviour, the rank-two ellipse seriation gives the best global grouping patterns and smooth transitional trends. The resulting algorithm automatically integrates the desirable properties of each method so that users have access to a clustering and visualization environment for gene expression profiles that preserves coherent local clusters and identifies global grouping trends. Conclusion We demonstrate, through four examples, that the proposed method not only possesses better numerical and statistical properties, it also provides more meaningful biomedical insights than other sorting algorithms. We suggest that sorted proximity matrices for genes and arrays, in addition to the gene-by-array expression matrix, can greatly aid in the search for comprehensive understanding of gene expression structures. Software for the proposed methods can be obtained at http://gap.stat.sinica.edu.tw/Software/GAP.

Success factors for strategic change initiatives: a qualitative study of healthcare administrators' perspectives.

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Kash, Bita Arbab; Spaulding, Aaron; Johnson, Christopher E; Gamm, Larry

2014-01-01

Success factors related to the implementation of change initiatives are well documented and discussed in the management literature, but they are seldom studied in healthcare organizations engaged in multiple strategic change initiatives. The purpose of this study was to identify key success factors related to implementation of change initiatives based on rich qualitative data gathered from health leader interviews at two large health systems implementing multiple change initiatives. In-depth personal interviews with 61 healthcare leaders in the two large systems were conducted and inductive qualitative analysis was employed to identify success factors associated with 13 change initiatives. Results from this analysis were compared to success factors identified in the literature, and generalizations were drawn that add significantly to the management literature, especially to that in the healthcare sector. Ten specific success factors were identified for the implementation of change initiatives. The top three success factors were (1) culture and values, (2) business processes, and (3) people and engagement. Two of the identified success factors are unique to the healthcare sector and not found in the literature on change models: service quality and client satisfaction (ranked fourth of 10) and access to information (ranked ninth). Results demonstrate the importance of human resource functions, alignment of culture and values with change, and business processes that facilitate effective communication and access to information to achieve many change initiatives. The responses also suggest opportunities for leaders of healthcare organizations to more formally recognize the degree to which various change initiatives are dependent on one another.

Identifying Industry-Specific Components of Product Liability Response System Using Delphi-AHP Method

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Seo JunHyeok

2016-12-01

Full Text Available PL (product liability response system is an enterprise-wide system that prevents company’s financial loss due to PL-related accidents. Existing researches on PL response system are mainly focused on preventive and/or defense strategies for the companies. Also, it is obvious that each industry has their original characteristics related on PL issues. It means industry-specific characteristics should be considered to adopt PL response strategies. Thus, this paper aims to discuss industry-specific PL response system and their components. Based on prior researches, we tried to reveal the possibility of its application to manufacturing companies of existing PL response strategies using Delphi method with PL experts. Based on first round results, we tried to classify existing PL strategies of manufacturing companies into several categories. To validate our suggestion for essential components of PL response system, second round Delphi method are applied. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP technique will be applied to identify a prioritized list of each components and strategies. Existing PL response strategies could be categorized with six components – strategy, technology, investment, training, awareness, and organization. Among six components, Technology – it represents the technology needed for improving the safety of all products – is the most important components to prepare PL accidents. The limitation of this paper is on the size of survey and variety of examples. However, the future study will enhance the potential of the proposed method. Regardless of rich research efforts to identify PL response strategies, there is no effort to categorize these strategies and prioritized them. Well-coordinated and actionable PL response strategies and their priorities could help small-and-medium sized enterprise (SME to develop their own PL response system with their limited resources.

A nurse manager succession planning model with associated empirical outcomes.

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Titzer, Jennifer L; Shirey, Maria R; Hauck, Sheila

2014-01-01

Perceptions of leadership and management competency after a formal nurse manager succession planning program were evaluated. A lack of strategic workforce planning and development of a leadership pipeline contributes to a predicted nurse manager shortage. To meet the anticipated needs for future leadership, evidence-based action is critical. A quasi-experimental mixed-methods, 1-group pretest/posttest research design was used. Nurses working in an acute care hospital were recruited for the study and selected using an objective evaluative process. Participant perceptions regarding their leadership and management competencies significantly increased after the leadership program. Program evaluations confirmed that participants found the program beneficial. One year after program completion, 100% of the program participants have been retained at the organization and 73% had transitioned to leadership roles. Succession planning and leadership development serve as beneficial and strategic mechanisms for identifying and developing high-potential individuals for leadership positions, contributing toward the future nursing leadership pipeline.

The generalized successive approximation and Padé Approximants method for solving an elasticity problem of based on the elastic ground with variable coefficients

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Mustafa Bayram

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, we have applied a generalized successive numerical technique to solve the elasticity problem of based on the elastic ground with variable coefficient. In the first stage, we have calculated the generalized successive approximation of being given BVP and in the second stage we have transformed it into Padé series. At the end of study a test problem has been given to clarify the method.

AutoSOME: a clustering method for identifying gene expression modules without prior knowledge of cluster number

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Cooper James B

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Clustering the information content of large high-dimensional gene expression datasets has widespread application in "omics" biology. Unfortunately, the underlying structure of these natural datasets is often fuzzy, and the computational identification of data clusters generally requires knowledge about cluster number and geometry. Results We integrated strategies from machine learning, cartography, and graph theory into a new informatics method for automatically clustering self-organizing map ensembles of high-dimensional data. Our new method, called AutoSOME, readily identifies discrete and fuzzy data clusters without prior knowledge of cluster number or structure in diverse datasets including whole genome microarray data. Visualization of AutoSOME output using network diagrams and differential heat maps reveals unexpected variation among well-characterized cancer cell lines. Co-expression analysis of data from human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells using AutoSOME identifies >3400 up-regulated genes associated with pluripotency, and indicates that a recently identified protein-protein interaction network characterizing pluripotency was underestimated by a factor of four. Conclusions By effectively extracting important information from high-dimensional microarray data without prior knowledge or the need for data filtration, AutoSOME can yield systems-level insights from whole genome microarray expression studies. Due to its generality, this new method should also have practical utility for a variety of data-intensive applications, including the results of deep sequencing experiments. AutoSOME is available for download at http://jimcooperlab.mcdb.ucsb.edu/autosome.

Barcoding and border biosecurity: identifying cyprinid fishes in the aquarium trade.

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Rupert A Collins

Full Text Available Poorly regulated international trade in ornamental fishes poses risks to both biodiversity and economic activity via invasive alien species and exotic pathogens. Border security officials need robust tools to confirm identifications, often requiring hard-to-obtain taxonomic literature and expertise. DNA barcoding offers a potentially attractive tool for quarantine inspection, but has yet to be scrutinised for aquarium fishes. Here, we present a barcoding approach for ornamental cyprinid fishes by: (1 expanding current barcode reference libraries; (2 assessing barcode congruence with morphological identifications under numerous scenarios (e.g. inclusion of GenBank data, presence of singleton species, choice of analytical method; and (3 providing supplementary information to identify difficult species.We sampled 172 ornamental cyprinid fish species from the international trade, and provide data for 91 species currently unrepresented in reference libraries (GenBank/Bold. DNA barcodes were found to be highly congruent with our morphological assignments, achieving success rates of 90-99%, depending on the method used (neighbour-joining monophyly, bootstrap, nearest neighbour, GMYC, percent threshold. Inclusion of data from GenBank (additional 157 spp. resulted in a more comprehensive library, but at a cost to success rate due to the increased number of singleton species. In addition to DNA barcodes, our study also provides supporting data in the form of specimen images, morphological characters, taxonomic bibliography, preserved vouchers, and nuclear rhodopsin sequences. Using this nuclear rhodopsin data we also uncovered evidence of interspecific hybridisation, and highlighted unrecognised diversity within popular aquarium species, including the endangered Indian barb Puntius denisonii.We demonstrate that DNA barcoding provides a highly effective biosecurity tool for rapidly identifying ornamental fishes. In cases where DNA barcodes are unable to

Barriers and facilitators to successful transition from pediatric to adult inflammatory bowel disease care from the perspectives of providers

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Paine, Christine Weirich; Stollon, Natalie B.; Lucas, Matthew S.; Brumley, Lauren D.; Poole, Erika S.; Peyton, Tamara; Grant, Anne W.; Jan, Sophia; Trachtenberg, Symme; Zander, Miriam; Mamula, Petar; Bonafide, Christopher P.; Schwartz, Lisa A.

2014-01-01

Background For adolescents and young adults (AYA) with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the transition from pediatric to adult care is often challenging and associated with gaps in care. Our study objectives were to (1) identify outcomes for evaluating transition success and (2) elicit the major barriers and facilitators of successful transition. Methods We interviewed pediatric and adult IBD providers from across the United States with experience caring for AYAs with IBD until thematic saturation was reached after 12 interviews. We elicited the participants' backgrounds, examples of successful and unsuccessful transition of AYAs for whom they cared, and recommendations for improving transition using the Social-ecological Model of Adolescent and Young Adult Readiness to Transition framework. We coded interview transcripts using the constant comparative method and identified major themes. Results Participants reported evaluating transition success and failure using healthcare utilization outcomes (e.g. maintaining continuity with adult providers), health outcomes (e.g. stable symptoms), and quality of life outcomes (e.g. attending school). The patients' level of developmental maturity (i.e. ownership of care) was the most prominent determinant of transition outcomes. The style of parental involvement (i.e. helicopter parent vs. optimally-involved parent) also influenced outcomes as well as the degree of support by providers (e.g. care coordination). Conclusion IBD transition success is influenced by a complex interplay of patient developmental maturity, parenting style, and provider support. Multidisciplinary IBD care teams should aim to optimize these factors for each patient to increase the likelihood of a smooth transfer to adult care. PMID:25137417

Identifying Critical Success Factors for TQM and Employee Performance in Malaysian Automotive Industry: A Literature Review

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Nadia Dedy, Aimie; Zakuan, Norhayati; Zaidi Bahari, Ahamad; Ariff, Mohd Shoki Md; Chin, Thoo Ai; Zameri Mat Saman, Muhamad

2016-05-01

TQM is a management philosophy embracing all activities through which the needs and expectations of the customer and the community and the goals of the companies are satisfied in the most efficient and cost effective way by maximizing the potential of all workers in a continuing drive for total quality improvement. TQM is very important to the company especially in automotive industry in order for them to survive in the competitive global market. The main objective of this study is to review a relationship between TQM and employee performance. Authors review updated literature on TQM study with two main targets: (a) evolution of TQM considering as a set of practice, (b) and its impacts to employee performance. Therefore, two research questions are proposed in order to review TQM constructs and employee performance measure: (a) Is the set of critical success factors associated with TQM valid as a whole? (b) What is the critical success factors should be considered to measure employee performance in automotive industry?

Use of percentile rank sum method in identifying repetitive high occupational radiation dose jobs in a nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Y.H.; Ko, H.S.; Kim, S.H.; Kang, C.S.; Moon, J.H.; Kim, K.D.

2004-01-01

The cost-effective reduction of occupational radiation dose (ORD) at a nuclear power plant could not be achieved without going through an extensive analysis of accumulated ORD data of existing plants. Through the data analysis, it is required to identify what are the jobs of repetitive high ORD at the nuclear power plant. In general the point value method commonly used, over-estimates the role of mean and median values to identify the high ORD jobs which can lead to misjudgment. In this study, Percentile Rank Sum Method (PRSM) is proposed to identify repetitive high ORD jobs, which is based on non-parametric statistical theory. As a case study, the method is applied to ORD data of maintenance and repair jobs at Kori units 3 and 4 that are pressurized water reactors with 950 MWe capacity and have been operated since 1986 and 1987, respectively in Korea. The results were verified and validated, and PRSM has been demonstrated to be an efficient method of analyzing the data. (authors)

Identifying Hierarchical and Overlapping Protein Complexes Based on Essential Protein-Protein Interactions and “Seed-Expanding” Method

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Jun Ren

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Many evidences have demonstrated that protein complexes are overlapping and hierarchically organized in PPI networks. Meanwhile, the large size of PPI network wants complex detection methods have low time complexity. Up to now, few methods can identify overlapping and hierarchical protein complexes in a PPI network quickly. In this paper, a novel method, called MCSE, is proposed based on λ-module and “seed-expanding.” First, it chooses seeds as essential PPIs or edges with high edge clustering values. Then, it identifies protein complexes by expanding each seed to a λ-module. MCSE is suitable for large PPI networks because of its low time complexity. MCSE can identify overlapping protein complexes naturally because a protein can be visited by different seeds. MCSE uses the parameter λ_th to control the range of seed expanding and can detect a hierarchical organization of protein complexes by tuning the value of λ_th. Experimental results of S. cerevisiae show that this hierarchical organization is similar to that of known complexes in MIPS database. The experimental results also show that MCSE outperforms other previous competing algorithms, such as CPM, CMC, Core-Attachment, Dpclus, HC-PIN, MCL, and NFC, in terms of the functional enrichment and matching with known protein complexes.

Post-clip placement MRI following second-look US-guided core biopsy for suspicious lesions identified on breast MRI

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Sung Eun [Seoul National University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Korea University Anam Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Cho, Nariya [Seoul National University Hospital, Department of Radiology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Seoul National University College of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Seoul National University Medical Research Centre, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Han, Wonshik [Seoul National University Hospital, Department of Surgery, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2017-12-15

To evaluate whether the post-clip placement MRI following second-look ultrasound (US)-guided core biopsy is useful to confirm the adequate sampling of suspicious lesions identified on breast MRI. Between 2014 and 2016, 31 consecutive women with 34 suspicious lesions that had not been identified on previous mammography or US were detected using MRI. Among them, 26 women with 29 lesions (mean size 1.5 cm, range 0.5-5.8 cm) found by second-look US underwent US-guided biopsy, subsequent clip insertion and post-clip placement MRI. Five women with five lesions that were not found by second-look US underwent MRI-guided biopsy. The technical success rate and lesion characteristics were described. The technical success rate was 96.6% (28/29). One failure case was a benign, 1.1-cm non-mass enhancement. Of the 28 success cases, 23 (82.1%) were masses and 5 (17.9%) were non-mass enhancements; 17 (60.7%) were benign, 4 (14.3%) were high-risk and 7 (25.0%) were malignant lesions. The technical success rate was 100% (28/28) for masses and 83.3% (5/6) for non-mass enhancements. Post-clip placement MRI following US-guided biopsy is useful in confirming the adequate sampling of lesions identified on MRI. This method could be an alternative to MRI-guided biopsy for lesions visible on US. (orig.)

Post-clip placement MRI following second-look US-guided core biopsy for suspicious lesions identified on breast MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Sung Eun; Cho, Nariya; Han, Wonshik

2017-01-01

To evaluate whether the post-clip placement MRI following second-look ultrasound (US)-guided core biopsy is useful to confirm the adequate sampling of suspicious lesions identified on breast MRI. Between 2014 and 2016, 31 consecutive women with 34 suspicious lesions that had not been identified on previous mammography or US were detected using MRI. Among them, 26 women with 29 lesions (mean size 1.5 cm, range 0.5-5.8 cm) found by second-look US underwent US-guided biopsy, subsequent clip insertion and post-clip placement MRI. Five women with five lesions that were not found by second-look US underwent MRI-guided biopsy. The technical success rate and lesion characteristics were described. The technical success rate was 96.6% (28/29). One failure case was a benign, 1.1-cm non-mass enhancement. Of the 28 success cases, 23 (82.1%) were masses and 5 (17.9%) were non-mass enhancements; 17 (60.7%) were benign, 4 (14.3%) were high-risk and 7 (25.0%) were malignant lesions. The technical success rate was 100% (28/28) for masses and 83.3% (5/6) for non-mass enhancements. Post-clip placement MRI following US-guided biopsy is useful in confirming the adequate sampling of lesions identified on MRI. This method could be an alternative to MRI-guided biopsy for lesions visible on US. (orig.)

Unsupervised Scalable Statistical Method for Identifying Influential Users in Online Social Networks.

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Azcorra, A; Chiroque, L F; Cuevas, R; Fernández Anta, A; Laniado, H; Lillo, R E; Romo, J; Sguera, C

2018-05-03

Billions of users interact intensively every day via Online Social Networks (OSNs) such as Facebook, Twitter, or Google+. This makes OSNs an invaluable source of information, and channel of actuation, for sectors like advertising, marketing, or politics. To get the most of OSNs, analysts need to identify influential users that can be leveraged for promoting products, distributing messages, or improving the image of companies. In this report we propose a new unsupervised method, Massive Unsupervised Outlier Detection (MUOD), based on outliers detection, for providing support in the identification of influential users. MUOD is scalable, and can hence be used in large OSNs. Moreover, it labels the outliers as of shape, magnitude, or amplitude, depending of their features. This allows classifying the outlier users in multiple different classes, which are likely to include different types of influential users. Applying MUOD to a subset of roughly 400 million Google+ users, it has allowed identifying and discriminating automatically sets of outlier users, which present features associated to different definitions of influential users, like capacity to attract engagement, capacity to attract a large number of followers, or high infection capacity.

Identifying the greatest team and captain—A complex network approach to cricket matches

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Mukherjee, Satyam

2012-12-01

We consider all Test matches played between 1877 and 2010 and One Day International (ODI) matches played between 1971 and 2010. We form directed and weighted networks of teams and also of their captains. The success of a team (or captain) is determined by the ‘quality’ of the wins, not simply by the number of wins. We apply the diffusion-based PageRank algorithm to the networks to assess the importance of the wins, and rank the respective teams and captains. Our analysis identifies Australia as the best team in both forms of cricket, Test and ODI. Steve Waugh is identified as the best captain in Test cricket and Ricky Ponting is the best captain in the ODI format. We also compare our ranking scheme with an existing ranking scheme, the Reliance ICC ranking. Our method does not depend on ‘external’ criteria in the ranking of teams (captains). The purpose of this paper is to introduce a revised ranking of cricket teams and to quantify the success of the captains.

Synopsis of Past Stimulation Methods in Enhanced (Engineered) Geothermal Systems, Boreholes, and Existing Hydrothermal Systems with Success Analysis and Recommendations for Future Projects

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Broadhurst, T.; Mattson, E.

2017-12-01

Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) are gaining in popularity as a technology that can be used to increase areas for geothermal resource procurement. One of the most important factors in the success of an EGS system is the success of the subsurface reservoir that is used for fluid flow and heat mining through advection. There are numerous challenges in stimulating a successful reservoir, including maintaining flow rates, minimizing leak off, preventing short-circuiting, and reducing the risk of microseismicity associated with subsurface activity. Understanding past examples of stimulation can be invaluable in addressing these challenges. This study provides an overview of stimulation methods that have been employed in EGS systems from 1974-2017. We include all geothermal reservoirs and demonstration projects that have experienced hydrofracturing, chemical stimulation, and induced thermal stress for a comprehensive list. We also examine different metrics and measures of success in geothermal reservoir stimulation to draw conclusions and provide recommendations for future projects. Multiple project characteristics are reported including geologic setting, stress conditions, reservoir temperature, injection specifics, resulting microseismicity, and overall project goals. Insight into optimal and unproductive stimulation methods is crucial to conserving mental capital, utilizing project funding, and ensuring EGS technology advances as efficiently as possible.

The IGSN Experience: Successes and Challenges of Implementing Persistent Identifiers for Samples

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Lehnert, Kerstin; Arko, Robert

2016-04-01

Physical samples collected and studied in the Earth sciences represent both a research resource and a research product in the Earth Sciences. As such they need to be properly managed, curated, documented, and cited to ensure re-usability and utility for future science, reproducibility of the data generated by their study, and credit for funding agencies and researchers who invested substantial resources and intellectual effort into their collection and curation. Use of persistent and unique identifiers and deposition of metadata in a persistent registry are therefore as important for physical samples as they are for digital data. The International Geo Sample Number (IGSN) is a persistent, globally unique identifier. Its adoption by individual investigators, repository curators, publishers, and data managers is rapidly growing world-wide. This presentation will provide an analysis of the development and implementation path of the IGSN and relevant insights and experiences gained along its way. Development of the IGSN started in 2004 as part of a US NSF-funded project to establish a registry for sample metadata, the System for Earth Sample Registration (SESAR). The initial system provided a centralized solution for users to submit information about their samples and obtain IGSNs and bar codes. Challenges encountered during this initial phase related to defining the scope of the registry, granularity of registered objects, responsibilities of relevant actors, and workflows, and designing the registry's metadata schema, its user interfaces, and the identifier itself, including its syntax. The most challenging task though was to make the IGSN an integral part of personal and institutional sample management, digital management of sample-based data, and data publication on a global scale. Besides convincing individual researchers, curators, editors and publishers, as well as data managers in US and non-US academia, state and federal agencies, the PIs of the SESAR project

A simple method to identify areas of environmental risk due to manure application.

Science.gov (United States)

Flores, Héctor; Arumí, José Luis; Rivera, Diego; Lagos, L Octavio

2012-06-01

The management of swine manure is becoming an important environmental issue in Chile. One option for the final disposal of manure is to use it as a biofertilizer, but this practice could impact the surrounding environment. To assess the potential environmental impacts of the use of swine manure as a biofertilizer, we propose a method to identify zones of environmental risk through indices. The method considers two processes: nutrient runoff and solute leaching, and uses available information about soils, crops and management practices (irrigation, fertilization, and rotation). We applied the method to qualitatively assess the environmental risk associated with the use of swine manure as a biofertilizer in an 8,000-pig farm located in Central Chile. Results showed that the farm has a moderate environmental risk, but some specific locations have high environmental risks, especially those associated with impacts on areas surrounding water resources. This information could assist the definition of better farm-level management practices, as well as the preservation of riparian vegetation acting as buffer strips. The main advantage of our approach is that it combines qualitative and quantitative information, including particular situations or field features based on expert knowledge. The method is flexible, simple, and can be easily extended or adapted to other processes.

[Literature review of the influences on error rates when identifying equids with transponder and hot-iron branding].

Science.gov (United States)

Campe, Amely; Schulz, Sophia; Bohnet, Willa

2016-01-01

Although equids have had to be tagged with a transponder since 2009, breeding associations in Germany disagree as to which method is best suited for identification (with or without hot iron branding). Therefore, the aim of this systematic literature review was to gain an overview of how effective identification is using transponders and hot iron branding and as to which factors influence the success of identification. Existing literature showed that equids can be identified by means of transponders with a probability of 85-100%, whereas symbol brandings could be identified correctly in 78-89%, whole number brandings in 0-87% and single figures in 37-92% of the readings, respectively. The successful reading of microchips can be further optimised by a correctly operated implantation process and thorough training of the applying persons. affect identification with a scanner. The removal of transponders for manipulation purposes is virtually impossible. Influences during the application of branding marks can hardly, if at all, be standardised, but influence the subsequent readability relevantly. Therefore, identification by means of hot branding cannot be considered sufficiently reliable. Impaired quality of identification can be reduced during reading but cannot be counteracted. Based on the existing studies it can be concluded that the transponder method is the best suited of the investigated methods for clearly identifying equids, being forgery-proof and permanent. It is not to be expected that applying hot branding in addition to microchips would optimise the probability of identification relevantly.

Perceived Barriers to Success for Minority Nursing Students: An Integrative Review

OpenAIRE

Loftin, Collette; Newman, Susan D.; Dumas, Bonnie P.; Gilden, Gail; Bond, Mary Lou

2012-01-01

The objective of this paper was to identify barriers to successful program completion faced by underrepresented minority nursing students. This paper reveals that minority nursing student’s face multiple barriers to success including lack of financial support, inadequate emotional and moral support, as well as insufficient academic advising, program mentoring, technical support, and professional socialization. An additional theme—a resolve to succeed in spite of the identified barriers—was id...

The Healthy ALLiances (HALL) framework: prerequisites for success.

Science.gov (United States)

Koelen, Maria A; Vaandrager, Lenneke; Wagemakers, Annemarie

2012-04-01

Chronic conditions are on the rise worldwide, and there is increasingly a call for the primary care and public health sectors to join forces in alliances. GPs have an important role to play in such alliances. However, successful cooperation is not as obvious as it may seem, and the sectors are not used to working together. The objective is to identify conditions and prerequisites for successful alliances. Identification of conditions and prerequisites is mainly based on stepwise analysis and iterative developments in research on collaboration processes in the area of health promotion and public health. The process as a whole resulted in the framework presented in this paper. This so-called HALL framework identifies three clusters of factors that either hinder or facilitate the success of alliances: (i) institutional factors, (ii) personal factors of participants in the alliance and (iii) factors relating to the organization of the alliance. The institutional and personal factors 'stick' to the stakeholders and are brought into the alliance. The third group refers to the lessons learned from dealing with the first two characteristics to make the alliance successful. Partners in alliances bring in personal attributes and institutional characteristics that can form obstacles to successful alliances, but, when they are addressed in a flexible and positive way, obstacles can be turned in contributory factors, leading to many potential benefits, such as collaborative learning and innovation.

Preoperative factors influencing success in pterygium surgery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Torres-Gimeno Ana

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background To identify preoperative, perioperative and postoperative risk factors that influence the success of pterygium surgery. Methods This is a prospective study of thirty-six patients with primary or recurrent pterygia. A detailed anamnesis and an ophthalmological examination were performed looking for the following factors: age, race, latitude and altitude of the main place of residence, hours of exposure to the sun, use of protective measures against UV-radiation, classification of pterygium, width of the pterygium at limbus, surgical technique (conjunctival autograft plus suturing versus tissue glue, graft alterations (misapposition, granuloma, haemorrhage, oedema, retraction or necrosis, and postoperative symptoms (foreign-body sensation, pain. The examinations were performed 2 and 7 days and 2, 6 and 12 months after surgery. In addition, recurrence was defined as any growth of conjunctiva into the cornea. Results A logistic regression and a survival analysis have been used to perform data analysis. A total number of 36 patients completed a one year follow-up. A total of 13 patients were born and lived in Spain, and 26 came from other countries, mostly Latin America. A total number of 8 males (no women presented a recurrence, mainly between 2 and 6 months. The hours of sun exposure through their life was independently related to surgical success. Pterygia of less than 5 mm of base width showed a weak positive correlation with recurrence. None of the other factors considered were significantly related to recurrence. Conclusions Male gender and high sun exposure are strongly and independently related to surgical success after the removal of pterygia.

Differential invasion success of salmonids in southern Chile: patterns and hypotheses

Science.gov (United States)

Ivan Arismendi; Brooke E. Penaluna; Jason B. Dunham; Carlos Garcia de Leaniz; Doris Soto; Ian A. Fleming; Daniel Gomez-Uchida; Gonzalo Gajardo; Pamela V. Varga; Jorge León-Muñoz

2014-01-01

Biological invasions create complex ecological and societal issues worldwide. Most of the knowledge about invasions comes only from successful invaders, but less is known about which processes determine the differential success of invasions. In this review, we develop a framework to identify the main dimensions driving the success and failure of invaders, including...

Identification of discriminant proteins through antibody profiling, methods and apparatus for identifying an individual

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, Vicki S; Lacey, Jeffrey A; Gentillon, Cynthia A; Apel, William A

2015-03-03

A method for determining a plurality of proteins for discriminating and positively identifying an individual based from a biological sample. The method may include profiling a biological sample from a plurality of individuals against a protein array including a plurality of proteins. The protein array may include proteins attached to a support in a preselected pattern such that locations of the proteins are known. The biological sample may be contacted with the protein array such that a portion of antibodies in the biological sample reacts with and binds to the proteins forming immune complexes. A statistical analysis method, such as discriminant analysis, may be performed to determine discriminating proteins for distinguishing individuals. Proteins of interest may be used to form a protein array. Such a protein array may be used, for example, to compare a forensic sample from an unknown source with a sample from a known source.

Identification of discriminant proteins through antibody profiling, methods and apparatus for identifying an individual

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Apel, William A.; Thompson, Vicki S; Lacey, Jeffrey A.; Gentillon, Cynthia A.

2016-08-09

A method for determining a plurality of proteins for discriminating and positively identifying an individual based from a biological sample. The method may include profiling a biological sample from a plurality of individuals against a protein array including a plurality of proteins. The protein array may include proteins attached to a support in a preselected pattern such that locations of the proteins are known. The biological sample may be contacted with the protein array such that a portion of antibodies in the biological sample reacts with and binds to the proteins forming immune complexes. A statistical analysis method, such as discriminant analysis, may be performed to determine discriminating proteins for distinguishing individuals. Proteins of interest may be used to form a protein array. Such a protein array may be used, for example, to compare a forensic sample from an unknown source with a sample from a known source.

snpTree - a web-server to identify and construct SNP trees from whole genome sequence data

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leekitcharoenphon, Pimlapas; Kaas, Rolf Sommer; Thomsen, Martin Christen Frølund

2012-01-01

identify SNPs and construct phylogenetic trees from WGS as well as from assembled genomes or contigs. WGS data in fastq format are aligned to reference genomes by BWA while contigs in fasta format are processed by Nucmer. SNPs are concatenated based on position on reference genome and a tree is constructed...... to differentiate and classify isolates. One of the successfully and broadly used methods is analysis of single nucletide polymorphisms (SNPs). Currently, there are different tools and methods to identify SNPs including various options and cut-off values. Furthermore, all current methods require bioinformatic...... skills. Thus, we lack a standard and simple automatic tool to determine SNPs and construct phylogenetic tree from WGS data. Results Here we introduce snpTree, a server for online-automatic SNPs analysis. This tool is composed of different SNPs analysis suites, perl and python scripts. snpTree can...

Identification of Successive ``Unobservable'' Cyber Data Attacks in Power Systems Through Matrix Decomposition

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Pengzhi; Wang, Meng; Chow, Joe H.; Ghiocel, Scott G.; Fardanesh, Bruce; Stefopoulos, George; Razanousky, Michael P.

2016-11-01

This paper presents a new framework of identifying a series of cyber data attacks on power system synchrophasor measurements. We focus on detecting "unobservable" cyber data attacks that cannot be detected by any existing method that purely relies on measurements received at one time instant. Leveraging the approximate low-rank property of phasor measurement unit (PMU) data, we formulate the identification problem of successive unobservable cyber attacks as a matrix decomposition problem of a low-rank matrix plus a transformed column-sparse matrix. We propose a convex-optimization-based method and provide its theoretical guarantee in the data identification. Numerical experiments on actual PMU data from the Central New York power system and synthetic data are conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

[Predictors of success of external cephalic version: Bi-center study].

Science.gov (United States)

Dochez, V; Delbos, L; Esbelin, J; Volteau, C; Winer, N; Sentilhes, L

2016-05-01

In the literature, success rate of external cephalic version (ECV) is 39 to 65%. This study aims to identify potential predictors of a successful ECV. Retrospective bi-center study performed from January 2011 through December 2012 at Angers University Hospital and Nantes University Hospital from January 2011 through December 2011. Were identified the demographic and ultrasonography characteristics of patients and the data of the process. One hundred and seventy-eight patients were included, 88 in Angers and 90 in Nantes; 16.3% of ECV were successful. Multiparity (OR 28.45; P<0.01) and transverse position (OR 0.63; P<0.01) are the two significant predictors. There is no significant difference found for center, operator, position of the placenta, amniotic fluid or presence of a uterine scar. The success rate in our two French university centers is much lower than that reported in the literature. Parity and transverse position are the only 2 significant predictors of ECV success. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Success factors for telehealth--a case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Moehr, J R; Schaafsma, J; Anglin, C; Pantazi, S V; Grimm, N A; Anglin, S

2006-01-01

, in particular the lack of time for preparation and establishment of routine use. Educational applications had significant clinical benefits. Administrative applications generated savings which exceeded the substantial capital investment and made educational and clinical applications available at variable cost. Evaluation under severe constraints can yield rich information. The identified success factors, including provision of an overarching architecture and infrastructure, strong program management, thorough needs analysis and detailing applications to match the identified needs should improve the sustainability of e-health projects. Insights gained: Existing assumptions before the study was conducted: Evaluation has to proceed from identified questions according to a rigorous experimental design. Emergency and trauma services in remote regions can and should be supported via telehealth based on video-conferencing. Educational applications of telehealth directed at providers are beneficial for recruitment and retention of providers in remote areas. Insights gained by the study: An exploratory approach to evaluation using a multiplicity of methods can yield rich and detailed information even under severe constraints. Ad hoc and emergency clinical applications of telehealth can present problems unless they are based on thorough, detailed analyses of environment and need, conform to established practice patterns and rely on established trusting collaborative relationships. Less difficult applications should be introduced before attempting to support use under emergency conditions. Educational applications are of interest beyond the provider community to patients, family and community members, and have clinical value. In large, sparsely populated areas with difficult travel conditions administrative applications by themselves generate savings that compensate for the substantial capital investment for telehealth required for clinical applications.

Successful Innovations in Educational Leadership Preparation

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Stephen P.; Oliver, John; Solis, Rachel

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe successful innovations in educational leadership preparation programs. Professors of educational leadership from across the nation nominated innovations of 12 programs. Based on review of descriptions of the innovations provided by nominees, further documentation on the innovations was…

BUSINESS SUCCESS IN TODAY'S ROMANIA: OPINIONS EXPRESSED BY STUDENTS AND ENTREPRENEURS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena NEDELCU

2016-06-01

Full Text Available We consider that a study - which contributes to the further knowledge of the entrepreneurial spirit of the Romanian students (to what extent and in what manner this spirit manifests itself, the students' and entrepreneurs' relation to the business environment and the "nowadays" challenges of the workforce - is both necessary and useful. Moreover, the present study aims at identifying the existence of possible differences between the way in which students evolve and the way in which entrepreneurs assess certain elements that make up the Romanian business environment and that might contribute to their business success. Which are "the keys to success" in business - according to students? What about the entrepreneurs? What would be more useful for business success: the knowledge of success patterns, training and qualification, access to information, to financial resources, competence (knowing what to do or a friendly business environment? The research method that we have used is the social inquiry based on surveys. The survey was applied to 1,500 students from Universities within Bucharest. The analysis of data has surprised because "coping personal abilities" have turned out to be "the keys of success" in business in Romania - according to students (67% and entrepreneurs (86%. The significant differences between the students' and entrepreneurs' answers have been included within the "professional competence" criterion and the "rules observance" criterion. In comparison with entrepreneurs, students appreciate these criteria to a larger extent.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM SUCCESS FACTORS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed ALAMGIR

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Customer relationship management (CRM can improve organization’s performance through applying customer knowledge and maintaining relationships with customers. Literature on CRM in an integrative fashion is sparse, rather issues are presented in isolation mostly focusing on technology ignoring other extra-organizational issues like social rapport and customer knowledge. Likewise, CRM success is poorly sketched and social rapport as a facilitator of knowledge generation has received little attention in the previous literature. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to investigate the role of CRM, customer knowledge and social rapport on CRM success. The present study considers the Resource-based view in developing CRM success framework. A Qualitative research approach has been taken in this study where ten customer-service managers of different telecom operators of Bangladesh have been interviewed. To identify the factors along with their associated variables and also to further develop a research model a content analysis technique has been utilized. The results of the interviews identified three factors affecting CRM success. This paper also highlights the research and managerial implications of the model.  

Recover faster from disaster: Success factors for a crowdsourcing platform

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roos, B.; Buul-Besseling, K. van; Streefkerk, J.W.; Neef, M.

2015-01-01

In this paper, we present a model that identifies seven success factors for the development of crowdsourcing platforms for disaster recovery. This model integrates two existing theories. The first theory focuses on success factors of crowdsourcing initiatives in general. The second theory states how

Prediction models for successful external cephalic version: a systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Velzel, Joost; de Hundt, Marcella; Mulder, Frederique M.; Molkenboer, Jan F. M.; van der Post, Joris A. M.; Mol, Ben W.; Kok, Marjolein

2015-01-01

To provide an overview of existing prediction models for successful ECV, and to assess their quality, development and performance. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library to identify all articles reporting on prediction models for successful ECV published from inception to January 2015.

Validation of a consensus method for identifying delirium from hospital records.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elvira Kuhn

Full Text Available Delirium is increasingly considered to be an important determinant of trajectories of cognitive decline. Therefore, analyses of existing cohort studies measuring cognitive outcomes could benefit from methods to ascertain a retrospective delirium diagnosis. This study aimed to develop and validate such a method for delirium detection using routine medical records in UK and Ireland.A point prevalence study of delirium provided the reference-standard ratings for delirium diagnosis. Blinded to study results, clinical vignettes were compiled from participants' medical records in a standardised manner, describing any relevant delirium symptoms recorded in the whole case record for the period leading up to case-ascertainment. An expert panel rated each vignette as unlikely, possible, or probable delirium and disagreements were resolved by consensus.From 95 case records, 424 vignettes were abstracted by 5 trained clinicians. There were 29 delirium cases according to the reference standard. Median age of subjects was 76.6 years (interquartile range 54.6 to 82.5. Against the original study DSM-IV diagnosis, the chart abstraction method gave a positive likelihood ratio (LR of 7.8 (95% CI 5.7-12.0 and the negative LR of 0.45 (95% CI 0.40-0.47 for probable delirium (sensitivity 0.58 (95% CI 0.53-0.62; specificity 0.93 (95% CI 0.90-0.95; AUC 0.86 (95% CI 0.82-0.89. The method diagnosed possible delirium with positive LR 3.5 (95% CI 2.9-4.3 and negative LR 0.15 (95% CI 0.11-0.21 (sensitivity 0.89 (95% CI 0.85-0.91; specificity 0.75 (95% CI 0.71-0.79; AUC 0.86 (95% CI 0.80-0.89.This chart abstraction method can retrospectively diagnose delirium in hospitalised patients with good accuracy. This has potential for retrospectively identifying delirium in cohort studies where routine medical records are available. This example of record linkage between hospitalisations and epidemiological data may lead to further insights into the inter-relationship between acute

Medical group mergers: strategies for success.

Science.gov (United States)

Latham, Will

2014-01-01

As consolidation sweeps over the healthcare industry, many medical groups are considering mergers with other groups as an alternative to employment. While mergers are challenging and fraught with risk, an organized approach to the merger process can dramatically increase the odds for success. Merging groups need to consider the benefits they seek from a merger, identify the obstacles that must be overcome to merge, and develop alternatives to overcome those obstacles. This article addresses the benefits to be gained and issues to be addressed, and provides a tested roadmap that has resulted in many successful medical group mergers.

Top 10 Steps to Business Success

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Gianna

2013-03-01

What does it really take to build a successful technology based company? This fast paced and interactive discussion will highlite potential missteps as well as actions that increase the likelihood of success. Topics under consideration will include: how to begin, creating an organizational structure, creating a plan, selecting a name, financing, allocating resources as efficiently as possible, building a team, protecting intangible assets, strategic alliances, obtaining revenue and transitioning from startup to growth. The primary goal of this presentation is to help you identify value-creating practices as well as wasteful practices, while providing the general nuts and bolts required to move forward.

Implementation of Green New Product Development Among SMEs: Barriers and Critical Success Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abu Noor Hidayah

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Green New Product Development (GNPD is very important due to environmental issues increasing. GNPD is defined as creating, designing and develop ecological product which could help in protecting the environment. Small and medium enterprise (SME firms is one of the contributor to the environmental issues but they could not afford to implement GNPD because there are several obstacles which prevent the successful of GNPD implementation. The objective of this paper are to identify the critical success factors and to determine the obstacles of GNPD implementation among SMEs. The method used in this study is conceptual review of previous literature in green and NPD area of research. The result finding of this paper consist of 9 critical success factors and 12 obstacles. All the critical success factors and obstacles will be grouped. The finding of this study could be a source and fundamental guideline for future study in developing framework for GNPD implementation especially for manufacturing SMEs in Malaysia. Besides that, the result of this study could help organization especially SMEs’s owner and manager in assessing their initiative to implement GNPD in organization.

A Statistical Method of Identifying Interactions in Neuron–Glia Systems Based on Functional Multicell Ca2+ Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Nakae, Ken; Ikegaya, Yuji; Ishikawa, Tomoe; Oba, Shigeyuki; Urakubo, Hidetoshi; Koyama, Masanori; Ishii, Shin

2014-01-01

Crosstalk between neurons and glia may constitute a significant part of information processing in the brain. We present a novel method of statistically identifying interactions in a neuron–glia network. We attempted to identify neuron–glia interactions from neuronal and glial activities via maximum-a-posteriori (MAP)-based parameter estimation by developing a generalized linear model (GLM) of a neuron–glia network. The interactions in our interest included functional connectivity and response functions. We evaluated the cross-validated likelihood of GLMs that resulted from the addition or removal of connections to confirm the existence of specific neuron-to-glia or glia-to-neuron connections. We only accepted addition or removal when the modification improved the cross-validated likelihood. We applied the method to a high-throughput, multicellular in vitro Ca2+ imaging dataset obtained from the CA3 region of a rat hippocampus, and then evaluated the reliability of connectivity estimates using a statistical test based on a surrogate method. Our findings based on the estimated connectivity were in good agreement with currently available physiological knowledge, suggesting our method can elucidate undiscovered functions of neuron–glia systems. PMID:25393874

Successful Principalship in Norway: Sustainable Ethos and Incremental Changes?

Science.gov (United States)

Moller, Jorunn; Vedoy, Gunn; Presthus, Anne Marie; Skedsmo, Guri

2009-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how success has been sustained over time in schools which were identified as being successful five years ago. Design/methodology/approach: Three schools were selected for a revisit, and the sample included two combined schools (grade 1-10) and one upper secondary school (grade 11-13). In…

Ensuring a successful family business management succession

OpenAIRE

Desbois, Joris

2016-01-01

Succession is the biggest long-term challenge that most family businesses face. Indeed, leaders ‘disposition to plan for their succession is frequently the key factor defining whether their family business subsists or stops. The research seeks to find out how to manage successfully the business management succession over main principles. This work project aims at researching the key points relevant to almost all family firms, to have a viable succession transition and positioni...

Children's Mental Health and School Success

Science.gov (United States)

DeSocio, Janiece; Hootman, Janis

2004-01-01

An integrative review of literature was undertaken to examine the impact of children's mental health on their school success. The literature confirmed a confluence of problems associated with school performance and child and adolescent mental health. Poor academic functioning and inconsistent school attendance were identified as early signs of…

Personality traits associated with success in Mexican exporter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Leticia Gil Gaytan

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to identify the personality traits associated with success in exporting by Mexican entrepreneurs in the Guadalajara metropolitan area. The main justification for carrying out this study is Mexico’s need to reduce its current dependence on manufacturing exports using foreign investment and increase the exports of Mexican companies. According to this study, there is association between export success and personality traits in successful Mexican exporters. With the spread of these findings, it is expected that both universities and business organizations will consider these results when selecting students for programs related to international venture.

English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) nursing student success: a critical review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Olson, Mary Angela

2012-01-01

Many English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) nursing students struggle in nursing school for a multitude of reasons. The purpose of this critical review of the literature is to identify barriers and discover bridges to ESL nursing student success. Twenty-five articles were identified for the review. Language barriers were identified as the single most significant obstacle facing the ESL nursing student. Bridges to ESL nursing student success include enhancing language development and acculturation into the American mainstream culture. A broad range of strategies to promote student success are outlined and the role of the nurse educator in ESL nursing student success is also addressed.

Identifying MMORPG Bots: A Traffic Analysis Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Kuan-Ta; Jiang, Jhih-Wei; Huang, Polly; Chu, Hao-Hua; Lei, Chin-Laung; Chen, Wen-Chin

2008-12-01

Massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs) have become extremely popular among network gamers. Despite their success, one of MMORPG's greatest challenges is the increasing use of game bots, that is, autoplaying game clients. The use of game bots is considered unsportsmanlike and is therefore forbidden. To keep games in order, game police, played by actual human players, often patrol game zones and question suspicious players. This practice, however, is labor-intensive and ineffective. To address this problem, we analyze the traffic generated by human players versus game bots and propose general solutions to identify game bots. Taking Ragnarok Online as our subject, we study the traffic generated by human players and game bots. We find that their traffic is distinguishable by 1) the regularity in the release time of client commands, 2) the trend and magnitude of traffic burstiness in multiple time scales, and 3) the sensitivity to different network conditions. Based on these findings, we propose four strategies and two ensemble schemes to identify bots. Finally, we discuss the robustness of the proposed methods against countermeasures of bot developers, and consider a number of possible ways to manage the increasingly serious bot problem.

Identifying MMORPG Bots: A Traffic Analysis Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen-Chin Chen

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs have become extremely popular among network gamers. Despite their success, one of MMORPG's greatest challenges is the increasing use of game bots, that is, autoplaying game clients. The use of game bots is considered unsportsmanlike and is therefore forbidden. To keep games in order, game police, played by actual human players, often patrol game zones and question suspicious players. This practice, however, is labor-intensive and ineffective. To address this problem, we analyze the traffic generated by human players versus game bots and propose general solutions to identify game bots. Taking Ragnarok Online as our subject, we study the traffic generated by human players and game bots. We find that their traffic is distinguishable by 1 the regularity in the release time of client commands, 2 the trend and magnitude of traffic burstiness in multiple time scales, and 3 the sensitivity to different network conditions. Based on these findings, we propose four strategies and two ensemble schemes to identify bots. Finally, we discuss the robustness of the proposed methods against countermeasures of bot developers, and consider a number of possible ways to manage the increasingly serious bot problem.

A Study of Scientometric Methods to Identify Emerging Technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Abercrombie, Robert K [ORNL; Udoeyop, Akaninyene W [ORNL

2011-01-01

This work examines a scientometric model that tracks the emergence of an identified technology from initial discovery (via original scientific and conference literature), through critical discoveries (via original scientific, conference literature and patents), transitioning through Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) and ultimately on to commercial application. During the period of innovation and technology transfer, the impact of scholarly works, patents and on-line web news sources are identified. As trends develop, currency of citations, collaboration indicators, and on-line news patterns are identified. The combinations of four distinct and separate searchable on-line networked sources (i.e., scholarly publications and citation, worldwide patents, news archives, and on-line mapping networks) are assembled to become one collective network (a dataset for analysis of relations). This established network becomes the basis from which to quickly analyze the temporal flow of activity (searchable events) for the example subject domain we investigated.

Impedance measurement of irradiated potatoes: a method to identify radiation processing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mastro, N.L. del; Villavicencio, A.L.C.H.

1992-01-01

The potato is firmly established in many parts of the world as a major staple food. Then, radiation processing of potato is approved in many countries for sprouting inhibition and extension of shelf life in a dose range from about 0.01 to 0.15 kGy of 60 Co. The use of electrical conductance methods for the detection of Salmonella, some virus or the action of herbicides on plant has been reported and differences have been observed between instruments in respect of the magnitude of conductance change or rates of change in conductance response. A reliable technique to identify potatoes or other food products has not been established so far, though several methods have been reported. Electrical impedance might thus serve for characterization of unirradiated and irradiated tissues and cells. In this work, potato tubers from an European variety, named Bintje, grown in Sao Paulo State were employed. Potatoes were punctured with steel electrodes and impedance measured at different frequencies (1 k Hz-100 k Hz) by passing 3-5 m A alternating current through it. The impedance ratio of 50 k Hz/5 k Hz calculated from ten replicate samples decreases with the increment of the dose when doses of O 0.75 and 0.15 kGy from a Gamma Cell 220 were utilized. The impedance measurement were slightly affected by the place of puncture. (author)

Critical Success Factors for Franchised Restaurants Entering the Kenyan Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucy Gikonyo

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In today’s globalized world, businesses look to expand to have a global presence. Restaurant businesses have expanded internationally using franchising. This study sought to determine the critical success factors (CSFs of a franchised restaurant system entering the Kenyan market from the franchisors’ perspective. It sought to establish how franchisors define, identify, and evaluate success. This study provides a theoretical framework that helps to understand the background of why organizations seek to expand using franchising method and consequently the CSFs of franchised restaurants entering the Kenyan market. The study used qualitative methodology with the use of in-depth interviews for collecting data. The results yielded CSFs from the franchisors’ perspective. As revealed by the study, the CSFs include brand power/concept, competitive environment, government policies, distance management, cultural appeal, excellent selection of franchisees, good site/location selection, good relationship with the franchisees, and proper contract management. These findings can be used by restaurant franchises that seek to establish successful businesses in the Kenyan market and other similar regional markets. The Africa franchise partners may also find some useful information from this article as they seek to set up the Franchise Association of Kenya. Other franchise businesses may also benefit from some aspects of the study.

PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS IN REPRESENTATIONS OF THE STUDENTS-PSYCHOLOGISTS WITH A VARIETY OF VALUE-MOTIVATIONAL FEATURES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ekaterina Vladimirovna Belova

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The article presents the results of the theoretical analysis of the phenomenon of a success in psychology and the results of the empirical research of the content of representations about professional success and attitude towards it in connection with the professional motivation, purpose-in-life and value orientations of students –psychologists. The introduction emphasizes the urgency to the study of the students' representations about professional success in the context of the challenges of modern Russian society. On the basis of literature review it is concluded that the phenomenon of success is revealed in relation to the objective achievement of the subject specific activities and characterized as value-semantic formation. The study involved 90 students-psychologists of the two universities of Rostov-on-Don. The methods of essay, content analysis, testing and mathematical statistics were used. The results of the study indicate the correlation between the content and attitude components of the representations about professional success. The connection between the representations about professional success with the predominance of internal professional motivation / external negative motivation, between the representations about professional success with the respondents' purpose-in-life orientations and their value orientations has been identified. It is concluded about the complex internal relations between the representations about professional success, values and professional motivation of the person.

Measuring faculty retention and success in academic medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Ries, Andrew; Wingard, Deborah; Gamst, Anthony; Larsen, Catherine; Farrell, Elizabeth; Reznik, Vivian

2012-08-01

To develop and demonstrate the usefulness of quantitative methods for assessing retention and academic success of junior faculty in academic medicine. The authors created matched sets of participants and nonparticipants in a junior faculty development program based on hire date and academic series for newly hired assistant professors at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), School of Medicine between 1988 and 2005. They used Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards survival analyses to characterize the influence of covariates, including gender, ethnicity, and program participation, on retention. They also developed a new method for quantifying academic success based on several measures including (1) leadership and professional activities, (2) honors and awards, (3) research grants, (4) teaching and mentoring/advising activities, and (5) publications. The authors then used these measures to compare matched pairs of participating and nonparticipating faculty who were subsequently promoted and remained at UCSD. Compared with matched nonparticipants, the retention of junior faculty who participated in the faculty development program was significantly higher. Among those who were promoted and remained at UCSD, the academic success of faculty development participants was consistently greater than that of matched nonparticipants. This difference reached statistical significance for leadership and professional activities. Using better quantitative methods for evaluating retention and academic success will improve understanding and research in these areas. In this study, use of such methods indicated that organized junior faculty development programs have positive effects on faculty retention and may facilitate success in academic medicine.

Iterative Outlier Removal: A Method for Identifying Outliers in Laboratory Recalibration Studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Parrinello, Christina M; Grams, Morgan E; Sang, Yingying; Couper, David; Wruck, Lisa M; Li, Danni; Eckfeldt, John H; Selvin, Elizabeth; Coresh, Josef

2016-07-01

Extreme values that arise for any reason, including those through nonlaboratory measurement procedure-related processes (inadequate mixing, evaporation, mislabeling), lead to outliers and inflate errors in recalibration studies. We present an approach termed iterative outlier removal (IOR) for identifying such outliers. We previously identified substantial laboratory drift in uric acid measurements in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study over time. Serum uric acid was originally measured in 1990-1992 on a Coulter DACOS instrument using an uricase-based measurement procedure. To recalibrate previous measured concentrations to a newer enzymatic colorimetric measurement procedure, uric acid was remeasured in 200 participants from stored plasma in 2011-2013 on a Beckman Olympus 480 autoanalyzer. To conduct IOR, we excluded data points >3 SDs from the mean difference. We continued this process using the resulting data until no outliers remained. IOR detected more outliers and yielded greater precision in simulation. The original mean difference (SD) in uric acid was 1.25 (0.62) mg/dL. After 4 iterations, 9 outliers were excluded, and the mean difference (SD) was 1.23 (0.45) mg/dL. Conducting only one round of outlier removal (standard approach) would have excluded 4 outliers [mean difference (SD) = 1.22 (0.51) mg/dL]. Applying the recalibration (derived from Deming regression) from each approach to the original measurements, the prevalence of hyperuricemia (>7 mg/dL) was 28.5% before IOR and 8.5% after IOR. IOR is a useful method for removal of extreme outliers irrelevant to recalibrating laboratory measurements, and identifies more extraneous outliers than the standard approach. © 2016 American Association for Clinical Chemistry.

Comparison of the hanging-drop technique and running-drip method for identifying the epidural space in dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez-Taboada, Fernando; Redondo, José I

2017-03-01

To compare the running-drip and hanging-drop techniques for locating the epidural space in dogs. Prospective, randomized, clinical trial. Forty-five healthy dogs requiring epidural anaesthesia. Dogs were randomized into four groups and administered epidural anaesthesia in sternal (S) or lateral (L) recumbency. All blocks were performed by the same person using Tuohy needles with either a fluid-prefilled hub (HDo) or connected to a drip set attached to a fluid bag elevated 60 cm (RDi). The number of attempts, 'pop' sensation, clear drop aspiration or fluid dripping, time to locate the epidural space (TTLES) and presence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were recorded. A morphine-bupivacaine combination was injected after positive identification. The success of the block was assessed by experienced observers based on perioperative usage of rescue analgesia. Data were checked for normality. Binomial variables were analysed with the chi-squared or Fisher's exact test as appropriate. Non-parametric data were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. Normal data were studied with an anova followed by a Tukey's means comparison for groups of the same size. A p-value of Drop aspiration was observed more often in SHDo (nine of 11 dogs) than in LHDo (two of 11 dogs) (p = 0.045). Mean (range) TTLES was longer in LHDo [47 (18-82) seconds] than in SHDo [20 (14-79) seconds] (p = 0.006) and SRDi [(34 (17-53) seconds] (p = 0.038). There were no differences in 'pop' sensation, presence of CSF, rescue analgesia or pain scores between the groups. The running-drip method is a useful and fast alternative technique for identifying the epidural space in dogs. The hanging-drop technique in lateral recumbency was more difficult to perform than the other methods, requiring more time and attempts. Copyright © 2017 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Applying Mixed Methods Techniques in Strategic Planning

Science.gov (United States)

Voorhees, Richard A.

2008-01-01

In its most basic form, strategic planning is a process of anticipating change, identifying new opportunities, and executing strategy. The use of mixed methods, blending quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques and data, in the process of assembling a strategic plan can help to ensure a successful outcome. In this article, the author…

Identifying, studying and making good use of macromolecular crystals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Calero, Guillermo [University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States); Cohen, Aina E. [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (United States); Luft, Joseph R. [Hauptman–Woodward Medical Research Institute, 700 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203 (United States); State University of New York at Buffalo, 700 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203 (United States); Newman, Janet [CSIRO Collaborative Crystallisation Centre, 343 Royal Parade, Parkville, Victoria 3052 (Australia); Snell, Edward H., E-mail: esnell@hwi.buffalo.edu [Hauptman–Woodward Medical Research Institute, 700 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203 (United States); State University of New York at Buffalo, 700 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203 (United States); University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (United States)

2014-07-25

As technology advances, the crystal volume that can be used to collect useful X-ray diffraction data decreases. The technologies available to detect and study growing crystals beyond the optical resolution limit and methods to successfully place the crystal into the X-ray beam are discussed. Structural biology has contributed tremendous knowledge to the understanding of life on the molecular scale. The Protein Data Bank, a depository of this structural knowledge, currently contains over 100 000 protein structures, with the majority stemming from X-ray crystallography. As the name might suggest, crystallography requires crystals. As detectors become more sensitive and X-ray sources more intense, the notion of a crystal is gradually changing from one large enough to embellish expensive jewellery to objects that have external dimensions of the order of the wavelength of visible light. Identifying these crystals is a prerequisite to their study. This paper discusses developments in identifying these crystals during crystallization screening and distinguishing them from other potential outcomes. The practical aspects of ensuring that once a crystal is identified it can then be positioned in the X-ray beam for data collection are also addressed.

Identifying, studying and making good use of macromolecular crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Calero, Guillermo; Cohen, Aina E.; Luft, Joseph R.; Newman, Janet; Snell, Edward H.

2014-01-01

As technology advances, the crystal volume that can be used to collect useful X-ray diffraction data decreases. The technologies available to detect and study growing crystals beyond the optical resolution limit and methods to successfully place the crystal into the X-ray beam are discussed. Structural biology has contributed tremendous knowledge to the understanding of life on the molecular scale. The Protein Data Bank, a depository of this structural knowledge, currently contains over 100 000 protein structures, with the majority stemming from X-ray crystallography. As the name might suggest, crystallography requires crystals. As detectors become more sensitive and X-ray sources more intense, the notion of a crystal is gradually changing from one large enough to embellish expensive jewellery to objects that have external dimensions of the order of the wavelength of visible light. Identifying these crystals is a prerequisite to their study. This paper discusses developments in identifying these crystals during crystallization screening and distinguishing them from other potential outcomes. The practical aspects of ensuring that once a crystal is identified it can then be positioned in the X-ray beam for data collection are also addressed

Spectroscopy methods for identifying the country of origin

Science.gov (United States)

Hondrogiannis, Ellen; Ehrlinger, Erin; Miziolek, Andrzej W.

2013-05-01

There is a need in many industries and government functions to identify the source of origin for various materials. For example, the food industry needs to ensure that the claimed source of some of the food products (e.g. coffee, spices) are in fact legitimate due to the variation of quality from different source locations world-wide. Another example is to identify the source country for imported commodities going through Customs so as to assess the correct tariff which varies depending on the source country. Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) holds promise for being a field-portable tool for rapid identification of the country of origin of various materials. Recent research at Towson University has identified the elemental markers needed for discrimination of select spices back to their country of origin using wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF). The WDXRF device, however, is not particularly suitable for convenient and fast field analysis. We are extending this study to evaluate the potential of a benchtop commercial LIBS device that could be located at ports of entry and to compare its performance with WDXRF. Our initial study on the spice cumin has demonstrated that discriminant function models can not only be created with 100% separation between the 4 countries of origin (China, India, Syria, and Turkey), but also when tested they show 100% correct matching to the country of origin. This study adds to the growing number of publications that indicate the power of LIBS elemental fingerprinting for provenance determinations.

Comparative performance of the conjugate gradient and SOR [Successive Over Relaxation] methods for computational thermal hydraulics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

King, J.B.; Anghaie, S.; Domanus, H.M.

1987-01-01

Finite difference approximations to the continuity, momentum, and energy equations in thermal hydraulics codes result in a system of N by N equations for a problem having N field points. In a three dimensional problem, N increases as the problem becomes larger or more complex, and more rapidly as the computational mesh size is reduced. As a consequence, the execution time required to solve the problem increases, which may lead to placing limits on the problem resolution or accuracy. A conventinal method of solution of these systems of equations is the Successive Over Relaxation (SOR) technique. However, for a wide range of problems the execution time may be reduced by using a more efficient linear equation solver. One such method is the conjugate gradient method which was implemented in COMMIX-1B thermal hydraulics code. It was found that the execution time required to solve the resulting system of equations was reduced by a factor of about 2 for some problems. This paper summarizes the characteristics of these iterative solution procedures and compares their performance in modeling of a variety of reactor thermal hydraulic problems, using the COMMIX-1B computer code

Charting the pipeline: Identifying the critical elements in the development of successful African American scientists, engineers, and mathematicians

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Brian Anthony

Many educational researchers are concerned with the apparent poor performance of different racial and ethnic groups in the fields of science, engineering, and mathematics in the United States. Despite improvements in the performance of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans in these areas over the past decade, these groups are still less likely to enroll in advanced math and science courses or score at or above the proficient level in mathematics. Furthermore, these groups continue to be underrepresented in the nation's technical and scientific workforce. The purpose of this study was to identify the critical elements related to the success of African Americans in science, engineering, and mathematics. Specifically, this study was designed to answer the following questions as they pertained to African American graduate students: What factors were perceived to have contributed to the students' initial interest in science, engineering, or mathematics? What factors were perceived to have contributed to the students' decisions to continue their studies in their specific areas of interest? What factors, associated with the K--12 schooling experience, were perceived to have contributed to the students' success in science, engineering, or mathematics? The data for the study were acquired from interviews with 32 African American students (16 males and 16 females) who were engaged in graduate work in science, engineering, or mathematics. Four major themes emerged from the analysis of the interview data. The first was that all students were involved in experiences that allowed a significant level of participation in science, engineering, and mathematics. Second, all of the students experienced some form of positive personal intervention by another person. Third, all students possessed perceptions of these fields that involved some sort of positive outcome. Finally, all of the of the students believed they possessed intrinsic qualities that qualified and

Early Prevention Method for Power System Instability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dmitrova, Evgenia; Wittrock, Martin Lindholm; Jóhannsson, Hjörtur

2015-01-01

are then determined, using a grid transformation coefficient (GTC) and a numerical, iterative solution to an equation system. The stability criteriacan then be assessed to evaluate the sufficiency of a suggested counter measure. The method is demonstrated on a synthetic 8-bus network and a 464-bus model...... of the Western Denm ark transmission grid. The method successfully demonstrates its ability to efficiently identify and evaluate counter measures for a large, practical system....

Factors related to successful teaching by outstanding professors: an interpretive study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossetti, Jeanette; Fox, Patricia G

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe factors associated with successful university teaching within the cultural norms of a public university in the midwestern United States. An interpretive analysis was conducted using the educational philosophy and goal statements of 35 university professors who received Presidential Teaching Awards from the university. The professors' diverse disciplines included nursing, curriculum and instruction, accountancy, music, and political science. The authors offer nursing educators the opportunity to increase their confidence and effectiveness by "learning" from faculty members who have been recognized as exceptionally successful in teaching. Four main relevant themes associated with successful university teaching were identified: Presence, Promotion of Learning, Teachers as Learners, and Enthusiasm. The narratives of the professors helped define the meaning of successful teaching across disciplines and offer nursing faculty additional perspectives and experiences.

"If You Only Knew": Lessons Learned from Successful Black Entrepreneurs.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Cheryl A.

2001-01-01

A qualitative study investigated success in entrepreneurship from the standpoint of Black women entrepreneurs, one of the fastest growing groups of new small business owners. It explored the business and learning experiences of successful Black women graduates of an entrepreneurship training program in New York State to identify learning…

Electronic Commerce Success Model: A Search for Multiple Criteria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Didi Achjari

2004-01-01

Full Text Available The current study attempts to develop and examine framework of e-commerce success. In order to obtain comprehensive and robust measures, the framework accomodates key factors that are identified in the literature concerning the success of electronic commerce. The structural model comprises of four exogenous variables (Internal Driver, Internal Impediment, External Driver and Exgternal Impediment and one endogenous variable (Electornic Commerce Success eith 24 observed variables. The study that was administered within large Australian companies using questionaire survey concluded that benefits for both internal organization and external parties from the use of e-commerce were the main factor tro predict perceived and/or expected success of electronic commerce.

Identifying Cancer Subtypes from miRNA-TF-mRNA Regulatory Networks and Expression Data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Taosheng Xu

Full Text Available Identifying cancer subtypes is an important component of the personalised medicine framework. An increasing number of computational methods have been developed to identify cancer subtypes. However, existing methods rarely use information from gene regulatory networks to facilitate the subtype identification. It is widely accepted that gene regulatory networks play crucial roles in understanding the mechanisms of diseases. Different cancer subtypes are likely caused by different regulatory mechanisms. Therefore, there are great opportunities for developing methods that can utilise network information in identifying cancer subtypes.In this paper, we propose a method, weighted similarity network fusion (WSNF, to utilise the information in the complex miRNA-TF-mRNA regulatory network in identifying cancer subtypes. We firstly build the regulatory network where the nodes represent the features, i.e. the microRNAs (miRNAs, transcription factors (TFs and messenger RNAs (mRNAs and the edges indicate the interactions between the features. The interactions are retrieved from various interatomic databases. We then use the network information and the expression data of the miRNAs, TFs and mRNAs to calculate the weight of the features, representing the level of importance of the features. The feature weight is then integrated into a network fusion approach to cluster the samples (patients and thus to identify cancer subtypes. We applied our method to the TCGA breast invasive carcinoma (BRCA and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM datasets. The experimental results show that WSNF performs better than the other commonly used computational methods, and the information from miRNA-TF-mRNA regulatory network contributes to the performance improvement. The WSNF method successfully identified five breast cancer subtypes and three GBM subtypes which show significantly different survival patterns. We observed that the expression patterns of the features in some mi