GeneTopics - interpretation of gene sets via literature-driven topic models

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Annotation of a set of genes is often accomplished through comparison to a library of labelled gene sets such as biological processes or canonical pathways. However, this approach might fail if the employed libraries are not up to date with the latest research, don't capture relevant biological themes or are curated at a different level of granularity than is required to appropriately analyze the input gene set. At the same time, the vast biomedical literature offers an unstructured repository of the latest research findings that can be tapped to provide thematic sub-groupings for any input gene set. Methods Our proposed method relies on a gene-specific text corpus and extracts commonalities between documents in an unsupervised manner using a topic model approach. We automatically determine the number of topics summarizing the corpus and calculate a gene relevancy score for each topic allowing us to eliminate non-specific topics. As a result we obtain a set of literature topics in which each topic is associated with a subset of the input genes providing directly interpretable keywords and corresponding documents for literature research. Results We validate our method based on labelled gene sets from the KEGG metabolic pathway collection and the genetic association database (GAD) and show that the approach is able to detect topics consistent with the labelled annotation. Furthermore, we discuss the results on three different types of experimentally derived gene sets, (1) differentially expressed genes from a cardiac hypertrophy experiment in mice, (2) altered transcript abundance in human pancreatic beta cells, and (3) genes implicated by GWA studies to be associated with metabolite levels in a healthy population. In all three cases, we are able to replicate findings from the original papers in a quick and semi-automated manner. Conclusions Our approach provides a novel way of automatically generating meaningful annotations for gene sets that are directly

International meeting 'Selected topics on nuclear methods for non-nuclear applications'. Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stoyanov, Ch.

2007-01-01

topics on nuclear physics. The multifragmentation process is discussed in details and some results on relativistic Hartree-Fock method are shown. (editor)

Topical Therapy of Acute Pharyngitis in Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu.K. Bolbot

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the methods of topical antiinflammatory therapy for acute pharyngitis in children. The analysis of the complex of mechanisms (antiinflammatory, local analgesic ones of Tantum Verde® action and method of its application are provided.

Health Care providers and Teen Driving Safety: Topics Discussed and Educational Resources Used in Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Dellinger, Ann M; West, Bethany A

2015-11-01

Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death among teens. Health care providers have an opportunity to address what works to keep teens safe on the road during the patient visit. An online survey was conducted of 1088 health care providers who saw patients at or near driving age. The survey assessed which road safety topics were discussed and which types of educational products were used most often. Family and general practice physicians represented 44.3% of the sample, followed by pediatricians (22.5%), nurse practitioners (17.6%), and internists (15.5%). Nearly all respondents (92.9%) reported addressing one or more driving safety factors (seat belt use, nighttime driving, fatigue, teen passengers, alcohol/drug use, speeding/reckless driving, and cell phone use/texting) with adolescent patients and/or their parents. Seat belt use was reported more often (83.7%) than other topics. The use of parent-teen driving agreements, a known effective intervention, was reported by less than 10% of respondents. Since health care providers expressed interest in receiving written resource materials, distribution of parent-teen driving agreements to health care providers might encourage greater uptake and use of this effective intervention.

An exploratory discussion on business files compilation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Chunying

2014-01-01

Business files compilation for an enterprise is a distillation and recreation of its spiritual wealth, from which the applicable information can be available to those who want to use it in a fast, extensive and precise way. Proceeding from the effects of business files compilation on scientific researches, productive constructions and developments, this paper in five points discusses the way how to define topics, analyze historical materials, search or select data and process it to an enterprise archives collection. Firstly, to expound the importance and necessity of business files compilation in production, operation and development of an company; secondly, to present processing methods from topic definition, material searching and data selection to final examination and correction; thirdly, to define principle and classification in order to make different categories and levels of processing methods available to business files compilation; fourthly, to discuss the specific method how to implement a file compilation through a documentation collection upon principle of topic definition gearing with demand; fifthly, to address application of information technology to business files compilation in view point of widely needs for business files so as to level up enterprise archives management. The present discussion focuses on the examination and correction principle of enterprise historical material compilation and the basic classifications as well as the major forms of business files compilation achievements. (author)

Method validation and stability study of quercetin in topical emulsions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rúbia Casagrande

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This study validated a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC method for the quantitative evaluation of quercetin in topical emulsions. The method was linear within 0.05 - 200 μg/mL range with a correlation coefficient of 0.9997, and without interference in the quercetin peak. The detection and quantitation limits were 18 and 29 ng/mL, respectively. The intra- and inter-assay precisions presented R.S.D. values lower than 2%. An average of 93% and 94% of quercetin was recovered for non-ionic and anionic emulsions, respectively. The raw material and anionic emulsion, but not non-ionic emulsion, were stable in all storage conditions for one year. The method reported is a fast and reliable HPLC technique useful for quercetin determination in topical emulsions.

Topics in current aerosol research

CERN Document Server

Hidy, G M

1971-01-01

Topics in Current Aerosol Research deals with the fundamental aspects of aerosol science, with emphasis on experiment and theory describing highly dispersed aerosols (HDAs) as well as the dynamics of charged suspensions. Topics covered range from the basic properties of HDAs to their formation and methods of generation; sources of electric charges; interactions between fluid and aerosol particles; and one-dimensional motion of charged cloud of particles. This volume is comprised of 13 chapters and begins with an introduction to the basic properties of HDAs, followed by a discussion on the form

A Survey of Beginning Crop Science Courses at 49 U.S. Universities. I. Lecture Format, Teaching Methods, and Topical Content.

Science.gov (United States)

Karnok, Keith J.; Connors, Krista L.

1986-01-01

This paper is the first of a two-part series which discusses the findings related to lecture information in beginning crop science courses offered in Land Grant institutions. Survey results revealed considerable differences regarding course organization and teaching methods, but similarities in overall goals and topic areas. (ML)

Impact of a Modified Jigsaw Method for Learning an Unfamiliar, Complex Topic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise Kolanczyk

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Objective: The aim of this study was to use the jigsaw method with an unfamiliar, complex topic and to evaluate the effectiveness of the jigsaw teaching method on student learning of assigned material (“jigsaw expert” versus non-assigned material (“jigsaw learner”. Innovation: The innovation was implemented in an advanced cardiology elective. Forty students were assigned a pre-reading and one of four valvular heart disorders, a topic not previously taught in the curriculum. A pre-test and post-test evaluated overall student learning. Student performance on pre/post tests as the “jigsaw expert” and “jigsaw learner” was also compared. Critical Analysis: Overall, the post-test mean score of 85.75% was significantly higher than that of the pre-test score of 56.75% (p<0.05. There was significant improvement in scores regardless of whether the material was assigned (“jigsaw experts” pre=58.8% and post=82.5%; p<0.05 or not assigned (“jigsaw learners” pre= 56.25% and post= 86.56%, p<0.05 for pre-study. Next Steps: The use of the jigsaw method to teach unfamiliar, complex content helps students to become both teachers and active listeners, which are essential to the skills and professionalism of a health care provider. Further studies are needed to evaluate use of the jigsaw method to teach unfamiliar, complex content on long-term retention and to further examine the effects of expert vs. non-expert roles. Conflict of Interest We declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the authors or members of their immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received, employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties.   Type: Note

Neutron spectroscopy, nuclear structure, related topics. Abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sukhovoj, A.M.

1996-01-01

Neutron spectroscopy, nuclear structure and related topics are considered. P, T-breaking, neutron beta decay, neutron radiative capture and neutron polarizability are discussed. Reaction with fast neutrons, methodical aspect low-energy fission are considered too

Automatic Annotation Method on Learners' Opinions in Case Method Discussion

Science.gov (United States)

Samejima, Masaki; Hisakane, Daichi; Komoda, Norihisa

2015-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to annotate an attribute of a problem, a solution or no annotation on learners' opinions automatically for supporting the learners' discussion without a facilitator. The case method aims at discussing problems and solutions in a target case. However, the learners miss discussing some of problems and solutions.…

DISCUSSION METHODS: MODIFICATION AND TRANSFORMATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abbasova, A.A.

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This article is about how to the importance of selecting the optimal methods of stimulation and motivation to learn. In modern conditions it is very important that the teacher gave the students ready knowledge, and pointed the way for the acquisition of knowledge, taught to acquire knowledge. This requires the selection of effective forms of language and literature work with texts of different types and styles of speech, listening, speaking. In this regard, special attention should be given lessons of speech development. There is a special group of methods to stimulate the development of communicative competence. Among them, and the method of discussion, which is increasingly being used in the classroom in the Russian language

General discussion (of all topics from the meeting)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potter, P.E.; Burns, W.G.; Sellers, R.M.

1986-01-01

In the general discussion at the conclusion of the iodine workshop, Harwell, September 1985, the importance of the study of all aspects of iodine chemistry was emphasised. The necessity of establishing a data-base for radiolysis, hydrolysis and oxidation rates was proposed. Studies of iodine chemistry will aid the prediction of the magnitude of possible volatile iodine releases in design basis and severe accidents in PWRs. The management and control of such situations was discussed. (UK)

TOPICAL REVIEW: Single-molecule experiments in biological physics: methods and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Ritort, F.

2006-08-01

I review single-molecule experiments (SMEs) in biological physics. Recent technological developments have provided the tools to design and build scientific instruments of high enough sensitivity and precision to manipulate and visualize individual molecules and measure microscopic forces. Using SMEs it is possible to manipulate molecules one at a time and measure distributions describing molecular properties, characterize the kinetics of biomolecular reactions and detect molecular intermediates. SMEs provide additional information about thermodynamics and kinetics of biomolecular processes. This complements information obtained in traditional bulk assays. In SMEs it is also possible to measure small energies and detect large Brownian deviations in biomolecular reactions, thereby offering new methods and systems to scrutinize the basic foundations of statistical mechanics. This review is written at a very introductory level, emphasizing the importance of SMEs to scientists interested in knowing the common playground of ideas and the interdisciplinary topics accessible by these techniques. The review discusses SMEs from an experimental perspective, first exposing the most common experimental methodologies and later presenting various molecular systems where such techniques have been applied. I briefly discuss experimental techniques such as atomic-force microscopy (AFM), laser optical tweezers (LOTs), magnetic tweezers (MTs), biomembrane force probes (BFPs) and single-molecule fluorescence (SMF). I then present several applications of SME to the study of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA and DNA condensation) and proteins (protein-protein interactions, protein folding and molecular motors). Finally, I discuss applications of SMEs to the study of the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of small systems and the experimental verification of fluctuation theorems. I conclude with a discussion of open questions and future perspectives.

Topics in the Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1963-2015.

Science.gov (United States)

Oh, JungSu; Stewart, Alan E; Phelps, Rosemary E

2017-11-01

Historical trends in a scientific field should be apparent in the changing content of journal articles over time. Using a topic modeling approach, a statistical method for quantifying the thematic content of text, 70 topics were extracted from the abstracts of 3,603 articles published in the Journal of Counseling Psychology from 1963 to 2015. After examining interpretability of 70 topics derived from the model, 64 meaningful topics and their trends were named. In addition, the authors also classified some of the related topics into 4 categories-counseling process and outcome, multiculturalism, research methodology, and vocational psychology. Counseling process and outcome related topics have decreased recently, while topics relating to multiculturalism and diversity have shown increasing trends. The authors also discussed trends that were observed and tried to account for the changing frequencies of some important research topics within these categories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Implementation of Active Teaching Methods and Emerging Topics in Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Subjects

Science.gov (United States)

Kosmatin Fras, M.; Grigillo, D.

2016-06-01

Fast technological developments in photogrammetry and remote sensing areas demand quick and steady changes in the education programme and its realization. The university teachers and assistants are faced with ensuring the learning materials, data and software for practical lessons, as well as project proposals for student's team work and bachelor or master thesis. In this paper the emerging topics that already have a considerable impact in the practice are treated mostly from the educational aspect. These relatively new topics that are considered in this paper are unmanned aerial systems for spatial data collection, terrestrial and aerial laser scanning, mobile mapping systems, and novelties in satellite remote sensing. The focus is given to practical implementation of these topics into the teaching and learning programme of Geodesy and Geoinformation at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, and experiences gained by the authors so far. Together with the technological advances, the teaching approaches must be modernized as well. Classical approaches of teaching, where a lecturer gives lecture ex cathedra and students are only listeners, are not effective enough. The didactics science of teaching has developed and proved in the practice many useful approaches that can better motivate students for more active learning. We can use different methods of team work like pro et contra debate, buzzing groups, press conference, moderated discussion etc. An experimental study on active teaching methods in the class of students of the Master programme of Geodesy and Geoinformation has been made and the results are presented. After using some new teaching methods in the class, the students were asked to answer two types of a questionnaire. First questionnaire was the standard form developed by Noel Entwistle, an educational psychologist who developed the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) for identifying deep and surface approaches to

IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVE TEACHING METHODS AND EMERGING TOPICS IN PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND REMOTE SENSING SUBJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Kosmatin Fras

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Fast technological developments in photogrammetry and remote sensing areas demand quick and steady changes in the education programme and its realization. The university teachers and assistants are faced with ensuring the learning materials, data and software for practical lessons, as well as project proposals for student’s team work and bachelor or master thesis. In this paper the emerging topics that already have a considerable impact in the practice are treated mostly from the educational aspect. These relatively new topics that are considered in this paper are unmanned aerial systems for spatial data collection, terrestrial and aerial laser scanning, mobile mapping systems, and novelties in satellite remote sensing. The focus is given to practical implementation of these topics into the teaching and learning programme of Geodesy and Geoinformation at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, and experiences gained by the authors so far. Together with the technological advances, the teaching approaches must be modernized as well. Classical approaches of teaching, where a lecturer gives lecture ex cathedra and students are only listeners, are not effective enough. The didactics science of teaching has developed and proved in the practice many useful approaches that can better motivate students for more active learning. We can use different methods of team work like pro et contra debate, buzzing groups, press conference, moderated discussion etc. An experimental study on active teaching methods in the class of students of the Master programme of Geodesy and Geoinformation has been made and the results are presented. After using some new teaching methods in the class, the students were asked to answer two types of a questionnaire. First questionnaire was the standard form developed by Noel Entwistle, an educational psychologist who developed the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI for identifying deep and

Analyses of Research Topics in the Field of Informetrics Based on the Method of Topic Modeling

OpenAIRE

Sung-Chien Lin

2014-01-01

In this study, we used the approach of topic modeling to uncover the possible structure of research topics in the field of Informetrics, to explore the distribution of the topics over years, and to compare the core journals. In order to infer the structure of the topics in the field, the data of the papers published in the Journal of Informetricsand Scientometrics during 2007 to 2013 are retrieved from the database of the Web of Science as input of the approach of topic modeling. The results ...

Analyses of Research Topics in the Field of Informetrics Based on the Method of Topic Modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sung-Chien Lin

2014-07-01

Full Text Available In this study, we used the approach of topic modeling to uncover the possible structure of research topics in the field of Informetrics, to explore the distribution of the topics over years, and to compare the core journals. In order to infer the structure of the topics in the field, the data of the papers published in the Journal of Informetricsand Scientometrics during 2007 to 2013 are retrieved from the database of the Web of Science as input of the approach of topic modeling. The results of this study show that when the number of topics was set to 10, the topic model has the smallest perplexity. Although data scopes and analysis methodsare different to previous studies, the generating topics of this study are consistent with those results produced by analyses of experts. Empirical case studies and measurements of bibliometric indicators were concerned important in every year during the whole analytic period, and the field was increasing stability. Both the two core journals broadly paid more attention to all of the topics in the field of Informetrics. The Journal of Informetricsput particular emphasis on construction and applications ofbibliometric indicators and Scientometrics focused on the evaluation and the factors of productivity of countries, institutions, domains, and journals.

WGOE Discussion topic introduction: Counterfeit, Suspect, and Fraudulent parts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thorp, John

2011-01-01

This presentation (slides) provided an introduction to CSFI discussion. It presents: 1 - the many faces of counterfeiting (design and intellectual property, manufacturing and fabrication, product control, branding and document fraud), 2 - the key messages from the June 3, 2010 US-NRC Commission Briefing, 3 - the Regulator's role in ensuring nuclear plant safety, 4 - the CSFI survey status, 5 - the questions to be discussed during the meeting

testing a consensus conference method by discussing

African Journals Online (AJOL)

hi-tech

2000-10-10

Oct 10, 2000 ... Objectives: To test the recommended consensus conference methods in Tanzania by discussing the management ... “wrong”, based on recommendations advocated in western ..... future scenarios sponsored the conference.

Symbiosis: Rich, Exciting, Neglected Topic

Science.gov (United States)

Rowland, Jane Thomas

1974-01-01

Argues that the topic of symbiosis has been greatly neglected and underemphasized in general-biology textbooks. Discusses many types and examples of symbiosis, and provides an extensive bibliography of the literature related to this topic. (JR)

Incorporating Topic Assignment Constraint and Topic Correlation Limitation into Clinical Goal Discovering for Clinical Pathway Mining

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao Xu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Clinical pathways are widely used around the world for providing quality medical treatment and controlling healthcare cost. However, the expert-designed clinical pathways can hardly deal with the variances among hospitals and patients. It calls for more dynamic and adaptive process, which is derived from various clinical data. Topic-based clinical pathway mining is an effective approach to discover a concise process model. Through this approach, the latent topics found by latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA represent the clinical goals. And process mining methods are used to extract the temporal relations between these topics. However, the topic quality is usually not desirable due to the low performance of the LDA in clinical data. In this paper, we incorporate topic assignment constraint and topic correlation limitation into the LDA to enhance the ability of discovering high-quality topics. Two real-world datasets are used to evaluate the proposed method. The results show that the topics discovered by our method are with higher coherence, informativeness, and coverage than the original LDA. These quality topics are suitable to represent the clinical goals. Also, we illustrate that our method is effective in generating a comprehensive topic-based clinical pathway model.

Problem-Based Learning Method: Secondary Education 10th Grade Chemistry Course Mixtures Topic

Science.gov (United States)

Üce, Musa; Ates, Ismail

2016-01-01

In this research; aim was determining student achievement by comparing problem-based learning method with teacher-centered traditional method of teaching 10th grade chemistry lesson mixtures topic. Pretest-posttest control group research design is implemented. Research sample includes; two classes of (total of 48 students) an Anatolian High School…

Topics in quantum field theory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dams, C.J.F.

2006-01-01

In this PhD-thesis some topics in quantum field theory are considered. The first chapter gives a background to these topics. The second chapter discusses renormalization. In particular it is shown how loop calculations can be performed when using the axial gauge fixing. Fermion creation and

More than Method?: A Discussion of Paradigm Differences within Mixed Methods Research

Science.gov (United States)

Harrits, Gitte Sommer

2011-01-01

This article challenges the idea that mixed methods research (MMR) constitutes a coherent research paradigm and explores how different research paradigms exist within MMR. Tracing paradigmatic differences at the level of methods, ontology, and epistemology, two MMR strategies are discussed: nested analysis, recently presented by the American…

Topic modelling in the information warfare domain

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

De Waal, A

2013-11-01

Full Text Available for interesting and relevant topics. The objectives of this paper is to describe topic modelling, put it in context as a useful IW technique and illustrate its use with two examples. They discuss several applications of topic modelling in the safety and security...

Summary of SMIRT20 Preconference Topical Workshop - Identifying Structural Issues in Advanced Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richins, William; Novascone, Stephen; O'Brien, Cheryl

2009-01-01

The Idaho National Laboratory (INL, USA) and IASMiRT sponsored an international forum Nov 5-6, 2008 in Porvoo, Finland for nuclear industry, academic, and regulatory representatives to identify structural issues in current and future advanced reactor design, especially for extreme conditions and external threats. The purpose of this Topical Workshop was to articulate research, engineering, and regulatory Code development needs. The topics addressed by the Workshop were selected to address critical industry needs specific to advanced reactor structures that have long lead times and can be the subject of future SMiRT technical sessions. The topics were; (1) structural/materials needs for extreme conditions and external threats in contemporary (Gen. III) and future (Gen. IV and NGNP) advanced reactors and (2) calibrating simulation software and methods that address topic 1. The workshop discussions and research needs identified are presented. The Workshop successfully produced interactive discussion on the two topics resulting in a list of research and technology needs. It is recommended that IASMiRT communicate the results of the discussion to industry and researchers to encourage new ideas and projects. In addition, opportunities exist to retrieve research reports and information that currently exists, and encourage more international cooperation and collaboration. It is recommended that IASMiRT continue with an off-year workshop series on select topics.

Talking about sensitive topics during the advance care planning discussion: A peek into the black box

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreassen, Pernille; Neergaard, Mette Asbjørn; Brogaard, Trine

2015-01-01

-of-life decisions are addressed in concrete ACP discussions, with special focus on doctor-patient interactions. METHOD: Following a discourse-analysis approach, the study uses the concept of doctor and patient "voices" to analyze 10 directly observed and audiotaped ACP discussions among patients, relatives...... discussions about sensitive end-of-life issues the healthcare professional will be able to pose and explore sensitive ACP questions in a straightforward manner, if the voices that express empathy and seek to empower the patient in different ways are emphasized....

Book discussion course: timely topics for medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Timm, Donna F; Woodson, Deidra; Jones, Dee

2014-01-01

Several library faculty members at the Louisiana State University Health Shreveport Health Sciences Library offered a book discussion course as an elective for first-year medical students. This article provides details on how the librarians developed, taught, and evaluated this elective. The librarians took a team-teaching approach, required the students to read two books, and outlined the criteria for participation. At the end of the course, the students completed an evaluation, commenting on positive and negative aspects of the course. The elective proved to be successful, and the librarians look forward to offering the course again in the spring of 2014.

Following the Social Media: Aspect Evolution of Online Discussion

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Xuning; Yang, Christopher C.

Due to the advance of Internet and Web 2.0 technologies, it is easy to extract thousands of threads about a topic of interest from an online forum but it is nontrivial to capture the blueprint of different aspects (i.e., subtopic, or facet) associated with the topic. To better understand and analyze a forum discussion given topic, it is important to uncover the evolution relationships (temporal dependencies) between different topic aspects (i.e. how the discussion topic is evolving). Traditional Topic Detection and Tracking (TDT) techniques usually organize topics as a flat structure but it does not present the evolution relationships between topic aspects. In addition, the properties of short and sparse messages make the content-based TDT techniques difficult to perform well in identifying evolution relationships. The contributions in this paper are two-folded. We formally define a topic aspect evolution graph modeling framework and propose to utilize social network information, content similarity and temporal proximity to model evolution relationships between topic aspects. The experimental results showed that, by incorporating social network information, our technique significantly outperformed content-based technique in the task of extracting evolution relationships between topic aspects.

Text mining for search term development in systematic reviewing: A discussion of some methods and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Stansfield, Claire; O'Mara-Eves, Alison; Thomas, James

2017-09-01

Using text mining to aid the development of database search strings for topics described by diverse terminology has potential benefits for systematic reviews; however, methods and tools for accomplishing this are poorly covered in the research methods literature. We briefly review the literature on applications of text mining for search term development for systematic reviewing. We found that the tools can be used in 5 overarching ways: improving the precision of searches; identifying search terms to improve search sensitivity; aiding the translation of search strategies across databases; searching and screening within an integrated system; and developing objectively derived search strategies. Using a case study and selected examples, we then reflect on the utility of certain technologies (term frequency-inverse document frequency and Termine, term frequency, and clustering) in improving the precision and sensitivity of searches. Challenges in using these tools are discussed. The utility of these tools is influenced by the different capabilities of the tools, the way the tools are used, and the text that is analysed. Increased awareness of how the tools perform facilitates the further development of methods for their use in systematic reviews. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How to Improve the Mastery of Students’ Concept on Photosynthesis Topic?

Science.gov (United States)

Ulfa, K.; Anggraeni, S.; Supriatno, B.

2017-09-01

The PPDP learning strategy in this research is the acronym of Practicum method, Presentation-discussion method, Demonstration method, and Presentation-discussion method. This study aims to describe the effect of applying PPDP learning strategies to mastery of high school students’ concepts on photosynthesis topic. The research method is a weak experiment, with the research design “The One-Group Pretest-Postetst Design”. The implementation of the study involved 35 students in one of the high schools in the city of Palembang. The research instrument used is in the form of test equipment, assessment rubric and questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS 24 Program. The statistical result showed that PPDP learning strategy had an effect on improving conceptual and Effective on the achievement of the value on the minimum criteria set by the school. This is due to the transformation of knowledge from hands-on to minds-on through the discovery of facts about the concept of photosynthesis. This fact leads to the construction of further understanding through cognitive sharing when the activities of the discussions formed similarity and consolidation of the concept of photosynthesis intact. In addition, demonstration activities also cause students’ logic of thinking to develop through observation of factors that may affect the rate of photosynthesis. This PPDP learning strategy can be utilized by teachers in explaining photosynthetic topic.

Defensible space in the news: public discussion of a neglected topic

Science.gov (United States)

Jayne Fingerman Johnson; David N. Bengston; David P. Fan

2006-01-01

Managers have an opportunity during times of peak media coverage of wildfire to expand the discussion about defensible space from the current focus on vegetation clearing to include the full range of activities a homeowner can undertake to mitigate damage. Currently, news media discussion of wildfire is overwhelmingly dominated by firefighting, and discussion of...

Topics in lightwave transmission systems

CERN Document Server

Li, Tingye

1991-01-01

Topics in Lightwave Transmission Systems is a second volume of a treatise on optical fiber communications that is devoted to the science, engineering, and application of information transmission via optical fibers. The first volume, published in 1985, dealt exclusively with fiber fabrication. The present volume contains topics that pertain to subsystems and systems. The book contains five chapters and begins with discussions of transmitters and receivers, which are basic to systems now operating in the field. Subsequent chapters cover topics relating to coherent systems: frequency and phase m

Topics in Nuclear Astrophysics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, K.C.

1982-01-01

Some topics in nuclear astrophysics are discussed, e.g.: highly evolved stellar cores, stellar evolution (through the temperature analysis of stellar surface), nucleosynthesis and finally the solar neutrino problem. (L.C.) [pt

Topics in nonlinear wave theory with applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tracy, E.R.

1984-01-01

Selected topics in nonlinear wave theory are discussed, and applications to the study of modulational instabilities are presented. A historical survey is given of topics relating to solitons and modulational problems. A method is then presented for generating exact periodic and quasi-periodic solutions to several nonlinear wave equations, which have important physical applications. The method is then specialized for the purposes of studying the modulational instability of a plane wave solution of the nonlinear Schroedinger equation, an equation with general applicability in one-dimensional modulational problems. Some numerical results obtained in conjunction with the analytic study are presented. The analytic approach explains the recurrence phenomena seen in the numerical studies, and the numerical work of other authors. The method of solution (related to the inverse scattering method) is then analyzed within the context of Hamiltonian dynamics where it is shown that the method can be viewed as simply a pair of canonical transformations. The Abel Transformation, which appears here and in the work of other authors, is shown to be a special form of Liouville's transformation to action-angle variables. The construction of closed form solutions of these nonlinear wave equations, via the solution of Jacobi's inversion problem, is surveyed briefly

Panel discussion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1980-01-01

The panel discussion at the 10th Allianz Forum on 'Technology and Insurance' dealt with the following topics: New technologies: energy conversion (coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear energy, solar energy); infrastructure (transport, data processing); basic products (metallic materials, chemical products, pharmaceutical products); integrated products (microprocessors, production line machines) as well as new risks: political; general economic (financing, market structure); insurance-related, dangers to persons and property; reduction of risks. (orig.) [de

Using Technology to Support Discussions on Sensitive Topics in the Study of Business Ethics

Science.gov (United States)

Fong, Michelle

2015-01-01

There is a dearth of research into teaching strategies and learning approaches for units involving sensitive topics that can provoke an emotional response in students. In a business ethics unit, attempts to strike a balance between conceptual knowledge and theory and skills training can be challenging because the unit can involve personal,…

Topical Session on Materials Management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

At its second meeting, in Paris, 5-7 December 2001, the WPDD held two topical sessions on the D and D Safety Case and on the Management of Materials from D and D, respectively. This report documents the topical session on the management of materials. Presentations during the topical session covered key aspects of the management of materials and meant to provide an exchange of information and experience, including: Experience and lessons learnt from VLLW and non-radioactive material management in Spain and Germany with special attention to recycling (How specific solutions came about? Are there 'generic' examples for wider adoption?); Risk assessment of recycling and non-recycling: a CPD study; Waste acceptance issues within different national contexts (What constraints are there on the waste receiving body and what flexibility can the latter have? What constraints does this impose on D and D implementers? What about wastes are without current solution? What needs to be done? What about large items and 'difficult' waste in general?); Radiological characterisation of materials during decommissioning, particularly difficult situations - large volumes, large items,.. wastes, heterogeneous streams (What examples of established practice? What are the approaches or aspects that set the regulatory requirements? How can the flow rates be large but the answers acceptable? How much is needed to be known for later action, e. g., disposal, release, protection of worker, etc.); Radiological characterisation of buildings as they stand, in order to allow conventional demolition (What are strategies for optimisation of characterisation? How much needs to be known to take action later? e.g. for storage, disposal, release, cost estimation and ALARA? What needs to be done in advance and after decommissioning/dismantling?). At the end of each presentation time was allotted for discussion of the paper. Integral to the Topical Session was a facilitated plenary discussion on the topical

Radiation risks -a possible teaching topic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howes, R.W.

1975-01-01

Radiation risks has been the subject of hot debate since 1969 due in main to the energy crisis and the switch to nuclear power. Topics of this debate including; the controversy concerned with the late radiobiological effects of low level radiation, the social responsibility of modern scientists, the sometimes acrimonious discussion which has taken place over many years concerning radiation standards, and present day misgivings over the environmental aspect of the nuclear power programme, are discussed and suggestions are made of ways in which the topics could be introduced into teaching courses. (U.K.)

The Science of Drug Use: Discussion Points

Science.gov (United States)

... The Science of Drug Use: Discussion Points The Science of Drug Use: Discussion Points Email Facebook Twitter ... was last updated February 2017 Related Topics Addiction Science Adolescent Brain Comorbidity College-Age & Young Adults Criminal ...

Topical cholesterol in clofazimine induced ichthyosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pandey S

1994-01-01

Full Text Available Topical application of 10% cholesterol in petrolatum significantly (P< 0.05 controlled the development of ichthyosis in 62 patients taking 100 mg clofazimine daily for a period of 3 months. However, topical cholesterol application did not affect the lowering of serum cholesterol induced by oral clofazimine. Probable mechanism of action is being discussed.

Using Social Media Data to Understand the Impact of Promotional Information on Laypeople’s Discussions: A Case Study of Lynch Syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Salloum, Ramzi G; Guo, Yi; Wang, Mo; Prosperi, Mattia; Zhang, Hansi; Du, Xinsong; Ramirez-Diaz, Laura J; He, Zhe

2017-01-01

Background Social media is being used by various stakeholders among pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, health care organizations, professionals, and news media as a way of engaging audiences to raise disease awareness and ultimately to improve public health. Nevertheless, it is unclear what effects this health information has on laypeople. Objective This study aimed to provide a detailed examination of how promotional health information related to Lynch syndrome impacts laypeople’s discussions on a social media platform (Twitter) in terms of topic awareness and attitudes. Methods We used topic modeling and sentiment analysis techniques on Lynch syndrome–related tweets to answer the following research questions (RQs): (1) what are the most discussed topics in Lynch syndrome–related tweets?; (2) how promotional Lynch syndrome–related information on Twitter affects laypeople’s discussions?; and (3) what impact do the Lynch syndrome awareness activities in the Colon Cancer Awareness Month and Lynch Syndrome Awareness Day have on laypeople’s discussions and their attitudes? In particular, we used a set of keywords to collect Lynch syndrome–related tweets from October 26, 2016 to August 11, 2017 (289 days) through the Twitter public search application programming interface (API). We experimented with two different classification methods to categorize tweets into the following three classes: (1) irrelevant, (2) promotional health information, and (3) laypeople’s discussions. We applied a topic modeling method to discover the themes in these Lynch syndrome–related tweets and conducted sentiment analysis on each layperson’s tweet to gauge the writer’s attitude (ie, positive, negative, and neutral) toward Lynch syndrome. The topic modeling and sentiment analysis results were elaborated to answer the three RQs. Results Of all tweets (N=16,667), 87.38% (14,564/16,667) were related to Lynch syndrome. Of the Lynch syndrome–related tweets, 81

Topical botulinum toxin.

Science.gov (United States)

Collins, Ashley; Nasir, Adnan

2010-03-01

Nanotechnology is a rapidly growing discipline that capitalizes on the unique properties of matter engineered on the nanoscale. Vehicles incorporating nanotechnology have led to great strides in drug delivery, allowing for increased active ingredient stability, bioavailability, and site-specific targeting. Botulinum toxin has historically been used for the correction of neurological and neuromuscular disorders, such as torticollis, blepharospasm, and strabismus. Recent dermatological indications have been for the management of axillary hyperhydrosis and facial rhytides. Traditional methods of botulinum toxin delivery have been needle-based. These have been associated with increased pain and cost. Newer methods of botulinum toxin formulation have yielded topical preparations that are bioactive in small pilot clinical studies. While there are some risks associated with topical delivery, the refinement and standardization of delivery systems and techniques for the topical administration of botulinum toxin using nanotechnology is anticipated in the near future.

Framing Classroom Discussion of Same-Sex Marriage

Science.gov (United States)

Hand, Michael

2013-01-01

Assuming that the issue of same-sex marriage should be discussed in schools, how should the discussion be framed? Michael Hand first distinguishes this question from the related but distinct question of whether discussion on this topic should be steered. He then examines three possible frames for discussion of same-sex marriage: the perfectionist…

Discussion on Papers 11 - 13

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haws, E.; Matthews, M.E.; Wilson, E.M.; Charles-Jones, S.; Allen, R.F.; Young, R.M.; O'Connor, B.

1992-01-01

The discussion covered the following topics: the nature of boulder clay for foundations; navigation through the barrage; the construction of sluice caissons; government subsidies for construction costs; the effect of wave action on river banks; allowances for reflected energy in hydrodynamic models; water quality in impounded pools; sediment deposition. Separate abstracts have been prepared for the three papers under discussion. (UK)

ThemeStreams: Visualizing The Stream Of Themes Discussed In Politics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Rooij, O.; Odijk, D.; de Rijke, M.

2013-01-01

The political landscape is fluid. Discussions are always ongoing and new "hot topics" continue to appear in the headlines. But what made people start talking about that topic? And who started it? Because of the speed at which discussions sometimes take place this can be difficult to track down. We

Method Engineering: Engineering of Information Systems Development Methods and Tools

OpenAIRE

Brinkkemper, J.N.; Brinkkemper, Sjaak

1996-01-01

This paper proposes the term method engineering for the research field of the construction of information systems development methods and tools. Some research issues in method engineering are identified. One major research topic in method engineering is discussed in depth: situational methods, i.e. the configuration of a project approach that is tuned to the project at hand. A language and support tool for the engineering of situational methods are discussed.

Current topics in summability theory and applications

CERN Document Server

Rhoades, Billy

2016-01-01

This book discusses recent developments in and contemporary research on summability theory, including general summability methods, direct theorems on summability, absolute and strong summability, special methods of summability, functional analytic methods in summability, and related topics and applications. All contributing authors are eminent scientists, researchers and scholars in their respective fields, and hail from around the world. The book can be used as a textbook for graduate and senior undergraduate students, and as a valuable reference guide for researchers and practitioners in the fields of summability theory and functional analysis. Summability theory is generally used in analysis and applied mathematics. It plays an important part in the engineering sciences, and various aspects of the theory have long since been studied by researchers all over the world. .

What Patients Can Tell Us: Topic Analysis for Social Media on Breast Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Tapi Nzali, Mike Donald; Bringay, Sandra; Lavergne, Christian; Mollevi, Caroline; Opitz, Thomas

2017-07-31

Social media dedicated to health are increasingly used by patients and health professionals. They are rich textual resources with content generated through free exchange between patients. We are proposing a method to tackle the problem of retrieving clinically relevant information from such social media in order to analyze the quality of life of patients with breast cancer. Our aim was to detect the different topics discussed by patients on social media and to relate them to functional and symptomatic dimensions assessed in the internationally standardized self-administered questionnaires used in cancer clinical trials (European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer [EORTC] Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 [QLQ-C30] and breast cancer module [QLQ-BR23]). First, we applied a classic text mining technique, latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), to detect the different topics discussed on social media dealing with breast cancer. We applied the LDA model to 2 datasets composed of messages extracted from public Facebook groups and from a public health forum (cancerdusein.org, a French breast cancer forum) with relevant preprocessing. Second, we applied a customized Jaccard coefficient to automatically compute similarity distance between the topics detected with LDA and the questions in the self-administered questionnaires used to study quality of life. Among the 23 topics present in the self-administered questionnaires, 22 matched with the topics discussed by patients on social media. Interestingly, these topics corresponded to 95% (22/23) of the forum and 86% (20/23) of the Facebook group topics. These figures underline that topics related to quality of life are an important concern for patients. However, 5 social media topics had no corresponding topic in the questionnaires, which do not cover all of the patients' concerns. Of these 5 topics, 2 could potentially be used in the questionnaires, and these 2 topics corresponded to a total of 3.10% (523

Topical immunomodulators in dermatology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khandpur Sujay

2004-04-01

Full Text Available Topical immunomodulators are agents that regulate the local immune response of the skin. They are now emerging as the therapy of choice for several immune-mediated dermatoses such as atopic dermatitis, contact allergic dermatitis, alopecia areata, psoriasis, vitiligo, connective tissue disorders such as morphea and lupus erythematosus, disorders of keratinization and several benign and malignant skin tumours, because of their comparable efficacy, ease of application and greater safety than their systemic counterparts. They can be used on a domiciliary basis for longer periods without aggressive monitoring. In this article, we have discussed the mechanism of action, common indications and side-effects of the commonly used topical immunomodulators, excluding topical steroids. Moreover, newer agents, which are still in the experimental stages, have also been described. A MEDLINE search was undertaken using the key words "topical immunomodulators, dermatology" and related articles were also searched. In addition, a manual search for many Indian articles, which are not indexed, was also carried out. Wherever possible, the full article was reviewed. If the full article could not be traced, the abstract was used.

Method Engineering: Engineering of Information Systems Development Methods and Tools

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brinkkemper, J.N.; Brinkkemper, Sjaak

1996-01-01

This paper proposes the term method engineering for the research field of the construction of information systems development methods and tools. Some research issues in method engineering are identified. One major research topic in method engineering is discussed in depth: situational methods, i.e.

Special topics in infrared interferometry. [Michelson interferometer development

Science.gov (United States)

Hanel, R. A.

1985-01-01

Topics in IR interferometry related to the development of a Michelson interferometer are treated. The selection and reading of the signal from the detector to the analog to digital converter is explained. The requirements for the Michelson interferometer advance speed are deduced. The effects of intensity modulation on the interferogram are discussed. Wavelength and intensity calibration of the interferometer are explained. Noise sources (Nyquist or Johnson noise, phonon noise), definitions of measuring methods of noise, and noise measurements are presented.

A discussion of molecular biology methods for protein engineering

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Zawaira, A

2011-09-01

Full Text Available A number of molecular biology techniques are available to generate variants from a particular start gene for eventual protein expression. The authors discuss the basic principles of these methods in a repertoire that may be used to achieve...

Nanocrystal: a novel approach to overcome skin barriers for improved topical drug delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Viral; Sharma, Om Prakash; Mehta, Tejal

2018-04-01

Skin is an important route of drug delivery for the treatment of various dermatological conditions. The advent of nanotechnology is paving the roadmaps for topical drug delivery by providing sustained release as well as maintaining a localized effect, outweighing the toxicity concern. Area covered: This review highlighted the morphology of skin, its barrier nature as well as drug penetration pathways after topical application of formulations. The existing methods to improve topical drug delivery, by infringing or permeating the skin barriers, are discussed. This context concretes the foundation to accentuate the need for the development of nanocrystal-based topical formulation. The mechanism of drug release, immediate as well as sustained release, after topical administration of drug nanocrystals is also elaborated. The special emphasis is given on the breakthrough achieved, in topical drug delivery using drug nanocrystals, so far in the plethora of literature, patents, and products, under clinical trial as well as in the market. Expert opinion: The current research on nanocrystals for topical drug delivery is highlighting the breakthroughs achieved so far. The output of these research envisages that topical nanocrystals based formulations can be a novel strategy for the drugs which are facing solubility, bioavailability and toxicity concerns.

Human-competitive automatic topic indexing

CERN Document Server

Medelyan, Olena

2009-01-01

Topic indexing is the task of identifying the main topics covered by a document. These are useful for many purposes: as subject headings in libraries, as keywords in academic publications and as tags on the web. Knowing a document’s topics helps people judge its relevance quickly. However, assigning topics manually is labor intensive. This thesis shows how to generate them automatically in a way that competes with human performance. Three kinds of indexing are investigated: term assignment, a task commonly performed by librarians, who select topics from a controlled vocabulary; tagging, a popular activity of web users, who choose topics freely; and a new method of keyphrase extraction, where topics are equated to Wikipedia article names. A general two-stage algorithm is introduced that first selects candidate topics and then ranks them by significance based on their properties. These properties draw on statistical, semantic, domain-specific and encyclopedic knowledge. They are combined using a machine learn...

Comparison of microstickies measurement methods. Part II, Results and discussion

Science.gov (United States)

Mahendra R. Doshi; Angeles Blanco; Carlos Negro; Concepcion Monte; Gilles M. Dorris; Carlos C. Castro; Axel Hamann; R. Daniel Haynes; Carl Houtman; Karen Scallon; Hans-Joachim Putz; Hans Johansson; R. A. Venditti; K. Copeland; H.-M. Chang

2003-01-01

In part I of the article we discussed sample preparation procedure and described various methods used for the measurement of microstickies. Some of the important features of different methods are highlighted in Table 1. Temperatures used in the measurement methods vary from room temperature in some cases, 45 °C to 65 °C in other cases. Sample size ranges from as low as...

Health-related hot topic detection in online communities using text clustering.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yingjie Lu

Full Text Available Recently, health-related social media services, especially online health communities, have rapidly emerged. Patients with various health conditions participate in online health communities to share their experiences and exchange healthcare knowledge. Exploring hot topics in online health communities helps us better understand patients' needs and interest in health-related knowledge. However, the statistical topic analysis employed in previous studies is becoming impractical for processing the rapidly increasing amount of online data. Automatic topic detection based on document clustering is an alternative approach for extracting health-related hot topics in online communities. In addition to the keyword-based features used in traditional text clustering, we integrate medical domain-specific features to represent the messages posted in online health communities. Three disease discussion boards, including boards devoted to lung cancer, breast cancer and diabetes, from an online health community are used to test the effectiveness of topic detection. Experiment results demonstrate that health-related hot topics primarily include symptoms, examinations, drugs, procedures and complications. Further analysis reveals that there also exist some significant differences among the hot topics discussed on different types of disease discussion boards.

The Effects of Topic Familiarity, Author Expertise, and Content Relevance on Norwegian Students' Document Selection: A Mixed Methods Study

Science.gov (United States)

McCrudden, Matthew T.; Stenseth, Tonje; Bråten, Ivar; Strømsø, Helge I.

2016-01-01

This mixed methods study investigated the extent to which author expertise and content relevance were salient to secondary Norwegian students (N = 153) when they selected documents that pertained to more familiar and less familiar topics. Quantitative results indicated that author expertise was more salient for the less familiar topic (nuclear…

Topics in supergravity and string theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eastaugh, A.G.

1987-01-01

The first topic covered in this dissertation concerns the harmonic expansion technique and its application to the dimensional compactification of higher dimensional supergravity. A simple example is given to explain the method and then the method is applied to the problem of obtaining the mass spectrum of the squashed seven-sphere compactification of eleven dimensional supergravity. The second topic concerns the application of Fujikawa's method of anomaly calculation to the calculation of the critical dimension of various string models. The third topic is a study and explicit calculation of the Fock space representation of the vertex in Witten's formulation of the interacting open bosonic string field theory

Identifying Topics in Microblogs Using Wikipedia.

Science.gov (United States)

Yıldırım, Ahmet; Üsküdarlı, Suzan; Özgür, Arzucan

2016-01-01

Twitter is an extremely high volume platform for user generated contributions regarding any topic. The wealth of content created at real-time in massive quantities calls for automated approaches to identify the topics of the contributions. Such topics can be utilized in numerous ways, such as public opinion mining, marketing, entertainment, and disaster management. Towards this end, approaches to relate single or partial posts to knowledge base items have been proposed. However, in microblogging systems like Twitter, topics emerge from the culmination of a large number of contributions. Therefore, identifying topics based on collections of posts, where individual posts contribute to some aspect of the greater topic is necessary. Models, such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), propose algorithms for relating collections of posts to sets of keywords that represent underlying topics. In these approaches, figuring out what the specific topic(s) the keyword sets represent remains as a separate task. Another issue in topic detection is the scope, which is often limited to specific domain, such as health. This work proposes an approach for identifying domain-independent specific topics related to sets of posts. In this approach, individual posts are processed and then aggregated to identify key tokens, which are then mapped to specific topics. Wikipedia article titles are selected to represent topics, since they are up to date, user-generated, sophisticated articles that span topics of human interest. This paper describes the proposed approach, a prototype implementation, and a case study based on data gathered during the heavily contributed periods corresponding to the four US election debates in 2012. The manually evaluated results (0.96 precision) and other observations from the study are discussed in detail.

Topics in modelling of clustered data

CERN Document Server

Aerts, Marc; Ryan, Louise M; Geys, Helena

2002-01-01

Many methods for analyzing clustered data exist, all with advantages and limitations in particular applications. Compiled from the contributions of leading specialists in the field, Topics in Modelling of Clustered Data describes the tools and techniques for modelling the clustered data often encountered in medical, biological, environmental, and social science studies. It focuses on providing a comprehensive treatment of marginal, conditional, and random effects models using, among others, likelihood, pseudo-likelihood, and generalized estimating equations methods. The authors motivate and illustrate all aspects of these models in a variety of real applications. They discuss several variations and extensions, including individual-level covariates and combined continuous and discrete outcomes. Flexible modelling with fractional and local polynomials, omnibus lack-of-fit tests, robustification against misspecification, exact, and bootstrap inferential procedures all receive extensive treatment. The application...

Creative Research Methods - a reflective online discussion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruth Leary

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In November 2013, the Institute of Advanced Studies (University of Warwick hosted a meeting of interdisciplinary colleagues interested in Creative Research Methods. The aspirations were to kick-start the debate at Warwick and create a platform from which researchers can develop projects that embrace new forms of intellectual enquiry and knowledge production. Following the meeting, several of the attendees agreed to develop some of the discussion points and briefly responded to a number of questions in an online document over a period of a few weeks. This paper is the result of that real space and online collaboration.

The Effect of Instructional Methods (Lecture-Discussion versus Group Discussion) and Teaching Talent on Teacher Trainees Student Learning Outcomes

Science.gov (United States)

Mutrofin; Degeng, Nyoman Sudana; Ardhana, Wayan; Setyosari, Punaji

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine difference in the effect of instructional methods (lecture-discussion versus group discussion) and teaching talent on teacher trainees student learning outcomes. It was conducted by a quasi-experimental design using the factorialized (2 x 2) version of the nonequivalent control group design. The subjects were…

Nuclear safety - Topical issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

The following topical issues related to nuclear safety are discussed: steam generators; maintenance strategies; control rod drive nozzle cracks; core shrouds cracks; sump strainer blockage; fire protection; computer software important for safety; safety during shutdown; operational safety experience; external hazards and other site related issues. 5 figs, 5 tabs

Discussion on Papers 5 - 7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Strongman, C.P.; Jones, R.; Moorhead, H.

1992-01-01

The topics raised in discussion included: the performance of the generator sets; the movement of sediments and the effect on beach levels; monitoring near-bed sediments; the erosion of barrage materials by suspended solids; sediment transport models; the accuracy of hydrographic and other surveys; the relative ornithological importance of the estuary with respect to others in the United Kingdom. Separate abstracts were prepared for each of the three papers under discussion. (UK)

Discussion on nuclear issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andrlova, Z.

2012-01-01

Treatment of the radioactive waste and utilisation of the ionisation radiation. Interesting contributions to two topics appeared in conference of Slovak Nuclear Society in Casta-Papiernicka in May 2012. The members from the female section 'Women in nuclear sector; were discussing in particular of the mind-set of Europeans to radioactive waste and novelties in nuclear medicine. (author)

Topical methotrexate pretreatment enhances the therapeutic effect of topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy on hamster buccal pouch precancers

OpenAIRE

Deng-Fu Yang; Jeng-Woei Lee; Hsin-Ming Chen; Yih-Chih Hsu

2014-01-01

Topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) is effective for treatment of human oral precancerous lesions. This animal study aimed to assess whether topical methotrexate (MTX) pretreatment could enhance the therapeutic effect of topical ALA-PDT on hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions. Methods: Twenty hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions were treated with either topical ALA-PDT with topical MTX pretreatment (topical MTX-ALA-PDT group, n = 10) or topical A...

Topics in b-physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bjorken, J.D.

1988-09-01

We discuss a few issues in the burgeoning field of physics of hadrons containing the b-quark. These include: A simple parameterization of the Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix featuring a triangle in the complex plane, a review of B/sub s/ and B/sub d/ mixing with special attention given to width-mixing and the CP-violating same-sign dilepton asymmetry, a discussion of the CP-violating decay B/sub d/ → /psi/π + π/sup /minus//, and a discussion of Cp-violating rate asymmetries in the two-body decays Λ/sub b/ → pπ/sup /minus// and Λ/sub b/ → pK/sup /minus//. The concluding discussion concerns generalizations beyond these specific topics. 22 refs., 6 figs

Selected topics in e+e- physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sau Lan Wu

1981-01-01

Selected topics of recent experimental results from the high-energy electron-positron storage rings are presented. The topics include some of the tau and charm physics from SPEAR, the upsilon physics from DORIS and CESR, and the γγ physics and quark and gluon physics from the PLUTO and TASSO Collaborations at PETRA. Related data from the JADE and MARK J Collaborations at PETRA are discussed in separated papers at this school. (orig.)

Selected topics in nuclear structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Solov` ev, V G; Gromov, K Ya; Malov, L A; Shilov, V M

1994-12-31

The Fourth International Conference on selected topics in nuclear structure was held at Dubna in July 1994 on recent experimental and theoretical investigations in nuclear structure. Topics discussed were the following: nuclear structure at low-energy excitations (collective quasiparticle phenomena, proton-neutron interactions, microscopic and phenomenological theories of nuclear structure; nuclear structure studies with charged particles). heavy ions, neutrons and photons; nuclei at high angular momenta and superdeformation, structure and decay properties of giant resonances, charge-exchange resonances and {beta}-decay; semiclassical approach of large amplitude collective motion and structure of hot nuclei.

Selected topics in nuclear structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Solov'ev, V.G.; Gromov, K.Ya.; Malov, L.A.; Shilov, V.M.

1994-01-01

The Fourth International Conference on selected topics in nuclear structure was held at Dubna in July 1994 on recent experimental and theoretical investigations in nuclear structure. Topics discussed were the following: nuclear structure at low-energy excitations (collective quasiparticle phenomena, proton-neutron interactions, microscopic and phenomenological theories of nuclear structure; nuclear structure studies with charged particles. heavy ions, neutrons and photons; nuclei at high angular momenta and superdeformation, structure and decay properties of giant resonances, charge-exchange resonances and β-decay; semiclassical approach of large amplitude collective motion and structure of hot nuclei

Identifying Topics in Microblogs Using Wikipedia.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Yıldırım

Full Text Available Twitter is an extremely high volume platform for user generated contributions regarding any topic. The wealth of content created at real-time in massive quantities calls for automated approaches to identify the topics of the contributions. Such topics can be utilized in numerous ways, such as public opinion mining, marketing, entertainment, and disaster management. Towards this end, approaches to relate single or partial posts to knowledge base items have been proposed. However, in microblogging systems like Twitter, topics emerge from the culmination of a large number of contributions. Therefore, identifying topics based on collections of posts, where individual posts contribute to some aspect of the greater topic is necessary. Models, such as Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA, propose algorithms for relating collections of posts to sets of keywords that represent underlying topics. In these approaches, figuring out what the specific topic(s the keyword sets represent remains as a separate task. Another issue in topic detection is the scope, which is often limited to specific domain, such as health. This work proposes an approach for identifying domain-independent specific topics related to sets of posts. In this approach, individual posts are processed and then aggregated to identify key tokens, which are then mapped to specific topics. Wikipedia article titles are selected to represent topics, since they are up to date, user-generated, sophisticated articles that span topics of human interest. This paper describes the proposed approach, a prototype implementation, and a case study based on data gathered during the heavily contributed periods corresponding to the four US election debates in 2012. The manually evaluated results (0.96 precision and other observations from the study are discussed in detail.

Public Energy Education: Issues for Discussion. Draft.

Science.gov (United States)

Public Energy Education Task Force.

This paper was intended to stimulate discussion of energy education issues at a conference on energy issues. The discussion ranges through numerous topics at issue in energy education including public energy awareness, definition of public education, the distinction between public education and public relations, and the presentation of a model…

Spectral Learning for Supervised Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Ren, Yong; Wang, Yining; Zhu, Jun

2018-03-01

Supervised topic models simultaneously model the latent topic structure of large collections of documents and a response variable associated with each document. Existing inference methods are based on variational approximation or Monte Carlo sampling, which often suffers from the local minimum defect. Spectral methods have been applied to learn unsupervised topic models, such as latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), with provable guarantees. This paper investigates the possibility of applying spectral methods to recover the parameters of supervised LDA (sLDA). We first present a two-stage spectral method, which recovers the parameters of LDA followed by a power update method to recover the regression model parameters. Then, we further present a single-phase spectral algorithm to jointly recover the topic distribution matrix as well as the regression weights. Our spectral algorithms are provably correct and computationally efficient. We prove a sample complexity bound for each algorithm and subsequently derive a sufficient condition for the identifiability of sLDA. Thorough experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets verify the theory and demonstrate the practical effectiveness of the spectral algorithms. In fact, our results on a large-scale review rating dataset demonstrate that our single-phase spectral algorithm alone gets comparable or even better performance than state-of-the-art methods, while previous work on spectral methods has rarely reported such promising performance.

Using Social Media Data to Understand the Impact of Promotional Information on Laypeople's Discussions: A Case Study of Lynch Syndrome.

Science.gov (United States)

Bian, Jiang; Zhao, Yunpeng; Salloum, Ramzi G; Guo, Yi; Wang, Mo; Prosperi, Mattia; Zhang, Hansi; Du, Xinsong; Ramirez-Diaz, Laura J; He, Zhe; Sun, Yuan

2017-12-13

Social media is being used by various stakeholders among pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, health care organizations, professionals, and news media as a way of engaging audiences to raise disease awareness and ultimately to improve public health. Nevertheless, it is unclear what effects this health information has on laypeople. This study aimed to provide a detailed examination of how promotional health information related to Lynch syndrome impacts laypeople's discussions on a social media platform (Twitter) in terms of topic awareness and attitudes. We used topic modeling and sentiment analysis techniques on Lynch syndrome-related tweets to answer the following research questions (RQs): (1) what are the most discussed topics in Lynch syndrome-related tweets?; (2) how promotional Lynch syndrome-related information on Twitter affects laypeople's discussions?; and (3) what impact do the Lynch syndrome awareness activities in the Colon Cancer Awareness Month and Lynch Syndrome Awareness Day have on laypeople's discussions and their attitudes? In particular, we used a set of keywords to collect Lynch syndrome-related tweets from October 26, 2016 to August 11, 2017 (289 days) through the Twitter public search application programming interface (API). We experimented with two different classification methods to categorize tweets into the following three classes: (1) irrelevant, (2) promotional health information, and (3) laypeople's discussions. We applied a topic modeling method to discover the themes in these Lynch syndrome-related tweets and conducted sentiment analysis on each layperson's tweet to gauge the writer's attitude (ie, positive, negative, and neutral) toward Lynch syndrome. The topic modeling and sentiment analysis results were elaborated to answer the three RQs. Of all tweets (N=16,667), 87.38% (14,564/16,667) were related to Lynch syndrome. Of the Lynch syndrome-related tweets, 81.43% (11,860/14,564) were classified as promotional and 18

2nd Topical Workshop on Laser Technology and Optics Design

CERN Document Server

2013-01-01

Lasers have a variety of applications in particle accelerator operation and will play a key role in the development of future particle accelerators by improving the generation of high brightness electron and exotic ion beams and through increasing the acceleration gradient. Lasers will also make an increasingly important contribution to the characterization of many complex particle beams by means of laser-based beam diagnostics methods. The second LANET topical workshop will address the key aspects of laser technology and optics design relevant to laser application to accelerators. The workshop will cover general optics design, provide an overview of different laser sources and discuss methods to characterize beams in details. Participants will be able to choose from a range of topical areas that go deeper in more specific aspects including tuneable lasers, design of transfer lines, noise sources and their elimination and non-linear optics effects. The format of the workshop will be mainly training-based wit...

Non-invasive Oil-Based Method to Increase Topical Delivery of Nucleic Acids to Skin.

Science.gov (United States)

Vij, Manika; Alam, Shamshad; Gupta, Nidhi; Gotherwal, Vishvabandhu; Gautam, Hemlata; Ansari, Kausar M; Santhiya, Deenan; Natarajan, Vivek T; Ganguli, Munia

2017-06-07

Topical delivery of nucleic acids to skin has huge prospects in developing therapeutic interventions for cutaneous disorders. In spite of initial success, clinical translation is vastly impeded by the constraints of bioavailability as well as stability in metabolically active environment of skin. Various physical and chemical methods used to overcome these limitations involve invasive procedures or compounds that compromise skin integrity. Hence, there is an increasing demand for developing safe skin penetration enhancers for efficient nucleic acid delivery to skin. Here, we demonstrate that pretreatment of skin with silicone oil can increase the transfection efficiency of non-covalently associated peptide-plasmid DNA nanocomplexes in skin ex vivo and in vivo. The method does not compromise skin integrity, as indicated by microscopic evaluation of cellular differentiation, tissue architecture, enzyme activity assessment, dye penetration tests using Franz assay, and cytotoxicity and immunogenicity analyses. Stability of nanocomplexes is not hampered on pretreatment, thereby avoiding nuclease-mediated degradation. The mechanistic insights through Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy reveal some alterations in the skin hydration status owing to possible occlusion effects of the enhancer. Overall, we describe a topical, non-invasive, efficient, and safe method that can be used to increase the penetration and delivery of plasmid DNA to skin for possible therapeutic applications. Copyright © 2017 The American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Experimental models in predicting topical antifungal efficacy: practical aspects and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, J; Maibach, H I

2009-01-01

What are efficient screening models for improved topical antifungals? The use of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) as one such parameter is discussed; we focus on the use of animal membranes for in vitro testing while highlighting the pros and cons of each model, exploring alternatives and discussing the importance of data transferability to humans and the influence of penetration kinetics in topical antifungal efficacy. Ultimately, the gold standard of testing is in vivo in humans; however, initiating with human testing, especially for novel topical antifungal agents, may be impractical, which is why we seek the ideal experimental model that most closely mimics human skin. We conclude that the pig may be an appropriate model membrane for topical antifungal testing based on its similarities in anatomical structure, physiology and permeation to human skin. Most importantly, pig and human skins appear equally permeable to several antifungals in prior in vitro and in vivo work. We do not discuss all prior work but highlight important issues in designing the protocol and parameters of the ideal experimental model for topical antifungals. Copyright 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Applying Sparse Machine Learning Methods to Twitter: Analysis of the 2012 Change in Pap Smear Guidelines. A Sequential Mixed-Methods Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyles, Courtney Rees; Godbehere, Andrew; Le, Gem; El Ghaoui, Laurent; Sarkar, Urmimala

2016-06-10

It is difficult to synthesize the vast amount of textual data available from social media websites. Capturing real-world discussions via social media could provide insights into individuals' opinions and the decision-making process. We conducted a sequential mixed methods study to determine the utility of sparse machine learning techniques in summarizing Twitter dialogues. We chose a narrowly defined topic for this approach: cervical cancer discussions over a 6-month time period surrounding a change in Pap smear screening guidelines. We applied statistical methodologies, known as sparse machine learning algorithms, to summarize Twitter messages about cervical cancer before and after the 2012 change in Pap smear screening guidelines by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). All messages containing the search terms "cervical cancer," "Pap smear," and "Pap test" were analyzed during: (1) January 1-March 13, 2012, and (2) March 14-June 30, 2012. Topic modeling was used to discern the most common topics from each time period, and determine the singular value criterion for each topic. The results were then qualitatively coded from top 10 relevant topics to determine the efficiency of clustering method in grouping distinct ideas, and how the discussion differed before vs. after the change in guidelines . This machine learning method was effective in grouping the relevant discussion topics about cervical cancer during the respective time periods (~20% overall irrelevant content in both time periods). Qualitative analysis determined that a significant portion of the top discussion topics in the second time period directly reflected the USPSTF guideline change (eg, "New Screening Guidelines for Cervical Cancer"), and many topics in both time periods were addressing basic screening promotion and education (eg, "It is Cervical Cancer Awareness Month! Click the link to see where you can receive a free or low cost Pap test.") It was demonstrated that machine learning

SETI: A good introductory physics topic

Science.gov (United States)

Hobson, Art

1997-04-01

If America is to achieve the science literacy that is essential to industrialized democracy, all students must study such topics as scientific methodology, pseudoscience, ozone depletion, and global warming. My large-enrollment liberal-arts physics course covers the great principles of physics along with several such philosophical and societal topics. It is easy to include the interdisciplinary context of physics in courses for non-scientists, because these courses are flexible, conceptual, and taught to students whose interests span a broad range. Students find these topics relevant and fascinating, leading to large enrollments by non-scientists even in courses labeled ''physics.'' I will discuss my approach to teaching the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence (SETI), a topic with lots of good physics and with connections to scientific methodology and pseudoscience. A textbook for this kind of course has been published, Physics: Concepts and Connections (Prentice-Hall, 1995).

Evaluation of contact sensitivity to topical drugs in patients with contact dermatitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bilge Bülbül Şen

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Background and Design: Topical drugs are an important group of contact allergens. The present study aimed to evaluate contact sensitivity to topical drugs in patients with contact dermatitis. Materials and Methods: Between 2003 and 2008, 129 patients were followed up at the Department of Dermatology at Ankara University School of Medicine with clinically suspected contact sensitivity to topical drugs. In this study, the patch test reactions to the European Standard Battery and topical drugs used by the patients and medicament patch test results were evaluated. Results: Positive patch test reaction to one or more allergens was found in 80 (62.0% of 129 patients included in the study. Sixty-one of the 80 patients (61/129, 47.3% had positive patch test reaction to medicaments. Medicament sensitivity was detected in 37.9% (49/129 of subjects. Nitrofurazone was found to be the most common allergen (18.6%. Discussion: The present study showed that topical drugs are a frequent cause of allergic contact dermatitis. Therefore, the probability of contact sensitivity to topical drugs should also be considered in patients with the clinical diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis and, suspected cases should be evaluated further with patch testing in order to find the responsible allergens.

Children's behavioral pain reactions during local anesthetic injection using cotton-roll vibration method compared with routine topical anesthesia: A randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Bagherian, Ali; Sheikhfathollahi, Mahmood

2016-01-01

Topical anesthesia has been widely advocated as an important component of atraumatic administration of intraoral local anesthesia. The aim of this study was to use direct observation of children's behavioral pain reactions during local anesthetic injection using cotton-roll vibration method compared with routine topical anesthesia. Forty-eight children participated in this randomized controlled clinical trial. They received two separate inferior alveolar nerve block or primary maxillary molar infiltration injections on contralateral sides of the jaws by both cotton-roll vibration (a combination of topical anesthesia gel, cotton roll, and vibration for physical distraction) and control (routine topical anesthesia) methods. Behavioral pain reactions of children were measured according to the author-developed face, head, foot, hand, trunk, and cry (FHFHTC) scale, resulting in total scores between 0 and 18. The total scores on the FHFHTC scale ranged between 0-5 and 0-10 in the cotton-roll vibration and control methods, respectively. The mean ± standard deviation values of total scores on FHFHTC scale were lower in the cotton-roll vibration method (1.21 ± 1.38) than in control method (2.44 ± 2.18), and this was statistically significant (P anesthesia in reducing behavioral pain reactions in children during local anesthesia administration.

Topics in elementary particle physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dugan, M.J.

1985-01-01

Topics in elementary particle physics are discussed. Models with N = 2 supersymmetry are constructed. The CP violation properties of a class of N = 1 supergravity models are analyzed. The structure of a composite Higgs model is investigated. The implications of a 17 keV neutrino are considered

Knowledge-Based Topic Model for Unsupervised Object Discovery and Localization.

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Zhenxing; Hua, Gang; Wang, Le; Gao, Xinbo

Unsupervised object discovery and localization is to discover some dominant object classes and localize all of object instances from a given image collection without any supervision. Previous work has attempted to tackle this problem with vanilla topic models, such as latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA). However, in those methods no prior knowledge for the given image collection is exploited to facilitate object discovery. On the other hand, the topic models used in those methods suffer from the topic coherence issue-some inferred topics do not have clear meaning, which limits the final performance of object discovery. In this paper, prior knowledge in terms of the so-called must-links are exploited from Web images on the Internet. Furthermore, a novel knowledge-based topic model, called LDA with mixture of Dirichlet trees, is proposed to incorporate the must-links into topic modeling for object discovery. In particular, to better deal with the polysemy phenomenon of visual words, the must-link is re-defined as that one must-link only constrains one or some topic(s) instead of all topics, which leads to significantly improved topic coherence. Moreover, the must-links are built and grouped with respect to specific object classes, thus the must-links in our approach are semantic-specific , which allows to more efficiently exploit discriminative prior knowledge from Web images. Extensive experiments validated the efficiency of our proposed approach on several data sets. It is shown that our method significantly improves topic coherence and outperforms the unsupervised methods for object discovery and localization. In addition, compared with discriminative methods, the naturally existing object classes in the given image collection can be subtly discovered, which makes our approach well suited for realistic applications of unsupervised object discovery.Unsupervised object discovery and localization is to discover some dominant object classes and localize all of object

A Study of the Subject Categorization of the MIS-related Journals in the ISI Databases Using Topical Features in the Text Content and Machine Learning Methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sung-Chien Lin

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In this study we analyzed and discussed that the MIS-related journals under the ISI subject category of IS&LS are simultaneously given with subject category Management, using methods of topic modeling, journal clustering and subject category prediction. In the experiment of journal clustering, all journals under subject category Management and other journals also having similar topical features can be gathered into a cluster, and “management” is their common and the most distinct topic. Because the journals belonged to this cluster are almost same to those in the MIS clusters generated by the previous studies, we considered it as the MIS cluster in this study. In the second experiment, we used the classification and regression tree (CART technique to predict assignment of subject category with that the journals in the original subject category Management and in the MIS cluster produced in this study as positive examples, respectively. The trees generated by the two tests both used the occurring probabilities of the topic “management” as the main classification rule. However, in the latter test, we did not only obtain a simpler classification tree but also had a result with less predicting errors. This means that if all journals in the MIS cluster could be given with subject category Management, the retrieval results can be more effective and complete.

Aerodynamics of wind turbines emerging topics

CERN Document Server

Amano, R S

2014-01-01

Focusing on Aerodynamics of Wind Turbines with topics ranging from Fundamental to Application of horizontal axis wind turbines, this book presents advanced topics including: Basic Theory for Wind turbine Blade Aerodynamics, Computational Methods, and Special Structural Reinforcement Technique for Wind Turbine Blades.

Topics in conformal field theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kiritsis, E.B.

1988-01-01

In this work two major topics in Conformal Field Theory are discussed. First a detailed investigation of N = 2 Superconformal theories is presented. The structure of the representations of the N = 2 superconformal algebras is investigated and the character formulae are calculated. The general structure of N = 2 superconformal theories is elucidated and the operator algebra of the minimal models is derived. The first minimal system is discussed in more detail. Second, applications of the conformal techniques are studied in the Ashkin-Teller model. The c = 1 as well as the c = 1/2 critical lines are discussed in detail

Discussion on Papers 3 and 4

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mitchell, H.; Haigh, G.W.R.; Jenkins, E.

1992-01-01

The topics raised in the discussion covered: the accuracy of the cost estimates for the project; the number of sluices to be used; factors controlling the selection of steel or concrete for caisson construction and the design life of the caissons; the type of gates and lock mechanism; shipping traffic forecasts; and the effect of the barrage on port operations. Separate abstracts have been prepared for the two papers under discussion. (UK)

A discussion of some aspects of the MCSCF method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shepard, R.

1992-01-01

After a brief overview of the MCSCF (Multi-Configuration Self- Consistent-Field) method, a more detailed examination of the underlying model is undertaken. The problem of ''multiple solutions'' is examined with reference to the ''symmetry-breaking'' problem and with emphasis on single-state cases. It is argued that the most appropriate resolution of such problems is usually case-specific, and depends on the details of how the MCSCF wave function is being used to model the chemical system rather than on features characteristic of the MCSCF wave function itself. Finally, a recently introduced MCSCF wave function optimization method based on multidimensional trigonometric interpolation is briefly discussed

Interactional Organization and Topic Control in Conciliation Hearings

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Wânia Terezinha Ladeira

2011-07-01

Full Text Available We analyse discursive topic in talk-in-interaction within the institutional setting of three conciliation hearings held in a kind of small claims court for consumption conflict resolution. This research is based on Interactional Sociolinguistics and Conversation Analysis theories. The analysis shows that the participants of those meetings have asymmetric rights regarding the choice of discussion topics. Thus, the mediator is the one who has the right to suggest and control the discursive topics of the conversation. This topic control is the most important institutional procedure that can cause a reduction in accusations and adjacent replies. Consequently, the chance of mediators achieving their institutional task of reaching an agreement between parts in conflict is increased.

Correlated Topic Vector for Scene Classification.

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Pengxu; Qin, Fei; Wan, Fang; Zhu, Yi; Jiao, Jianbin; Ye, Qixiang

2017-07-01

Scene images usually involve semantic correlations, particularly when considering large-scale image data sets. This paper proposes a novel generative image representation, correlated topic vector, to model such semantic correlations. Oriented from the correlated topic model, correlated topic vector intends to naturally utilize the correlations among topics, which are seldom considered in the conventional feature encoding, e.g., Fisher vector, but do exist in scene images. It is expected that the involvement of correlations can increase the discriminative capability of the learned generative model and consequently improve the recognition accuracy. Incorporated with the Fisher kernel method, correlated topic vector inherits the advantages of Fisher vector. The contributions to the topics of visual words have been further employed by incorporating the Fisher kernel framework to indicate the differences among scenes. Combined with the deep convolutional neural network (CNN) features and Gibbs sampling solution, correlated topic vector shows great potential when processing large-scale and complex scene image data sets. Experiments on two scene image data sets demonstrate that correlated topic vector improves significantly the deep CNN features, and outperforms existing Fisher kernel-based features.

The discussion on the qualitative and quantitative evaluation methods for safety culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Kefu

2005-01-01

The fundamental methods for safely culture evaluation are described. Combining with the practice of the quantitative evaluation of safety culture in Daya Bay NPP, the quantitative evaluation method for safety culture are discussed. (author)

Panel discussion on near-field coupled processes with emphasis on performance assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Codell, R.B.; Baca, R.G.; Ahola, M.P.

1996-01-01

The presentations in this panel discussion involve the general topic of near-field coupled processes and postclosure performance assessment with an emphasis on rock mechanics. The potential impact of near-field rock mass deformation on repository performance was discussed, as well as topics including long term excavation deterioration, the performance of geologic seals, and coupled processes concerning rock mechanics in performance assessments

Recent advances in topical anesthesia

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

Topical anesthetics act on the peripheral nerves and reduce the sensation of pain at the site of application. In dentistry, they are used to control local pain caused by needling, placement of orthodontic bands, the vomiting reflex, oral mucositis, and rubber-dam clamp placement. Traditional topical anesthetics contain lidocaine or benzocaine as active ingredients and are used in the form of solutions, creams, gels, and sprays. Eutectic mixtures of local anesthesia cream, a mixture of various topical anesthetics, has been reported to be more potent than other anesthetics. Recently, new products with modified ingredients and application methods have been introduced into the market. These products may be used for mild pain during periodontal treatment, such as scaling. Dentists should be aware that topical anesthetics, although rare, might induce allergic reactions or side effects as a result of an overdose. Topical anesthetics are useful aids during dental treatment, as they reduce dental phobia, especially in children, by mitigating discomfort and pain. PMID:28879311

Chemical Topic Modeling: Exploring Molecular Data Sets Using a Common Text-Mining Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, Nadine; Fechner, Nikolas; Landrum, Gregory A; Stiefl, Nikolaus

2017-08-28

Big data is one of the key transformative factors which increasingly influences all aspects of modern life. Although this transformation brings vast opportunities it also generates novel challenges, not the least of which is organizing and searching this data deluge. The field of medicinal chemistry is not different: more and more data are being generated, for instance, by technologies such as DNA encoded libraries, peptide libraries, text mining of large literature corpora, and new in silico enumeration methods. Handling those huge sets of molecules effectively is quite challenging and requires compromises that often come at the expense of the interpretability of the results. In order to find an intuitive and meaningful approach to organizing large molecular data sets, we adopted a probabilistic framework called "topic modeling" from the text-mining field. Here we present the first chemistry-related implementation of this method, which allows large molecule sets to be assigned to "chemical topics" and investigating the relationships between those. In this first study, we thoroughly evaluate this novel method in different experiments and discuss both its disadvantages and advantages. We show very promising results in reproducing human-assigned concepts using the approach to identify and retrieve chemical series from sets of molecules. We have also created an intuitive visualization of the chemical topics output by the algorithm. This is a huge benefit compared to other unsupervised machine-learning methods, like clustering, which are commonly used to group sets of molecules. Finally, we applied the new method to the 1.6 million molecules of the ChEMBL22 data set to test its robustness and efficiency. In about 1 h we built a 100-topic model of this large data set in which we could identify interesting topics like "proteins", "DNA", or "steroids". Along with this publication we provide our data sets and an open-source implementation of the new method (CheTo) which

Topics on continua

CERN Document Server

Macias, Sergio

2005-01-01

Specialized as it might be, continuum theory is one of the most intriguing areas in mathematics. However, despite being popular journal fare, few books have thoroughly explored this interesting aspect of topology. In Topics on Continua, Sergio Macías, one of the field's leading scholars, presents four of his favorite continuum topics: inverse limits, Jones's set function T, homogenous continua, and n-fold hyperspaces, and in doing so, presents the most complete set of theorems and proofs ever contained in a single topology volume. Many of the results presented have previously appeared only in research papers, and some appear here for the first time. After building the requisite background and exploring the inverse limits of continua, the discussions focus on Professor Jones''s set function T and continua for which T is continuous. An introduction to topological groups and group actions lead to a proof of Effros''s Theorem, followed by a presentation of two decomposition theorems. The author then offers an...

Computer supported collaborative learning in a clerkship: an exploratory study on the relation of discussion activity and revision of critical appraisal papers

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Koops Willem JM

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Medical students in clerkship are continuously confronted with real and relevant patient problems. To support clinical problem solving skills, students perform a Critical Appraisal of a Topic (CAT task, often resulting in a paper. Because such a paper may contain errors, students could profit from discussion with peers, leading to paper revision. Active peer discussion by a Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL environment show positive medical students perceptions on subjective knowledge improvement. High students’ activity during discussions in a CSCL environment demonstrated higher task-focussed discussion reflecting higher levels of knowledge construction. However, it remains unclear whether high discussion activity influences students’ decisions revise their CAT paper. The aim of this research is to examine whether students who revise their critical appraisal papers after discussion in a CSCL environment show more task-focussed activity and discuss more intensively on critical appraisal topics than students who do not revise their papers. Methods Forty-seven medical students, stratified in subgroups, participated in a structured asynchronous online discussion of individual written CAT papers on self-selected clinical problems. The discussion was structured by three critical appraisal topics. After the discussion, the students could revise their paper. For analysis purposes, all students’ postings were blinded and analysed by the investigator, unaware of students characteristics and whether or not the paper was revised. Postings were counted and analysed by an independent rater, Postings were assigned into outside activity, non-task-focussed activity or task-focussed activity. Additionally, postings were assigned to one of the three critical appraisal topics. Analysis results were compared by revised and unrevised papers. Results Twenty-four papers (51.6% were revised after the online discussion. The

Topical steroid addiction in atopic dermatitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fukaya M

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Mototsugu Fukaya,1 Kenji Sato,2 Mitsuko Sato,3 Hajime Kimata,4 Shigeki Fujisawa,5 Haruhiko Dozono,6 Jun Yoshizawa,7 Satoko Minaguchi8 1Tsurumai Kouen Clinic, Nagoya, 2Department of Dermatology, Hannan Chuo Hospital, Osaka, 3Sato Pediatric Clinic, Osaka, 4Kimata Hajime Clinic, Osaka, 5Fujisawa Dermatology Clinic, Tokyo, 6Dozono Medical House, Kagoshima, 7Yoshizawa Dermatology Clinic, Yokohama, 8Department of Dermatology, Kounosu Kyousei Hospital, Saitama, Japan Abstract: The American Academy of Dermatology published a new guideline regarding topical therapy in atopic dermatitis in May 2014. Although topical steroid addiction or red burning skin syndrome had been mentioned as possible side effects of topical steroids in a 2006 review article in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, no statement was made regarding this illness in the new guidelines. This suggests that there are still controversies regarding this illness. Here, we describe the clinical features of topical steroid addiction or red burning skin syndrome, based on the treatment of many cases of the illness. Because there have been few articles in the medical literature regarding this illness, the description in this article will be of some benefit to better understand the illness and to spur discussion regarding topical steroid addiction or red burning skin syndrome. Keywords: topical steroid addiction, atopic dermatitis, red burning skin syndrome, rebound, corticosteroid, eczema

Update on the Systemic Risks of Superpotent Topical Steroids.

Science.gov (United States)

Nakamura, Mio; Abrouk, Michael; Zhu, Henry; Farahnik, Benjamin; Koo, John; Bhutani, Tina

2017-07-01

INTRODUCTION: The potential for systemic effects due to percutaneous absorption of superpotent topical steroids has been a longstanding concern. The Food and Drug Administration currently recommends limiting the use of superpotent topical steroids to 50g per week for 2 or 4 consecutive weeks depending on the formulation, which is mostly based on the exact duration with which phase 3 clinical trials were allowed to be conducted per the FDA. This article reviews all published clinical incidence of adrenal adverse effects in the medical literature, specifically Cushing's syndrome (CS) and pathologic adrenal suppression (PAAS), to try to ascertain a more realistic limit for the safe use of superpotent topical steroids as it pertains to its potential systemic effects. METHODS: Literature search was conducted using PubMed. Only cases of CS and PAAS secondary to the use of Class I superpotent topical steroids were included. Pediatric cases and full articles unavailable in English were excluded. RESULTS: There were a total of 14 cases of CS and 5 cases of subsequent PAAS found in the current literature. DISCUSSION: From our review of these cases, if the amount used per week is within FDA guidelines, it appears that patients needed to use superpotent topical steroids for far greater than 2 or 4 weeks to develop CS or PAAS. CS did not necessarily predict occurrence of PAAS, but in all cases CS appeared to be a prerequisite for developing PAAS. All cases of CS and all but one case of PAAS were reversible. If excessive amount of greater than 50g per week is avoided, it appears that superpotent topical steroids may be safe to use consecutively for months, perhaps even years, without causing systemic effects. J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(7):643-648..

Lectures on the coupling method

CERN Document Server

Lindvall, Torgny

2002-01-01

An important tool in probability theory and its applications, the coupling method is primarily used in estimates of total variation distances. The method also works well in establishing inequalities, and it has proven highly successful in the study of Markov and renewal process asymptotics. This text represents a detailed, comprehensive examination of the method and its broad variety of applications. Readers progress from simple to advanced topics, with end-of-discussion notes that reinforce the preceding material. Topics include renewal theory, Markov chains, Poisson approximation, ergodicity

#Healthy Selfies: Exploration of Health Topics on Instagram.

Science.gov (United States)

Muralidhara, Sachin; Paul, Michael J

2018-06-29

Social media provides a complementary source of information for public health surveillance. The dominate data source for this type of monitoring is the microblogging platform Twitter, which is convenient due to the free availability of public data. Less is known about the utility of other social media platforms, despite their popularity. This work aims to characterize the health topics that are prominently discussed in the image-sharing platform Instagram, as a step toward understanding how this data might be used for public health research. The study uses a topic modeling approach to discover topics in a dataset of 96,426 Instagram posts containing hashtags related to health. We use a polylingual topic model, initially developed for datasets in different natural languages, to model different modalities of data: hashtags, caption words, and image tags automatically extracted using a computer vision tool. We identified 47 health-related topics in the data (kappa=.77), covering ten broad categories: acute illness, alternative medicine, chronic illness and pain, diet, exercise, health care & medicine, mental health, musculoskeletal health and dermatology, sleep, and substance use. The most prevalent topics were related to diet (8,293/96,426; 8.6% of posts) and exercise (7,328/96,426; 7.6% of posts). A large and diverse set of health topics are discussed in Instagram. The extracted image tags were generally too coarse and noisy to be used for identifying posts but were in some cases accurate for identifying images relevant to studying diet and substance use. Instagram shows potential as a source of public health information, though limitations in data collection and metadata availability may limit its use in comparison to platforms like Twitter. ©Sachin Muralidhara, Michael J. Paul. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 29.06.2018.

Problematic topic transitions in dysarthric conversation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bloch, Steven; Saldert, Charlotta; Ferm, Ulrika

2015-01-01

This study examined the nature of topic transition problems associated with acquired progressive dysarthric speech in the everyday conversation of people with motor neurone disease. Using conversation analytic methods, a video collection of five naturally occurring problematic topic transitions was identified, transcribed and analysed. These were extracted from a main collection of over 200 other-initiated repair sequences and a sub-set of 15 problematic topic transition sequences. The sequences were analysed with reference to how the participants both identified and resolved the problems. Analysis revealed that topic transition by people with dysarthria can prove problematic. Conversation partners may find transitions problematic not only because of speech intelligibility but also because of a sequential disjuncture between the dysarthric speech turn and whatever topic has come prior. In addition the treatment of problematic topic transition as a complaint reveals the potential vulnerability of people with dysarthria to judgements of competence. These findings have implications for how dysarthria is conceptualized and how specific actions in conversation, such as topic transition, might be suitable targets for clinical intervention.

Physician–Patient Discussions of Controversial Cancer Screening Tests

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, Andrew S.; Shridharani, Kanan V.; Lou, Wendy; Bernstein, Jeffrey; Horowitz, Carol R.

2016-01-01

Background Screening mammography for younger women and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measurement have controversial benefits and known potential adverse consequences. While providing informed consent and eliciting patient preference have been advocated for these tests, little is known about how often these discussions take place or about barriers to these discussions. Methods We administered a survey to medical house staff and attending physicians practicing primary care. The survey examined physicians’ likelihood of discussing screening mammography and PSA testing, and factors influencing the frequency and quality of these discussions. Results For the three scenarios, 16% to 34% of physicians stated that they do not discuss the screening tests. The likelihood of having a discussion was significantly associated with house staff physicians’ belief that PSA screening is advantageous; house staff and attending physicians’ intention to order a PSA test, and attending physicians’ intention to order a mammogram; and a controversial indication for screening. The most commonly identified barriers to discussions were lack of time, the complexity of the topic, and a language barrier. Conclusions Physicians report they often do not discuss cancer screening tests with their patients. Our finding that physicians’ beliefs and intention to order the tests, and extraneous factors such as time constraints and a language barrier, are associated with discussions indicates that some patients may be inappropriately denied the opportunity to choose whether to screen for breast and prostate cancer. PMID:11165455

[Theory of weak interactions and related topics; and study of e+e- interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Lay Nam; Tze, C.H.

1990-01-01

This report contains brief discussions on the following topics: Higher point anomalous amplitudes; topological phase of quantum gravity; chiral symmetry breaking at finite temperature; Skyrmions as representations of current algebras; D ≥ 4 critical phenomena: self-duality, infinite dimensional symmetries and hypercomplex analyticity; D ≥ 3 topological field theories: anionic membranes and division algebras, geometric quantization by the method of orbits; and novel non-perturbative approaches

Fractional Microneedling: A Novel Method for Enhancement of Topical Anesthesia Before Skin Aesthetic Procedures.

Science.gov (United States)

El-Fakahany, Hasan; Medhat, Walid; Abdallah, Fahd; Abdel-Raouf, Hamza; Abdelhakeem, Mohammed

2016-01-01

Skin microneedling or fractional microneedle therapy is a recent approach used for skin rejuvenation or to enhance transdermal delivery of topical medications. The authors evaluated the efficacy of skin microneedling, using an automated device, to enhance the numbing effect of topical anesthesia, used before minimally invasive aesthetic approaches. Fifteen patients, looking for treatment of atrophic acne scars, were subjected to randomized split-face study comparing automated fractional skin microneedling (0.5 mm depth) followed by application of topical anesthetic cream (Lidocaine 2.5% + Prilocaine 2.5%) on one side of face, with topical anesthesia alone on the other side, followed by full face fractional microneedling treatment for postacne scars (2.5 mm depth). The treated sides (fractional needling + topical anesthesia) had significantly lower pain scores when compared with the nontreated sides (topical anesthesia alone). The scores of pain sensation, during the whole procedure, were statistically significantly (p aesthetic procedures can be enhanced with fractional microneedling pretreatment.

Topics in cement and concrete research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouwers, Jos; Russel, M.I.; Basheer, P.A.M.

2007-01-01

The present paper addresses several topics in regard to the sustainable design and use of concrete. First, major features concerning the sustainable aspects of the material concrete are summarised. Then the major constituent, from an environmental point of view, cement is discussed in detail,

Leases – Public Discussion of a New Common Standard

OpenAIRE

Valášková, Mariana

2011-01-01

The paper focus on the importance of public discussion for developing a new common standard in case of topical lease accounting. To stimulate the public discussion the IASB and the FASB have done several outreach activities and going to continue in obtaining more views from stakeholders

Topics in deep inelastic scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wandzura, S.M.

1977-01-01

Several topics in deep inelastic lepton--nucleon scattering are discussed, with emphasis on the structure functions appearing in polarized experiments. The major results are: infinite set of new sum rules reducing the number of independent spin dependent structure functions (for electroproduction) from two to one; the application of the techniques of Nachtmann to extract the coefficients appearing in the Wilson operator product expansion; and radiative corrections to the Wilson coefficients of free field theory. Also discussed are the use of dimensional regularization to simplify the calculation of these radiative corrections

Seven topics in perturbative QCD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buras, A.J.

1980-09-01

The following topics of perturbative QCD are discussed: (1) deep inelastic scattering; (2) higher order corrections to e + e - annihilation, to photon structure functions and to quarkonia decays; (3) higher order corrections to fragmentation functions and to various semi-inclusive processes; (4) higher twist contributions; (5) exclusive processes; (6) transverse momentum effects; (7) jet and photon physics

Frequency of Faith and Spirituality Discussion in Health Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Bergamo, David; White, Dawn

2016-04-01

Faith and spirituality are important in the lives of many individuals, and therefore, many patients. This study was performed to determine whether faith and spirituality are active part of the healthcare field and patients' receipt of these sometimes delicate topics. The nuances of the concepts of faith, spirituality, and religion and their implications in the healthcare setting are discussed. Benefits and detriments of faith and spirituality are reviewed in terms of how they relate to the health of the patient and to the healthcare field. With the focus of healthcare shifting to holistic care, this conversation may be more necessary than ever in practice, yet it seems many providers are not discussing these matters with patients. The study analyzes whether healthcare providers are discussing these topics with patients and how the discussion is received or would be received by patients. Findings demonstrate the infrequency of the discussion regardless of the fact that the majority of patients consider themselves faithful or spiritual. This study was approved by the Clarkson University Institutional Review Board on June 18, 2104.

Alice, Greenfoot, and Scratch--A Discussion

Science.gov (United States)

Utting, Ian; Cooper, Stephen; Kolling, Michael; Maloney, John; Resnick, Mitchel

2010-01-01

This article distills a discussion about the goals, mechanisms, and effects of three environments which aim to support the acquisition and development of computing concepts (problem solving and programming) in pre-University and non-technical students: Alice, Greenfoot, and Scratch. The conversation started in a special session on the topic at the…

Socratic Questioning in the Paideia Method to Encourage Dialogical Discussions

Science.gov (United States)

Davies, Maree; Sinclair, Anne

2014-01-01

This study focused on the impact of using Socratic questioning, based on the Paideia Method, on the nature of middle-schools students' patterns of interaction and on the cognitive complexity of their discussions. The hypothesis is that an experimental group will increase in both interaction focus and complexity at T3, which is the face-to-face…

The Topology of a Discussion: The #Occupy Case.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Floriana Gargiulo

Full Text Available We analyse a large sample of the Twitter activity that developed around the social movement 'Occupy Wall Street', to study the complex interactions between the human communication activity and the semantic content of a debate.We use a network approach based on the analysis of the bipartite graph @Users-#Hashtags and of its projections: the 'semantic network', whose nodes are hashtags, and the 'users interest network', whose nodes are users. In the first instance, we find out that discussion topics (#hashtags present a high structural heterogeneity, with a relevant role played by the semantic hubs that are responsible to guarantee the continuity of the debate. In the users' case, the self-organisation process of users' activity, leads to the emergence of two classes of communicators: the 'professionals' and the 'amateurs'.Both the networks present a strong community structure, based on the differentiation of the semantic topics, and a high level of structural robustness when certain sets of topics are censored and/or accounts are removed.By analysing the characteristics of the dynamical networks we can distinguish three phases of the discussion about the movement. Each phase corresponds to a specific moment of the movement: from declaration of intent, organisation and development and the final phase of political reactions. Each phase is characterised by the presence of prototypical #hashtags in the discussion.

Women in the workplace: a panel discussion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Perrin, E.V.; Hunt, V.R.; Murray, F.J.; Krekel, S.; Allan, R.R.

1978-01-01

The following topics are discussed: problems of women in the workplace; public policy concerning human reproduction; toxic effects of lead in human populations; health hazards of occupational radiation exposure; reproductive hazards on the job; considerations for protecting the unborn; and legal implications

Using NASA Space Imaging Technology to Teach Earth and Sun Topics

Science.gov (United States)

Verner, E.; Bruhweiler, F. C.; Long, T.

2011-12-01

We teach an experimental college-level course, directed toward elementary education majors, emphasizing "hands-on" activities that can be easily applied to the elementary classroom. This course, Physics 240: "The Sun-Earth Connection" includes various ways to study selected topics in physics, earth science, and basic astronomy. Our lesson plans and EPO materials make extensive use of NASA imagery and cover topics about magnetism, the solar photospheric, chromospheric, coronal spectra, as well as earth science and climate. In addition we are developing and will cover topics on ecosystem structure, biomass and water on Earth. We strive to free the non-science undergraduate from the "fear of science" and replace it with the excitement of science such that these future teachers will carry this excitement to their future students. Hands-on experiments, computer simulations, analysis of real NASA data, and vigorous seminar discussions are blended in an inquiry-driven curriculum to instill confident understanding of basic physical science and modern, effective methods for teaching it. The course also demonstrates ways how scientific thinking and hands-on activities could be implemented in the classroom. We have designed this course to provide the non-science student a confident basic understanding of physical science and modern, effective methods for teaching it. Most of topics were selected using National Science Standards and National Mathematics Standards that are addressed in grades K-8. The course focuses on helping education majors: 1) Build knowledge of scientific concepts and processes; 2) Understand the measurable attributes of objects and the units and methods of measurements; 3) Conduct data analysis (collecting, organizing, presenting scientific data, and to predict the result); 4) Use hands-on approaches to teach science; 5) Be familiar with Internet science teaching resources. Here we share our experiences and challenges we face while teaching this course.

Topical Session on the Decommissioning and Dismantling Safety Case

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

Set up by the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC), the WPDD brings together senior representatives of national organisations who have a broad overview of Decommissioning and Dismantling (D and D) issues through their work as regulators, implementers, R and D experts or policy makers. These include representatives from regulatory authorities, industrial decommissioners from the NEA Cooperative Programme on Exchange of Scientific and Technical Information on Nuclear Installation Decommissioning Projects (CPD), and cross-representation from the NEA Committee on Nuclear Regulatory Activities, the Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health, and the RWMC. The EC is a member of the WPDD and the IAEA also participates. This ensures co-ordination amongst activities in these international programmes. Participation from civil society organisations is considered on a case by case basis, and has already taken place through the active involvement of the Group of Municipalities with Nuclear Installations at the first meeting of the WPDD At its second meeting, in Paris, 5-7 December 2001, the WPDD held two topical sessions on the D and D Safety Case and on the Management of Materials from D and D, respectively. This report documents the topical session on the safety case. The topical session was meant to provide an exchange of information and experience on the following issues: What topics should be included in a safety case? Of what should it consist? Is there sufficient and complete guidance nationally and internationally? How do practices differ internationally? Main boundary condition to this session was that it would deal with plants where spent fuel has been removed. Also the topical sessions was kept at a level that makes the most of the varied constituency of the WPDD. Namely, interface issues are important, and issue-identification and discussion was the immediate goal. There was less interest in examining areas where variability amongst national

Detecting Hotspot Information Using Multi-Attribute Based Topic Model.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing Wang

Full Text Available Microblogging as a kind of social network has become more and more important in our daily lives. Enormous amounts of information are produced and shared on a daily basis. Detecting hot topics in the mountains of information can help people get to the essential information more quickly. However, due to short and sparse features, a large number of meaningless tweets and other characteristics of microblogs, traditional topic detection methods are often ineffective in detecting hot topics. In this paper, we propose a new topic model named multi-attribute latent dirichlet allocation (MA-LDA, in which the time and hashtag attributes of microblogs are incorporated into LDA model. By introducing time attribute, MA-LDA model can decide whether a word should appear in hot topics or not. Meanwhile, compared with the traditional LDA model, applying hashtag attribute in MA-LDA model gives the core words an artificially high ranking in results meaning the expressiveness of outcomes can be improved. Empirical evaluations on real data sets demonstrate that our method is able to detect hot topics more accurately and efficiently compared with several baselines. Our method provides strong evidence of the importance of the temporal factor in extracting hot topics.

Detecting Hotspot Information Using Multi-Attribute Based Topic Model

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Jing; Li, Li; Tan, Feng; Zhu, Ying; Feng, Weisi

2015-01-01

Microblogging as a kind of social network has become more and more important in our daily lives. Enormous amounts of information are produced and shared on a daily basis. Detecting hot topics in the mountains of information can help people get to the essential information more quickly. However, due to short and sparse features, a large number of meaningless tweets and other characteristics of microblogs, traditional topic detection methods are often ineffective in detecting hot topics. In this paper, we propose a new topic model named multi-attribute latent dirichlet allocation (MA-LDA), in which the time and hashtag attributes of microblogs are incorporated into LDA model. By introducing time attribute, MA-LDA model can decide whether a word should appear in hot topics or not. Meanwhile, compared with the traditional LDA model, applying hashtag attribute in MA-LDA model gives the core words an artificially high ranking in results meaning the expressiveness of outcomes can be improved. Empirical evaluations on real data sets demonstrate that our method is able to detect hot topics more accurately and efficiently compared with several baselines. Our method provides strong evidence of the importance of the temporal factor in extracting hot topics. PMID:26496635

Statistical Discourse Analysis: A Method for Modelling Online Discussion Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Chiu, Ming Ming; Fujita, Nobuko

2014-01-01

Online forums (synchronous and asynchronous) offer exciting data opportunities to analyze how people influence one another through their interactions. However, researchers must address several analytic difficulties involving the data (missing values, nested structure [messages within topics], non-sequential messages), outcome variables (discrete…

An overview of topic modeling and its current applications in bioinformatics.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lin; Tang, Lin; Dong, Wen; Yao, Shaowen; Zhou, Wei

2016-01-01

With the rapid accumulation of biological datasets, machine learning methods designed to automate data analysis are urgently needed. In recent years, so-called topic models that originated from the field of natural language processing have been receiving much attention in bioinformatics because of their interpretability. Our aim was to review the application and development of topic models for bioinformatics. This paper starts with the description of a topic model, with a focus on the understanding of topic modeling. A general outline is provided on how to build an application in a topic model and how to develop a topic model. Meanwhile, the literature on application of topic models to biological data was searched and analyzed in depth. According to the types of models and the analogy between the concept of document-topic-word and a biological object (as well as the tasks of a topic model), we categorized the related studies and provided an outlook on the use of topic models for the development of bioinformatics applications. Topic modeling is a useful method (in contrast to the traditional means of data reduction in bioinformatics) and enhances researchers' ability to interpret biological information. Nevertheless, due to the lack of topic models optimized for specific biological data, the studies on topic modeling in biological data still have a long and challenging road ahead. We believe that topic models are a promising method for various applications in bioinformatics research.

A study of interpersonal information seeking: the role of topic and comment in the articulation of certainty and uncertainty of information need

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyunghye Yoon

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. This paper presents the findings and discussions of the qualitative analysis of users' information seeking articulation in interpersonal interactions. The discussion is focused on the role of the topic and comment in communicating the user's cognitive uncertainty and certainty in the quest for salient information seeking interaction effectiveness. Method. The qualitative analysis was done on the basis of the sequence of the uncertainty and certainty and the topic and comment in the user's utterances during the interaction in order to explore the use of these elements. Results. The findings suggested some patterns in the employment of uncertainty and certainty and topic and comment. Users initiated the need description with uncertainty and then provided certainty to describe the need in detail. Both topic and comment were used in every stage of information seeking interaction, on the basis of which the source person provided information. Conclusion. The study confirmed that the user's certainty and uncertainty are important for describing the user's information need and that both topic and comment are essential to communicate the need.

Pulsations in white dwarfs: Selected topics

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Saio H.

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a very brief overview of the observed properties of g-mode pulsations in variable white dwarfs. We then discuss a few selected topics: Excitation mechanisms (kappa- and convection- mechanisms, and briefly the effect of a strong magnetic field (∼ 1 MG on g-modes as recently found in a hot DQ (carbon-rich atmosphere white dwarf. In the discussion of excitation mechanisms, a simple interpretation for the convection mechanism is given.

Identifying Topics for E-Cigarette User-Generated Contents: A Case Study From Multiple Social Media Platforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhan, Yongcheng; Liu, Ruoran; Li, Qiudan; Leischow, Scott James; Zeng, Daniel Dajun

2017-01-20

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) is an emerging product with a rapid-growth market in recent years. Social media has become an important platform for information seeking and sharing. We aim to mine hidden topics from e-cigarette datasets collected from different social media platforms. This paper aims to gain a systematic understanding of the characteristics of various types of social media, which will provide deep insights into how consumers and policy makers effectively use social media to track e-cigarette-related content and adjust their decisions and policies. We collected data from Reddit (27,638 e-cigarette flavor-related posts from January 1, 2011, to June 30, 2015), JuiceDB (14,433 e-juice reviews from June 26, 2013 to November 12, 2015), and Twitter (13,356 "e-cig ban"-related tweets from January, 1, 2010 to June 30, 2015). Latent Dirichlet Allocation, a generative model for topic modeling, was used to analyze the topics from these data. We found four types of topics across the platforms: (1) promotions, (2) flavor discussions, (3) experience sharing, and (4) regulation debates. Promotions included sales from vendors to users, as well as trades among users. A total of 10.72% (2,962/27,638) of the posts from Reddit were related to trading. Promotion links were found between social media platforms. Most of the links (87.30%) in JuiceDB were related to Reddit posts. JuiceDB and Reddit identified consistent flavor categories. E-cigarette vaping methods and features such as steeping, throat hit, and vapor production were broadly discussed both on Reddit and on JuiceDB. Reddit provided space for policy discussions and majority of the posts (60.7%) holding a negative attitude toward regulations, whereas Twitter was used to launch campaigns using certain hashtags. Our findings are based on data across different platforms. The topic distribution between Reddit and JuiceDB was significantly different (Puser discussions focused on different perspectives across the

[Discussion paper on participation and participative methods in gerontology].

Science.gov (United States)

Aner, Kirsten

2016-02-01

The concept of "participation" and the demand for the use of "participative methods" in human, healthcare, nursing and gerontological research as well as the corresponding fields of practice are in great demand; however, the targets and organization of "participation" are not always sufficiently explicated. The working group on critical gerontology of the German Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics uses this phenomenon as an opportunity for positioning and develops a catalogue of criteria for reflection and assessment of participation of elderly people in science and practice, which can also be considered a stimulus for further discussions.

Discussion paper on participation and participatory methods in gerontology.

Science.gov (United States)

Aner, K

2016-12-01

The concept of "participation" and the use of "participatory methods" in human, healthcare, nursing, and gerontological research, as well as the corresponding fields of practice, represent an expanding field of interest. However, the objectives and organization of "participation" are not always sufficiently explicated. The Critical Gerontology Working Group of the German Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics presents a statement on this phenomenon, and proposes a catalogue of criteria for reflection upon and assessment of participation by older people in research and practice, which can also be considered a stimulus for further discussions.

Learning topic models by belief propagation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Jia; Cheung, William K; Liu, Jiming

2013-05-01

Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is an important hierarchical Bayesian model for probabilistic topic modeling, which attracts worldwide interest and touches on many important applications in text mining, computer vision and computational biology. This paper represents the collapsed LDA as a factor graph, which enables the classic loopy belief propagation (BP) algorithm for approximate inference and parameter estimation. Although two commonly used approximate inference methods, such as variational Bayes (VB) and collapsed Gibbs sampling (GS), have gained great success in learning LDA, the proposed BP is competitive in both speed and accuracy, as validated by encouraging experimental results on four large-scale document datasets. Furthermore, the BP algorithm has the potential to become a generic scheme for learning variants of LDA-based topic models in the collapsed space. To this end, we show how to learn two typical variants of LDA-based topic models, such as author-topic models (ATM) and relational topic models (RTM), using BP based on the factor graph representations.

Experiential Approach to Teaching Statistics and Research Methods ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Statistics and research methods are among the more demanding topics for students of education to master at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is our conviction that teaching these topics should be combined with real practical experiences. We discuss an experiential teaching/ learning approach that ...

JGME-ALiEM Hot Topics in Medical Education: Analysis of a Multimodal Online Discussion About Team-Based Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Riddell, Jeff; Patocka, Catherine; Lin, Michelle; Sherbino, Jonathan

2017-02-01

Team-based learning (TBL) is an instructional method that is being increasingly incorporated in health professions education, although use in graduate medical education (GME) has been more limited. To curate and describe themes that emerged from a virtual journal club discussion about TBL in GME, held across multiple digital platforms, while also evaluating the use of social media in online academic discussions. The Journal of Graduate Medical Education ( JGME ) and the Academic Life in Emergency Medicine blog facilitated a weeklong, open-access, virtual journal club on the 2015 JGME article "Use of Team-Based Learning Pedagogy for Internal Medicine Ambulatory Resident Teaching." Using 4 stimulus questions (hosted on a blog as a starting framework), we facilitated discussions via the blog, Twitter, and Google Hangouts on Air platforms. We evaluated 2-week web analytics and performed a thematic analysis of the discussion. The virtual journal club reached a large international audience as exemplified by the blog page garnering 685 page views from 241 cities in 42 countries. Our thematic analysis identified 4 domains relevant to TBL in GME: (1) the benefits and barriers to TBL; (2) the design of teams; (3) the role of assessment and peer evaluation; and (4) crowdsourced TBL resources. The virtual journal club provided a novel forum across multiple social media platforms, engaging authors, content experts, and the health professions education community in a discussion about the importance, impediments to implementation, available resources, and logistics of adopting TBL in GME.

Proceedings of the topical meeting on advances in human factors research on man/computer interactions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1990-01-01

This book discusses the following topics: expert systems and knowledge engineering-I; verification and validation of software; methods for modeling UMAN/computer performance; MAN/computer interaction problems in producing procedures -1-2; progress and problems with automation-1-2; experience with electronic presentation of procedures-2; intelligent displays and monitors; modeling user/computer interface; and computer-based human decision-making aids

Precession electron diffraction – a topical review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul A. Midgley

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In the 20 years since precession electron diffraction (PED was introduced, it has grown from a little-known niche technique to one that is seen as a cornerstone of electron crystallography. It is now used primarily in two ways. The first is to determine crystal structures, to identify lattice parameters and symmetry, and ultimately to solve the atomic structure ab initio. The second is, through connection with the microscope scanning system, to map the local orientation of the specimen to investigate crystal texture, rotation and strain at the nanometre scale. This topical review brings the reader up to date, highlighting recent successes using PED and providing some pointers to the future in terms of method development and how the technique can meet some of the needs of the X-ray crystallography community. Complementary electron techniques are also discussed, together with how a synergy of methods may provide the best approach to electron-based structure analysis.

Topics in industrial mathematics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vatsya, S.R.

1992-01-01

Mathematical methods are widely used to solve practical problems arising in modern industry. This article outlines some of the topics relevant to AECL programmes. This covers the applications of transmission and neutron transport tomography to determine density distributions in rocks and two phase flow situations. Another example covered is the use of variational methods to solve the problems of aerosol migration and control theory. (author). 7 refs

Discussion on Papers 14 - 16

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charles-Jones, S.; Muirhead, S.; Wilson, E.A.; Jefferson, M.; Binnie, C.J.A.; O'Connor, B.A.; Rothwell, P.; Cowie, D.

1992-01-01

Further observations were made on the great potential for tidal power developments in NW Australia. Discussion on the Severn Barrage paper and environmental effects of tidal power plants centred mainly around the impact on bird populations. The topics covered were: the adaptability of birds to changes in their environment with particular reference to the importance of inter-tidal areas for wildfowl and wading birds in the United Kingdom; the creation of mudflats as replacement feeding areas for wading birds; whether there is a danger that pressure from the construction industry might result in a barrage being built before the uncertainties in the environmental impact assessment are removed. Separate abstracts have been prepared for the three papers under discussion. (UK)

A Data-Based Approach to Discovering Multi-Topic Influential Leaders.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xing Tang

Full Text Available Recently, increasing numbers of users have adopted microblogging services as their main information source. However, most of them find themselves drowning in the millions of posts produced by other users every day. To cope with this, identifying a set of the most influential people is paramount. Moreover, finding a set of related influential users to expand the coverage of one particular topic is required in real world scenarios. Most of the existing algorithms in this area focus on topology-related methods such as PageRank. These methods mine link structures to find the expected influential rank of users. However, because they ignore the interaction data, these methods turn out to be less effective in social networks. In reality, a variety of topics exist within the information diffusing through the network. Because they have different interests, users play different roles in the diffusion of information related to different topics. As a result, distinguishing influential leaders according to different topics is also worthy of research. In this paper, we propose a multi-topic influence diffusion model (MTID based on traces acquired from historic information. We decompose the influential scores of users into two parts: the direct influence determined by information propagation along the link structure and indirect influence that extends beyond the restrictions of direct follower relationships. To model the network from a multi-topical viewpoint, we introduce topic pools, each of which represents a particular topic information source. Then, we extract the topic distributions from the traces of tweets, determining the influence propagation probability and content generation probability. In the network, we adopt multiple ground nodes representing topic pools to connect every user through bidirectional links. Based on this multi-topical view of the network, we further introduce the topic-dependent rank (TD-Rank algorithm to identify the multi-topic

A Data-Based Approach to Discovering Multi-Topic Influential Leaders.

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Xing; Miao, Qiguang; Yu, Shangshang; Quan, Yining

2016-01-01

Recently, increasing numbers of users have adopted microblogging services as their main information source. However, most of them find themselves drowning in the millions of posts produced by other users every day. To cope with this, identifying a set of the most influential people is paramount. Moreover, finding a set of related influential users to expand the coverage of one particular topic is required in real world scenarios. Most of the existing algorithms in this area focus on topology-related methods such as PageRank. These methods mine link structures to find the expected influential rank of users. However, because they ignore the interaction data, these methods turn out to be less effective in social networks. In reality, a variety of topics exist within the information diffusing through the network. Because they have different interests, users play different roles in the diffusion of information related to different topics. As a result, distinguishing influential leaders according to different topics is also worthy of research. In this paper, we propose a multi-topic influence diffusion model (MTID) based on traces acquired from historic information. We decompose the influential scores of users into two parts: the direct influence determined by information propagation along the link structure and indirect influence that extends beyond the restrictions of direct follower relationships. To model the network from a multi-topical viewpoint, we introduce topic pools, each of which represents a particular topic information source. Then, we extract the topic distributions from the traces of tweets, determining the influence propagation probability and content generation probability. In the network, we adopt multiple ground nodes representing topic pools to connect every user through bidirectional links. Based on this multi-topical view of the network, we further introduce the topic-dependent rank (TD-Rank) algorithm to identify the multi-topic influential users

Does prior domain-specific content knowledge influence students' recall of arguments surrounding interdisciplinary topics?

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Hiemke K; Rothgangel, Martin; Grube, Dietmar

2017-12-01

Awareness of various arguments can help interactants present opinions, stress points, and build counterarguments during discussions. At school, some topics are taught in a way that students learn to accumulate knowledge and gather arguments, and later employ them during debates. Prior knowledge may facilitate recalling information on well structured, fact-based topics, but does it facilitate recalling arguments during discussions on complex, interdisciplinary topics? We assessed the prior knowledge in domains related to a bioethical topic of 277 students from Germany (approximately 15 years old), their interest in the topic, and their general knowledge. The students read a text with arguments for and against prenatal diagnostics and tried to recall the arguments one week later and again six weeks later. Prior knowledge in various domains related to the topic individually and separately helped students recall the arguments. These relationships were independent of students' interest in the topic and their general knowledge. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Topics in Bioethics: A Development of Student Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Keith A. Johnson

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Exposing students to current biotechnological and medical issues is eye-opening for many students in a way that is not always achieved through lecture-based learning. Lecture or investigative teaching styles provide a tremendous knowledge base for the students, but sometimes these teaching styles do not allow the student to fully develop, especially personal attitudes to issues in bioethics. Through online videos, Hollywood movies, guided readings and classroom discussions, students in this course are informed of some bioethical topics, encouraged to learn about other topics, and use this gained knowledge to develop personal positions regarding the value and/or risk of the issues. This course has been well-received by previous students as a favorite in terms of both topics covered and style.

Analyzing the history of Cognition using Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen Priva, Uriel; Austerweil, Joseph L

2015-02-01

Very few articles have analyzed how cognitive science as a field has changed over the last six decades. We explore how Cognition changed over the last four decades using Topic Models. Topic Models assume that every word in every document is generated by one of a limited number of topics. Words that are likely to co-occur are likely to be generated by a single topic. We find a number of significant historical trends: the rise of moral cognition, eyetracking methods, and action, the fall of sentence processing, and the stability of development. We introduce the notion of framing topics, which frame content, rather than present the content itself. These framing topics suggest that over time Cognition turned from abstract theorizing to more experimental approaches. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Image Re-Ranking Based on Topic Diversity.

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Xueming; Lu, Dan; Wang, Yaxiong; Zhu, Li; Tang, Yuan Yan; Wang, Meng

2017-08-01

Social media sharing Websites allow users to annotate images with free tags, which significantly contribute to the development of the web image retrieval. Tag-based image search is an important method to find images shared by users in social networks. However, how to make the top ranked result relevant and with diversity is challenging. In this paper, we propose a topic diverse ranking approach for tag-based image retrieval with the consideration of promoting the topic coverage performance. First, we construct a tag graph based on the similarity between each tag. Then, the community detection method is conducted to mine the topic community of each tag. After that, inter-community and intra-community ranking are introduced to obtain the final retrieved results. In the inter-community ranking process, an adaptive random walk model is employed to rank the community based on the multi-information of each topic community. Besides, we build an inverted index structure for images to accelerate the searching process. Experimental results on Flickr data set and NUS-Wide data sets show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Learning Methods for Dynamic Topic Modeling in Automated Behavior Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Isupova, Olga; Kuzin, Danil; Mihaylova, Lyudmila

2017-09-27

Semisupervised and unsupervised systems provide operators with invaluable support and can tremendously reduce the operators' load. In the light of the necessity to process large volumes of video data and provide autonomous decisions, this paper proposes new learning algorithms for activity analysis in video. The activities and behaviors are described by a dynamic topic model. Two novel learning algorithms based on the expectation maximization approach and variational Bayes inference are proposed. Theoretical derivations of the posterior estimates of model parameters are given. The designed learning algorithms are compared with the Gibbs sampling inference scheme introduced earlier in the literature. A detailed comparison of the learning algorithms is presented on real video data. We also propose an anomaly localization procedure, elegantly embedded in the topic modeling framework. It is shown that the developed learning algorithms can achieve 95% success rate. The proposed framework can be applied to a number of areas, including transportation systems, security, and surveillance.

Topic modeling for cluster analysis of large biological and medical datasets.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Weizhong; Zou, Wen; Chen, James J

2014-01-01

The big data moniker is nowhere better deserved than to describe the ever-increasing prodigiousness and complexity of biological and medical datasets. New methods are needed to generate and test hypotheses, foster biological interpretation, and build validated predictors. Although multivariate techniques such as cluster analysis may allow researchers to identify groups, or clusters, of related variables, the accuracies and effectiveness of traditional clustering methods diminish for large and hyper dimensional datasets. Topic modeling is an active research field in machine learning and has been mainly used as an analytical tool to structure large textual corpora for data mining. Its ability to reduce high dimensionality to a small number of latent variables makes it suitable as a means for clustering or overcoming clustering difficulties in large biological and medical datasets. In this study, three topic model-derived clustering methods, highest probable topic assignment, feature selection and feature extraction, are proposed and tested on the cluster analysis of three large datasets: Salmonella pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) dataset, lung cancer dataset, and breast cancer dataset, which represent various types of large biological or medical datasets. All three various methods are shown to improve the efficacy/effectiveness of clustering results on the three datasets in comparison to traditional methods. A preferable cluster analysis method emerged for each of the three datasets on the basis of replicating known biological truths. Topic modeling could be advantageously applied to the large datasets of biological or medical research. The three proposed topic model-derived clustering methods, highest probable topic assignment, feature selection and feature extraction, yield clustering improvements for the three different data types. Clusters more efficaciously represent truthful groupings and subgroupings in the data than traditional methods, suggesting

MERCURY CONTAMINATED MATERIAL DECONTAMINATION METHODS: INVESTIGATION AND ASSESSMENT; TOPICAL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

M.A. Ebadian, Ph.D.

2001-01-01

Over the years mercury has been recognized as having serious impacts on human health and the environment. This recognition has led to numerous studies that deal with the properties of various mercury forms, the development of methods to quantify and speciate the forms, fate and transport, toxicology studies, and the development of site remediation and decontamination technologies. This report reviews several critical areas that will be used in developing technologies for cleaning mercury from mercury-contaminated surfaces of metals and porous materials found in many DOE facilities. The technologies used for decontamination of water and mixed wastes (solid) are specifically discussed. Many technologies that have recently appeared in the literature are included in the report. Current surface decontamination processes have been reviewed, and the limitations of these technologies for mercury decontamination are discussed. Based on the currently available technologies and the processes published recently in the literature, several processes, including strippable coatings, chemical cleaning with iodine/iodide lixiviant, chemisorbing surface wipes with forager sponge and grafted cotton, and surface/pore fixation through amalgamation or stabilization, have been identified as potential techniques for decontamination of mercury-contaminated metal and porous surfaces. Their potential merits and applicability are discussed. Finally, two processes, strippable coatings and chemical cleaning with iodine/iodide lixiviant, were experimentally investigated in Phase II of this project

Task-Driven Comparison of Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Alexander, Eric; Gleicher, Michael

2016-01-01

Topic modeling, a method of statistically extracting thematic content from a large collection of texts, is used for a wide variety of tasks within text analysis. Though there are a growing number of tools and techniques for exploring single models, comparisons between models are generally reduced to a small set of numerical metrics. These metrics may or may not reflect a model's performance on the analyst's intended task, and can therefore be insufficient to diagnose what causes differences between models. In this paper, we explore task-centric topic model comparison, considering how we can both provide detail for a more nuanced understanding of differences and address the wealth of tasks for which topic models are used. We derive comparison tasks from single-model uses of topic models, which predominantly fall into the categories of understanding topics, understanding similarity, and understanding change. Finally, we provide several visualization techniques that facilitate these tasks, including buddy plots, which combine color and position encodings to allow analysts to readily view changes in document similarity.

INST7150 - Advanced Topics in Learning Object Design and Reuse, Fall 2005

OpenAIRE

Wiley, David

2005-01-01

This course is designed to help you understand and apply advanced topics in the design, creation, and reuse of learning objects. The course is structured around a practical, hands-on project using learning objects, intermingled with readings and discussion on a variety of topics.

Topics in radiation at accelerators: Radiation physics for personnel and environmental protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cossairt, J.D.

1993-11-01

This report discusses the following topics: Composition of Accelerator Radiation Fields; Shielding of Electrons and Photons at Accelerators; Shielding of Hadrons at Accelerators; Low Energy Prompt Radiation Phenomena; Induced Radioactivity at Accelerators; Topics in Radiation Protection Instrumentation at Accelerators; and Accelerator Radiation Protection Program Elements

Workshop on beam cooling and related topics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bosser, J.

1994-01-01

The sessions of the Workshop on Beam Cooling and Related Topics, held in Montreux from 4-8 October 1993, are reported in these Proceedings. This meeting brought together international experts in the field of accelerator beam cooling. Its purpose was to discuss the status of the different cooling techniques currently in use (stochastic, electron, ionization, heavy-ion, and laser) and their actual performances, technological implications, and future prospects. Certain theoretical principles (muon cooling, cyclotron maser cooling) were discussed and are reported on in these Proceedings. Also of interest in this Workshop was the possibility of beam crystallization in accelerators using ultimate cooling. In the first part of these Proceedings, overview talks on the various cooling techniques, their implications, present performance, and future prospects are presented. More detailed reports on all the topics are then given in the form of oral presentations or poster sessions. Finally, the chairmen and/or convenors then present summary talks. (orig.)

Topical tags vs non-topical tags : Towards a bipartite classification?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Basile, Valerio; Peroni, Silvio; Tamburini, Fabio; Vitali, Fabio

2015-01-01

In this paper we investigate whether it is possible to create a computational approach that allows us to distinguish topical tags (i.e. talking about the topic of a resource) and non-topical tags (i.e. describing aspects of a resource that are not related to its topic) in folksonomies, in a way that

US Support Program Topical Meetings 1999 to 2008

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pepper,S.

2008-06-10

In 1999, the International Safeguards Project Office began organizing topical workshops to explore technical issues facing the International Atomic Energy Agency's Department of Safeguards. Representatives from IAEA member states including the United States, national laboratories and companies were invited to the workshops to discuss the technical issues. In some cases professional facilitators were hired to lead the discussions and in some cases business gaming techniques were employed. Since 1999, the following topics have been addressed Data Communication Technologies (1999), Information Security (2000), Design and Testing for High Reliability (2001), Standardization and Integration of Unattended and Remote Monitoring Systems (2002), Roadmapping: Surveillance (2003), IAEA Seals Technology Roadmapping Workshop (2004), Turning Information Into Knowledge (2004), Safeguards Tools of the Future (2005), and Advanced Sensors for Safeguards (2007). This paper will review the scope of the workshops and summarize their results.

Proceedings of the first topical meeting on Asian network for accelerator-driven systems and nuclear transmutation technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sasa, Toshinobu

2016-03-01

The first topical meeting on Asian Network for Accelerator-driven System (ADS) and Nuclear Transmutation Technology (NTT) was held on 26-27 October 2015 at the J-PARC Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Japan. The topical meeting was an optional one in-between the regular meeting, which is held in every two years. Instead of the regular meetings, which cover all research fields for ADS and NTT, such as accelerator, spallation target, subcritical reactor, fuel, and material, the topical meeting is focused on a specific topic to make technical discussions more deeply. In this meeting, the technology for lead-bismuth eutectic alloy was selected, as it was one of the hot issues in the world, and the topic was deeply discussed by specialists in Asian countries. This report summarizes all presentation materials discussed in the meeting. (author)

Discussion on the fusing methods for HR and CCD images of CBERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Zhangsheng; Zhao Yingjun

2010-01-01

CBERS-02B multi-spectral CCD data are different from HR panchromatic data in resolution, which causes difficulty in image fusion. With the method of Pansharping, HPF, Brovey transform, IHS transform, principal component transform, Gram Schmidt (GS) transform and wavelet transform, the authors have tested the fusion methods for CCD data and HR data of CBERS, and the fusion results are discussed and evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. (authors)

Topic theory and Brazilian musicality: Considerations on rhetoricity in music

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Acácio T. C. Piedade

2013-02-01

Full Text Available This article presents an application of the topic theory to the analyses of Brazilian music. It starts with a reflection on the concepts of musicality, friction of musicalities in Brazilian jazz, and the fusion of musicalities that emerges from the invention of tradition. The discussion follows with the question of the adaptability of topic theory to national musics. Then, some musical examples are used in order to present some of the universes of topics of Brazilian music. In this article I argue that the concept of rhetoricity brings good results to the study of musical signification, and that the theory of topics is useful for other contexts than classical music, being an interesting route to the investigation of sociocultural connections in musicalities.

Solid-State Lighting 2017 Suggested Research Topics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2017-09-29

A 2017 update to the Solid-State Lighting R&D Plan that is divided into two documents. The first document describes a list of suggested SSL priority research topics and the second document provides context and background, including information drawn from technical, market, and economic studies. Widely referenced by industry and government both here and abroad, these documents reflect SSL stakeholder inputs on key R&D topics that will improve efficacy, reduce cost, remove barriers to adoption, and add value for LED and OLED lighting solutions over the next three to five years, and discuss those applications that drive and prioritize the specific R&D.

Statistical methods for physical science

CERN Document Server

Stanford, John L

1994-01-01

This volume of Methods of Experimental Physics provides an extensive introduction to probability and statistics in many areas of the physical sciences, with an emphasis on the emerging area of spatial statistics. The scope of topics covered is wide-ranging-the text discusses a variety of the most commonly used classical methods and addresses newer methods that are applicable or potentially important. The chapter authors motivate readers with their insightful discussions, augmenting their material withKey Features* Examines basic probability, including coverage of standard distributions, time s

Analysis of airborne radiometric data. Volume 3. Topical reports

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Reed, J.H.; Shreve, D.C.; Sperling, M.; Woolson, W.A.

1978-05-01

This volume consists of four topical reports: a general discussion of the philosophy of unfolding spectra with continuum and discrete components, a mathematical treatment of the effects of various physical parameters on the uncollided gamma-ray spectrum at aircraft elevations, a discussion of the application of the unfolding code MAZNAI to airborne data, and a discussion of the effects of the nonlinear relationship between energy deposited and pulse height in NaI(T1) detectors

Capture gamma-ray spectroscopy and related topics, 1984. AIP conference proceedings No. 125

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raman, S.

1985-01-01

The main topics discussed at the symposium were nuclear models and theory, photon-induced reactions, neutron-induced reactions, charged-particle-induced reactions, applications, including nucleosynthesis, and related topics. Separate entries were prepared for the data base for the papers presented

Digital Social Network Mining for Topic Discovery

Science.gov (United States)

Moradianzadeh, Pooya; Mohi, Maryam; Sadighi Moshkenani, Mohsen

Networked computers are expanding more and more around the world, and digital social networks becoming of great importance for many people's work and leisure. This paper mainly focused on discovering the topic of exchanging information in digital social network. In brief, our method is to use a hierarchical dictionary of related topics and words that mapped to a graph. Then, with comparing the extracted keywords from the context of social network with graph nodes, probability of relation between context and desired topics will be computed. This model can be used in many applications such as advertising, viral marketing and high-risk group detection.

A PROCESS OF PRIORITIZING TOPICS FOR HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT IN KAZAKHSTAN.

Science.gov (United States)

Kosherbayeva, Lyazzat; Hailey, David; Kurakbaev, Kural; Tabarov, Adlet; Kumar, Ainur; Gutzskaya, Gulnara; Stepkina, Elena

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to develop criteria for the prioritization of topics for health technology assessment (HTA) in the healthcare system of Kazakhstan. Initial proposals for criteria were suggested through consultation with Ministry of Health (MoH) policy areas. These were refined through a workshop attended by HTA department staff, persons from medical universities and research institutes, and MoH policy makers. The workshop included discussion on methods used in international HTA practice. Opinions of participants on selection of criteria from those specified in a review of prioritization processes were used to define a list for inclusion in an instrument for routine use. A scoring system was established in later discussion. Selected criteria for HTA prioritization were burden of disease, availability of alternative technology, clinical effectiveness, economic efficiency, budget impact, and ethical, legal, and/or psychosocial aspects. For each criterion, a health technology under consideration is given a score from 3 (High) to 1 (Low). The total score determines whether the technology is of high to medium priority or of low priority. Determination of priorities for assessment, using the instrument, should be carried out by an expert group appointed by the MoH. The process was applied in 2014 to a selection of topics, and three health technologies were chosen for full assessments. Criteria for prioritization have evolved with development of the HTA program in Kazakhstan. A method for HTA prioritization has been developed that is easy to apply, requires comparatively few resources, and is compatible with processes required by the MoH.

Burning mouth syndrome: a discussion of a complex pathology.

Science.gov (United States)

Zur, Eyal

2012-01-01

Burning mouth syndrome is a complex pathology for which there is very little information about the etiology and pathogenesis. This lack of knowledge leaves patients with suboptimal treatments. This article discusses the existing scientific evidence about this disease. Since topical oral use of clonazepam have been shown to be effective and safe to treat some patients suffering with burning mouth syndrome, formulations including clonazepam are included with this article. Compounding topical preparations of clonazepam offers opportunities for compounding pharmacists to be more involved in improving the quality of life of burning mouth syndrome patients.

(Theory of weak interactions and related topics; and study of e sup + e sup minus interactions)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chang, Lay Nam; Tze, C.H.

1990-01-01

This report contains brief discussions on the following topics: Higher point anomalous amplitudes; topological phase of quantum gravity; chiral symmetry breaking at finite temperature; Skyrmions as representations of current algebras; D {ge} 4 critical phenomena: self-duality, infinite dimensional symmetries and hypercomplex analyticity; D {ge} 3 topological field theories: anionic membranes and division algebras, geometric quantization by the method of orbits; and novel non-perturbative approaches. (LSP)

Additive, control, energy, medical and other hot topics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouwer, Dannis Michel

2014-01-01

The 14th International Conference of the European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (euspen) was held in Dubrovnik, Croatia, on 2-6 June 2014. Among the hot topics discussed were additive manufacturing (AM), motion control in precision systems, renewable energy technologies, and

Supporting Collaborative Learning and E-Discussions Using Artificial Intelligence Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

McLaren, Bruce M.; Scheuer, Oliver; Miksatko, Jan

2010-01-01

An emerging trend in classrooms is the use of networked visual argumentation tools that allow students to discuss, debate, and argue with one another in a synchronous fashion about topics presented by a teacher. These tools are aimed at teaching students how to discuss and argue, important skills not often taught in traditional classrooms. But how…

Developing topic-specific search filters for PubMed with click-through data.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, J; Lu, Z

2013-01-01

Search filters have been developed and demonstrated for better information access to the immense and ever-growing body of publications in the biomedical domain. However, to date the number of filters remains quite limited because the current filter development methods require significant human efforts in manual document review and filter term selection. In this regard, we aim to investigate automatic methods for generating search filters. We present an automated method to develop topic-specific filters on the basis of users' search logs in PubMed. Specifically, for a given topic, we first detect its relevant user queries and then include their corresponding clicked articles to serve as the topic-relevant document set accordingly. Next, we statistically identify informative terms that best represent the topic-relevant document set using a background set composed of topic irrelevant articles. Lastly, the selected representative terms are combined with Boolean operators and evaluated on benchmark datasets to derive the final filter with the best performance. We applied our method to develop filters for four clinical topics: nephrology, diabetes, pregnancy, and depression. For the nephrology filter, our method obtained performance comparable to the state of the art (sensitivity of 91.3%, specificity of 98.7%, precision of 94.6%, and accuracy of 97.2%). Similarly, high-performing results (over 90% in all measures) were obtained for the other three search filters. Based on PubMed click-through data, we successfully developed a high-performance method for generating topic-specific search filters that is significantly more efficient than existing manual methods. All data sets (topic-relevant and irrelevant document sets) used in this study and a demonstration system are publicly available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/CBBresearch/Lu/downloads/CQ_filter/

Probabilistic analysis and related topics

CERN Document Server

Bharucha-Reid, A T

1983-01-01

Probabilistic Analysis and Related Topics, Volume 3 focuses on the continuity, integrability, and differentiability of random functions, including operator theory, measure theory, and functional and numerical analysis. The selection first offers information on the qualitative theory of stochastic systems and Langevin equations with multiplicative noise. Discussions focus on phase-space evolution via direct integration, phase-space evolution, linear and nonlinear systems, linearization, and generalizations. The text then ponders on the stability theory of stochastic difference systems and Marko

Probabilistic analysis and related topics

CERN Document Server

Bharucha-Reid, A T

1979-01-01

Probabilistic Analysis and Related Topics, Volume 2 focuses on the integrability, continuity, and differentiability of random functions, as well as functional analysis, measure theory, operator theory, and numerical analysis.The selection first offers information on the optimal control of stochastic systems and Gleason measures. Discussions focus on convergence of Gleason measures, random Gleason measures, orthogonally scattered Gleason measures, existence of optimal controls without feedback, random necessary conditions, and Gleason measures in tensor products. The text then elaborates on an

Analyzing the Learning Process of an Online Role-Playing Discussion Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Huei-Tse

2012-01-01

Instructional activities based on online discussion strategies have gained prevalence in recent years. Within this context, a crucial research topic is to design innovative and appropriate online discussion strategies that assist learners in attaining a deeper level of interaction and higher cognitive skills. By analyzing the process of online…

Changing the Topic. Topic Position in Ancient Greek Word Order

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Allan, R.J.

2014-01-01

Ancient Greek, topics can be expressed as intra-clausal constituents but they can also precede or follow the main clause as extra-clausal constituents. Together, these various topic expressions constitute a coherent system of complementary pragmatic functions. For a comprehensive account of topic

Suggestology as an Effective Language Learning Method.

Science.gov (United States)

MaCoy, Katherine W.

The methods used and the results obtained by means of the accelerated language learning techniques developed by Georgi Lozanov, Director of the Institute of Suggestology in Bulgaria, are discussed. The following topics are included: (1) discussion of hypermnesia, "super memory," and the reasons foreign languages were chosen for purposes…

Finding Malicious Cyber Discussions in Social Media

Science.gov (United States)

2016-02-02

reverse engineering, security, malware , blackhat) were labeled as cyber and posts on non- cyber topics (e.g., astronomy, electronics, beer, biology, mu...firewall, hash, infect, inject, install, key, malicious, malware , network, obfuscate, overflow, packet, password, payload, request, risk, scan, script...cyber vulnerabilities (e.g., malware , overflow, attack). The keyword system lacked the keywords used in Heartbleed discussions, and thus suffered from

Modern topics in electron scattering

CERN Document Server

Frois, Bernard

1991-01-01

This book summarizes the considerable progress recently achieved in the understanding of nucleon and nuclear structure by using high energy electrons as a probe. A collection of papers discusses in detail the new frontiers of this field. Experimental and theoretical articles cover topics such as the structure of the nucleon, nucleon distributions, many-body correlations, non-nucleonic degrees of freedom and few-body systems. This book is an up-to-date introduction to the research planned with continuous beam electron accelerators.

Armenian media coverage of science topics

Science.gov (United States)

Mkhitaryan, Marie

2016-12-01

The article discusses features and issues of Armenian media coverage on scientific topics and provides recommendations on how to promote scientific topics in media. The media is more interested in social or public reaction rather than in scientific information itself. Medical science has a large share of the global media coverage. It is followed by articles about environment, space, technology, physics and other areas. Armenian media mainly tends to focus on a scientific topic if at first sight it contains something revolutionary. Media primarily reviews whether that scientific study can affect the Armenian economy and only then decides to refer to it. Unfortunately, nowadays the perception of science is a little distorted in media. We can often see headlines of news where is mentioned that the scientist has made "an invention". Nowadays it is hard to see the border between a scientist and an inventor. In fact, the technological term "invention" attracts the media by making illusionary sensation and ensuring large audience. The report also addresses the "Gitamard" ("A science-man") special project started in 2016 in Mediamax that tells about scientists and their motivations.

Enhancing topical analgesic administration: review and prospect for transdermal and transbuccal drug delivery systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanz, Roser; Calpena, Ana C; Mallandrich, Mireia; Clares, Beatriz

2015-01-01

Topical administration is an appealing method for drug delivery due to its non-invasiveness, self-controlled application, avoidance of first-pass metabolism in the liver and reduction of systemic side effects compared to other conventional routes such as oral and parenteral. However, topical administration must overcome the permeable barriers that skin and mucosa represent for the drug to achieve its desired therapeutic effect. Penetration of drugs through human skin is mainly impaired by the stratum corneum- the uppermost keratinized skin layer. In contrast, the stratified squamous epithelium (a nonkeratinized tissue) represents the major physical barrier for transbuccal drug administration in humans. Different technologies have been studied to enhance the bioavailability or local effects of drugs administered through skin and buccal mucosa. Those technologies involve the use of physical or chemical enhancers and new dosage forms such as vesicles, cyclodextrins, nanoparticles and other complex systems. Combinations of these technologies may further increase drug delivery in some cases. As analgesia is one of the main therapeutic effects sought through topical administration, this paper focuses on the review of drug delivery systems to improve the topical and transdermal/transbuccal drug delivery of substances with known analgesic action. A discussion of their possibilities and limitations is also included.

Allocation of Playing Time within Team Sports--A Problem for Discussion

Science.gov (United States)

Lorentzen, Torbjørn

2017-01-01

The background of the article is the recurrent discussion about allocation of playing time in team sports involving children and young athletes. The objective is to analyse "why" playing time is a topic for discussion among parents, coaches and athletes. The following question is addressed: Under which condition is it "fair" to…

Encouraging Classroom Discussion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Joseph McKee

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Classroom discussion has the potential to enhance the learning environment and encourages students to become active participants in the educational process. Student participation in classroom discussion has been shown to significantly improve the student learning experience. Research suggests that classroom discussion is an effective method for encouraging student classroom participation and for motivating student learning beyond the classroom. Participation in classroom discussion encourages students to become active collaborators in the learning process, while at the same time providing instructors with a practical method of assessing student learning. Classroom discussion is an effective tool for developing higher-level cognitive skills like critical thinking. Despite the potential discussion holds for student learning, many in academia lament the lack of participation in the classroom. The lack of student participation in classroom discussion is not a recent problem; it is one that has frustrated instructors for decades. Instructors report that some of the more current methods for encouraging classroom discussion can be exasperating and at times non-productive. This two-year study of 510 college and university students provides insight into the reasons why some students do not participate in classroom discussion. This study, which also elicited input from sixteen college and university professors and two high school teachers, offers some suggestions for creating and encouraging an environment conducive to student participation in the classroom.

Predicted summary of panel discussion on smart instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sorber, R.E.

1991-01-01

The following is a hypothetical account of a panel discussion on Smart Instruments. It enumerates topics that are likely to covered in the actual discussion. A smart instrument may be defined as one that performs smart functions or as one that contains a computer of some sort. Neither definition is perfect. Smart functions might include, but are not limited to: automated data logging (reading, location, time); transfer (downloading) logged data to outside computer; computer assisted, remote calibration; linearity and dead time correction; performance trending; self diagnosis of faults; detector probe recognition; automated beta factor application; and automatic range selection. These smart functions are discussed

Umberto Eco on Libraries: A Discussion of "De Biblioteca."

Science.gov (United States)

Winter, Michael F.

1994-01-01

Discusses a scholar's reactions to libraries made by Umberto Eco in "De Biblioteca." Topics addressed include functions of libraries, including collecting; accessibility of materials; the scholar's creative use of libraries, and discovering materials not looked for or known about; North American research libraries; photocopying; and…

Topical Melatonin for Treatment of Androgenetic Alopecia

OpenAIRE

Fischer, Tobias W; Tr?eb, Ralph M; H?nggi, Gabriella; Innocenti, Marcello; Elsner, Peter

2012-01-01

Background: In the search for alternative agents to oral finasteride and topical minoxidil for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia (AGA), melatonin, a potent antioxidant and growth modulator, was identified as a promising candidate based on in vitro and in vivo studies. Materials and Methods: One pharmacodynamic study on topical application of melatonin and four clinical pre-post studies were performed in patients with androgenetic alopecia or general hair loss and evaluated by standardise...

Lessons from comparative effectiveness research methods development projects funded under the Recovery Act.

Science.gov (United States)

Zurovac, Jelena; Esposito, Dominick

2014-11-01

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) directed nearly US$29.2 million to comparative effectiveness research (CER) methods development. To help inform future CER methods investments, we describe the ARRA CER methods projects, identify barriers to this research and discuss the alignment of topics with published methods development priorities. We used several existing resources and held discussions with ARRA CER methods investigators. Although funded projects explored many identified priority topics, investigators noted that much work remains. For example, given the considerable investments in CER data infrastructure, the methods development field can benefit from additional efforts to educate researchers about the availability of new data sources and about how best to apply methods to match their research questions and data.

An Introduction to Topic Modeling as an Unsupervised Machine Learning Way to Organize Text Information

Science.gov (United States)

Snyder, Robin M.

2015-01-01

The field of topic modeling has become increasingly important over the past few years. Topic modeling is an unsupervised machine learning way to organize text (or image or DNA, etc.) information such that related pieces of text can be identified. This paper/session will present/discuss the current state of topic modeling, why it is important, and…

Proceedings of the Topical Session on Applying Decommissioning Experience to the Design and Operation of New Nuclear Power Plants. Topical Session of the 9. Meeting of the WPDD Held in Senec, Slovak Republic 12-13 November 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noviello, Luigi; O'Sullivan, Patrick; Laurent, Gerard; Tuomisto, Harri; Metcalfe, Doug; Duncan, Allan

2009-01-01

At its ninth meeting, the WPDD held a topical session on Applying Decommissioning Experience to the Design and Operation of New Plants. In preparation for this, a survey was issued to reactor design organisations, electricity producers and safety authorities and responses were compiled into a summary report that provided a basis for discussion at the topical session. This report is in two parts: Part A documents the topical session, summarising the main points from the presentations and discussions and including the rapporteurs' reports. Part B provides a summary compilation of the responses received to the survey undertaken prior to the topical session. The topical session facilitated an exchange of information and experience between policy makers, regulators, electricity producers, design organisations and decommissioners on approaches and experiences to taking account of decommissioning considerations in the design of third generation reactor systems

Facilitators and Barriers to Discussing HIV Prevention With Adolescents: Perspectives of HIV-Infected Parents

Science.gov (United States)

Reis, Janet S.; Weber, Kathleen M.

2013-01-01

Objectives. We examined HIV-infected parents’ conversations about HIV prevention with their uninfected children, including what facilitated or hindered communication. Methods. Parents with HIV/AIDS (n = 90) who had children aged 10 to 18 years were recruited for a mixed method study from 2009 to 2010. Interviews assessed facilitators and barriers to discussing HIV prevention. A questionnaire identified the frequency and content of conversations, parental confidence level, and perceived importance of discussing preventive topics. Results. Eighty-one percent of parents reported “sometimes” or “often” communicating about HIV prevention. A subset of parents found these conversations difficult; 44% indicated their desire for support. Facilitators to communication included utilizing support, focusing on the benefits of talking, and having a previous relationship with one’s child. Barriers to discussions included fear of negative consequences, living in denial, and lacking a parental role model who discussed safer sex. Parents varied as to how they believed their HIV status affected communication. Those who did not disclose their HIV status to their children reported less frequent communication; self-efficacy partially mediated this relationship. Conclusions. Findings highlighted the need for communication skills training that support HIV-infected parents in their efforts to discuss HIV-related information with adolescents. PMID:23763390

Geotechnical support and topical studies for nuclear waste geologic repositories: Annual report, Fiscal Year 1986

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-11-01

The multidisciplinary project was initiated in fiscal year 1986. It comprises two major interrelated parts: (1) Technical Assistance. This part of the project includes: (a) review of the progress of major projects in the DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management Program and advise the Engineering and Geotechnology Division on significant technical issues facing each project; (b) analyze geotechnical data, reports, tests, surveys and plans for the different projects; (c) review and comment on major technical reports and other program documents such as site characterization plans and area characterization plans and (d) provide scientific and technical input at technical meetings. (2) Topical Studies. This activity comprises studies on scientific and technical topics, and issues of significance to in-situ testing, test analysis methods, and performance assessment of nuclear waste geologic repositories. The subjects of study were selected based on discussions with DOE staff. For fiscal year 1986, one minor and one major area of investigation were undertaken. The minor topic is a preliminary consideration and planning exercise for post-closure monitoring studies. The major topic, with subtasks involving various geoscience disciplines, is on the mechanical, hydraulic, geophysical and geochemical properties of fractures in geologic rock masses. The present report lists the technical reviews and comments made during the fiscal year and summarizes the technical progress of the topical studies

Atomic Processes in Plasmas: Tenth Topical Conference. Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osterheld, A.L.; Goldstein, W.H.

1997-01-01

These proceedings contain the papers presented at the 10th topical conference on atomic processes in plasmas held in San Francisco, California. This conference series provides a forum for those whose research overlaps atomic and plasma physics. The topics discussed included tokamak plasmas, x-ray sources and x-ray lasers, dense plasmas, laser plasmas, radiative opacity and atomic databases. Among the sponsors of this conference were the Office of Fusion Energy and the Office of Energy Research of the U.S. department of Energy and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. There were 30 papers presented and 28 have been abstracted for the Energy Science and Technology database

Discussion series on PURPA related topics: information to customers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sturgeon, J I

1980-08-01

This volume relates primarily to Time-of-Day rates standard, PURPA IB(d)3, and deals with the content and methods of providing rate and conservation information to customers when Time-of-Day rates are used. Information to customers in the Demonstration and Pilot Projects fell mainly into four categories: administrative communications; explanations of new rate structures; information and advice on load management; and facts, recommendations and encouragements about energy conservation and end-use improvement. Administrative communications were about such matters as the existence of Projects, their funding, their periods of performance, the selection of their test customers, conditions of participation, procedural changes during the tests, and the time and conditions of ending the tests. These communications were important to good customer cooperation. All Demonstration Projects devoted considerable effort to the crucial task of clearly explaining the rationale of Time-of-Use (TOU) pricing and the test rate structures. The Projects then presented the concept of TOU pricing as a means of (a) fairly charging customers the true cost of their electricity and (b) rewarding them for shifting consumption to times when costs are less. For the most part, Demonstration Projects gave specific information on the individual customer's own rate structure and none on any others that were under test. The information was presented in face-to-face interviews, group presentations, television, radio, and print media, and traveling exhibits. The results are evaluated. (LCL)

Microblog sentiment analysis using social and topic context.

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Xiaomei; Yang, Jing; Zhang, Jianpei

2018-01-01

Analyzing massive user-generated microblogs is very crucial in many fields, attracting many researchers to study. However, it is very challenging to process such noisy and short microblogs. Most prior works only use texts to identify sentiment polarity and assume that microblogs are independent and identically distributed, which ignore microblogs are networked data. Therefore, their performance is not usually satisfactory. Inspired by two sociological theories (sentimental consistency and emotional contagion), in this paper, we propose a new method combining social context and topic context to analyze microblog sentiment. In particular, different from previous work using direct user relations, we introduce structure similarity context into social contexts and propose a method to measure structure similarity. In addition, we also introduce topic context to model the semantic relations between microblogs. Social context and topic context are combined by the Laplacian matrix of the graph built by these contexts and Laplacian regularization are added into the microblog sentiment analysis model. Experimental results on two real Twitter datasets demonstrate that our proposed model can outperform baseline methods consistently and significantly.

THE GROWTH POINTS OF STATISTICAL METHODS

OpenAIRE

Orlov A. I.

2014-01-01

On the basis of a new paradigm of applied mathematical statistics, data analysis and economic-mathematical methods are identified; we have also discussed five topical areas in which modern applied statistics is developing as well as the other statistical methods, i.e. five "growth points" – nonparametric statistics, robustness, computer-statistical methods, statistics of interval data, statistics of non-numeric data

"Two Cultures" Topics for General Studies Science Courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, James H.

1982-01-01

Theses proposed in C. P. Snow's book "The Two Cultures," including uncommunicative scientific and literary groups, gap between rich and poor, overpopulation, and nuclear war remain viable topics. Discusses the scientific and literary cultural gap and what can be done in general studies science courses to ameliorate the condition.…

Mead and Dewey: Thematic Connections on Educational Topics.

Science.gov (United States)

Dennis, Lawrence J.; Stickel, George W.

1981-01-01

Common themes emerge from the writings of John Dewey and George Herbert Mead on four educational topics discussed here: (1) play; (2) science teaching; (3) history teaching; and (4) industrial education. Both men deplored the fragmentation of education and believed moral insight could be furthered through social understanding, science, and…

Freshman Health Topics

Science.gov (United States)

Hovde, Karen

2011-01-01

This article examines a cluster of health topics that are frequently selected by students in lower division classes. Topics address issues relating to addictive substances, including alcohol and tobacco, eating disorders, obesity, and dieting. Analysis of the topics examines their interrelationships and organization in the reference literature.…

A comparison of evaluation metrics for biomedical journals, articles, and websites in terms of sensitivity to topic.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Lawrence D; Aphinyanaphongs, Yindalon; Wang, Lily; Aliferis, Constantin F

2011-08-01

Evaluating the biomedical literature and health-related websites for quality are challenging information retrieval tasks. Current commonly used methods include impact factor for journals, PubMed's clinical query filters and machine learning-based filter models for articles, and PageRank for websites. Previous work has focused on the average performance of these methods without considering the topic, and it is unknown how performance varies for specific topics or focused searches. Clinicians, researchers, and users should be aware when expected performance is not achieved for specific topics. The present work analyzes the behavior of these methods for a variety of topics. Impact factor, clinical query filters, and PageRank vary widely across different topics while a topic-specific impact factor and machine learning-based filter models are more stable. The results demonstrate that a method may perform excellently on average but struggle when used on a number of narrower topics. Topic-adjusted metrics and other topic robust methods have an advantage in such situations. Users of traditional topic-sensitive metrics should be aware of their limitations. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Comparison of Evaluation Metrics for Biomedical Journals, Articles, and Websites in Terms of Sensitivity to Topic

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Lawrence D.; Aphinyanaphongs, Yindalon; Wang, Lily; Aliferis, Constantin F.

2011-01-01

Evaluating the biomedical literature and health-related websites for quality are challenging information retrieval tasks. Current commonly used methods include impact factor for journals, PubMed’s clinical query filters and machine learning-based filter models for articles, and PageRank for websites. Previous work has focused on the average performance of these methods without considering the topic, and it is unknown how performance varies for specific topics or focused searches. Clinicians, researchers, and users should be aware when expected performance is not achieved for specific topics. The present work analyzes the behavior of these methods for a variety of topics. Impact factor, clinical query filters, and PageRank vary widely across different topics while a topic-specific impact factor and machine learning-based filter models are more stable. The results demonstrate that a method may perform excellently on average but struggle when used on a number of narrower topics. Topic adjusted metrics and other topic robust methods have an advantage in such situations. Users of traditional topic-sensitive metrics should be aware of their limitations. PMID:21419864

Topics in cement and concrete research

OpenAIRE

Brouwers, Jos; Russel, M.I.; Basheer, P.A.M.

2007-01-01

The present paper addresses several topics in regard to the sustainable design and use of concrete. First, major features concerning the sustainable aspects of the material concrete are summarised. Then the major constituent, from an environmental point of view, cement is discussed in detail, particularly the hydration and application of slag cement. The intelligent combining of mineral oxides, which are found in clinker, slag, fly ashes etc., is designated as mineral oxide engineering. It re...

Topics in theoretical and applied statistics

CERN Document Server

Giommi, Andrea

2016-01-01

This book highlights the latest research findings from the 46th International Meeting of the Italian Statistical Society (SIS) in Rome, during which both methodological and applied statistical research was discussed. This selection of fully peer-reviewed papers, originally presented at the meeting, addresses a broad range of topics, including the theory of statistical inference; data mining and multivariate statistical analysis; survey methodologies; analysis of social, demographic and health data; and economic statistics and econometrics.

Recent advances and perspectives in topical oral anesthesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Franz-Montan, Michelle; Ribeiro, Lígia Nunes de Morais; Volpato, Maria Cristina; Cereda, Cintia Maria Saia; Groppo, Francisco Carlos; Tofoli, Giovana Randomille; de Araújo, Daniele Ribeiro; Santi, Patrizia; Padula, Cristina; de Paula, Eneida

2017-05-01

Topical anesthesia is widely used in dentistry to reduce pain caused by needle insertion and injection of the anesthetic. However, successful anesthesia is not always achieved using the formulations that are currently commercially available. As a result, local anesthesia is still one of the procedures that is most feared by dental patients. Drug delivery systems (DDSs) provide ways of improving the efficacy of topical agents. Areas covered: An overview of the structure and permeability of oral mucosa is given, followed by a review of DDSs designed for dental topical anesthesia and their related clinical trials. Chemical approaches to enhance permeation and anesthesia efficacy, or to promote superficial anesthesia, include nanostructured carriers (liposomes, cyclodextrins, polymeric nanoparticle systems, solid lipid nanoparticles, and nanostructured lipid carriers) and different pharmaceutical dosage forms (patches, bio- and mucoadhesive systems, and hydrogels). Physical methods include pre-cooling, vibration, iontophoresis, and microneedle arrays. Expert opinion: The combination of different chemical and physical methods is an attractive option for effective topical anesthesia in oral mucosa. This comprehensive review should provide the readers with the most relevant options currently available to assist pain-free dental anesthesia. The findings should be considered for future clinical trials.

Online discussion: Enhancing students' critical thinking skills

Science.gov (United States)

Rathakrishnan, Mohan; Ahmad, Rahayu; Suan, Choo Ling

2017-10-01

Online discussion has become one of the important strategies for the teacher to teach the students to think critically when conveying their ideas and become more proactive and creative. In this paper, padlet online discussion communication was conducted to examine its effectiveness in enhancing critical thinking. In this study, there are two types of critical thinking: macro and micro critical thinking. A total of 70 Universiti Utara Malaysia Management Foundation Programme students involved in this experimental research design. The students in treatment class are divided to few groups. Every group uses padlet online discussion to discuss the topic given. All the group members discuss and write their ideas in padlet. Ideas that are posted in padlet will be displayed in front of the class so that the entire group in the treatment class could see the given ideas. Paul's (1993) model was used to analyze student's macro and micro critical thinking in padlet online discussion and communication. The finding shows that students who used padlet online discussion backchannel communication have greater macro and micro critical thinking level than students who do not use online discussion.

Summary record of the topical session of 12. Meeting of the IGSC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bailey, Lucy; Hunt, N.

2010-01-01

The objectives for this topical session were: - Explore issues of optimisation - what does it mean in practice? - Can we clarify the principles of optimisation? - To what extent is the process of optimisation more important than the end results? - Learn from experience in national programs; - Case studies from programs at different stages; - How have optimisation principles been applied in real program decisions? - How are optimisation arguments presented in safety cases? - Are there any optimisation issues that could benefit from further IGSC work? Key topics discussed in the opening remarks included: - Balance: this includes long-term safety versus near-term operational safety and the issue of safety versus cost; - Integration: this relates to how optimisation is implemented at different program stages, the implications of site selection (i.e., volunteer site versus 'best' site) and stakeholder acceptability; - Regulatory Perspective: this considers how different factors (such as dose, risk, cost, robustness, etc.) should be weighted and the optimisation arguments that regulators are expecting; - Process: the 'who', 'what' and 'when' of optimisation. Presentations from selected national programs provided case studies in optimisation for a range of situations: NEA: Optimisation of the System of Decommissioning Waste Production through Disposal; UK: NDA Approach on Upstream and Disposal System Optioneering; Germany: Methods to Support Comparison of Sites for Deep Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste; France: Presentation on Optimisation in Siting Decisions; Finland: Comparison and Evaluation of KBS-3 Horizontal and Vertical Options; USA: Optimisation at WIPP Based on 11 Years of Operational Experience. Following the presentations, the floor was opened to discussion around the following topics: What are the key issues? Which would benefit from IGSC attention? What further work is warranted by the IGSC and on what time frame? The discussion was widely ranging and

Regulatory cross-cutting topics for fuel cycle facilities.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Denman, Matthew R.; Brown, Jason; Goldmann, Andrew Scott; Louie, David

2013-10-01

This report overviews crosscutting regulatory topics for nuclear fuel cycle facilities for use in the Fuel Cycle Research & Development Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation and Screening study. In particular, the regulatory infrastructure and analysis capability is assessed for the following topical areas: Fire Regulations (i.e., how applicable are current Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and/or International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) fire regulations to advance fuel cycle facilities) Consequence Assessment (i.e., how applicable are current radionuclide transportation tools to support risk-informed regulations and Level 2 and/or 3 PRA) While not addressed in detail, the following regulatory topic is also discussed: Integrated Security, Safeguard and Safety Requirement (i.e., how applicable are current Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regulations to future fuel cycle facilities which will likely be required to balance the sometimes conflicting Material Accountability, Security, and Safety requirements.)

Review of Research on Educational Leadership and Management in Asia: A Comparative Analysis of Research Topics and Methods, 1995-2012

Science.gov (United States)

Hallinger, Philip; Chen, Junjun

2015-01-01

Over the past two decades scholars have called for a more concerted effort to develop an empirically grounded literature on educational leadership outside of mainstream "Western" contexts. This paper reports the results of a review of research topics and methods that comprise the literature on educational leadership and management in…

ASTM test methods for composite characterization and evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Masters, John E.

1994-01-01

A discussion of the American Society for Testing and Materials is given. Under the topic of composite materials characterization and evaluation, general industry practice and test methods for textile composites are presented.

Evaluating topic models with stability

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

De Waal, A

2008-11-01

Full Text Available Topic models are unsupervised techniques that extract likely topics from text corpora, by creating probabilistic word-topic and topic-document associations. Evaluation of topic models is a challenge because (a) topic models are often employed...

Topical report review status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-08-01

This report provides industry with procedures for submitting topical reports, guidance on how the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) processes and responds to topical report submittals, and an accounting, with review schedules, of all topical reports currently accepted for review schedules, of all topical reports currently accepted for review by the NRC. This report will be published annually. Each sponsoring organization with one or more topical reports accepted for review copies

Unsupervised topic modelling on South African parliament audio data

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Kleynhans, N

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Using a speech recognition system to convert spoken audio to text can enable the structuring of large collections of spoken audio data. A convenient means to summarise or cluster spoken data is to identify the topic under discussion. There are many...

Implementation of small group discussion as a teaching method in earth and space science subject

Science.gov (United States)

Aryani, N. P.; Supriyadi

2018-03-01

In Physics Department Universitas Negeri Semarang, Earth and Space Science subject is included in the curriculum of the third year of physics education students. There are various models of teaching earth and space science subject such as textbook method, lecturer, demonstrations, study tours, problem-solving method, etc. Lectures method is the most commonly used of teaching earth and space science subject. The disadvantage of this method is the lack of two ways interaction between lecturers and students. This research used small group discussion as a teaching method in Earth and Space science. The purpose of this study is to identify the conditions under which an efficient discussion may be initiated and maintained while students are investigating properties of earth and space science subjects. The results of this research show that there is an increase in student’s understanding of earth and space science subject proven through the evaluation results. In addition, during the learning process, student’s activeness also increase.

Discussion of the experimental methods of the estimation of the reaction impact parameter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Muryn, B.; Dziunikowska, K.; Eskreys, A.; Coghen, T.

1978-01-01

Two methods of determination of the reaction impact parameter, the one proposed by Webber and other by Henyey and Pumplin, are compared and discussed. It is shown that the lower limits of the impact parameter bsub(L) obtained by means of these methods are comparable and are always very low (approximately < 0.5 fm). On the example of the Henyey - Pumplin method it is argued that the experimentally obtained values bsub(L) may be very unreliable estimates of the reaction impact parameter and that any comparison of different reactions or reactions channels may be meaningless. (author)

The use of systematic and heuristic methods in the basic design cycle : A comparative survey of students' method usage

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Person, F.E.O.K.; Daalhuizen, J.J.; Gattol, V.

2013-01-01

In the present paper, we study the reported use of systematic and heuristic methods for 304 students enrolled in a master-level course on design theory and methodology. What to teach design and engineering students about methods is an important topic for discussion. One reason for this is that the

Learning within Incoherent Structures: The Space of Online Discussion Forums.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Matthew J. W.

2002-01-01

Presents results from a study of undergraduate students' learning outcomes and patterns of interaction within an online discussion forum. Topics include social dynamics of computer-mediated communication versus face-to-face communication; cognitive engagement; critical and reflective thinking; and student interaction. (Author/LRW)

Current Topics and Trends in Military Dental Research: A Tri-Service Panel Discussion

Science.gov (United States)

2016-05-09

Tri- Service Panel Discussion presented at/published to SURF 2016 (San Antonio Military Health System & Universities Research Forum), UT San Antonio...meting.) SURF 2016 (San Antonio Mili tary Health System & U niversities Research Forum), UT San Antonio, TX; 20 May 2016 D 11e. OTHER (Describe...if you are a Graduate Health Sciences Education student and your department has told you they cannot fund your publication, the 59th Clinical Research

a Survey on Topics, Researchers and Cultures in the Field of Digital Heritage

Science.gov (United States)

Münster, S.

2017-08-01

Digital heritage comprises a broad variety of approaches and topics and involves researchers from multiple disciplines. While the use of digital methods in the text-oriented disciplines dealing with cultural heritage is widely discussed and canonized, an up-to-date investigation on cultural heritage as a scholarly field is currently missing. The extended abstract is about a three-stage investigation on standards, publications, disciplinary cultures as well as scholars in the field of digital heritage, carried out in 2016 and 2017. It includes results of a workshop-based survey involving 44 researchers, 15 qualitative interviews as well as an online survey with nearly 1000 participants. As an overall finding, a community is driven by researchers from European countries and especially Italy with a background in humanities, dealing with topics of data acquisition, data management and visualization. Moreover, conference series are most relevant for a scientific discourse, and especially EU projects set pace as most important research endeavours.

Strategies of persuasion in offers to participate in cancer clinical trials I: Topic placement and topic framing.

Science.gov (United States)

Barton, Ellen; Eggly, Susan; Winckles, Andrew; Albrecht, Terrance L

2014-01-01

Clinical trials are the gold standard in medical research evaluating new treatments in cancer care; however, in the United States, too few patients enroll in trials, especially patients from minority groups. Offering patients the option of a clinical trial is an ethically-charged communicative event for oncologists. One particularly vexed ethical issue is the use of persuasion in trial offers. Based on a corpus of 22 oncology encounters with Caucasian-American (n = 11) and African-American (n = 11) patients, this discourse analysis describes oncologists' use of two persuasive strategies related to the linguistic structure of trial offers: topic placement and topic framing. Findings are presented in total and by patient race, and discussed in terms of whether these strategies may constitute ethical or unethical persuasion, particularly with respect to the ethical issue of undue influence and the social issue of underrepresentation of minorities in cancer clinical trials.

9. university discussion meeting on energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

Eight conference papers are presented which discussed the following topics: 1. Energy and environment - conflict or harmony; 2. A common electricity market within the European Community - from the point of view of the German electricity industry; 3. Radioactive waste in nuclear engineering; 4. Effects of electric and magnetic fields on humans; 5. Classroom ventilation; 6. The polluted atmosphere - potential effects on the global climate; 7. Environment-centered marketing, a challenge to a household appliances supplier; 8. High-temperature superconductors - perspectives for application. (UA) [de

Children′s behavioral pain reactions during local anesthetic injection using cotton-roll vibration method compared with routine topical anesthesia: A randomized controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Bagherian

2016-01-01

Conclusion: It may be concluded that the cotton-roll vibration method can be more helpful than the routine topical anesthesia in reducing behavioral pain reactions in children during local anesthesia administration.

Traceability Method for Software Engineering Documentation

OpenAIRE

Nur Adila Azram; Rodziah Atan

2012-01-01

Traceability has been widely discussed in research area. It has been one of interest topic to be research in software engineering. Traceability in software documentation is one of the interesting topics to be research further. It is important in software documentation to trace out the flow or process in all the documents whether they depends with one another or not. In this paper, we present a traceability method for software engineering documentation. The objective of this research is to fac...

Syntacticized topics in Kurmuk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Torben

2015-01-01

This article argues that Kurmuk, a little-described Western Nilotic language, is characterized by a syntacticized topic whose grammatical relation is variable. In this language, declarative clauses have as topic an obligatory preverbal NP which is either a subject, an object or an adjunct....... The grammatical relation of the topic is expressed by a voice-like inflection of the verb, here called orientation. While subject-orientation is morphologically unmarked, object-oriented and adjunct-oriented verbs are marked by a subject suffix or by a suffix indicating that the topic is not subject, and adjunct......-orientation differs from object-orientation by a marked tone pattern. Topic choice largely reflects information structure by indicating topic continuity. The topic also plays a crucial role in relative clauses and in clauses with contrastive constituent focus, in that objects and adjuncts can only be relativized...

ENDORSING REFLECTIVE TECHNIQUES TO PROLIFERATE STUDENTS’ INTERACTIONS AND UTTERANCES IN A DISCUSSION FORUM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marwito Wihadi

2012-12-01

Full Text Available High Intermediate-2 students’ brief responses in a discussion forum cause a long-expected discussion last in a couple of minutes in mixed-ability classes, depicting a minority of students are overtly dominant, while others are precisely passive. What yields discussions endure immaturely stems from both unclear roles of participants and their inadequate techniques to expand both interactions and spoken discourse. Therefore, Teacher-researcher assigned each participant in a discussion group of three to put reflection into practice, referring to the self-selected and discussed topics. The data were gained through non-participant observations, in which the teacher-researcher observed and recorded a singled-out group. A sample recording was, subsequently, transcribed and analyzed regarding with the number of exchanges in a five-minute discussion intake and the number of content words that students generated. It was found that employing reflective techniques, students were able to keep a particular topic being discussed at full. As a result, the number of content words multiplied. These findings resulted classroom teachers in insightful use of reflective techniques as one of the ways to proliferate students’ benefits in a discussion forum. Adequately practiced, students would be able to employ the techniques preponderantly, multiplying interactions among discussion members.

User Participation and Participatory Design: Topics in Computing Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Kautz, Karlheinz

1996-01-01

Discusses user participation and participatory design in the context of formal education for computing professionals. Topics include the current curriculum debate; mathematical- and engineering-based education; traditional system-development training; and an example of a course program that includes computers and society, and prototyping. (53…

International Discussion Meeting on High-Tc Superconductors

CERN Document Server

1988-01-01

In the past two years conferences on superconductivity have been characterized by the attendance of hundreds of scientists. Consequently, the organizers were forced to schedule numerous parallel sessions and poster presentations with an almost unsurveyable amount of information. It was, therefore, felt that a more informal get-together, providing ample time for a thourough discussion of some topics of current interest in high-temperature superconductivity, was timely and benefitial for leading scientists as well as for newcomers in the field. The present volume contains the majority of papers presented at the International Discussion Meeting on High-Tc Superconductors held at the Mauterndorf Castle in the Austrian Alps from February 7 to 11, 1988. Each subject was introduced in review form by a few invited speakers and then discussed together with the contributed poster presentations. These discussion sessions chaired by selected scientists turned out to be the highlights of the meeting, not only because all ...

A versatile, stability-indicating and high-throughput ultra-fast liquid chromatography method for the determination of isoflavone aglycones in soybeans, topical formulations, and permeation assays.

Science.gov (United States)

Nemitz, Marina C; Yatsu, Francini K J; Bidone, Juliana; Koester, Letícia S; Bassani, Valquiria L; Garcia, Cássia V; Mendez, Andreas S L; von Poser, Gilsane L; Teixeira, Helder F

2015-03-01

There is a growing interest in the pharmaceutical field concerning isoflavones topical delivery systems, especially with regard to their skin care properties and antiherpetic activity. In this context, the present work describes an ultra-fast liquid chromatography method (UFLC) for determining daidzein, glycitein, and genistein in different matrices during the development of topical systems containing isoflavone aglycones (IA) obtained from soybeans. The method showed to be specific, precise, accurate, and linear (0.1 to 5 µg mL(-1)) for IA determination in soybean acid extract, IA-rich fraction obtained after the purification process, IA loaded-nanoemulsions, and topical hydrogel, as well as for permeation/retention assays in porcine skin and porcine esophageal mucosa. The matrix effect was determined for all complex matrices, demonstrating low effect during the analysis. The stability indicating UFLC method was verified by submitting IA to acidic, alkaline, oxidative, and thermal stress conditions, and no interference of degradation products was detected during analysis. Mass spectrometry was performed to show the main compounds produced after acid hydrolysis of soybeans, as well as suggest the main degradation products formed after stress conditions. Besides the IA, hydroxymethylfurfural and ethoxymethylfurfural were produced and identified after acid hydrolysis of the soybean extract and well separated by the UFLC method. The method's robustness was confirmed using the Plackett-Burman experimental design. Therefore, the new method affords fast IA analysis during routine processes, extract purification, products development, and bioanalytical assays. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Learning From Short Text Streams With Topic Drifts.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Peipei; He, Lu; Wang, Haiyan; Hu, Xuegang; Zhang, Yuhong; Li, Lei; Wu, Xindong

2017-09-18

Short text streams such as search snippets and micro blogs have been popular on the Web with the emergence of social media. Unlike traditional normal text streams, these data present the characteristics of short length, weak signal, high volume, high velocity, topic drift, etc. Short text stream classification is hence a very challenging and significant task. However, this challenge has received little attention from the research community. Therefore, a new feature extension approach is proposed for short text stream classification with the help of a large-scale semantic network obtained from a Web corpus. It is built on an incremental ensemble classification model for efficiency. First, more semantic contexts based on the senses of terms in short texts are introduced to make up of the data sparsity using the open semantic network, in which all terms are disambiguated by their semantics to reduce the noise impact. Second, a concept cluster-based topic drifting detection method is proposed to effectively track hidden topic drifts. Finally, extensive studies demonstrate that as compared to several well-known concept drifting detection methods in data stream, our approach can detect topic drifts effectively, and it enables handling short text streams effectively while maintaining the efficiency as compared to several state-of-the-art short text classification approaches.

An Investigation of Prioritizing Research Topics in Professional Communication

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Buschagen, Richard

1997-01-01

.... This effort was intended to address possible causes of this problem by establishing the importance of nine research topic areas, six data collection methods/sources, and three data analysis methods...

Topics in radiation dosimetry radiation dosimetry

CERN Document Server

1972-01-01

Radiation Dosimetry, Supplement 1: Topics in Radiation Dosimetry covers instruments and techniques in dealing with special dosimetry problems. The book discusses thermoluminescence dosimetry in archeological dating; dosimetric applications of track etching; vacuum chambers of radiation measurement. The text also describes wall-less detectors in microdosimetry; dosimetry of low-energy X-rays; and the theory and general applicability of the gamma-ray theory of track effects to various systems. Dose equivalent determinations in neutron fields by means of moderator techniques; as well as developm

Interviews concerning topical questions in nuclear technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Segatz, U.; Schatz, A.; Stephany, M.; Michaelis, H.

1978-01-01

On the occasion of the Nuclex meeting, October 3-7, 1978, Basle/Switzerland, the editorial department of 'Atom und Strom' questioned some leading scientists in nuclear technology on particularly relevant topics. The following subjects were discussed: - How long can we do without nuclear energy, - Modern technology for nuclear power plants, - Nuclear fuel cycle and environment, - Nuclear energy and European Communities, - Nuclear energy and its risks (reflections on incidents). (orig./UA) [de

Topical Drugs for Pain Relief

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anjali Srinivasan

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Topical therapy helps patients with oral and perioral pain problems such as ulcers, burning mouth syndrome, temporomandibular disorders, neuromas, neuropathies and neuralgias. Topical drugs used in the field of dentistry are topical anaesthetics, topical analgesics, topical antibiotics and topical corticosteroids. It provides symptomatic/curative effect. Topical drugs are easy to apply, avoids hepatic first pass metabolism and more sites specific. But it can only be used for medications that require low plasma concentrations to achieve a therapeutic effect.

Topics in current aerosol research (part2)

CERN Document Server

Hidy, G M

1972-01-01

Topics in Current Aerosol Research, Part 2 contains some selected articles in the field of aerosol study. The chosen topics deal extensively with the theory of diffusiophoresis and thermophoresis. Also covered in the book is the mathematical treatment of integrodifferential equations originating from the theory of aerosol coagulation. The book is the third volume of the series entitled International Reviews in Aerosol Physics and Chemistry. The text offers significant understanding of the methods employed to develop a theory for thermophoretic and diffusiophoretic forces acting on spheres in t

Real-time topic-aware influence maximization using preprocessing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wei; Lin, Tian; Yang, Cheng

2016-01-01

Influence maximization is the task of finding a set of seed nodes in a social network such that the influence spread of these seed nodes based on certain influence diffusion model is maximized. Topic-aware influence diffusion models have been recently proposed to address the issue that influence between a pair of users are often topic-dependent and information, ideas, innovations etc. being propagated in networks are typically mixtures of topics. In this paper, we focus on the topic-aware influence maximization task. In particular, we study preprocessing methods to avoid redoing influence maximization for each mixture from scratch. We explore two preprocessing algorithms with theoretical justifications. Our empirical results on data obtained in a couple of existing studies demonstrate that one of our algorithms stands out as a strong candidate providing microsecond online response time and competitive influence spread, with reasonable preprocessing effort.

A Learner-led, Discussion-based Elective on Emerging Infectious Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathias, Clinton

2015-08-25

Objective. To implement a learner-led, discussion-based course aimed at exposing second-year pharmacy learners to the study of emerging infectious diseases from a global health perspective and to assess the role and importance of pharmacists in the management of disease outbreaks. Design. Learners examined literature pertinent to an emerging infectious disease in a 3-credit, discussion-based course and participated in peer discussion led by a designated learner. Instructional materials included journal articles, audio-visual presentations, documentaries, book chapters, movies, newspaper/magazine articles, and other materials. Learning outcomes were measured based on the ability of learners to perform critical thinking and analysis, communicate with their peers, and participate in class discussions. Assessment. The course was offered to 2 consecutive cohorts consisting of 14 and 16 learners, respectively. Overall, every learner in the first cohort achieved a final grade of A for the course. In the second cohort, the overall grade distribution consisted of grades of A, B, and C for the course. Learner evaluations indicated that the active-learning, discussion-based environment significantly enhanced interest in the topic and overall performance in the course. Conclusion. The elective course on emerging infectious diseases provided in-depth exposure to disease topics normally not encountered in the pharmacy curriculum. Learners found the material and format valuable, and the course enhanced their appreciation of infectious diseases, research methodology, critical thinking and analysis, and their roles as pharmacists.

A historical review on ''magnetic focusing method'' in Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamada, Y.; Tanaka, K.; Abe, Z.

1986-01-01

Several topics on the development of the magnetic focusing method and its recent progress are discussed. The magnetic focusing method will be effective for measuring the local NMR parameters, and the advanced imaging technique will also be as useful as the recent conventional NMR Imaging techniques

Sixth meeting of the ITPA Topical Group on Diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Donne, A.J.H.; Costley, A.E.

2004-01-01

The Sixth Meeting of the International Tokamak Physics Activities (ITPA) Topical Group (TG) on Diagnostics was held at JAERI, Naka from 19-21 February 2004. This meeting was combined with a Progress Meeting on ITER/BPX (burning plasma experiment) relevant diagnostic developments on-going in Japan. For the first time, ITPA members from China, as well as observers from South Korea, attended. In addition, an associated sub-meeting was held at General Atomics, San Diego, 23-24 April, immediately after the 15th Topical Conference on High Temperature Plasma Diagnostics. At the sub-meeting a special one-day session was devoted to issues related to beam-aided spectroscopy. In total more than 50 participants attended the meetings and all ITER partners were represented. The key topics reviewed and discussed at the TG meeting were: (i) the overall status of diagnostics developments for ITER, (ii) the progress in the research on the designated high priority topics, (iii) the progress with some key ITER/BPX-relevant diagnostic developments ongoing in the ITPA participant laboratories, (iv) the progress and plans for the work of the specialist working groups, (v) the status and plans for the International Diagnostic Database

Topical medication instillation techniques for glaucoma.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Li; Wang, Xuemei; Wu, Meijing

2017-02-20

Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and the second most common cause of blindness after cataracts. The primary treatment for glaucoma aims to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) with the use of topical medicines. Topical medication instillation techniques, such as eyelid closure and nasolacrimal occlusion when instilling drops, have been proposed as potential methods to increase ocular absorption and decrease systemic absorption of the drops. To investigate the effectiveness of topical medication instillation techniques compared with usual care or another method of instillation of topical medication in the management of glaucoma or ocular hypertension. We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (which contains the Cochrane Eyes and Vision Trials Register) (2016, Issue 12), MEDLINE Ovid (1946 to 8 December 2016), Embase Ovid (1947 to 8 December 2016), PubMed (1948 to 8 December 2016), LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature Database) (1982 to 8 December 2016), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts Database (1970 to 8 December 2016), the metaRegister of Controlled Trials (mRCT) (www.controlled-trials.com) (last searched 13 May 2013), ClinicalTrials.gov (www.clinicaltrials.gov) (searched 8 December 2016) and the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (www.who.int/ictrp/search/en) (searched 8 December 2016). We did not use any date or language restrictions in the electronic searches for trials. We included randomized controlled trials which had compared any topical medication instillation technique with usual care or a different method of instillation of topical medication. Two review authors independently screened records from the searches for eligibility, assessed the risk of bias, and extracted data. We followed methods recommended by Cochrane. We identified two trials (122 eyes of 61 participants) that had evaluated a topical medication instillation technique. We

Clinical application and assessment of Belotero: a roundtable discussion.

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenc, Z Paul; Fagien, Steven; Flynn, Timothy C; Waldorf, Heidi A

2013-10-01

In this final article for the Supplement, the authors address the physical and aesthetic characteristics of the latest hyaluronic acid, Belotero Balance. Topics include unique characteristics of the hyaluronic acid, aesthetic indications, administration techniques, adverse events, and differences between Belotero and other hyaluronic acids. The article closes with a brief discussion about nomenclature of hyaluronic acid products.

Correlated Topics in a Scalable Multidimensional Text Cube: Algorithms and Aviation Safety Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Bo; Lin, Cindy X.; Srivastava, Ashok N.; Oza, Nikunj C.; Han, Jiawei

2010-01-01

As world-wide air traffic continues to grow even at a modest pace, the overall complexity of the system will increase significantly. This increased complexity can lead to a larger number of fatalities per year even if the extremely low fatality rate that we currently enjoy is maintained. One important source of information about the safety of the aviation system is in Aviation Safety Text Reports which are written by members of the flight crew, air traffic controllers, and other parties involved with the aviation system. These anonymized narrative reports contain fixed-field contextual information about the flight but also contain free-form narratives that describe, in the author s own words, the nature of the safety incident and, in many cases, the contributing factors that led to the safety incident. Several thousand such reports are filed each month, each of which is read and analyzed by highly trained experts. However, it is possible that there are emerging safety issues due to the fact that they may be reported very infrequently and in different contexts with different descriptions. The goal of this research paper is to develop correlated topic models which uncover correlations in the subspaces defined by the intersection of numerous fixed fields and discovered correlated topics. This task requires the discovery of latent topics in the text reports and the creation of a topic cube. Furthermore, because the number of potential cells in the topic cube is very large, we discuss novel methods of pruning the search space in the topic cells, thereby making the analysis feasible. We demonstrate the new algorithms on an analysis of pilot fatigue and its contributing factors, as well as the safety incidents that are correlated with this phenomenon.

Topics in mathematical and applied statistics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pas, van der S.L.

2017-01-01

This thesis is composed of papers on four topics: Bayesian theory for the sparse normal means problem, specifically for the horseshoe prior (Chapters 1-3), Bayesian theory for community detection (Chapter 4), nested model selection (Chapter 5), and the application of competing risk methods in the

Evaluating topic model interpretability from a primary care physician perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Corey W; Oh, Andrea; Chen, Shawn; Speier, William

2016-02-01

Probabilistic topic models provide an unsupervised method for analyzing unstructured text. These models discover semantically coherent combinations of words (topics) that could be integrated in a clinical automatic summarization system for primary care physicians performing chart review. However, the human interpretability of topics discovered from clinical reports is unknown. Our objective is to assess the coherence of topics and their ability to represent the contents of clinical reports from a primary care physician's point of view. Three latent Dirichlet allocation models (50 topics, 100 topics, and 150 topics) were fit to a large collection of clinical reports. Topics were manually evaluated by primary care physicians and graduate students. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests for Paired Samples were used to evaluate differences between different topic models, while differences in performance between students and primary care physicians (PCPs) were tested using Mann-Whitney U tests for each of the tasks. While the 150-topic model produced the best log likelihood, participants were most accurate at identifying words that did not belong in topics learned by the 100-topic model, suggesting that 100 topics provides better relative granularity of discovered semantic themes for the data set used in this study. Models were comparable in their ability to represent the contents of documents. Primary care physicians significantly outperformed students in both tasks. This work establishes a baseline of interpretability for topic models trained with clinical reports, and provides insights on the appropriateness of using topic models for informatics applications. Our results indicate that PCPs find discovered topics more coherent and representative of clinical reports relative to students, warranting further research into their use for automatic summarization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Topical report review status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-08-01

A Topical Report Review Status is scheduled to be published semi-annually. The primary purpose of this document is to provide periodic progress reports of on-going topical report reviews, to identify those topical reports for which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff review has been completed and, to the extent practicable, to provide NRC management with sufficient information regarding the conduct of the topical report program to permit taking whatever actions deemed necessary or appropriate. This document is also intended to be a source of information to NRC Licensing Project Managers and other NRC personnel regarding the status of topical reports which may be referenced in applications for which they have responsibility. This status report is published primarily for internal NRC use in managing the topical report program, but is also used by NRC to advise the industry of report review status

Topical report review status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1983-01-01

A Topical Report Review Status is scheduled to be published semi-annually. The primary purpose of this document is to provide periodic progress reports of on-going topical report reviews, to identify those topical reports for which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff review has been completed and, to the extent practicable, to provide NRC management with sufficient information regarding the conduct of the topical report program to permit taking whatever actions deemed necessary or appropriate. This document is also intended to be a source of information to NRC Licensing Project Managers and other NRC personnel regarding the status of topical reports which may be referenced in applications for which they have responsibility. This status report is published primarily for internal NRC use in managing the topical report program, but is also used by NRC to advise the industry of report review status

Pharmacokinetics of bevacizumab after topical and intravitreal administration in human eyes

OpenAIRE

Moisseiev, Elad; Waisbourd, Michael; Ben-Artsi, Elad; Levinger, Eliya; Barak, Adiel; Daniels, Tad; Csaky, Karl; Loewenstein, Anat; Barequet, Irina S.

2013-01-01

Background Topical bevacizumab is a potential treatment modality for corneal neovascularization, and several recent studies have demonstrated its efficacy. No previous study of the pharmacokinetics of topical bevacizumab has been performed in human eyes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the pharmacokinetics of topical administration of bevacizumab in human eyes, and also to compare the pharmacokinetics of intravitreal bevacizumab injections with previously reported data. Methods Tw...

CERN in discussions with its neighbours

CERN Multimedia

2009-01-01

CERN recently invited local partners, elected representatives, and representatives of local administrations and associations to an information and discussion evening, giving those invited an opportunity to raise various topics linked to CERN’s presence in the local area. On Tuesday, 20 October the Globe of Science and Innovation took on a distinctly regional flavour when some 60 representatives of local administrations and public bodies in Switzerland and France as well as teachers, heads of local schools and chairs of local associations attended an information and discussion evening at the invitation of the Director-General. In his opening address, the Director-General underlined CERN’s commitment to transparency and the desire to enhance its communication with the local community. This address was followed by four presentations. Philippe Bloch, head of the Physics Department, explained the scientific goals of the LHC and the L...

Discussion of participation possibilities at KEK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gill, D.R.

1989-05-01

A group of physicists at TRIUMF have been meeting regularly to discuss options for involvement in experiments that relate closely to the physics that would be undertaken at the KAON Factory. At a meeting held to discuss possibilities for work at KEK in the light of the new facilities that are under construction or proposed as part of the JHP, the topics considered ranged from the ion source to kaon beams. They included measurements of kaon-nucleon elastic and inelastic scattering in the 1600 to 2000 MeV range; transport of polarized proton beams through synchrotrons; the development of laser pumped polarized ion sources and volume cusp H - sources; studies of the problems that high intensity beams will present for the maintenance of H - stripping foils; collaboration on radioactive beam facilities; production of hypernuclei; low energy kaon scattering; and new types of detectors

A consensus approach to improving patient adherence and persistence with topical treatment for actinic keratosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Stockfleth, Eggert; Peris, Ketty; Guillen, Carlos; Cerio, Rino; Basset-Seguin, Nicole; Foley, Peter; Sanches, José; Culshaw, Alex; Erntoft, Sandra; Lebwohl, Mark

2015-01-01

Topical therapy is important in the treatment of actinic keratosis, but guidance for improving adherence/persistence during topical therapy is still lacking. To utilize expert consensus to generate a list of recommendations to improve real-world efficacy when prescribing topical therapy for actinic keratosis. An expert panel of eight dermatologists was convened to generate recommendations based on facilitated discussion and consensus generation using a modified Delphi session. The recommendations were ratified with the expert panel. Facilitated discussion generated 31 issues within five themes, which were prioritized using expert voting. Consensus was achieved on the importance of short and simple treatment regimens for maximizing patient compliance, physician awareness of the progression of actinic keratosis to squamous cell carcinoma, provision of appropriate patient information, and the use of effective communication strategies to educate physicians about actinic keratosis. Based on these key findings, eight recommendations were generated. The recommendations will assist physicians when prescribing topical actinic keratosis therapy. Further research should focus on the types of patient outcomes that are influenced by the characteristics of topical field therapy. © 2015 The Authors. International Journal of Dermatology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Dermatology.

Effects of Topical Phenylephrine HCl 2.5% used before Cataract Surgery on Systemic Blood Pressure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emre Ayıntap

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To evaluate the effect of topical phenylephrine HCl 2.5% (Mydfrin, used as a fast and effective mydriatic before cataract surgery, on systemic blood pressure. Material and Method: Topical phenylephrine HCl 2.5% was administered 3 times with 5-minute intervals before cataract surgery to 44 eyes of 44 patients. The systemic blood pressure was measured preoperatively and at 15 and 30 minutes. Results: The mean systolic blood pressure before the topical administration of phenylephrine HCl 2.5% was 119.7mmHg, while 15 and 30 minutes later, it was 125.3 mmHg and 121.2 mmHg, respectively. The mean diastolic blood pressure before the topical administration of phenylephrine HCl 2.5% was 75.9 mmHg; 15 and 30 minutes later, it was 76.9 mmHg and 75.3 mmHg, respectively. The increase in systolic blood pressure at 15 and 30 minutes was statistically significant (p=0.003 and p=0.042. The change in diastolic blood pressure was not statistically significant. Discussion: Phenylephrine HCl 2.5%, which is used preoperatively as a fast and effective mydriatic for cataract surgery, can increase the systolic blood pressure. This effect is most significant at 15 minutes and lasts at least 30 minutes. This agent should be used with care in hypertensive patients. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2011; 41: 164-6

75 FR 26647 - Ophthalmic and Topical Dosage Form New Animal Drugs; Ivermectin Topical Solution

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-12

.... FDA-2010-N-0002] Ophthalmic and Topical Dosage Form New Animal Drugs; Ivermectin Topical Solution... are treated with a topical solution of ivermectin. DATES: This rule is effective May 12, 2010. FOR... ANADA 200-340 for PRIVERMECTIN (ivermectin), a topical solution used on cattle to control infestations...

Topical Day on Biological Effects of Radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baatout, S.; Jacquet, P.

1997-05-15

The topical day has been focussed on the potential effects of ionizing radiation on human health. A general overview on molecular and biophysical aspects of radiation, its effects on cells and organisms, and the contribution of radiobiology to radiation protection and risk assessment is given. The genetic effects of radiation and its effects on the developing organism, the effects of radiation on the cell cycle and the mechanisms of radiation induced apoptosis were also discussed.

Topical Day on Biological Effects of Radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baatout, S.; Jacquet, P.

1997-01-01

The topical day has been focussed on the potential effects of ionizing radiation on human health. A general overview on molecular and biophysical aspects of radiation, its effects on cells and organisms, and the contribution of radiobiology to radiation protection and risk assessment is given. The genetic effects of radiation and its effects on the developing organism, the effects of radiation on the cell cycle and the mechanisms of radiation induced apoptosis were also discussed

Discussion and a new method of optical cryptosystem based on interference

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Dajiang; He, Wenqi; Liao, Meihua; Peng, Xiang

2017-02-01

A discussion and an objective security analysis of the well-known optical image encryption based on interference are presented in this paper. A new method is also proposed to eliminate the security risk of the original cryptosystem. For a possible practical application, we expand this new method into a hierarchical authentication scheme. In this authentication system, with a pre-generated and fixed random phase lock, different target images indicating different authentication levels are analytically encoded into corresponding phase-only masks (phase keys) and amplitude-only masks (amplitude keys). For the authentication process, a legal user can obtain a specified target image at the output plane if his/her phase key, and amplitude key, which should be settled close against the fixed internal phase lock, are respectively illuminated by two coherent beams. By comparing the target image with all the standard certification images in the database, the system can thus verify the user's legality even his/her identity level. Moreover, in despite of the internal phase lock of this system being fixed, the crosstalk between different pairs of keys held by different users is low. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation are both provided to demonstrate the validity of this method.

Women's Health Topics

Science.gov (United States)

... Information by Audience For Women Women's Health Topics Women's Health Topics Share Tweet Linkedin Pin it More sharing options Linkedin Pin it Email Print National Women's Health Week May 13 - 19, 2018 Join us ...

Numerical methods design, analysis, and computer implementation of algorithms

CERN Document Server

Greenbaum, Anne

2012-01-01

Numerical Methods provides a clear and concise exploration of standard numerical analysis topics, as well as nontraditional ones, including mathematical modeling, Monte Carlo methods, Markov chains, and fractals. Filled with appealing examples that will motivate students, the textbook considers modern application areas, such as information retrieval and animation, and classical topics from physics and engineering. Exercises use MATLAB and promote understanding of computational results. The book gives instructors the flexibility to emphasize different aspects--design, analysis, or computer implementation--of numerical algorithms, depending on the background and interests of students. Designed for upper-division undergraduates in mathematics or computer science classes, the textbook assumes that students have prior knowledge of linear algebra and calculus, although these topics are reviewed in the text. Short discussions of the history of numerical methods are interspersed throughout the chapters. The book a...

Eigenspace-based fuzzy c-means for sensing trending topics in Twitter

Science.gov (United States)

Muliawati, T.; Murfi, H.

2017-07-01

As the information and communication technology are developed, the fulfillment of information can be obtained through social media, like Twitter. The enormous number of internet users has triggered fast and large data flow, thus making the manual analysis is difficult or even impossible. An automated methods for data analysis is needed, one of which is the topic detection and tracking. An alternative method other than latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is a soft clustering approach using Fuzzy C-Means (FCM). FCM meets the assumption that a document may consist of several topics. However, FCM works well in low-dimensional data but fails in high-dimensional data. Therefore, we propose an approach where FCM works on low-dimensional data by reducing the data using singular value decomposition (SVD). Our simulations show that this approach gives better accuracies in term of topic recall than LDA for sensing trending topic in Twitter about an event.

Facilitators and barriers to discussing HIV prevention with adolescents: perspectives of HIV-infected parents.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Laura L; Reis, Janet S; Weber, Kathleen M

2013-08-01

We examined HIV-infected parents' conversations about HIV prevention with their uninfected children, including what facilitated or hindered communication. Parents with HIV/AIDS (n = 90) who had children aged 10 to 18 years were recruited for a mixed method study from 2009 to 2010. Interviews assessed facilitators and barriers to discussing HIV prevention. A questionnaire identified the frequency and content of conversations, parental confidence level, and perceived importance of discussing preventive topics. Eighty-one percent of parents reported "sometimes" or "often" communicating about HIV prevention. A subset of parents found these conversations difficult; 44% indicated their desire for support. Facilitators to communication included utilizing support, focusing on the benefits of talking, and having a previous relationship with one's child. Barriers to discussions included fear of negative consequences, living in denial, and lacking a parental role model who discussed safer sex. Parents varied as to how they believed their HIV status affected communication. Those who did not disclose their HIV status to their children reported less frequent communication; self-efficacy partially mediated this relationship. Findings highlighted the need for communication skills training that support HIV-infected parents in their efforts to discuss HIV-related information with adolescents.

Granulomatous Inflammation of the Penis and Scrotum Following Application of Topical Cream

OpenAIRE

Khan, Amir Ishaq; Mehta, Akanksha; Sekhar, Aarti; Ellis, Carla L.

2017-01-01

Granulomas are collections of histiocytes that develop as an inflammatory response to bacterial and fungal infections, as well as foreign substances. We discuss here the case of a 49-year-old male who presented with a penile and scrotal mass with granulomatous inflammation, after application of a topical cream for enhancement of erectile function. While granuloma formation can often be seen with penile injections, this case presents the rare development of a foreign body granuloma after topic...

Effects of communication strategy training on EFL students’ performance in small-group discussions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stuart Benson

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In recent years, a number of studies have been conducted with regard to communication strategy training and performance on communicative tasks (Lam, 2009; Nakatani, 2010; Naughton, 2006. This study aims to add to the literature by examining how two strategies, clarifying/confirming and extending a conversation, and two methods of teaching the strategies, affected the interactional sequences and overall group discussion performance of EFL students at a university in Japan. Pre and posttreatment small-group discussions were recorded for assessment, and a stimulated recall interview was administered to determine the participants’ perceptions of their learning and language use. Posttest results reveal that the experimental groups that were taught predetermined phrases aimed at clarifying/confirming and extending a conversation employed such phrases more frequently than the control group. However, this employment of phrases did not lead to higher gains in group discussion skills as the control group enjoyed the largest gains from pre to posttest. The researchers consider the findings in light of previous research, and conclude with recommendations for future research on the topic with special regard to research design.

Topical Nano and Microemulsions for Skin Delivery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christofori M. R. R. Nastiti

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Nanosystems such as microemulsions (ME and nanoemulsions (NE offer considerable opportunities for targeted drug delivery to and via the skin. ME and NE are stable colloidal systems composed of oil and water, stabilised by a mixture of surfactants and cosurfactants, that have received particular interest as topical skin delivery systems. There is considerable scope to manipulate the formulation components and characteristics to achieve optimal bioavailability and minimal skin irritancy. This includes the incorporation of established chemical penetration enhancers to fluidize the stratum corneum lipid bilayers, thus reducing the primary skin barrier and increasing permeation. This review discusses nanosystems with utility in skin delivery and focuses on the composition and characterization of ME and NE for topical and transdermal delivery. The mechanism of skin delivery across the stratum corneum and via hair follicles is reviewed with particular focus on the influence of formulation.

Tactile friction of topical formulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Skedung, L; Buraczewska-Norin, I; Dawood, N; Rutland, M W; Ringstad, L

2016-02-01

The tactile perception is essential for all types of topical formulations (cosmetic, pharmaceutical, medical device) and the possibility to predict the sensorial response by using instrumental methods instead of sensory testing would save time and cost at an early stage product development. Here, we report on an instrumental evaluation method using tactile friction measurements to estimate perceptual attributes of topical formulations. Friction was measured between an index finger and an artificial skin substrate after application of formulations using a force sensor. Both model formulations of liquid crystalline phase structures with significantly different tactile properties, as well as commercial pharmaceutical moisturizing creams being more tactile-similar, were investigated. Friction coefficients were calculated as the ratio of the friction force to the applied load. The structures of the model formulations and phase transitions as a result of water evaporation were identified using optical microscopy. The friction device could distinguish friction coefficients between the phase structures, as well as the commercial creams after spreading and absorption into the substrate. In addition, phase transitions resulting in alterations in the feel of the formulations could be detected. A correlation was established between skin hydration and friction coefficient, where hydrated skin gave rise to higher friction. Also a link between skin smoothening and finger friction was established for the commercial moisturizing creams, although further investigations are needed to analyse this and correlations with other sensorial attributes in more detail. The present investigation shows that tactile friction measurements have potential as an alternative or complement in the evaluation of perception of topical formulations. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Summary record of the topical session of 16. Meeting of the IGSC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Luik, Abe; Smith, Paul

2014-01-01

The sixteenth meeting of the Integration Group for the Safety case (IGSC) included a topical session titled: Handling extreme geological events in safety cases during the post-closure phase. The session included nine presentations on the handling of such events by various national programs, questions and answers on each presentation and ended with a general discussion period. The present document summarises the outcome of the meeting. The document is structured as follows: - Section 2 describes the types of extreme geological events discussed in the session and how these are identified, - Section 3 discusses the measures that can be taken to avoid such events and to mitigate their impact on repositories, - Section 4 describes how the likelihood and consequences of events are assessed, - Section 5 address experiences regarding interactions with regulators and other stakeholders, - Section 6 covers remaining issues and planned R and D to address these, and - Section 7 presents a recommendation for possible future collaborative work on this topic

Computer supported collaborative learning in a clerkship: an exploratory study on the relation of discussion activity and revision of critical appraisal papers.

Science.gov (United States)

Koops, Willem J M; van der Vleuten, Cees P M; de Leng, Bas A; Snoeckx, Luc H E H

2012-08-20

Medical students in clerkship are continuously confronted with real and relevant patient problems. To support clinical problem solving skills, students perform a Critical Appraisal of a Topic (CAT) task, often resulting in a paper. Because such a paper may contain errors, students could profit from discussion with peers, leading to paper revision. Active peer discussion by a Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) environment show positive medical students perceptions on subjective knowledge improvement. High students' activity during discussions in a CSCL environment demonstrated higher task-focussed discussion reflecting higher levels of knowledge construction. However, it remains unclear whether high discussion activity influences students' decisions revise their CAT paper. The aim of this research is to examine whether students who revise their critical appraisal papers after discussion in a CSCL environment show more task-focussed activity and discuss more intensively on critical appraisal topics than students who do not revise their papers. Forty-seven medical students, stratified in subgroups, participated in a structured asynchronous online discussion of individual written CAT papers on self-selected clinical problems. The discussion was structured by three critical appraisal topics. After the discussion, the students could revise their paper. For analysis purposes, all students' postings were blinded and analysed by the investigator, unaware of students characteristics and whether or not the paper was revised. Postings were counted and analysed by an independent rater, Postings were assigned into outside activity, non-task-focussed activity or task-focussed activity. Additionally, postings were assigned to one of the three critical appraisal topics. Analysis results were compared by revised and unrevised papers. Twenty-four papers (51.6%) were revised after the online discussion. The discussions of the revised papers showed significantly higher

ISINN-3. Neutron spectroscopy, nuclear structure, related topics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

The proceedings contain the materials presented at the Third International Seminar on Neutron-Nucleus Interactions (ISINN-3) dealing with the problems of neutron spectroscopy, nuclear structure and related topics. The Seminar took place in Dubna on April 26-28, 1995. Over 100 scientists from Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, USA and from more than 10 Russian research institutes took part in the Seminar. The Seminar is dedicated to the memory of the founder of the Neutron Physics Laboratory of JINR, the famous soviet scientist Professor Fedor L. Shapiro, whose 80th anniversary is being observed. The main problems discussed are the following: fundamental interactions and symmetries in neutron-induced reactions, fundamental properties of the neutron, properties of excited nuclei after neutron capture and some other ones. Special emphasis is laid upon γ decay and neutron induced nuclear fission as well as upon the methodical aspects of new experiments

Topics in multivariate approximation and interpolation

CERN Document Server

Jetter, Kurt

2005-01-01

This book is a collection of eleven articles, written by leading experts and dealing with special topics in Multivariate Approximation and Interpolation. The material discussed here has far-reaching applications in many areas of Applied Mathematics, such as in Computer Aided Geometric Design, in Mathematical Modelling, in Signal and Image Processing and in Machine Learning, to mention a few. The book aims at giving a comprehensive information leading the reader from the fundamental notions and results of each field to the forefront of research. It is an ideal and up-to-date introduction for gr

Peringkasan Tweet Berdasarkan Trending Topic Twitter Dengan Pembobotan TF-IDF dan Single Linkage AngglomerativeHierarchical Clustering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annisa Annisa

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Trending topic is a feature provided by twitter that informs something widely discussed by users in a particular time. The form of a trending topic is a hashtag and can be selected by clicking. However, the number of tweets for each trending topics can be very large, so it will be difficult if we want to know all the contents. So, in order to make easy when reading the topic, a small number of tweets can be selected as the main idea of the topic. In this study, we applied the Agglomerative Single Linkage Hierarchical Clustering by calculating the TF-IDF value for each word in advance. We used 100 trending topics, where each topic consists of 50 tweets in Indonesian. For testing, we provided 30 trending topics which consist of 2 until 9 sub-topics. The result is that each trending topics can be summarized into shorter text contains 2 until 9 tweets. We were able to summarize 1 trending topics exactly same as the topic summarized by human expert. However, the rest of topics corresponded partially with human expert.

Film forming systems for topical and transdermal drug delivery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kashmira Kathe

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Skin is considered as an important route of administration of drugs for both local and systemic effects. The effectiveness of topical therapy depends on the physicochemical properties of the drug and adherence of the patient to the treatment regimen as well as the system's ability to adhere to skin during the therapy so as to promote drug penetration through the skin barrier. Conventional formulations for topical and dermatological administration of drugs have certain limitations like poor adherence to skin, poor permeability and compromised patient compliance. For the treatment of diseases of body tissues and wounds, the drug has to be maintained at the site of treatment for an effective period of time. Topical film forming systems are such developing drug delivery systems meant for topical application to the skin, which adhere to the body, forming a thin transparent film and provide delivery of the active ingredients to the body tissue. These are intended for skin application as emollient or protective and for local action or transdermal penetration of medicament for systemic action. The transparency is an appreciable feature of this polymeric system which greatly influences the patient acceptance. In the current discussion, the film forming systems are described as a promising choice for topical and transdermal drug delivery. Further the various types of film forming systems (sprays/solutions, gels and emulsions along with their evaluation parameters have also been reviewed.

Optical coherence tomography and low-frequency mechanics: A moderated discussion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Freeman, Dennis M. [Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States); Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts (United States); Ruggero, Mario A. [Knowles Hearing Center, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois (United States)

2015-12-31

The following is an edited transcript of a recorded discussion session on the topics of “Optical Coherence Tomography” and “Low-Frequency Mechanics”. The discussion, moderated by the authors, took place at the 12{sup th} International Workshop on the Mechanics of Hearing held at Cape Sounio, Greece, in June 2014. All participants knew that the session was being recorded. In view of both the spontaneous nature of the discussion and the editing, however, this transcript may not represent the considered or final views of the participants, and may not represent a consensus of experts in the field. The reader is advised to consult additional independent publications.

Analysis and application of opinion model with multiple topic interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Fei; Liu, Yun; Wang, Liang; Wang, Ximeng

2017-08-01

To reveal heterogeneous behaviors of opinion evolution in different scenarios, we propose an opinion model with topic interactions. Individual opinions and topic features are represented by a multidimensional vector. We measure an agent's action towards a specific topic by the product of opinion and topic feature. When pairs of agents interact for a topic, their actions are introduced to opinion updates with bounded confidence. Simulation results show that a transition from a disordered state to a consensus state occurs at a critical point of the tolerance threshold, which depends on the opinion dimension. The critical point increases as the dimension of opinions increases. Multiple topics promote opinion interactions and lead to the formation of macroscopic opinion clusters. In addition, more topics accelerate the evolutionary process and weaken the effect of network topology. We use two sets of large-scale real data to evaluate the model, and the results prove its effectiveness in characterizing a real evolutionary process. Our model achieves high performance in individual action prediction and even outperforms state-of-the-art methods. Meanwhile, our model has much smaller computational complexity. This paper provides a demonstration for possible practical applications of theoretical opinion dynamics.

Exploiting the functional and taxonomic structure of genomic data by probabilistic topic modeling.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xin; Hu, Xiaohua; Lim, Tze Y; Shen, Xiajiong; Park, E K; Rosen, Gail L

2012-01-01

In this paper, we present a method that enable both homology-based approach and composition-based approach to further study the functional core (i.e., microbial core and gene core, correspondingly). In the proposed method, the identification of major functionality groups is achieved by generative topic modeling, which is able to extract useful information from unlabeled data. We first show that generative topic model can be used to model the taxon abundance information obtained by homology-based approach and study the microbial core. The model considers each sample as a “document,” which has a mixture of functional groups, while each functional group (also known as a “latent topic”) is a weight mixture of species. Therefore, estimating the generative topic model for taxon abundance data will uncover the distribution over latent functions (latent topic) in each sample. Second, we show that, generative topic model can also be used to study the genome-level composition of “N-mer” features (DNA subreads obtained by composition-based approaches). The model consider each genome as a mixture of latten genetic patterns (latent topics), while each functional pattern is a weighted mixture of the “N-mer” features, thus the existence of core genomes can be indicated by a set of common N-mer features. After studying the mutual information between latent topics and gene regions, we provide an explanation of the functional roles of uncovered latten genetic patterns. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed method.

Computational methods for the nuclear and neutron matter problems: Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalos, M.H.; Chen, J.M.C.

1988-01-01

This paper discusses the following topics: variational Monte Carlo study of oxygen 16; microscopic calculations of alpha-neutron scattering; exact Monte Carlo treatment of the fermion problem; and random field method

Characterizing the Discussion of Antibiotics in the Twittersphere: What is the Bigger Picture?

Science.gov (United States)

Kendra, Rachel Lynn; Karki, Suman; Eickholt, Jesse Lee; Gandy, Lisa

2015-06-19

User content posted through Twitter has been used for biosurveillance, to characterize public perception of health-related topics, and as a means of distributing information to the general public. Most of the existing work surrounding Twitter and health care has shown Twitter to be an effective medium for these problems but more could be done to provide finer and more efficient access to all pertinent data. Given the diversity of user-generated content, small samples or summary presentations of the data arguably omit a large part of the virtual discussion taking place in the Twittersphere. Still, managing, processing, and querying large amounts of Twitter data is not a trivial task. This work describes tools and techniques capable of handling larger sets of Twitter data and demonstrates their use with the issue of antibiotics. This work has two principle objectives: (1) to provide an open-source means to efficiently explore all collected tweets and query health-related topics on Twitter, specifically, questions such as what users are saying and how messages are spread, and (2) to characterize the larger discourse taking place on Twitter with respect to antibiotics. Open-source software suites Hadoop, Flume, and Hive were used to collect and query a large number of Twitter posts. To classify tweets by topic, a deep network classifier was trained using a limited number of manually classified tweets. The particular machine learning approach used also allowed the use of a large number of unclassified tweets to increase performance. Query-based analysis of the collected tweets revealed that a large number of users contributed to the online discussion and that a frequent topic mentioned was resistance. A number of prominent events related to antibiotics led to a number of spikes in activity but these were short in duration. The category-based classifier developed was able to correctly classify 70% of manually labeled tweets (using a 10-fold cross validation procedure and

Topicality and Text Pragmatic Prominence Five Hierarchies Regarding the Topic Suitability of Nominal Constituents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Korzen, Iørn

2015-01-01

This paper presents and discusses a description of topicality and text pragmatic prominence of nominal discourse referents based on four hierarchies. These hierarchies concern the referent with respect to (a) its identifiability (± identifiable), (b) its referentiality (e.g. deictic, specific...... incorporation of the NP designating the referent, (2) the linguistic material of anaphors linked to the NP, and (3) various phenomena linked to the possible clefting of the NP. The paper also demonstrates that the proposed model and taxonomy is very well suited as tertium comparationis in a cross......-linguistic approach, not least in typological comparisons between for instance Romance and Germanic languages. The correlations described are viewed cross-linguistically with evidence from Italian, Danish, and English....

Topic Visualization and Survival Analysis

OpenAIRE

Wang, Ping Jr

2017-01-01

Latent semantic structure in a text collection is called a topic. In this thesis, we aim to visualize topics in the scientific literature and detect active or inactive research areas based on their lifetime. Topics were extracted from over 1 million abstracts from the arXiv.org database using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA). Hellinger distance measures similarity between two topics. Topics are determined to be relevant if their pairwise distances are smaller than the threshold of Hellinger ...

Promoting End-of-Life Discussions in Advanced Cancer: Effects of Patient Coaching and Question Prompt Lists.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodenbach, Rachel A; Brandes, Kim; Fiscella, Kevin; Kravitz, Richard L; Butow, Phyllis N; Walczak, Adam; Duberstein, Paul R; Sullivan, Peter; Hoh, Beth; Xing, Guibo; Plumb, Sandy; Epstein, Ronald M

2017-03-10

Purpose To build on results of a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a combined patient-oncologist intervention to improve communication in advanced cancer, we conducted a post hoc analysis of the patient intervention component, a previsit patient coaching session that used a question prompt list (QPL). We hypothesized that intervention-group participants would bring up more QPL-related topics, particularly prognosis-related topics, during the subsequent oncologist visit. Patients and Methods This cluster RCT with 170 patients who had advanced nonhematologic cancer (and their caregivers) recruited from practices of 24 participating oncologists in western New York. Intervention-group oncologists (n = 12) received individualized communication training; up to 10 of their patients (n = 84) received a previsit individualized communication coaching session that incorporated a QPL. Control-group oncologists (n = 12) and patients (n = 86) received no interventions. Topics of interest identified by patients during the coaching session were summarized from coaching notes; one office visit after the coaching session was audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed by using linear regression modeling for group differences. Results Compared with controls, more than twice as many intervention-group participants brought up QPL-related topics during their office visits (70.2% v 32.6%; P coaching, 158 (60.3%) were QPL related; 20 (12.7%) addressed prognosis. Overall, patients in the intervention group brought up 82.4% of topics of interest during the office visit. Conclusion A combined coaching and QPL intervention was effective to help patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers identify and bring up topics of concern, including prognosis, during their subsequent oncologist visits. Considering that most patients are misinformed about prognosis, more intensive steps are needed to better promote such discussions.

Using mixed methods research designs in health psychology: an illustrated discussion from a pragmatist perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Felicity L

2015-02-01

To outline some of the challenges of mixed methods research and illustrate how they can be addressed in health psychology research. This study critically reflects on the author's previously published mixed methods research and discusses the philosophical and technical challenges of mixed methods, grounding the discussion in a brief review of methodological literature. Mixed methods research is characterized as having philosophical and technical challenges; the former can be addressed by drawing on pragmatism, the latter by considering formal mixed methods research designs proposed in a number of design typologies. There are important differences among the design typologies which provide diverse examples of designs that health psychologists can adapt for their own mixed methods research. There are also similarities; in particular, many typologies explicitly orient to the technical challenges of deciding on the respective timing of qualitative and quantitative methods and the relative emphasis placed on each method. Characteristics, strengths, and limitations of different sequential and concurrent designs are identified by reviewing five mixed methods projects each conducted for a different purpose. Adapting formal mixed methods designs can help health psychologists address the technical challenges of mixed methods research and identify the approach that best fits the research questions and purpose. This does not obfuscate the need to address philosophical challenges of mixing qualitative and quantitative methods. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Mixed methods research poses philosophical and technical challenges. Pragmatism in a popular approach to the philosophical challenges while diverse typologies of mixed methods designs can help address the technical challenges. Examples of mixed methods research can be hard to locate when component studies from mixed methods projects are published separately. What does this study add? Critical

Topical erythropoietin promotes wound repair in diabetic rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamed, Saher; Ullmann, Yehuda; Masoud, Muhannad; Hellou, Elias; Khamaysi, Ziad; Teot, Luc

2010-01-01

Wound healing in diabetic patients is slower than in healthy individuals. Erythropoietin (EPO) has non-hemopoietic targets in the skin, and systemically administered EPO promotes wound healing in experimental animals. This study investigated the effect of topical EPO treatment on defective wound repair in the skin of diabetic rats. Full-thickness excisional skin wounds were made in 38 rats, of which 30 had diabetes. The wounds were then treated topically with a cream that contained either vehicle, 600 IU ml(-1) EPO (low dose), or 3,000 IU ml(-1) (high dose) EPO. We assessed the rate of wound closure during the 12-day treatment period, and microvascular density (MVD), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and hydroxyproline (HP) contents, and the extent of apoptosis in wound tissues at the end of the 12-day treatment period. Topical EPO treatment significantly reduced the time to final wound closure. This increased rate of closure of the two EPO-treated wounds in diabetic rats was associated with increased MVD, VEGF, and HP contents, and a reduced extent of apoptosis. In light of our finding that topical EPO treatment promotes skin wound repair in diabetic rats, we propose that topical EPO treatment is a therapeutically beneficial method of treating chronic diabetic wounds.

Animated movies and cartoons in teaching science topics

OpenAIRE

Jeraj, Tina; Susman, Katarina

2016-01-01

Children meet cartoons in their early childhood in their home environment and afterwards also in their school environment. Cartoons and animated movies in teaching process strongly motivates and evoke good learning processes through watching, discussing and active participation in accompanying classroom activities. In this contribution, the survey about the presence of science topics and science sli-ups (errors, in contrary with reality) in selected cartoons is presented. In the research, ten...

Panel Discussion : Report of the APS Ad-Hoc Committee on LGBT Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Atherton, Tim; Barthelemy, Ramon; Garmon, Savannah; Reeves, Kyle; APS Ad-Hoc Committee on LGBT Issues Team

Following the presentation of the findings and recommendations of the APS Ad-Hoc Committee on LGBT Issues (C-LGBT) by Committee Chair Michael Falk, a panel discussion will be held featuring several members of the committee. The discussion will focus on how APS can best ensure the recommendations of the committee are carried out in a timely fashion and other ideas on future APS efforts toward LGBT inclusion in physics. Discussion topics will also include the research and other input that shaped the committee's findings and recommendations.

Knowledge-attitude-practice survey among Portuguese gynaecologists regarding combined hormonal contraceptives methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Bombas, Teresa; Costa, Ana Rosa; Palma, Fátima; Vicente, Lisa; Sá, José Luís; Nogueira, Ana Maria; Andrade, Sofia

2012-04-01

ABSTRACT Objectives To evaluate knowledge, attitude and practices of Portuguese gynaecologists regarding combined hormonal contraceptives. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 303 gynaecologists. Results Ninety percent of the gynaecologists considered that deciding on contraceptive methods is a process wherein the woman has her say. Efficacy, safety and the woman's preference were the major factors influencing gynaecologists, while efficacy, tolerability and ease of use were the major factors perceived by the specialists to influence the women's choice. Gynaecologists believed that only 2% of women taking the pill were 100% compliant compared to 48% of those using the patch and 75% of those using the ring. The lower risk of omission was the strong point for the latter methods. Side effects were the main reason to change to another method. Vaginal manipulation was the most difficult topic to discuss. Conclusions Most gynaecologists decided with the woman on the contraceptive method. The main reasons for the gynaecologist's recommendation of a given contraceptive method and the women's choice were different. Counselling implies an open discussion and topics related to sexuality were considered difficult to discuss. Improving communication skills and understanding women's requirements are critical for contraceptive counselling.

Towards Interactive Construction of Topical Hierarchy: A Recursive Tensor Decomposition Approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chi; Liu, Xueqing; Song, Yanglei; Han, Jiawei

2015-08-01

Automatic construction of user-desired topical hierarchies over large volumes of text data is a highly desirable but challenging task. This study proposes to give users freedom to construct topical hierarchies via interactive operations such as expanding a branch and merging several branches. Existing hierarchical topic modeling techniques are inadequate for this purpose because (1) they cannot consistently preserve the topics when the hierarchy structure is modified; and (2) the slow inference prevents swift response to user requests. In this study, we propose a novel method, called STROD, that allows efficient and consistent modification of topic hierarchies, based on a recursive generative model and a scalable tensor decomposition inference algorithm with theoretical performance guarantee. Empirical evaluation shows that STROD reduces the runtime of construction by several orders of magnitude, while generating consistent and quality hierarchies.

Topical phenytoin for treating pressure ulcers.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Xiang Yong; Li, Hong Ling; Su, He; Cai, Hui; Guo, Tian Kang; Liu, Ruifeng; Jiang, Lei; Shen, Yan Fei

2017-02-22

Pressure ulcers are common in clinical practice and pose a significant health problem worldwide. Apart from causing suffering to patients, they also result in longer hospital stays and increase the cost of health care. A variety of methods are used for treating pressure ulcers, including pressure relief, patient repositioning, biophysical strategies, nutritional supplementation, debridement, topical negative pressure, and local treatments including dressings, ointments and creams such as bacitracin, silver sulphadiazine, neomycin, and phenytoin. Phenytoin is a drug more commonly used in the treatment of epilepsy, but may play an important role in accelerating ulcer healing. To assess the effects of topical phenytoin on the rate of healing of pressure ulcers of any grade, in any care setting. In September 2016, we searched the following electronic databases to identify relevant randomized clinical trials: the Cochrane Wounds Specialised Register; the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; the Cochrane Library); Ovid MEDLINE; Ovid Embase; and EBSCO CINAHL Plus. We handsearched conference proceedings from the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, European Wound Management Association and the Tissue Viability Society for all available years. We searched the references of the retrieved trials to identify further relevant trials. We also searched clinical trials registries to identify ongoing and unpublished studies. There were no restrictions with respect to language, date of publication or study setting. We included all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) addressing the effects (both benefits and harms) of topical phenytoin on the healing of pressure ulcers of any grade compared with placebo or alternative treatments or no therapy, irrespective of blinding, language, and publication status. Two review authors independently selected studies, extracted information on participants, interventions, methods and results and assessed risk of bias using

Medical support of children’s sports: Topical problems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. A. Balykova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the most topical issues of medical support of children and adolescents engaged in physical exercises and sports. Much attention is paid to different views on the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and principles of therapy of pathological transformation of the heart in child athletes. The problem of sudden cardiac death in sports and the possibility of a relationship between connective tissue dysplasia and its development are touched upon. Electrocardiographic and morphological criteria for cardiac maladaptation in athletes are discussed. The problem of early and accessible diagnosis and Russia’s tactics for the diagnosis of health changes in athletes and approaches to their prevention and treatment are covered. Different ways to prevent the pathological transformation of the cardiovascular system in athletes and sudden cardiac death as its extreme manifestation are discussed.

Panel discussion on exploitation of geothermal resources in thermal zones

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Viramonte, J G; Mange, J; Stefani, G

1978-03-01

The topics discussed include the major known geothermal resources, varying ways of exploiting geothermal resources, technical and economic difficulties in the exploitation, the place of geothermal energy in the total energy policy of a given country, advanced exploration techniques, and indications of needed areas of study. The panelists represented most of the South American countries, Mexico, and Italy. (JSR)

Curcumin and its topical formulations for wound healing applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohanty, Chandana; Sahoo, Sanjeeb K

2017-10-01

Oxidative damage and inflammation have been identified, through clinical and preclinical studies, as the main causes of nonhealing chronic wounds. Reduction of persistent chronic inflammation by application of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents such as curcumin has been well studied. However, low aqueous solubility, poor tissue absorption, rapid metabolism and short plasma half-life have made curcumin unsuitable for systemic administration for better wound healing. Recently, various topical formulations of curcumin such as films, fibers, emulsion, hydrogels and different nanoformulations have been developed for targeted delivery of curcumin at wounded sites. In this review, we summarize and discuss different topical formulations of curcumin with emphasis on their wound-healing properties in animal models. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Discussion of the Investigation Method on the Reaction Kinetics of Metallurgical Reaction Engineering

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Ruiling; Wu, Keng; Zhang, Jiazhi; Zhao, Yong

Reaction kinetics of metallurgical physical chemistry which was successfully applied in metallurgy (as ferrous metallurgy, non-ferrous metallurgy) became an important theoretical foundation for subject system of traditional metallurgy. Not only the research methods were very perfect, but also the independent structures and systems of it had been formed. One of the important tasks of metallurgical reaction engineering was the simulation of metallurgical process. And then, the mechanism of reaction process and the conversion time points of different control links should be obtained accurately. Therefore, the research methods and results of reaction kinetics in metallurgical physical chemistry were not very suitable for metallurgical reaction engineering. In order to provide the definite conditions of transmission, reaction kinetics parameters and the conversion time points of different control links for solving the transmission and reaction equations in metallurgical reaction engineering, a new method for researching kinetics mechanisms in metallurgical reaction engineering was proposed, which was named stepwise attempt method. Then the comparison of results between the two methods and the further development of stepwise attempt method were discussed in this paper. As a new research method for reaction kinetics in metallurgical reaction engineering, stepwise attempt method could not only satisfy the development of metallurgical reaction engineering, but also provide necessary guarantees for establishing its independent subject system.

Exploring the Utility of a Video-Based Online EFL Discussion Forum

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Heng-Tsung Danny; Hung, Shao-Ting Alan

2013-01-01

Online discussion forums represent "online collaborative learning spaces in which communities become engaged in the discourse on a topic about which they share common interests or goals" (Montero, Watts & Garcia-Carbonell, 2007, p. 568). This digital communication modality has been claimed to enhance second/foreign language (L2)…

Granulomatous Inflammation of the Penis and Scrotum Following Application of Topical Cream.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Amir Ishaq; Mehta, Akanksha; Sekhar, Aarti; Ellis, Carla L

2017-05-01

Granulomas are collections of histiocytes that develop as an inflammatory response to bacterial and fungal infections, as well as foreign substances. We discuss here the case of a 49-year-old male who presented with a penile and scrotal mass with granulomatous inflammation, after application of a topical cream for enhancement of erectile function. While granuloma formation can often be seen with penile injections, this case presents the rare development of a foreign body granuloma after topical cream application on the penis and scrotum.

Granulomatous Inflammation of the Penis and Scrotum Following Application of Topical Cream

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Ishaq Khan

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Granulomas are collections of histiocytes that develop as an inflammatory response to bacterial and fungal infections, as well as foreign substances. We discuss here the case of a 49-year-old male who presented with a penile and scrotal mass with granulomatous inflammation, after application of a topical cream for enhancement of erectile function. While granuloma formation can often be seen with penile injections, this case presents the rare development of a foreign body granuloma after topical cream application on the penis and scrotum.

Supporting inter-topic entity search for biomedical Linked Data based on heterogeneous relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Zong, Nansu; Lee, Sungin; Ahn, Jinhyun; Kim, Hong-Gee

2017-08-01

The keyword-based entity search restricts search space based on the preference of search. When given keywords and preferences are not related to the same biomedical topic, existing biomedical Linked Data search engines fail to deliver satisfactory results. This research aims to tackle this issue by supporting an inter-topic search-improving search with inputs, keywords and preferences, under different topics. This study developed an effective algorithm in which the relations between biomedical entities were used in tandem with a keyword-based entity search, Siren. The algorithm, PERank, which is an adaptation of Personalized PageRank (PPR), uses a pair of input: (1) search preferences, and (2) entities from a keyword-based entity search with a keyword query, to formalize the search results on-the-fly based on the index of the precomputed Individual Personalized PageRank Vectors (IPPVs). Our experiments were performed over ten linked life datasets for two query sets, one with keyword-preference topic correspondence (intra-topic search), and the other without (inter-topic search). The experiments showed that the proposed method achieved better search results, for example a 14% increase in precision for the inter-topic search than the baseline keyword-based search engine. The proposed method improved the keyword-based biomedical entity search by supporting the inter-topic search without affecting the intra-topic search based on the relations between different entities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Urinary profile of methylprednisolone and its metabolites after oral and topical administrations.

Science.gov (United States)

Matabosch, Xavier; Pozo, Oscar J; Monfort, Núria; Pérez-Mañá, Clara; Farré, Magi; Marcos, Josep; Segura, Jordi; Ventura, Rosa

2013-11-01

Methylprednisolone (MP) is prohibited in sports competitions when administered by systemic routes; however its use by topical administration is allowed. Therefore, analytical approaches to distinguish between these different administration pathways are required. A reporting level of 30ng/mL was established for this purpose. However, the suitability of that reporting level for MP is not known. In the present work, excretion profiles of MP and different metabolites after oral and topical administrations have been compared. A method for the quantification of MP and the qualitative detection of fifteen previously reported metabolites has been validated. The method involved an enzymatic hydrolysis, liquid-liquid extraction and analysis by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The method was found to be linear, selective, precise and accurate. The high sensitivity (limit of detection 0.1ng/mL) and linear range (0.1-250ng/mL) achieved allowed for the quantification of MP at both the low concentrations present after topical administration and the high concentrations detected after oral intake. The method was applied to samples collected after oral (4 or 40mg) and topical administration (10mg of MP aceponate/day for 5 consecutive days) to healthy volunteers. After oral administration, MP and all metabolites were detected in urines collected up to at least 36h. Only MP and five metabolites were detected in samples obtained after topical treatment. As expected, concentrations of MP after topical administration were well below current reporting level (30ng/mL), however 3 out of 4 samples in range 8-24h after the low oral dose (4mg) were also below that concentration. Taking into account metabolites detected after both administration routes, metabolites 16β,17α,21-trihydroxy-6α-methylpregna-1,4-diene-3,11,20-trione (M8) and 17α,20α,21-trihydroxy-6α-methylpregna-1,4-diene-3,11-dione (M11) are best markers to differentiate between topical and oral

Panel discussion: In vivo pet modeling and data analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koeppe, R.A.

1991-01-01

Following the first afternoon session on in vivo PET modeling and data analysis, a panel assembled to discuss in greater detail some of the issues pertinent to the kinetic analysis of PET data. The discussion was opened with a comment on some of the diofficulties of PET imaging in the study of neurotransmitter and receptor systems, including resolution limitations, image distortions, and levels of nonspecific binding. Dr. Hutchins reiterated that the imaging distortions predicted by his simulation studies include both open-quotes scaleclose quotes and open-quotes shape open-quotes distortions. Then the panel discussed the issue of registration of functional (PET) and anatomic (MRI or CT) images. The use of an anatomic image as a road map or guide to where one is in the physiologic PET image is a very important part of performing PET studies. It is at least as important to align a dynamic PET sequence internally, from frame to frame, as it is to align the PET study to an anatomic study. If a dynamic imaging procedure will take 30-90 min or more, a method is needed to assure that the patient has not moved substantially during the procedure or that the movement can be accounted for. Several possibilities were discussed. The next topic considered the issue of model complexity versus model reduction. If a model is too complex, it cannot provide accurate estimates of the model parameters due to the lack of identifiability of individual parameters. Modeling approaches such as simplifying the model to two parameters and changing the experimental protocol to provide more information so model simplification is not necessary were discussed on the basis of the tradeoff between procedural complexity and quality of information

Table talk: How mothers and adolescents across socioeconomic status discuss food.

Science.gov (United States)

Fielding-Singh, Priya; Wang, Jennifer

2017-08-01

This article reports findings from a qualitative study of food practices among families of differing socioeconomic circumstances. Using in-depth interviews from sixty-two families in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2015-2016, we find socioeconomic differences in how mothers and adolescents talk about food. Across SES, mothers and adolescents engage in discussions about healthy eating. However, these conversations are more commonplace and embedded within high-SES family life than among low-SES families. Beyond conversations about 1) healthy eating, the topics of 2) food quality and 3) price are discussed to varying degrees across SES. Within high-SES families, frequent discussions of healthy eating are paired with dialogue highlighting the importance of consuming higher quality food. Price is largely absent as a topic of conversation among high-SES families. On the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum, low-SES mothers and adolescents frequently engage in conversations about price when discussing food. Mentions of food quality are rare, but when they do occur, they underscore important trade-offs between food's healthiness, quality and price. Given prior research showing the impact of dialogue between parents and adolescents on adolescents' dietary behaviors, these findings help us understand how family discussions contribute to shaping adolescents' approaches to food. An important implication is that high-SES families' discussions of food quality may strengthen messages about healthy eating, while conversations about affordability within low-SES families may highlight financial barriers to healthy eating. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advantages of discussion and cognitive conflict as an instructional method in contemporary teaching of mathematics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mišurac-Zorica Irena

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Contemporary theories of teaching and learning mathematics emphasise the importance of learner’s active participation in the teaching process, in which discovery and logical reasoning lead to the construction of student’s knowledge. In this form of teaching, it is important to detect students’ misunderstandings and errors that can occur during learning. Uncovered tacit and false conceptions of students’ knowledge can greatly contribute to the opposite effect in the construction of knowledge. In teaching mathematics, there are many situations which leave students with ambiguities and misunderstandings, and create an impression in children that teaching of mathematics and mathematical knowledge itself is something that is not possible. Discussion and cognitive conflict are methods which have their starting point in the theory of constructivism. The aim of our study has been to determine whether application of the method of discussion and cognitive conflict in learning to divide decimal numbers leads to the enhancement of student’s procedural knowledge and conceptual knowledge about the division of decimal numbers. Longitudinally, we monitored two groups of 117 pupils of the fifth grade. In the first group, which was taught according to the guidelines of contemporary mathematics education, students engaged in discussion, discovering their misunderstandings and errors, and the cognitive conflict resulted in correct concepts. The second group of students were taught traditionally, learning the procedure and then practicing it. The paper presents a descriptive analysis of the process of teaching and quantitative analysis of the performance based on the comparison of conceptual and procedural knowledge of both groups. Results of our work show that the application of contemporary methods of discussion and cognitive conflict affects the increase of procedural and conceptual knowledge of the division of decimal numbers.

Current and Emerging Topical Antibacterials and Antiseptics: Agents, Action, and Resistance Patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Williamson, Deborah A; Carter, Glen P; Howden, Benjamin P

2017-07-01

Bacterial skin infections represent some of the most common infectious diseases globally. Prevention and treatment of skin infections can involve application of a topical antimicrobial, which may be an antibiotic (such as mupirocin or fusidic acid) or an antiseptic (such as chlorhexidine or alcohol). However, there is limited evidence to support the widespread prophylactic or therapeutic use of topical agents. Challenges involved in the use of topical antimicrobials include increasing rates of bacterial resistance, local hypersensitivity reactions (particularly to older agents, such as bacitracin), and concerns about the indiscriminate use of antiseptics potentially coselecting for antibiotic resistance. We review the evidence for the major clinical uses of topical antibiotics and antiseptics. In addition, we review the mechanisms of action of common topical agents and define the clinical and molecular epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance in these agents. Moreover, we review the potential use of newer and emerging agents, such as retapamulin and ebselen, and discuss the role of antiseptic agents in preventing bacterial skin infections. A comprehensive understanding of the clinical efficacy and drivers of resistance to topical agents will inform the optimal use of these agents to preserve their activity in the future. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

Topics in field theory

CERN Document Server

Karpilovsky, G

1989-01-01

This monograph gives a systematic account of certain important topics pertaining to field theory, including the central ideas, basic results and fundamental methods.Avoiding excessive technical detail, the book is intended for the student who has completed the equivalent of a standard first-year graduate algebra course. Thus it is assumed that the reader is familiar with basic ring-theoretic and group-theoretic concepts. A chapter on algebraic preliminaries is included, as well as a fairly large bibliography of works which are either directly relevant to the text or offer supplementary material of interest.

Meatotomy using topical anesthesia: A painless option

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vinod Priyadarshi

2015-01-01

Conclusion: Use of topical anesthesia in form of Prilox (EMLA cream for meatotomy is safe and effective method that avoids painful injections and anxiety related to it and should be considered in most of such patients as an alternative of conventional penile blocks or general anesthesia.

Does a Discussion by Any Other Name Sound the Same? Teaching Discussion in Three ELA Methods Courses

Science.gov (United States)

Alston, Chandra L.; Danielson, Katie A.; Dutro, Elizabeth; Cartun, Ashley

2018-01-01

Facilitating discussions in English Language Arts can develop students' skills as speakers and listeners and their ability to engage with diverse perspectives. However, classroom observations often demonstrate a lack of student talk, raising questions about the complexity of facilitating discussion and teachers' opportunities to learn and hone the…

Gay-Straight Alliances as Settings to Discuss Health Topics: Individual and Group Factors Associated with Substance Use, Mental Health, and Sexual Health Discussions

Science.gov (United States)

Poteat, V. P.; Heck, N. C.; Yoshikawa, H.; Calzo, J. P.

2017-01-01

Sexual minority (e.g. lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning; LGBQ) and gender minority (e.g. transgender) youth experience myriad health risks. Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) are school-based settings where they may have opportunities to discuss substance use, mental health, and sexual health issues in ways that are safe and tailored to their…

Physician-patient discussions of controversial cancer screening tests.

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, A S; Shridharani, K V; Lou, W; Bernstein, J; Horowitz, C R

2001-02-01

Screening mammography for younger women and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measurement have controversial benefits and known potential adverse consequences. While providing informed consent and eliciting patient preference have been advocated for these tests, little is known about how often these discussions take place or about barriers to these discussions. We administered a survey to medical house staff and attending physicians practicing primary care. The survey examined physicians' likelihood of discussing screening mammography and PSA testing, and factors influencing the frequency and quality of these discussions. For the three scenarios, 16% to 34% of physicians stated that they do not discuss the screening tests. The likelihood of having a discussion was significantly associated with house staff physicians' belief that PSA screening is advantageous; house staff and attending physicians' intention to order a PSA test, and attending physicians' intention to order a mammogram; and a controversial indication for screening. The most commonly identified barriers to discussions were lack of time, the complexity of the topic, and a language barrier. Physicians report they often do not discuss cancer screening tests with their patients. Our finding that physicians' beliefs and intention to order the tests, and extraneous factors such as time constraints and a language barrier, are associated with discussions indicates that some patients may be inappropriately denied the opportunity to choose whether to screen for breast and prostate cancer.

Selective traditions in group discussions: teachers' views about good science and the possible obstacles when encountering a new topic

Science.gov (United States)

Lundqvist, Eva; Sund, Per

2016-11-01

There is an ongoing discussion about what content that should be taught in science education and there are different views among teachers about what represent good science content. However, teachers are not isolated individuals making their own interpretations, but are part of institutionalised systems building on patterns in the selection of teaching goals and content. Earlier research shows that teachers teach in alignment with different selective traditions, which can be understood as well-developed teaching habits. Individual teachers seem to develop their personal habits on the basis of the contextual situations created by earlier generations of teachers. In order to find out which content teachers find representative for science education, we asked nine teachers to take part in group interviews to talk about what they value as "good" science content. The participants were grouped according to their selective traditions expressed in earlier studies. The method was used to dynamically explore, challenge and highlight teachers' views. The starting point for the group discussions is national tests in science. In Sweden, national tests in biology, physics and chemistry were introduced in secondary school science (year 9) in 2009. One overarching aim of these tests is to support the implementation of the science curricula and to include for example knowledge about socio-scientific issues (SSI). The content of the tests can consequently be seen as important for teachers to consider. The findings show that `resistance' to including SSI is not just an issue for individual teachers. As individuals teachers can create many kinds of obstacles, but still be interested in integrating SSI in their science teaching. However, in group discussions the teachers tend to collectively adopt the scientific rational discourse. This discourse is what joins them and creates their common identity as science teachers. In turn, they seek to free scientific knowledge from social knowledge

Social Media Analytics in Education: What Is It, How Is It Useful, and What Does It Tell Us about How Schools Are Discussed in Social Media?

Science.gov (United States)

Carpenter, Dick M., II; Robertson, Jenifer Walsh; Johnson, Michele E.; Blum, Scott

2014-01-01

This study measured the salience of, sentiment of, and topics about schools in social media. Based on a mixed-methods approach, results indicated that school districts do not appear to be discussed often or widely, but the small numbers of people who communicate about districts do so repeatedly, positively, and in concentration. Larger and…

Discussion on the methods for calculation release limits for low-level radioactive waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cao Fengbo; Liu Xiaochao

2012-01-01

The release request for low-level radioactive waste are briefly described in this paper. Associating with the conditions of low-level radioactive waste of some radioactive waste processing station, the methods and gist for calculating release limits for low-level radioactive waste with national release limits and annual effective dose limit for the public or the occupation are discussed. Then release limits for the low-level radioactive waste are also proposed. (authors)

Recent topics in differential and analytic geometry

CERN Document Server

Ochiai, T

1990-01-01

Advanced Studies in Pure Mathematics, Volume 18-I: Recent Topics in Differential and Analytic Geometry presents the developments in the field of analytical and differential geometry. This book provides some generalities about bounded symmetric domains.Organized into two parts encompassing 12 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of harmonic mappings and holomorphic foliations. This text then discusses the global structures of a compact Kähler manifold that is locally decomposable as an isometric product of Ricci-positive, Ricci-negative, and Ricci-flat parts. Other chapters con

Topic extraction from adverbial clauses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Rubio Alcalá

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper offers new data to support findings about Topic extraction from adverbial clauses. Since such clauses are strong islands, they should not allow extraction of any kind, but we show here that if the appropriate conditions are met, Topics of the CLLD kind in Romance can move out of them. We propose that two conditions must be met for such movement to be possible: the first is that the adverbial clause must have undergone topicalisation in the first place; the second is that the adverbial clause is inherently topical from a semantic viewpoint. Contrast with other language families (Germanic, Quechua and Japanese is provided and the semantic implications of the proposal are briefly discussed. Keywords: topicalisation; Clitic Left Dislocation; syntactic islands; adverbial clauses Este artículo ofrece nuevos datos sobre la extracción de Tópicos desde oraciones subordinadas adverbiales. Dado que dichas oraciones son islas fuertes, no deberían permitir extracción de ningún tipo, pero mostramos que si se dan las condiciones apropiadas, los Tópicos del tipo CLLD en lenguas románicas pueden desplazarse fuera de ellas. Proponemos que se deben cumplir dos condiciones para que ese movimiento sea posible: la primera es que la propia subordinada adverbial se haya topicalizado en primer lugar; la segunda es que la subordinada adverbial sea inherentemente un Tópico desde el punto de vista semántico. Proporcionamos también algunos contrastes con otras familias lingüísticas (germánica, quechua y japonés y se discuten brevemente las implicaciones semánticas de la propuesta. Palabras clave: topicalización; dislocación a la izquierda con clítico; islas sintácticas; oraciones adverbiales

Exploring the science of thinking independently together: Faraday Discussion Volume 204 - Complex Molecular Surfaces and Interfaces, Sheffield, UK, July 2017.

Science.gov (United States)

Samperi, M; Hirsch, B E; Diaz Fernandez, Y A

2017-11-23

The 2017 Faraday Discussion on Complex Molecular Surfaces and Interfaces brought together theoreticians and experimentalists from both physical and chemical backgrounds to discuss the relevant applied and fundamental research topics within the broader field of chemical surface analysis and characterization. Main discussion topics from the meeting included the importance of "disordered" two-dimensional (2D) molecular structures and the utility of kinetically trapped states. An emerging need for new experimental tools to address dynamics and kinetic pathways involved in self-assembled systems, as well as the future prospects and current limitations of in silico studies were also discussed. The following article provides a brief overview of the work presented and the challenges discussed during the meeting.

Human Cloning: Let's Discuss It.

Science.gov (United States)

Taras, Loretta; Stavroulakis, Anthea M.; Ortiz, Mary T.

1999-01-01

Describes experiences with holding discussions on cloning at a variety of levels in undergraduate biology courses. Discusses teaching methods used and student reactions to the discussions. Contains 12 references. (WRM)

Probabilistic topic modeling for the analysis and classification of genomic sequences

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Background Studies on genomic sequences for classification and taxonomic identification have a leading role in the biomedical field and in the analysis of biodiversity. These studies are focusing on the so-called barcode genes, representing a well defined region of the whole genome. Recently, alignment-free techniques are gaining more importance because they are able to overcome the drawbacks of sequence alignment techniques. In this paper a new alignment-free method for DNA sequences clustering and classification is proposed. The method is based on k-mers representation and text mining techniques. Methods The presented method is based on Probabilistic Topic Modeling, a statistical technique originally proposed for text documents. Probabilistic topic models are able to find in a document corpus the topics (recurrent themes) characterizing classes of documents. This technique, applied on DNA sequences representing the documents, exploits the frequency of fixed-length k-mers and builds a generative model for a training group of sequences. This generative model, obtained through the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) algorithm, is then used to classify a large set of genomic sequences. Results and conclusions We performed classification of over 7000 16S DNA barcode sequences taken from Ribosomal Database Project (RDP) repository, training probabilistic topic models. The proposed method is compared to the RDP tool and Support Vector Machine (SVM) classification algorithm in a extensive set of trials using both complete sequences and short sequence snippets (from 400 bp to 25 bp). Our method reaches very similar results to RDP classifier and SVM for complete sequences. The most interesting results are obtained when short sequence snippets are considered. In these conditions the proposed method outperforms RDP and SVM with ultra short sequences and it exhibits a smooth decrease of performance, at every taxonomic level, when the sequence length is decreased. PMID:25916734

Health Topic XML File Description

Science.gov (United States)

... this page: https://medlineplus.gov/xmldescription.html Health Topic XML File Description: MedlinePlus To use the sharing ... information categories assigned. Example of a Full Health Topic Record A record for a MedlinePlus health topic ...

Composition for the treatment of radiation sickness and topical bacterial infections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaffin, S.L.

1985-01-01

A therapeutic composition for the theatment of radiation sickness comprises a carrier medium including one or more antibodies specific to gram negative bacteria chosen from the group Klebsiella, Pseudomoneas, Shigella, Salmonella and Escherichia species is discussed. The composition may by formed for oral administration or topical application

WHO guidance grounded in a comprehensive approach to sexual and reproductive health and human rights: topical pre-exposure prophylaxis

OpenAIRE

Lusti-Narasimhan, Manjula; Khosla, Rajat; Baggaley, Rachel; Temmerman, Marleen; McGrory, Elizabeth; Farley, Tim

2014-01-01

Introduction: Two new microbicide products based on topical (vaginal) application of antiretroviral drugs – 1% tenofovir gel and the dapivirine ring – are currently in late-stage clinical testing, and results on their safety and effectiveness are expected to become available in early 2015. WHO guidelines on the use of topical pre-exposure prophylaxis (topical PrEP) are important in order to ensure that these new prevention products are optimally used. Discussion: Given that these new topical ...

Intelligent methods for the process parameter determination of plastic injection molding

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Huang; Zhang, Yun; Zhou, Xundao; Li, Dequn

2018-03-01

Injection molding is one of the most widely used material processing methods in producing plastic products with complex geometries and high precision. The determination of process parameters is important in obtaining qualified products and maintaining product quality. This article reviews the recent studies and developments of the intelligent methods applied in the process parameter determination of injection molding. These intelligent methods are classified into three categories: Case-based reasoning methods, expert system- based methods, and data fitting and optimization methods. A framework of process parameter determination is proposed after comprehensive discussions. Finally, the conclusions and future research topics are discussed.

Development, Validation and Summative Evaluation of Card Pairing Games for Selected Math 8 Topics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ronald O. Ocampo

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Traditional classroom situation where students are taught predominantly of lecture-discussion method put the classroom in a mathophobic atmosphere. Oftentimes, students exposed to this classroom atmosphere lead to math anxiety and eventually hate the subject and the teacher. Addressing this, varied interactive strategies to create an atmosphere of discourse has been developed and promoted. The use of instructional games has been viewed as one strategy that promotes active learning inside the classroom. Instructional games support constructivist learning and social learning. This study is aimed at developing, validating and evaluating card pairing games for specific topics in Math 8. The Research and Development model ( R& D was used. The card pairing games was validated by subject experts and experts in developing games. In evaluating the card pairing games, the Quasi-Experimental Pretest-Posttest design was used. There are six card pairing games developed for specific topics in Math 8; the card pairing game is highly valid based on the result of the validation; Students exposed to card pairing game become more intact (homogeneous; Students exposed to card games enhance academic performance. It is recommended to test the effectiveness of card pairing games to other group of students; Encourage math teachers to use the developed math card pairing games for classroom instruction; Develop other card pairing game for specific topics in math.

Inquiry of selected topics on heat exchanger design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mueller, A.C.

1977-01-01

Three specific topics of heat exchanger design are discussed. First is an examination of the effect of maldistribution on the performance of an exchanger. Three different patterns of maldistribution are investigated and for each type when the overall coefficient is independent of the maldistribution (constant) and when the maldistributed fluid is the controlling resistance and, hence, is a function of the maldistribution. It is the purpose of this investigation to determine how serious the maldistribution problem can be and hopefully, develop guidelines for the designer. Second, the simple laminar flow in tube heat transfer problem was examined with the further complications of appreciable external resistance and for countercurrent flow with appreciable temperature changes in the secondary fluid. This is a complex problem theoretically and it is shown how this would be simplified by means of several simple plots. Based on an old analog solution, the possible error if one used the conventional methods of applying overall coefficients in the design of laminar flow exchangers is discussed. Third, laminar flow heat transfer in tube banks was reviewed. The fundamental problem here is how does one handle the effect of the number of tube rows in baffled exchangers. Another form of correlation is suggested but basically it was found that insufficient experimental data were available to determine the best form of correlation. Further experimental data are needed

Topic Detection Based on Weak Tie Analysis: A Case Study of LIS Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ling Wei

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose: Based on the weak tie theory, this paper proposes a series of connection indicators of weak tie subnets and weak tie nodes to detect research topics, recognize their connections, and understand their evolution. Design/methodology/approach: First, keywords are extracted from article titles and preprocessed. Second, high-frequency keywords are selected to generate weak tie co-occurrence networks. By removing the internal lines of clustered sub-topic networks, we focus on the analysis of weak tie subnets' composition and functions and the weak tie nodes' roles. Findings: The research topics' clusters and themes changed yearly; the subnets clustered with technique-related and methodology-related topics have been the core, important subnets for years; while close subnets are highly independent, research topics are generally concentrated and most topics are application-related; the roles and functions of nodes and weak ties are diversified. Research limitations: The parameter values are somewhat inconsistent; the weak tie subnets and nodes are classified based on empirical observations, and the conclusions are not verified or compared to other methods. Practical implications: The research is valuable for detecting important research topics as well as their roles, interrelations, and evolution trends. Originality/value: To contribute to the strength of weak tie theory, the research translates weak and strong ties concepts to co-occurrence strength, and analyzes weak ties' functions. Also, the research proposes a quantitative method to classify and measure the topics' clusters and nodes.

Geometrically Unfitted Finite Element Methods and Applications : Proceedings of the UCL Workshop 2016

CERN Document Server

Burman, Erik; Larson, Mats; Olshanskii, Maxim

2017-01-01

This book provides a snapshot of the state of the art of the rapidly evolving field of integration of geometric data in finite element computations. The contributions to this volume, based on research presented at the UCL workshop on the topic in January 2016, include three review papers on core topics such as fictitious domain methods for elasticity, trace finite element methods for partial differential equations defined on surfaces, and Nitsche’s method for contact problems. Five chapters present original research articles on related theoretical topics, including Lagrange multiplier methods, interface problems, bulk-surface coupling, and approximation of partial differential equations on moving domains. Finally, two chapters discuss advanced applications such as crack propagation or flow in fractured poroelastic media. This is the first volume that provides a comprehensive overview of the field of unfitted finite element methods, including recent techniques such as cutFEM, traceFEM, ghost penalty, and aug...

Regulatory Information By Topic

Science.gov (United States)

EPA develops and enforces regulations that span many environmental topics, from acid rain reduction to wetlands restoration. Each topic listed below may include related laws and regulations, compliance enforcement information, policies guidance

Protective effect of topical antibiotics in breast augmentation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pfeiffer, Philip; Jørgensen, Signe; Kristiansen, Thomas B

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Previous studies indicate that antibacterial lavage and/or use of topical antibiotics may reduce infection in breast implant surgery and perhaps also reduce occurrence of capsular contracture. A retrospective analysis was performed to evaluate this effect. METHODS: The study participa...

Current status of topical antiretroviral chemoprophylaxis.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Damme, Lut; Szpir, Michael

2012-11-01

Recent studies suggest that the vaginal delivery of antiretroviral (ARV) agents - such as tenofovir, dapivirine and UC781 - may be a promising way to reduce the high rates of HIV infection among women in developing countries. This review examines these developments. The Microbicide Trials Network 003 study, a large phase IIb trial, was unable to show that daily dosing with 1% tenofovir vaginal gel was effective for HIV prevention. Nevertheless, preclinical and early-phase clinical trials suggest that ARV drugs - formulated in vaginal gels, rings, films, tablets and diaphragms - could be effective for HIV chemoprophylaxis. Investigations of topical chemoprophylaxis methods have seen mixed results in the past 12-18 months. Product adherence may prove to be one of the field's greatest challenges. Phase II and III trials continue to explore different dosing strategies for topical products that contain one or more ARV agents.

Death Discussion in Science Read-Alouds: Cognitive, Sociolinguistic, and Moral Processes

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, Alandeom W.; Reis, Giuliano; Chaize, Daniel O.; Snyder, Michele A.

2014-01-01

Little research has been conducted on how to address the complex topic of death when teaching science to children. The present paper addresses this issue by examining how three elementary teachers discuss the death of wild animals during science read-aloud sessions. Our findings reveal the variety of ways in which nonhuman death can be…

Discussion and acceptance of technology-induced risks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Esser, R.

1986-01-01

The Gesellschaft fuer Sicherheitswissenschaft (GfS) chose as the main topic of its 7th International Summer Symposium held from May 26-28, 1986 the question of how our highly industrialized society, which not only lives on industry's efficiency, but also has to live with its technological risks, copes with this challenge. About 200 experts gathered for the seminar and discussed about 30 lectures presented, dealing with subjects such as: Technological risks between law and practice; - Risk minimization as a public good; - Risks and related problems, and safety science; - Do the institutionalized procedures create more safety. (orig./HP) [de

Investigating Online Destination Images Using a Topic-Based Sentiment Analysis Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gang Ren

2017-09-01

Full Text Available With the development of Web 2.0, many studies have tried to analyze tourist behavior utilizing user-generated contents. The primary purpose of this study is to propose a topic-based sentiment analysis approach, including a polarity classification and an emotion classification. We use the Latent Dirichlet Allocation model to extract topics from online travel review data and analyze the sentiments and emotions for each topic with our proposed approach. The top frequent words are extracted for each topic from online reviews on Ctrip.com. By comparing the relative importance of each topic, we conclude that many tourists prefer to provide “suggestion” reviews. In particular, we propose a new approach to classify the emotions of online reviews at the topic level utilizing an emotion lexicon, focusing on specific emotions to analyze customer complaints. The results reveal that attraction “management” obtains most complaints. These findings may provide useful insights for the development of attractions and the measurement of online destination image. Our proposed method can be used to analyze reviews from many online platforms and domains.

Topical therapy for facial allergic dermatoses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. S. Kondratyeva

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The research goal is to assess clinical dynamics and morphofunctional skin parameters of patients with facial allergic dermatoses on the background of combined topical therapy. Materials and methods. 45 patients with various facial allergic dermatoses in dry and sensitive skin took part in the research. The methods included anamnesis taking, poll, objective examination and assessment of morphofunctional parameters of skin, as well as estimation of life quality dynamic index (LQDI. Main results. After a course of treatment with 0,05% solution of alclometasone dipropionate inflammation of dermatosis ceased in 45 (100% patients, itching and pains in 39 (86,7% patients, but complaints about dryness and peeling of facial skin remained in 41 (91,1% and 40 (88,8% patients respectively. On the background of therapy including emollient Aflocream the above mentioned symptoms did not appear in 43 (95,6% patients, wherein maximum effect was achieved in patients with allergic contact dermatitis - 14 (93,3%. After a course of topical therapy all patients showed statistically significant increase of epidermal moisture level, alongside with reduction of skin relief and degree of keratinization. During the assessment of LQDI a tendency to reduction of proportion of patients on whom the disease has a strong and extremely strong impact was noted in 10 patients (i.e. 22,2%, moderate influence - in 5 of them (11,45%, insignificant influence or its absence - in 30 (66,7% people. Conclusion. Combined therapy including the use of a topical corticosteroid Afloderm and an emollient Aflocream showed good clinical efficiency in patients with facial allergic dermatoses. The efficiency is also confirmed with improvements in morphofunctional characteristics of patients’ skin on the background of therapy.

Topical betamethasone for prevention of radiation dermatitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Omidvari Shapour

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Although acute radiation dermatitis (ARD is a common side-effect of radiotherapy (RT, currently there is no general consensus about its prevention or treatment of choice. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether prophylactic use of topical betamethasone 0.1% can prevent ARD caused by chest wall irradiation. Methods: Fifty-one patients who underwent modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer and were going to receive RT, were randomly assigned to receive topical betamethasone 0.1%, petrolatum or none during RT. The frequency and severity of ARD (measured using Radiation Therapy Oncology Group acute radiation morbidity scoring criteria were recorded at the end of each week during RT and two weeks after its completion. Clinical outcomes were analyzed by relevant statistical methods. Results: All patients developed some degree of ARD, the frequency and severity of which increased with time and reached the maximum at the end of the seventh week for all groups. Patients receiving betamethasone had less severe ARD than the other two groups throughout the course of the study, but this difference was significant only at the end of the third week (p =0.027. No significant difference was observed between the petrolatum and control arms. Conclusion: Prophylactic and ongoing use of topical betamethasone 0.1% during chest wall RT for breast cancer delays occurrence of ARD but does not prevent it. Petrolatum has no effect on the prevention of ARD in these patients.

Differential Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Changyou; Buntine, Wray; Ding, Nan; Xie, Lexing; Du, Lan

2015-02-01

In applications we may want to compare different document collections: they could have shared content but also different and unique aspects in particular collections. This task has been called comparative text mining or cross-collection modeling. We present a differential topic model for this application that models both topic differences and similarities. For this we use hierarchical Bayesian nonparametric models. Moreover, we found it was important to properly model power-law phenomena in topic-word distributions and thus we used the full Pitman-Yor process rather than just a Dirichlet process. Furthermore, we propose the transformed Pitman-Yor process (TPYP) to incorporate prior knowledge such as vocabulary variations in different collections into the model. To deal with the non-conjugate issue between model prior and likelihood in the TPYP, we thus propose an efficient sampling algorithm using a data augmentation technique based on the multinomial theorem. Experimental results show the model discovers interesting aspects of different collections. We also show the proposed MCMC based algorithm achieves a dramatically reduced test perplexity compared to some existing topic models. Finally, we show our model outperforms the state-of-the-art for document classification/ideology prediction on a number of text collections.

Topic Model for Graph Mining.

Science.gov (United States)

Xuan, Junyu; Lu, Jie; Zhang, Guangquan; Luo, Xiangfeng

2015-12-01

Graph mining has been a popular research area because of its numerous application scenarios. Many unstructured and structured data can be represented as graphs, such as, documents, chemical molecular structures, and images. However, an issue in relation to current research on graphs is that they cannot adequately discover the topics hidden in graph-structured data which can be beneficial for both the unsupervised learning and supervised learning of the graphs. Although topic models have proved to be very successful in discovering latent topics, the standard topic models cannot be directly applied to graph-structured data due to the "bag-of-word" assumption. In this paper, an innovative graph topic model (GTM) is proposed to address this issue, which uses Bernoulli distributions to model the edges between nodes in a graph. It can, therefore, make the edges in a graph contribute to latent topic discovery and further improve the accuracy of the supervised and unsupervised learning of graphs. The experimental results on two different types of graph datasets show that the proposed GTM outperforms the latent Dirichlet allocation on classification by using the unveiled topics of these two models to represent graphs.

Uses of technology in lower secondary mathematics education : a concise topical survey

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Drijvers, P.H.M.; Ball, Lynda; Barzel, Barbel; Heid, M. Kathleen; Cao, Yiming; Maschietto, Michela

2016-01-01

This topical survey provides an overview of the current state of the art in technology use in mathematics education, including both practice-oriented experiences and research-based evidence, as seen from an international perspective. Three core themes are discussed: Evidence of effectiveness;

Improving Student Learning of Calculus Topics via Modified Just-in-Time Teaching Methods

Science.gov (United States)

Natarajan, Rekha; Bennett, Andrew

2014-01-01

Although the use of traditional just-in-time teaching techniques has long been viewed positively by students and instructors in undergraduate calculus courses, past studies in this area have not addressed gains in student achievement with respect to specific calculus topics. This paper investigates the latter by administering modified just-in-time…

How to conduct focus groups: researching group priorities through discussion.

Science.gov (United States)

1992-01-01

Focus groups serve to uncover priorities and beliefs of a target group, but health project designers do not always take the time to seek this information beforehand. Focus groups also allow various local subgroups to communicate their concerns before the project starts. Focus groups can also breed ideas and dialogue that individual interviews cannot and they provide baseline information so managers can determine if attitudes or priorities have resulted from the project. Diverse people have different beliefs, e.g., women who have young children view oral rehydration therapy differently from women with no children. Project designers can use these basic differences to arrive at some conclusions about general attitudes. Focus group facilitators should have a discussion outline to help keep the group on the topic of concern. They should limit sessions to 60-90 minutes. Each focus groups should include 8-10 people. It is important to have members of various community subgroups in each group. Yet group designers should be careful not to include within the same group, those who may intimidate other people in the group, e.g., in situations where farmers depend on middlemen, farmers may not be open if middlemen are also in the focus group. Facilitators should launch each session with an attempt to encourage the members to be open and to feel comfortable. For example, in Malawi, a facilitator leads her focus group discussions with songs. Stories are another icebreaker. It is important that all focus groups centering around a certain project discuss the same topics. Facilitators need to stress to the group that all discussions are to be kept confidential. The designers should also carefully word the questions so that facilitators will not impart their bias. Facilitators should not direct the group to certain conclusions, but instead keep the discussions focused.

Multiple Shooting and Time Domain Decomposition Methods

CERN Document Server

Geiger, Michael; Körkel, Stefan; Rannacher, Rolf

2015-01-01

This book offers a comprehensive collection of the most advanced numerical techniques for the efficient and effective solution of simulation and optimization problems governed by systems of time-dependent differential equations. The contributions present various approaches to time domain decomposition, focusing on multiple shooting and parareal algorithms.  The range of topics covers theoretical analysis of the methods, as well as their algorithmic formulation and guidelines for practical implementation. Selected examples show that the discussed approaches are mandatory for the solution of challenging practical problems. The practicability and efficiency of the presented methods is illustrated by several case studies from fluid dynamics, data compression, image processing and computational biology, giving rise to possible new research topics.  This volume, resulting from the workshop Multiple Shooting and Time Domain Decomposition Methods, held in Heidelberg in May 2013, will be of great interest to applied...

Topical treatments of skin pain: a general review with a focus on hidradenitis suppurativa with topical agents.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheinfeld, Noah

2014-07-15

Hidradenitis Supprurativa (HS) is a painful chronic follicular disease. Few papers have addressed pain control for this debilitating condition. Possible topical agents include tricyclic antidepressants, opioids, anticonvulsants, NSAIDs, NMDA receptor antagonists, local anesthetics and other agents. The first line agents for the topical treatment of the cutaneous pain of HS are diclonefac gel 1% and liposomal xylocaine 4% and 5% cream or 5% ointment. The chief advantage of topical xylocaine is that is quick acting i.e. immediate however with a limited duration of effect 1-2 hours. The use of topical ketamine, which blocks n-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in a non-competitive fashion, might be a useful tool for the treatment of HS pain. Topical doxepin, which available in a 5% commercially preparation (Zonalon®) , makes patients drowsy and is not useful for controlling the pain of HS . Doxepin is available in a 3% or 3.3% concentration (which causes less drowsiness) from compounding pharmacies and can be used in compounded analgesic preparations with positive effect. Topical doxepin is preferred over use of topical amitriptyline because topical doxepin is more effective. Nevertheless, topical amitriptyline increase of the tactile and mechanical nociceptive thresholds and can be used for topical pain control in compound mixture of analgesics . Gabapentin and pregablin can also be used compounded with other agents in topical analgesic preparations with positive topical anesthetic effect. Capsaicin is not useful for topical treatment of the pain of HS. Sometimes compounded of anesthetics medications such as ketamine 10%, bupivacaine 1%, diclofenac 3%, doxepin 3% or 3.3%, and gabapentin 6% can extend the duration of effect so that medication only needs to be used 2 or 3 times a day. Still in my experience the easiest to get and most patient requested agent is topical diclonefac 1% gel.

The Hampstead Clinic at work. Discussions in the Diagnostic Profile Research Group.

Science.gov (United States)

Koch, Ehud

2012-01-01

Minutes of the Hampstead Clinic's Diagnostic Profile Research Group during a fifteen-month period (1964-1965) are reviewed and discussed. A wide range of topics were considered and discussed, with a special focus on the affective life, object relations, and ego function of atypical children in comparison to the early ego functions and differentiation of normal and neurotic children. These lively clinical and theoretical discussions and their implications for therapeutic work with a wide range of children, demonstrate the multifaceted leadership and contributions of Anna Freud as teacher, clinician, and thinker, and of the Hampstead Clinic as a major center for psychoanalytic studies.

Comparing the Document Representations of Two IR-Systems: CLARIT and TOPIC.

Science.gov (United States)

Paijmans, Hans

1993-01-01

Compares two information retrieval systems, CLARIT and TOPIC, in terms of assigned versus derived and precoordinate versus postcoordinate indexing. Models of information retrieval systems are discussed, and a test of the systems using a demonstration database of full-text articles from the "Wall Street Journal" is described. (Contains 21…

A Model for Establishing an Astronomy Education Discussion Group

Science.gov (United States)

Deming, Grace; Hayes-Gehrke, M.; Zauderer, B. A.; Bovill, M. S.; DeCesar, M.

2010-01-01

In October 2005, a group of astronomy faculty and graduate students met to establish departmental support for participants in the UM Center for Teaching Excellence University Teaching and Learning Program. This program seeks to increase graduate students’ understanding of effective teaching methods, awareness of student learning, and appreciation of education as a scholarly pursuit. Our group has facilitated the submission of successful graduate student educational development grant proposals to the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE). Completion of the CTE program results in a notation on the graduate student's transcript. Our discussion group met monthly during the first two years. The Astronomy Education Review, The Physics Teacher, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and National Research Council publications were used to provide background for discussion. Beginning in 2007, the group began sponsoring monthly astronomy education lunches during the academic year to which the entire department was invited. Over the past two years, speakers have included graduate students, faculty, and guests, such as Jay Labov from the National Research Council. Topics have included the Astronomy Diagnostic Test, intelligent design versus evolution, active learning techniques, introducing the use of lecture tutorials, using effective demonstrations, confronting student misconceptions, engagement through clickers (or cards), and fostering critical thinking with ranking tasks. The results of an informal evaluation will be presented.

Does discussing sexually transmissible infections or HIV with a parent increase condom use among young women using other contraceptive methods?

Science.gov (United States)

Bradley, Heather; Leichliter, Jami S; Gift, Thomas L

2013-03-01

Young people may be more likely to use condoms if they discuss sexual risks with their parents. However, no previous study has examined whether discussing sexual risks with a parent is differently associated with condom use among women using and not using other contraceptive methods. Using weighted data from the 2006-2008 National Survey of Family Growth, we examined condom use at last sex among 1206 sexually active unmarried women aged 15-24 years. Using logistic regression, we examined the association between condom use and discussing sexually transmissible infections (STIs) with parents before the age of 18 years, adjusted for women's characteristics (age, ethnicity, income and condom use at first sex). We estimated the predicted probability of condom use by whether women discussed STIs with parents, stratified by use of other contraceptive methods. Overall, 53% of women used condoms at last sex. Among 564 women using other contraceptives, 42% used condoms, versus 64% of 642 women not using other contraceptive methods (P<0.01). After adjustment for covariates, the predicted probability of condom use among women using other contraceptives was 47% among women who discussed STIs with their parents (v. 31% of those not discussing STIs; P<0.01). Among women not using other contraceptives, the predicted probability of condom use remained 64% regardless of whether they discussed STIs with their parents. Young women who use other contraceptive methods are less likely to use condoms, but discussing STIs with parents is associated with increased condom use among these women.

PREVENTION OF CUTANEOUS SIDE EFFECTS OF TOPICAL TRETINOIN: USE OF ORAL VITAMINE E

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G FAGHIHI

2001-03-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Acne vulgaris is an inflammatory disease of pilosebaceous folicles. Tretinoin is used as one of the topical treatments for acne vulgaris. It has different cutaneous side effects such as erythema, scaling, irritation and photosensitivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of oral Vitamine E in preventing the cutaneous side effects of topical tretinoin in acne patients.
Methods: A clinical trial was performed in AI-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan for six months in 2000. 80 patients with mild to moderate facial acne were randomized into 2 groups. Group 1 (controls received topical solution of tretinoin 0.05 percent nightly and group 2 (cases received daily oral 100mg of Vit. E in addition. All patients were followed at 1, 4 and 6 weeks after initiation of treatment. Children under 12 years old, pregnant or lactating women were excluded.
Results: At the end of one week, no cutaneous side effects were observed in 25 percent (10 of group 1 and 15 percent (6 of group 2 (P > 0.05. At the end of 4 weeks, 25 percent (10 of group 1 and 60 percent (24 of group 2 were without any cutaneous complications, while at the end of 6 weeks, 35 percent (14 of group 1 in comparison to 75 percent (30 of group 2 were free of any cutaneous side effects (P < 0.05. The most common side effect in both groups was exfoliation.
Discussion: Daily oral 100 mg of Vit. E has been effective in preventing cutaneous complications of topical tretinoin in acne management, but there is a delay of one week in its onset of action. Meanwhile, Vitamine E is a safe modality with no undesirable effects in acne patients.

Skin permeation and antioxidant efficacy of topically applied resveratrol.

Science.gov (United States)

Alonso, Cristina; Martí, M; Barba, C; Carrer, V; Rubio, L; Coderch, L

2017-08-01

The permeation of resveratrol was assessed by in vitro and in vivo experiments 24 h after topical administration. The in vitro profile of resveratrol was assessed by Raman spectroscopy. Human skin permeation was analysed in vivo by the tape stripping method with the progressive removal of the stratum corneum layers using adhesive tape strips. Moreover, the free radical scavenging activity of resveratrol after its topical application was determined using the DPPH assay. The Raman spectra indicated that the topically applied resveratrol penetrates deep into the skin. The results showed high amounts of resveratrol in the different stratum corneum layers close to the surface and a constant lower amount in the upper layers of the viable epidermis. The concentration of resveratrol present in the outermost stratum corneum layers was obtained by tape stripping after in vivo application. The results demonstrated that resveratrol mainly remained in the human stratum corneum layers. After topical application, resveratrol maintained its antiradical activity. The antioxidant efficacy of the compound was higher in the inner layers of the stratum corneum. As these results have demonstrated, topically applied resveratrol reinforces the antioxidant system of the stratum corneum and provides an efficient means of increasing the tissue levels of antioxidants in the human epidermis.

Misuse of topical corticosteroids: A clinical study of adverse effects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vivek Kumar Dey

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Misuse of topical corticosteroids is a widespread phenomenon among young people in India, especially women. The practice is associated with significant adverse effects and poor awareness of these effects among the general public. Aim: This study was conducted to examine the misuse and adverse effects of topical corticosteroids among the people in Bastar region in Chhattisgarh state of India. Materials and Methods: Data collected from patients presenting with at least one of the adverse effects of topical corticosteroids as the chief complaint, from November 2010 to October 2011. Results: Out of the 6723 new patients, 379 (5.63% had presented with misuse and adverse effects of topical corticosteroids, of whom 78.89% were females. More than 65% of the patients were in the age group 10-29 years. The main reason for using the topical corticosteroids was to lighten skin colour and treat melasma and suntan. Acne (37.99% and telangiectasia (18.99% were the most common adverse effects noted. Conclusions: Misuse of topical corticosteroids has a huge impact on dermatological practice, leading to a significant proportion of visits to the dermatologist. This hydra-headed problem needs multi-dimensional interventions, involving educational, legal and managerial approaches with cooperation from different sectors of society.

Skin penetration and tissue permeation after topical administration of diclofenac.

Science.gov (United States)

Hagen, Martina; Baker, Mark

2017-09-01

Topical delivery of drugs is an alternative to oral administration, often with similar efficacy but potentially a more favorable tolerability profile. However, topical formulations need to be able to penetrate the skin and permeate to the target areas in quantities sufficient to exert a therapeutic effect. Many factors can affect this process, including the physicochemical properties of the drug, the formulation used, and the site and mode of application. It is believed that measurement of drug concentrations at the sites of action may be an indicator of their likely efficacy. This review addresses these issues, with reference to topically administered diclofenac in osteoarthritis. Articles relevant to this review were identified after a systematic search of Medline and Embase, using the key words "diclofenac", "topical administration" and "osteoarthritis" in the search strategy. The sparse data available indicate that topical diclofenac can penetrate and permeate to deeper tissues, with a lower plasma to tissue ratio than oral diclofenac. The tissue diclofenac levels after topical delivery are sustained over time (at least several hours). However, there is not enough data to establish how diclofenac levels in the joint compare with IC 50 levels (50% of the maximum inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis) established following oral administration. After topical application, diclofenac can penetrate the skin and permeate to deeper tissues, where it reaches a concentration that appears to be sufficient to exert a therapeutic effect. More robust methods are required for in vivo characterization to better estimate the clinical efficacy of topically applied drugs.

The analysis of covariance and alternatives statistical methods for experiments, quasi-experiments, and single-case studies

CERN Document Server

Huitema, Bradley

2011-01-01

A complete guide to cutting-edge techniques and best practices for applying covariance analysis methods The Second Edition of Analysis of Covariance and Alternatives sheds new light on its topic, offering in-depth discussions of underlying assumptions, comprehensive interpretations of results, and comparisons of distinct approaches. The book has been extensively revised and updated to feature an in-depth review of prerequisites and the latest developments in the field. The author begins with a discussion of essential topics relating to experimental design and analysis

Evaluation of skin absorption of drugs from topical and transdermal formulations

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André Luís Morais Ruela

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The skin barrier function has been attributed to the stratum corneum and represents a major challenge in clinical practice pertaining to cutaneous administration of drugs. Despite this, a large number of bioactive compounds have been successfully administered via cutaneous administration because of advances in the design of topical and transdermal formulations. In vitro and in vivo evaluations of these novel drug delivery systems are necessary to characterize their quality and efficacy. This review covers the most well-known methods for assessing the cutaneous absorption of drugs as an auxiliary tool for pharmaceutical formulation scientists in the design of drug delivery systems. In vitro methods as skin permeation assays using Franz-type diffusion cells, cutaneous retention and tape-stripping methods to study the cutaneous penetration of drugs, and in vivo evaluations as pre-clinical pharmacokinetic studies in animal models are discussed. Alternative approaches to cutaneous microdialysis are also covered. Recent advances in research on skin absorption of drugs and the effect of skin absorption enhancers, as investigated using confocal laser scanning microscopy, Raman confocal microscopy, and attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, are reviewed.

The role of preventive topical antibiotic treatment prior to intravitreal injection

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Elena Vladimirovna Ageeva

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD requires frequent intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF agents, sometimes on monthly basis during a long period of time. Endophthalmitis is a rare but extremely severe complication of intravitreal injections. As it has been proven before, the flora from the conjunctival surface is the main source for endophthalmitis. Using Povidone-iodine solution (Betadine10 % Povidone-iodine, EGIS PHARMACEUTICALS is the only way to prevent endophthalmitis. The efficacy of it was proven by numerous studies. No evidence exists that topical antibiotiotics prior and after injections could be effective for prevention of endophthalmitis. Purpose: To study the advisability of topical antibiotic application before intravitreal injection. Materials and methods: Under investigation, there were 25 eyes of 25 patients with wet AMD treated by anti-VEGF intravitreal injections. All patients used topical antibiotics 3 days before injection. Conjunctival culture from injection eye was collected three times: before topical antibiotic use; after topical antibiotic use, and after Betadine 5 % application. Results: The rates of Staphylococcus epidermidis before and after topical antibiotic use were approximately equal. However there was no Staphylococcus epidermidis found after Betadine 5 % application. Conclusion: Our study showed the effectiveness of Betadine 5 % solution in conjunctival flora reduction. Use of topical antibiotics 3 days prior intravitreal injections is not effective. Key words: age-related macular degeneration; endophthalmitis; intravitreal injection; topical antibiotics; endophthalmitis prevention.

Highlights from Faraday Discussion FDSERS17: Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering - SERS, Glasgow, UK, 30th August-1st September 2017.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Martino, G; Fleming, H; Kamp, M; Lussier, F

2017-11-28

The 2017 Faraday Discussion on Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) attracted more than a hundred delegates from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and experience levels, bringing together leading scientists involved in the long living field of SERS. The meeting gave an overview of the liveliness of the topic, characterised by open questions and fascinating science still to discover. In the following, we discuss the topics covered during this meeting and briefly highlight the content of each presentation.

Topic Order in Introductory Physics and its Impact on the STEM Curricular Ladder

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Teresa L Larkin

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Introductory physics courses are an important rung on the curricular ladder in STEM. These courses help to strengthen students critical thinking and problem solving skills while simultaneously introducing them to many topics they will explore in more detail in later courses in physics and engineering. For these reasons, introductory physics is a required element on the curricular ladder. Most often, introductory physics is offered as a two-semester sequence with basic mechanics being taught in the first semester and electricity and magnetism in the second. In fact, this curricular sequence has not been altered in decades. Is there a reason for this? There are many other enduring questions that arise pertaining to these foundation courses in physics. These questions include: Does taking the introductory course sequence “out of order” have an impact on student learning in physics? What topics should be taught? When should these topics be taught? What topics could be left out? The list of questions is essentially endless. This paper will address some of these questions in part, through a brief discussion on student learning in a second-semester algebra-based physics course. Connections will also be made to the broader curricular ladder in STEM. To this end, an illustration that makes connections to an engineering statics course will be presented. This discussion will conclude by presenting some broader implications for the larger STEM communities.

Topics on Japanese aseismic design for nuclear installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakamura, Masahiko

2002-01-01

Major items of of Japanese anti-seismic design for nuclear installations involve three topics: earthquakes and ground motion; seismic design and safety evaluation. The first topic deal with: improvement of geological survey technology, evaluation of ground motion from active faults, and characterisation of earthquake from individual faults. Seismic design involves: evaluation of design ground motion (spectra), classification of structures, systems and components (SSCs) based on the seismic importance, and seismic design criteria and critical loads. Safety evaluation of seismic PSA is dependent on the consistency of the the two previous items. Seismic hazard evaluation methodology, database and examples of analysis are described. Analysis method using fault model is included

4. topical workshop on proton-antiproton collider physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haenni, H.; Schacher, J.

1984-01-01

The most exciting topic at this Workshop was clearly the experimental hint for new unexpected phenomena, reported by the UA1 and UA2 Collaborations: At the CERN SPS Collider (vs = 540 GeV), a few events were observed with high missing transverse energy in association with an isolated electromagnetic cluster or one or more hard jets (UA1) or an isolated electron and one or two hard jets (UA2). Due to the enhanced data sample, the discovery of the intermediate vector bosons W and Z in 1983 was undoubtedly confirmed, and the nice agreement of their properties with the predictions of the electroweak theory was shown. In addition, many new results on experimental and theoretical jet physics were presented. The Tevatron Collider project and its planned experiments at Fermilab were discussed, and there were contributions about the possible future developments in theory (compositeness, supersymmetry) as well as in experimental high energy physics (Supercollider, Juratron). See hints under the relevant topics. (orig./HSI)

Topical steroid-damaged skin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anil Abraham

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Topical steroids, commonly used for a wide range of skin disorders, are associated with side effects both systemic and cutaneous. This article aims at bringing awareness among practitioners, about the cutaneous side effects of easily available, over the counter, topical steroids. This makes it important for us as dermatologists to weigh the usefulness of topical steroids versus their side effects, and to make an informed decision regarding their use in each individual based on other factors such as age, site involved and type of skin disorder.

Mental Mechanisms for Topics Identification

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Louis Massey

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Topics identification (TI is the process that consists in determining the main themes present in natural language documents. The current TI modeling paradigm aims at acquiring semantic information from statistic properties of large text datasets. We investigate the mental mechanisms responsible for the identification of topics in a single document given existing knowledge. Our main hypothesis is that topics are the result of accumulated neural activation of loosely organized information stored in long-term memory (LTM. We experimentally tested our hypothesis with a computational model that simulates LTM activation. The model assumes activation decay as an unavoidable phenomenon originating from the bioelectric nature of neural systems. Since decay should negatively affect the quality of topics, the model predicts the presence of short-term memory (STM to keep the focus of attention on a few words, with the expected outcome of restoring quality to a baseline level. Our experiments measured topics quality of over 300 documents with various decay rates and STM capacity. Our results showed that accumulated activation of loosely organized information was an effective mental computational commodity to identify topics. It was furthermore confirmed that rapid decay is detrimental to topics quality but that limited capacity STM restores quality to a baseline level, even exceeding it slightly.

Selected Topics on Mass Transport in Gas-solid Interactions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Somers, Marcel A.J.

2004-01-01

The present article is a short review containing examples of the role of mass transport in the solid state during gas-solid interactions. Examples are taken from the authors' research on the interaction of carbon and/or nitrogen with iron-based metals. Topics dealt with are diffusion-controlled d......The present article is a short review containing examples of the role of mass transport in the solid state during gas-solid interactions. Examples are taken from the authors' research on the interaction of carbon and/or nitrogen with iron-based metals. Topics dealt with are diffusion...... on the kinetics of phenomena in the solid state. Various experimental techniques were applied to investigate these phenomena; it is however beyond the scope of the present article to treat experimental conditions in detail. The interested reader is referred to the original work for in depth discussions...

Geotechnical support and topical studies for nuclear waste geologic repositories: Annual report, fiscal year 1987

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

This multidisciplinary project was initiated in fiscal year 1986. It comprises 11 reports in two major interrelated tasks: The technical assistance part of the project includes reviewing the progress of the major projects in the DOE Office of Civilian Radioactive waste Management (OCRWM) Program and advising the Engineering and Geotechnology Division on significant technical issues facing each project; analyzing geotechnical data, reports, tests, surveys and plans for the different projects; reviewing and commenting on major technical reports and other program documents such as Site Characterization Plans (SCP) and Study Plans; and providing scientific and technical input at technical meetings. The topical studies activity comprises studies on scientific and technical ions and issues of significance to in-situ testing, test analysis methods, and site characterization of nuclear waste geologic repositories. The subjects of study were selected based on discussions with DOE staff. One minor topic is a preliminary consideration and planning exercise for postclosure monitoring studies. The major task, with subtasks involving various geoscience disciplines, is a study of the mechanical, hydraulic, geophysical and geochemical properties of fractures in geologic rock masses

A Thematic Analysis of Online Discussion Boards for Brachial Plexus Injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Marie T; Daluiski, Aaron; Dy, Christopher J

2016-08-01

Patients with brachial plexus injury (BPI) and their family members contribute to Internet discussion groups dedicated to BPI. We hypothesized that a thematic analysis of posts from BPI Internet discussion groups would reveal common themes related to the BPI patient experience, providing topics for patient education and counseling. Internet discussion boards were identified using the search term "brachial plexus injury support group" in Google, Bing, and Yahoo! search engines. Two discussion boards had substantially more posts than other Web sites and were chosen for analyses. Posts from January 1, 2015, through January 1, 2016, were examined. Using an iterative and established process, 2 investigators (M.T.M. and C.J.D) independently analyzed each post using thematic analysis in 3 steps (open coding, axial coding, and selective coding) to determine common themes. In this process, each post was reviewed 3 times. A total of 328 posts from the 2 leading discussion boards were analyzed. Investigators reached a consensus on themes for all posts. One central theme focused on emotional aspects of BPI. Four other central themes regarding information support were identified: BPI disease, BPI treatment, recovery after BPI treatment, and process of seeking care for BPI. Examination of posts on Internet support groups for BPI revealed recurring concerns, questions, and opinions of patients and their family members. The most common themes related to disease information, treatment, recovery, and the emotional element of BPI. These findings provide a helpful starting point in refining topics for patient education and support that are targeted on patients' interests and concerns. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Surgery of the Hand. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ethical issues in the use of in-depth interviews: literature review and discussion

OpenAIRE

Allmark, Peter; Boote, Jonathan; Chambers, E.; Clarke, Amanda; McDonnell, A.; Thompson, Andrew; Tod, Angela

2009-01-01

This paper reports a literature review on the topic of ethical issues in in-depth interviews. The review returned three types of article: general discussion, issues in particular studies, and studies of interview-based research ethics. Whilst many of the issues discussed in these articles are generic to research ethics, such as confidentiality, they often had particular manifestations in this type of research. For example, privacy was a significant problem as interviews sometimes probe unexpe...

Application of optical non-invasive methods in skin physiology

Science.gov (United States)

Lademann, J.; Patzelt, A.; Darvin, M.; Richter, H.; Antoniou, C.; Sterry, W.; Koch, S.

2008-05-01

In the present paper the application of optical non-invasive methods in dermatology and cosmetology is discussed. Laser scanning microscopy (LSM) and optical coherent tomography (OCT) are the most promising methods for this application. Using these methods, the analysis of different skin parameters like dryness and oiliness of the skin, the barrier function and the structure of furrows and wrinkles are discussed. Additionally the homogeneity of distribution of topically applied creams, as well as their penetration into the skin were investigated. It is shown that these methods are highly valuable in dermatology for diagnostic and therapy control and for basic research, for instance in the field of structure analysis of hair follicles and sweat glands. The vertical images of the tissue produced by OCT can be easily compared with histological sections. Unfortunately, the resolution of the OCT technique is not high enough to carry out measurements on a cellular level, as is possible by LSM. LSM has the advantage that it can be used for the investigation of penetration and storage processes of topically applied substances, if these substances have fluorescent properties or if they are fluorescent-labelled.

Application of optical non-invasive methods in skin physiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lademann, J; Patzelt, A; Darvin, M; Richter, H; Sterry, W; Antoniou, C; Koch, S

2008-01-01

In the present paper the application of optical non-invasive methods in dermatology and cosmetology is discussed. Laser scanning microscopy (LSM) and optical coherent tomography (OCT) are the most promising methods for this application. Using these methods, the analysis of different skin parameters like dryness and oiliness of the skin, the barrier function and the structure of furrows and wrinkles are discussed. Additionally the homogeneity of distribution of topically applied creams, as well as their penetration into the skin were investigated. It is shown that these methods are highly valuable in dermatology for diagnostic and therapy control and for basic research, for instance in the field of structure analysis of hair follicles and sweat glands. The vertical images of the tissue produced by OCT can be easily compared with histological sections. Unfortunately, the resolution of the OCT technique is not high enough to carry out measurements on a cellular level, as is possible by LSM. LSM has the advantage that it can be used for the investigation of penetration and storage processes of topically applied substances, if these substances have fluorescent properties or if they are fluorescent-labelled

A Critical Discussion of "The Ethical Presuppositions behind the Library Bill of Rights."

Science.gov (United States)

Doyle, Tony

2002-01-01

Discussion of the Library Bill of Rights focuses on paternalism and the dangers of Internet filtering, in response to a previous article that advocated revision of the Bill of Rights. Topics include ethical presuppositions; censorship; philosophical foundations; access; social contract theory; and utilitarianism. (LRW)

Proceedings of the topical session on stakeholder involvement in decommissioning projects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago, Juan Luis; Chandler, Steve; Metcalfe, Doug; Le Bars, Yves

2006-01-01

Set up by the Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC), the WPDD brings together senior representatives of national organisations who have a broad overview of Decommissioning and Dismantling (D and D) issues through their work as regulators, implementers, R and D experts or policy makers. These include representatives from regulatory authorities, industrial decommissioners from the NEA Co-operative Programme on Exchange of Scientific and Technical Information on Nuclear Installation Decommissioning Projects (CPD), and cross-representation from the other NEA Committees. The EC is a member of the WPDD and the IAEA is participating as an observer. This broad participation provides good possibilities for the co-ordination efforts amongst activities in the international programmes. At its sixth meeting, in Paris, 14-16 November 2005, the WPDD held a topical session on the 'Stakeholder Involvement in Decommissioning Projects'. The topical session was jointly planned and run with members of the NEA Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC). This report documents the topical session. The main text summarises the lessons learnt and includes the rapporteurs reports. Appendix 1 and 2 provide the agenda of the topical session and all contributed papers respectively. The Topical session also provided a stimuli to review all the contributions in the area of stakeholder involvement that the WPDD has received since its inception. A list of references is provided in Appendix 3. The topical session was meant to provide an exchange of information and experience on the following issues: - Views from Stakeholders Regarding Stakeholder Involvement and Their Own Role. - Case Studies on Stakeholders Confidence. At the end of each session time was allotted for a plenary discussion. The Rapporteur reviewed the main points and the lessons learnt at the end of the whole Topical Session. (authors)

A Topic Space Oriented User Group Discovering Scheme in Social Network: A Trust Chain Based Interest Measuring Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Dong

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Currently, user group has become an effective platform for information sharing and communicating among users in social network sites. In present work, we propose a single topic user group discovering scheme, which includes three phases: topic impact evaluation, interest degree measurement, and trust chain based discovering, to enable selecting influential topic and discovering users into a topic oriented group. Our main works include (1 an overview of proposed scheme and its related definitions; (2 topic space construction method based on topic relatedness clustering and its impact (influence degree and popularity degree evaluation; (3 a trust chain model to take user relation network topological information into account with a strength classification perspective; (4 an interest degree (user explicit and implicit interest degree evaluation method based on trust chain among users; and (5 a topic space oriented user group discovering method to group core users according to their explicit interest degrees and to predict ordinary users under implicit interest and user trust chain. Finally, experimental results are given to explain effectiveness and feasibility of our scheme.

The Prosody of Topic Transition in Interaction: Pitch Register Variations.

Science.gov (United States)

Riou, Marine

2017-12-01

In conversation, speakers can mobilize a variety of prosodic cues to signal a switch in topics. This paper uses a mixed-methods approach combining Conversation Analysis and Instrumental Prosody to investigate the prosody of topic transition in American English, and analyzes the ways in which speakers can play on register level and on register span. A cluster of three prosodic parameters was found to be predictive of transitions: a higher maximum fundamental frequency (F0), a higher median F0 (key), and an expanded register span. Relative to speakers' habitual profiles, the mobilization of such prosodic cues corresponds to a marked upgraded prosodic design. This finding is consistent with the general assumption that continuation constitutes the norm in conversation, and that departing from it, as in the case of a topic transition, requires a marked action and marked linguistic design. The disjunctive action of opening a new topic corresponds to the use of a marked prosodic cue.

Topical Treatment of Degenerative Knee Osteoarthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Zengdong; Huang, Rongzhong

2018-01-01

This article reviews topical management strategies for degenerative osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. A search of Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane library using MeSH terms including "topical," "treatment," "knee" and "osteoarthritis" was carried out. Original research and review articles on the effectiveness and safety, recommendations from international published guidelines and acceptability studies of topical preparations were included. Current topical treatments included for the management of knee OA include topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, capsaicin, salicylates and physical treatments such as hot or cold therapy. Current treatment guidelines recommend topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as an alternative and even first-line therapy for OA management, especially among elderly patients. Guidelines on other topical treatments vary, from recommendations against their use, to in favor as alternative or simultaneous therapy, especially for patients with contraindications to other analgesics. Although often well-tolerated and preferred by many patients, clinical care still lags in the adoption of topical treatments. Aspects of efficacy, safety and patient quality of life data require further research. Copyright © 2018 Southern Society for Clinical Investigation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Talking about history: discussions in a middle school inclusive classroom.

Science.gov (United States)

Okolo, Cynthia M; Ferretti, Ralph P; MacArthur, Charles A

2007-01-01

In this study, we examined the nature of whole-class discussion and teachers' instruction during discussion about historical topics in one inclusive, middle-grade classroom. We videotaped and analyzed 4 lessons to determine the nature of discussion sequences, rates of participation, and instructional challenges encountered by the teacher and students. We triangulated our analysis of observational data with teacher interviews. The results showed high rates of student participation, with no differences between students with and without disabilities. The teacher initiated and controlled the discussion, and nearly all student responses were from teacher to student rather than from student to student. The teacher encountered three challenges in developing students' understanding, and we identify specific practices she used to address these challenges. Based on students' response to measures administered by project staff and on their scores on statewide tests, this teacher's practices seemed to be highly effective.

Topical treatment of psoriasis: questionnaire results on topical therapy accessibility and influence of body surface area on usage.

Science.gov (United States)

Iversen, L; Lange, M M; Bissonette, R; Carvalho, A V E; van de Kerkhof, P C; Kirby, B; Kleyn, C E; Lynde, C W; van der Walt, J M; Wu, J J

2017-07-01

Topical treatment of mild to moderate psoriasis is first-line treatment and exhibits varying degrees of success across patient groups. Key factors influencing treatment success are physician topical treatment choice (high efficacy, low adverse events) and strict patient adherence. Currently, no formalized, international consensus guidelines exist to direct optimal topical treatment, although many countries have national guidelines. To describe and analyse cross-regional variations in the use and access of psoriasis topical therapies. The study was conducted as an observational cross-sectional study. A survey was distributed to dermatologists from the International Psoriasis Council (IPC) to assess topical therapy accessibility in 26 countries and to understand how body surface area (BSA) categories guide clinical decisions on topical use. Variation in the availability of tars, topical retinoids, dithranol and balneotherapy was reported. The vast majority of respondents (100% and 88.4%) used topical therapy as first-line monotherapy in situations with BSA 10%, the number of respondents who prescribe topical therapy decreased considerably. In addition, combination therapy of a topical drug and a systemic drug was frequently reported when BSA measured >10%. This physician survey provides new evidence on topical access and the influence of disease severity on topical usage in an effort to improve treatment strategies on a global level. © 2017 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

The Discussion around the agricultural Products Genetically Modified

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gomez H, Andres

2003-01-01

The transgenic products or genetically modified have been product of the vertiginous technological developments related with the sciences of the life and mainly of the genetics. The Introduction of these products to the market has generated big expectations and discussions. It is undoubtedly intention of this paper to provide the reader a conceptual mark that identifies the main arguments exposed by the parts in debate, to identify the most relevant aspects in the international legislation and to describe shortly how the topic is approached in Colombia. They are gathered this way then and the so much arguments of defenders like opponents contain regarding the topic, among those that the improvement, of the productivity and the yields can be included by cultivated meter, the decrease of the malnutrition at world level, environmental risks for possible reductions of the biodiversity and of development of resistant plagues to pesticides or herbicides, among others. At international level the first steps are giving to unify a clear legislation in this respect, although at the moment it is not articulate with other legislations like the World Trade Organization WTO)

Tracking Multiple Topics for Finding Interesting Articles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pon, R K; Cardenas, A F; Buttler, D J; Critchlow, T J

2008-01-03

We introduce multiple topic tracking (MTT) for iScore to better recommend news articles for users with multiple interests and to address changes in user interests over time. As an extension of the basic Rocchio algorithm, traditional topic detection and tracking, and single-pass clustering, MTT maintains multiple interest profiles to identify interesting articles for a specific user given user-feedback. Focusing on only interesting topics enables iScore to discard useless profiles to address changes in user interests and to achieve a balance between resource consumption and classification accuracy. iScore is able to achieve higher quality results than traditional methods such as the Rocchio algorithm. We identify several operating parameters that work well for MTT. Using the same parameters, we show that MTT alone yields high quality results for recommending interesting articles from several corpora. The inclusion of MTT improves iScore's performance by 25% in recommending news articles from the Yahoo! News RSS feeds and the TREC11 adaptive filter article collection. And through a small user study, we show that iScore can still perform well when only provided with little user feedback.

BOOK REVIEW: Advanced Topics in Computational Partial Differential Equations: Numerical Methods and Diffpack Programming

Science.gov (United States)

Katsaounis, T. D.

2005-02-01

Diffpack and MPI are also presented. Chapter 2 presents the overlapping domain decomposition method for solving PDEs. It is well known that these methods are suitable for parallel processing. The first part of the chapter covers the mathematical formulation of the method as well as algorithmic and implementational issues. The second part presents a serial and a parallel implementational framework within the programming environment of Diffpack. The chapter closes by showing how to solve two application examples with the overlapping domain decomposition method using Diffpack. Chapter 3 is a tutorial about how to incorporate the multigrid solver in Diffpack. The method is illustrated by examples such as a Poisson solver, a general elliptic problem with various types of boundary conditions and a nonlinear Poisson type problem. In chapter 4 the mixed finite element is introduced. Technical issues concerning the practical implementation of the method are also presented. The main difficulties of the efficient implementation of the method, especially in two and three space dimensions on unstructured grids, are presented and addressed in the framework of Diffpack. The implementational process is illustrated by two examples, namely the system formulation of the Poisson problem and the Stokes problem. Chapter 5 is closely related to chapter 4 and addresses the problem of how to solve efficiently the linear systems arising by the application of the mixed finite element method. The proposed method is block preconditioning. Efficient techniques for implementing the method within Diffpack are presented. Optimal block preconditioners are used to solve the system formulation of the Poisson problem, the Stokes problem and the bidomain model for the electrical activity in the heart. The subject of chapter 6 is systems of PDEs. Linear and nonlinear systems are discussed. Fully implicit and operator splitting methods are presented. Special attention is paid to how existing solvers for scalar

Proceedings of the 1992 topical meeting on advances in reactor physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-01-01

This document, Volume 1, presents proceedings of the 1992 Topical Meeting on Advances in Reactor Physics on March 8--11, 1992 at Charleston, SC. Session topics were as follows: Code Benchmarks and Validation; Fuel Management; Nodal Methods for Diffusion Theory; Criticality Safety and Applications and Waste; Core Computational Systems; Nuclear Data; Safety Aspects of Heavy Water Reactors; and Space-Time Core Kinetics. The individual papers have been cataloged separately. (FI)

Discussion on verification criterion and method of human factors engineering for nuclear power plant controller

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang Hualong; Liu Yanzi; Jia Ming; Huang Weijun

2014-01-01

In order to prevent or reduce human error and ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plants, control device should be verified from the perspective of human factors engineering (HFE). The domestic and international human factors engineering guidelines about nuclear power plant controller were considered, the verification criterion and method of human factors engineering for nuclear power plant controller were discussed and the application examples were provided for reference in this paper. The results show that the appropriate verification criterion and method should be selected to ensure the objectivity and accuracy of the conclusion. (authors)

Sentiment topic mining based on comment tags

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Daohai; Liu, Xue; Li, Juan; Fan, Mingyue

2018-03-01

With the development of e-commerce, various comments based on tags are generated, how to extract valuable information from these comment tags has become an important content of business management decisions. This study takes HUAWEI mobile phone tags as an example using the sentiment analysis and topic LDA mining method. The first step is data preprocessing and classification of comment tag topic mining. And then make the sentiment classification for comment tags. Finally, mine the comments again and analyze the emotional theme distribution under different sentiment classification. The results show that HUAWEI mobile phone has a good user experience in terms of fluency, cost performance, appearance, etc. Meanwhile, it should pay more attention to independent research and development, product design and development. In addition, battery and speed performance should be enhanced.

Summary of discussions at the ''HIGH pT'' session

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tannenbaum, M.J.

1990-12-01

A summary of the discussion at the HIGH p T session is presented. There was a clear consensus at this session that Jets and Jet Phenomena in Relativistic Heavy Ion collisions would best be studied using leading particles, in the same way that these phenomena were originally mapped out in p-p collisions. The new topic of ''Jet Quenching in Nuclei'' was extensively discussed. It was clear that this proposed phenomenon could also be studied by measuring fragmentation functions in Deeply Inelastic Lepton-Nucleus Scattering; but there was controversy over whether the effect should be seen in proton-Nucleus reactions. Other hard-scattering phenomena, including ''Mini-jets,'' single particle inclusive production, the ''Cronin Effect,'' and direct photon production, are mentioned. 26 refs., 3 figs

Tweet if you want to be sustainable: a thematic analysis of a Twitter chat to discuss sustainability in nurse education.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Janet; Grose, Jane; Nelmes, Pam; Parra, Gema; Linares, Manuel

2016-05-01

To explore the concept of sustainability in nursing using social media as a vehicle for discussion on the topic. There is a need for an increased awareness among nurses of the issues that are crucial for the healthcare sector to prepare for climate change and contribute to sustainable development. However, topics about sustainability and climate change are not a requirement of nursing curricula in Europe; social media provides an opportunity to raise issues and promote discussion. A thematic analysis of a Twitter discussion. A Twitter discussion session hosted by @WeNurses took place on 24 March 2015 over 1 hour. Data were gathered via this online discussion hosted on Twitter, a social media platform. Following the discussion a thematic analysis of the posted Tweets was conducted. One hundred and nineteen people posted nine hundred and ninety six Tweets, a reach of 3,306,368. Tweets broadly followed the questions posted by the team. Several threads related to the sustainable use of healthcare resources and the need to reduce waste was evident. A Word Cloud of the Tweets highlighted prominent words in the discussion: sustainability, nursing/nurses, curriculum, important, waste, practice, resources, student, plastic, health, gloves. Social media is an effective way of engaging nurses and students in a discussion on challenging issues. Sustainability appears to be important for nurses, with a particular emphasis on resource use and the importance of sustainability topics in nurse education. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Topical methotrexate pretreatment enhances the therapeutic effect of topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy on hamster buccal pouch precancers.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Deng-Fu; Lee, Jeng-Woei; Chen, Hsin-Ming; Hsu, Yih-Chih

2014-09-01

Topical 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy (ALA-PDT) is effective for treatment of human oral precancerous lesions. This animal study aimed to assess whether topical methotrexate (MTX) pretreatment could enhance the therapeutic effect of topical ALA-PDT on hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions. Twenty hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions were treated with either topical ALA-PDT with topical MTX pretreatment (topical MTX-ALA-PDT group, n = 10) or topical ALA-PDT alone (topical ALA-PDT group, n = 10). The intracellular protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) level in another 12 precancerous lesions (n = 6 for either the topical MTX-ALA or topical ALA group) was monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy. The intracellular PpIX reached its peak level in precancerous lesions 6.5 hours and 2.5 hours after topical ALA application for the topical MTX-ALA group (5.63-fold higher in the lesion than in the normal mucosa) and topical ALA group (2.42-fold higher in the lesion than in the normal mucosa), respectively. The complete response rate of precancerous lesions was 80% for the topical MTX-ALA-PDT group and 70% for the topical ALA-PDT group. In addition, the topical MTX-ALA-PDT group required a significantly lower mean treatment number (2.1 ± 0.6) to achieve complete response than the topical ALA-PDT group (4.4 ± 1.3, p topical MTX-ALA-PDT group had a lower recurrence rate (12.5%) than the topical ALA-PDT group (28.6%). We conclude that topical MTX-pretreatment can increase intracellular PpIX production in hamster buccal pouch precancerous lesions and significantly improves the outcomes of the precancerous lesions treated with topical ALA-PDT. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Etodolac Containing Topical Niosomal Gel: Formulation Development and Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gyati Shilakari Asthana

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The present study aimed to investigate the delivery potential of Etodolac (ETD containing topical niosomal gel. Niosomal formulations were prepared by thin film hydration method at various ratios of cholesterol and Span 60 and were evaluated with respect to particle size, shape, entrapment efficiency, and in vitro characteristics. Dicetyl phosphate (DCP was also added in the niosomal formulation. Mean particle size of niosomal formulation was found to be in the range of 2 μm to 4 μm. Niosomal formulation N2 (1 : 1 ratio of cholesterol and surfactant displayed good entrapment efficiency (96.72%. TEM analyses showed that niosomal formulation was spherical in shape. Niosomal formulation (N2 displayed high percentage of drug release after 24 h (94.91 at (1 : 1 ratio of cholesterol : surfactant. Further selected niosomal formulation was used to formulate topical gel and was characterized with respect to its various parameters such as pH, viscosity, spreadability, ex vivo study, and in vivo potential permeation. Ex vivo study showed that niosomal gel possessed better skin permeation study than the plain topical gel. Further in vivo study revealed good inhibition of inflammation in case of topical niosomal gel than plain gel and niosomal formulation. The present study suggested that topical niosomal gel formulations provide sustained and prolonged delivery of drug.

Inhibition of Corneal Neovascularization by Topical and Subconjunctival Tigecycline

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sertan Goktas

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To investigate the effects of topical and subconjunctival tigecycline on the prevention of corneal neovascularization. Materials and Methods. Following chemical burn, thirty-two rats were treated daily with topical instillation of 1 mg/mL tigecycline (group 1 or subconjunctival instillation of 1 mg/mL tigecycline (group 3 for 7 days. Control rats received topical (group 2 or subconjunctival (group 4 0.9% saline. Digital photographs of the cornea were taken on the eighth day after treatment and analyzed to determine the percentage area of the cornea covered by neovascularization. Corneal sections were analyzed histopathologically. Results. The median percentages of corneal neovascularization in groups 1 and 3 were 48% (95% confidence interval (CI, 44.2–55.8% and 33.5% (95% CI, 26.6–39.2%, respectively. The median percentages of corneal neovascularization of groups 1 and 3 were significantly lower than that of the control group (P=0.03 and P<0.001, resp.. Histologic examination of samples from groups 1 and 3 showed lower vascularity than that of control groups. Conclusion. Topical and subconjunctival administration of tigecycline seems to be showing promising therapeutic effects on the prevention of corneal neovascularization. Furthermore, subconjunctival administration of tigecycline is more potent than topical administration in the inhibition of corneal neovascularization.

Topics for application of expert systems for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trovato, S.A.; Aydin, F.

1992-01-01

Expert systems are an innovative form of computer software which offer to enhance productivity and improve operations of nuclear power plants. A survey and assessment of opportunities for application of this technology at Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.'s (Con Edison) Indian Point 2 nuclear power plant was conducted. Eleven topics for expert systems are discussed in this paper. 1 ref., 2 figs., 2 tabs

Topic Modeling of Smoking- and Cessation-Related Posts to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Survivor Network (CSN): Implications for Cessation Treatment for Cancer Survivors Who Smoke.

Science.gov (United States)

Westmaas, J Lee; McDonald, Bennett R; Portier, Kenneth M

2017-08-01

Smoking is a risk factor in at least 18 cancers, and approximately two-thirds of cancer survivors continue smoking following diagnosis. Text mining of survivors' online posts related to smoking and quitting could inform strategies to reduce smoking in this vulnerable population. We identified posts containing smoking/cessation-related keywords from the Cancer Survivors Network (CSN), an online cancer survivor community of 166 000 members and over 468 000 posts since inception. Unsupervised topic model analysis of posts since 2000 using Latent Dirichlet Allocation extracted 70 latent topics which two subject experts inspected for themes based on representative terms. Posterior analysis assessed the distribution of topics within posts, and the range of themes discussed across posts. Less than 1% of posts (n = 3998) contained smoking/cessation-related terms, and covered topics related to cancer diagnoses, treatments, and coping. The most frequent smoking-related topics were quit smoking methods (5.4% of posts), and the environment for quitters (2.9% of posts), such as the stigma associated with being a smoker diagnosed with cancer and lack of empathy experienced compared to nonsmokers. Smoking as a risk factor for one's diagnosis was a primary topic in only 1.7% of smoking/cessation-related posts. The low frequency of smoking/cessation-related posts may be due to expected criticism/stigma for smoking but may also suggests a need for health care providers to address smoking and assist with quitting in the diagnostic and treatment process. Topic model analysis revealed potential barriers that should be addressed in devising clinical or population-level interventions for cancer survivors who smoke. Although smoking is a major risk factor for cancer, little is known about cancer patients' or survivors' views or concerns about smoking and quitting. This study used text mining of posts to an online community of cancer patients and survivors to investigate contexts in which

Method of moments in electromagnetics

CERN Document Server

Gibson, Walton C

2007-01-01

Responding to the need for a clear, up-to-date introduction to the field, The Method of Moments in Electromagnetics explores surface integral equations in electromagnetics and presents their numerical solution using the method of moments (MOM) technique. It provides the numerical implementation aspects at a nuts-and-bolts level while discussing integral equations and electromagnetic theory at a higher level. The author covers a range of topics in this area, from the initial underpinnings of the MOM to its current applications. He first reviews the frequency-domain electromagnetic theory and t

(Environmental and geophysical modeling, fracture mechanics, and boundary element methods)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gray, L.J.

1990-11-09

Technical discussions at the various sites visited centered on application of boundary integral methods for environmental modeling, seismic analysis, and computational fracture mechanics in composite and smart'' materials. The traveler also attended the International Association for Boundary Element Methods Conference at Rome, Italy. While many aspects of boundary element theory and applications were discussed in the papers, the dominant topic was the analysis and application of hypersingular equations. This has been the focus of recent work by the author, and thus the conference was highly relevant to research at ORNL.

Competence raising through teaching of ESD environmental key topics implementing “project technology”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gayane Poghosyan

2015-06-01

The UNESCO Chair on “Education for Sustainable Development” at the Center for Ecological-Noosphere Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia in cooperation with the National Institute of Education of the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science are carrying out a series of trainings and seminars for educators and students from pedagogical institutes to increase their competence on key environmental topics in the context of sustainable development implementing project method of teaching. Pedagogical-oriented universities and vocational training institutions have been chosen, where trainings and seminars have been carried out with the best students and the teaching staff using project method. In the result of the trainings and seminars 44 teachers and learners from 5 universities, 3 vocational colleges, 5 high schools, 3 NGOs were trained in 3 regions of the Republic of Armenia (with different environmental problems. Evaluations were carried out and the best tested projects were presented at round table discussions.

Solid-State Lighting 2017 Suggested Research Topics Supplement: Technology and Market Context

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

None, None

2017-09-29

A 2017 update to the Solid-State Lighting R&D Plan that is divided into two documents. The first document describes a list of suggested SSL priority research topics and the second document provides context and background, including information drawn from technical, market, and economic studies. Widely referenced by industry and government both here and abroad, these documents reflect SSL stakeholder inputs on key R&D topics that will improve efficacy, reduce cost, remove barriers to adoption, and add value for LED and OLED lighting solutions over the next three to five years, and discuss those applications that drive and prioritize the specific R&D.

Traditional Persian topical medications for gastrointestinal diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laleh Dehghani Tafti

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Drug delivery across the skin is used for several millennia to ease gastrointestinal (GI ailments in Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM. TPM topical remedies are generally being applied on the stomach, lower abdomen, lower back and liver to alleviate GI illnesses such as dyspepsia, gastritis, GI ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal worms and infections. The aim of the present study is to survey the topical GI remedies and plant species used as ingredients for these remedies in TPM. In addition, pharmacological activities of the mentioned plants have been discussed. For this, we searched major TPM textbooks to find plants used to cure GI problems in topical use. Additionally, scientific databases were searched to obtain pharmacological data supporting the use of TPM plants in GI diseases. Rosa × damascena, Pistacia lentiscus, Malus domestica, Olea europaea and Artemisia absinthium are among the most frequently mentioned ingredients of TPM remedies. β-asarone, amygdalin, boswellic acids, guggulsterone, crocin, crocetin, isomasticadienolic acid, and cyclotides are the most important phytochemicals present in TPM plants with GI-protective activities. Pharmacological studies demonstrated GI activities for TPM plants supporting their extensive traditional use. These plants play pivotal role in alleviating GI disorders through exhibiting numerous activities including antispasmodic, anti-ulcer, anti-secretory, anti-colitis, anti-diarrheal, antibacterial and anthelmintic properties. Several mechanisms underlie these activities including the alleviation of oxidative stress, exhibiting cytoprotective activity, down-regulation of the inflammatory cytokines, suppression of the cellular signaling pathways of inflammatory responses, improving re-epithelialization and angiogenesis, down-regulation of anti-angiogenic factors, blocking activity of acetylcholine, etc.

What Is Education For? A Discussion of Nussbaum's "Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities"

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Jing

2016-01-01

This article provides a discussion of the book, "Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities" by Martha C. Nussbaum from the perspective of a visiting scholar to the United States from China. It begins by addressing two critical topics discussed by Nussbaum: consequences of focusing only on economic growth and the importance of…

Pain-relieving properties of topically applied morphine on arterial leg ulcers: a pilot study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jansen, M.M.; Horst, J.C. van der; Valk, P.G.M. van der; Kuks, P.F.M.; Zylicz, Z.; Sorge, A.A. van

2009-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether topical morphine is pharmacologically effective in relieving pain from ulcers caused by arterial insufficiency and identify whether this effect is centrally or peripherally mediated. METHOD: The analgesic effect of a topically applied hydrogel containing 0.5% of morphine

Activities in a social networking-based discussion group by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography doctors.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Xiaoyu; Zhao, Lina; Liu, Na; Wang, Xiangping; Zhang, Rongchun; Liu, Zhiguo; Liang, Shuhui; Yao, Shaowei; Tao, Qin; Jia, Hui; Pan, Yanglin; Guo, Xuegang

2017-10-01

Online social networking is increasingly being used among medical practitioners. However, few studies have evaluated its use in therapeutic endoscopy. Here, we aimed to analyze the shared topics and activities of a group of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) doctors in a social networking-based endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography discussion group (EDG). Six ERCP trainers working in Xijing Hospital and 48 graduated endoscopists who had finished ERCP training in the same hospital were invited to join in EDG. All group members were informed not to divulge any private information of patients when using EDG. The activities of group members on EDG were retrospectively extracted. The individual data of the graduated endoscopists were collected by a questionnaire. From June 2014 to May 2015, 6924 messages were posted on EDG, half of which were ERCP related. In total, 214 ERCP-related topics were shared, which could be categorized into three types: sharing experience/cases (52.3%), asking questions (38.3%), and sharing literatures/advances (9.3%). Among the 48 graduated endoscopists, 21 had a low case volume of less than 50 per year and 27 had a high volume case volume of 50 or more. High-volume graduated endoscopists posted more ERCP-related messages (P=0.008) and shared more discussion topics (P=0.003) compared with low-volume graduated endoscopists. A survey showed that EDG was useful for graduated endoscopists in ERCP performance and management of post-ERCP complications, etc. A wide range of ERCP-related topics were shared on the social networking-based EDG. The ERCP-related behaviors on EDG were more active in graduated endoscopists with an ERCP case volume of more than 50 per year.

Speckle imaging using the principle value decomposition method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sherman, J.W.

1978-01-01

Obtaining diffraction-limited images in the presence of atmospheric turbulence is a topic of current interest. Two types of approaches have evolved: real-time correction and speckle imaging. A speckle imaging reconstruction method was developed by use of an ''optimal'' filtering approach. This method is based on a nonlinear integral equation which is solved by principle value decomposition. The method was implemented on a CDC 7600 for study. The restoration algorithm is discussed and its performance is illustrated. 7 figures

The economics of wind energy. Collection of papers for discussions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vihriaelae, H [ed.

1996-12-31

This publication contains the proceedings of EWEA Special Topic Conference `95 on the economics of wind energy, held in Helsinki, Finland, on 5-7 September, 1995. The programme consisted of panel discussions and poster presentations on National Programmes and Operational Experience of Wind Energy, Grid Issues and Avoided Direct Costs of Wind Energy, Avoided External Costs of Wind Energy, The Role of Wind Energy in Future Energy Supply and Technical Innovations of Wind Energy

The economics of wind energy. Collection of papers for discussions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vihriaelae, H.

1995-01-01

This publication contains the proceedings of EWEA Special Topic Conference '95 on the economics of wind energy, held in Helsinki, Finland, on 5-7 September, 1995. The programme consisted of panel discussions and poster presentations on National Programmes and Operational Experience of Wind Energy, Grid Issues and Avoided Direct Costs of Wind Energy, Avoided External Costs of Wind Energy, The Role of Wind Energy in Future Energy Supply and Technical Innovations of Wind Energy

The economics of wind energy. Collection of papers for discussions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vihriaelae, H. [ed.

1995-12-31

This publication contains the proceedings of EWEA Special Topic Conference `95 on the economics of wind energy, held in Helsinki, Finland, on 5-7 September, 1995. The programme consisted of panel discussions and poster presentations on National Programmes and Operational Experience of Wind Energy, Grid Issues and Avoided Direct Costs of Wind Energy, Avoided External Costs of Wind Energy, The Role of Wind Energy in Future Energy Supply and Technical Innovations of Wind Energy

Effects of an additional small group discussion to cognitive achievement and retention in basic principles of bioethics teaching methods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dedi Afandi

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Aim The place of ethics in undergraduate medical curricula is essential but the methods of teaching medical ethics did not show substantial changes. “Basic principles of bioethics” is the best knowledge to develop student’s reasoning analysis in medical ethics In this study, we investigate the effects of an additional small group discussion in basic principles of bioethics conventional lecture methods to cognitive achievement and retention. This study was a randomized controlled trial with parallel design. Cognitive scores of the basic principles of bioethics as a parameter was measured using basic principles of bioethics (Kaidah Dasar Bioetika, KDB test. Both groups were attending conventional lectures, then the intervention group got an additional small group discussion.Result Conventional lectures with or without small group discussion significantly increased cognitive achievement of basic principles of bioethics (P= 0.001 and P= 0.000, respectively, and there were significant differences in cognitive achievement and retention between the 2 groups (P= 0.000 and P= 0.000, respectively.Conclusion Additional small group discussion method improved cognitive achievement and retention of basic principles of bioethics. (Med J Indones 2009; 18: 48-52Keywords: lecture, specification checklist, multiple choice questions

Discriminative Relational Topic Models.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Ning; Zhu, Jun; Xia, Fei; Zhang, Bo

2015-05-01

Relational topic models (RTMs) provide a probabilistic generative process to describe both the link structure and document contents for document networks, and they have shown promise on predicting network structures and discovering latent topic representations. However, existing RTMs have limitations in both the restricted model expressiveness and incapability of dealing with imbalanced network data. To expand the scope and improve the inference accuracy of RTMs, this paper presents three extensions: 1) unlike the common link likelihood with a diagonal weight matrix that allows the-same-topic interactions only, we generalize it to use a full weight matrix that captures all pairwise topic interactions and is applicable to asymmetric networks; 2) instead of doing standard Bayesian inference, we perform regularized Bayesian inference (RegBayes) with a regularization parameter to deal with the imbalanced link structure issue in real networks and improve the discriminative ability of learned latent representations; and 3) instead of doing variational approximation with strict mean-field assumptions, we present collapsed Gibbs sampling algorithms for the generalized relational topic models by exploring data augmentation without making restricting assumptions. Under the generic RegBayes framework, we carefully investigate two popular discriminative loss functions, namely, the logistic log-loss and the max-margin hinge loss. Experimental results on several real network datasets demonstrate the significance of these extensions on improving prediction performance.

Uncovering the Topic Landscape of Product-Service System Research: from Sustainability to Value Creation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hakyeon Lee

2018-03-01

Full Text Available As the product-service system (PSS is considered a promising business model that can create more value for customers, PSS research has enjoyed remarkable growth in its volume and coverage over the last decade. This study aims to delineate the thematic landscape of PSS research by identifying latent topics from a large amount of scholarly data. Ten topics of PSS research are identified by applying the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA model to 1229 PSS publications published between 2000 and 2016. The ten PSS topics are briefly reviewed to provide an overview of what has previously been studied in PSS research. We also investigate which topics rise or fall in popularity by identifying hot and cold topics of PSS research. It is observed that the focus of discussions on the benefits of PSS has shifted from sustainability to value creation. Also, increasing attention has been paid to more practical topics such as PSS implementation. The areas of subspecialty of the top ten PSS journals are also examined to explore the interdisciplinary nature of PSS research and thematic differences across disciplines. The findings of this study can provide rich implications for both academia and practice in the field of PSS.

76 FR 37808 - PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.; Notice of Discussion Topics for Staff Technical Conference

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-28

... performance measurement of demand response in PJM's capacity market, the Reliability Pricing Model (RPM). \\1... of PLC during an emergency. II. Capacity Obligations 6. Discuss the capacity obligations of end-use... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [Docket No. ER11-3322-000] PJM...

Mining FDA drug labels using an unsupervised learning technique - topic modeling

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug labels contain a broad array of information, ranging from adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to drug efficacy, risk-benefit consideration, and more. However, the labeling language used to describe these information is free text often containing ambiguous semantic descriptions, which poses a great challenge in retrieving useful information from the labeling text in a consistent and accurate fashion for comparative analysis across drugs. Consequently, this task has largely relied on the manual reading of the full text by experts, which is time consuming and labor intensive. Method In this study, a novel text mining method with unsupervised learning in nature, called topic modeling, was applied to the drug labeling with a goal of discovering “topics” that group drugs with similar safety concerns and/or therapeutic uses together. A total of 794 FDA-approved drug labels were used in this study. First, the three labeling sections (i.e., Boxed Warning, Warnings and Precautions, Adverse Reactions) of each drug label were processed by the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) to convert the free text of each label to the standard ADR terms. Next, the topic modeling approach with latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) was applied to generate 100 topics, each associated with a set of drugs grouped together based on the probability analysis. Lastly, the efficacy of the topic modeling was evaluated based on known information about the therapeutic uses and safety data of drugs. Results The results demonstrate that drugs grouped by topics are associated with the same safety concerns and/or therapeutic uses with statistical significance (P<0.05). The identified topics have distinct context that can be directly linked to specific adverse events (e.g., liver injury or kidney injury) or therapeutic application (e.g., antiinfectives for systemic use). We were also able to identify potential adverse events that

Worldwide Utilization of Topical Remedies in Treatment of Psoriasis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Mathias Tiedemann; Jeyabalan, Janithika; Andersen, Klaus Ejner

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To review published literature describing the global use of topical antipsoriatics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Search for English-language articles in Embase, Pubmed, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library. RESULTS: Fifty-four selected publications were found, describing psoriasis patients' use of ...

Topical anesthesia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mritunjay Kumar

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Topical anesthetics are being widely used in numerous medical and surgical sub-specialties such as anesthesia, ophthalmology, otorhinolaryngology, dentistry, urology, and aesthetic surgery. They cause superficial loss of pain sensation after direct application. Their delivery and effectiveness can be enhanced by using free bases; by increasing the drug concentration, lowering the melting point; by using physical and chemical permeation enhancers and lipid delivery vesicles. Various topical anesthetic agents available for use are eutectic mixture of local anesthetics, ELA-max, lidocaine, epinephrine, tetracaine, bupivanor, 4% tetracaine, benzocaine, proparacaine, Betacaine-LA, topicaine, lidoderm, S-caine patch™ and local anesthetic peel. While using them, careful attention must be paid to their pharmacology, area and duration of application, age and weight of the patients and possible side-effects.

Technical evaluation of the G.E. Transportable Modular AZTECH Plant topical report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henscheid, J.W.; Stalker, A.E.

1985-12-01

This report summarizes EG and G Idaho's review of the General Electric Company's topical report on their Transportable Modular AZTECH Plant. The review evaluated compliance with pertinent codes, standards and regulations. The initial review was discussed with G.E. and all outstanding issues resolved before this final evaluation was made

Comparison and discussion of two types of threat (Hazard) categorization method for nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang, Rongyao; Xu, Xiaoxiao; Zhang, Jiangang; Zhao, Bin

2008-01-01

The emergency threat categorization method suggested by international atomic energy agency (IAEA) and hazard categorization standard by the Department of Energy of United States (USDOE) for nuclear facilities are compared and discussed in this paper. The research shows the two types of categorization method for nuclear facility are similar, though each has its own speciality. The categorization method suggested by IAEA is quite completed and sound in scientific basis. The thresholds of radioactive material are connected with the quantity of dangerous source, and the latest radiobiological effect research results are taken in setting the thresholds. While the main purpose is put on emergency management, some of the categorization criteria do not fit for safety surveillance of nuclear facilities. The categorization method of DOE is advanced in its operability, and it fits for safety surveillance. The disadvantage is that the thresholds of radioactive material need to be updated because the parameters used in calculation is outdated, and also the threshold of category 3 is somewhat disputable for many reasons. We should take advantage of both methods and adjust the standards according to the application purpose while establishing the categorization standard of nuclear facilities in China. (author)

Multi-topic assignment for exploratory navigation of consumer health information in NetWellness using formal concept analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Licong; Xu, Rong; Luo, Zhihui; Wentz, Susan; Scarberry, Kyle; Zhang, Guo-Qiang

2014-08-03

Finding quality consumer health information online can effectively bring important public health benefits to the general population. It can empower people with timely and current knowledge for managing their health and promoting wellbeing. Despite a popular belief that search engines such as Google can solve all information access problems, recent studies show that using search engines and simple search terms is not sufficient. Our objective is to provide an approach to organizing consumer health information for navigational exploration, complementing keyword-based direct search. Multi-topic assignment to health information, such as online questions, is a fundamental step for navigational exploration. We introduce a new multi-topic assignment method combining semantic annotation using UMLS concepts (CUIs) and Formal Concept Analysis (FCA). Each question was tagged with CUIs identified by MetaMap. The CUIs were filtered with term-frequency and a new term-strength index to construct a CUI-question context. The CUI-question context and a topic-subject context were used for multi-topic assignment, resulting in a topic-question context. The topic-question context was then directly used for constructing a prototype navigational exploration interface. Experimental evaluation was performed on the task of automatic multi-topic assignment of 99 predefined topics for about 60,000 consumer health questions from NetWellness. Using example-based metrics, suitable for multi-topic assignment problems, our method achieved a precision of 0.849, recall of 0.774, and F₁ measure of 0.782, using a reference standard of 278 questions with manually assigned topics. Compared to NetWellness' original topic assignment, a 36.5% increase in recall is achieved with virtually no sacrifice in precision. Enhancing the recall of multi-topic assignment without sacrificing precision is a prerequisite for achieving the benefits of navigational exploration. Our new multi-topic assignment method

Topics in atomic physics

CERN Document Server

Burkhardt, Charles E

2006-01-01

The study of atomic physics propelled us into the quantum age in the early twentieth century and carried us into the twenty-first century with a wealth of new and, in some cases, unexplained phenomena. Topics in Atomic Physics provides a foundation for students to begin research in modern atomic physics. It can also serve as a reference because it contains material that is not easily located in other sources. A distinguishing feature is the thorough exposition of the quantum mechanical hydrogen atom using both the traditional formulation and an alternative treatment not usually found in textbooks. The alternative treatment exploits the preeminent nature of the pure Coulomb potential and places the Lenz vector operator on an equal footing with other operators corresponding to classically conserved quantities. A number of difficult to find proofs and derivations are included as is development of operator formalism that permits facile solution of the Stark effect in hydrogen. Discussion of the classical hydrogen...

Qualitative, quantitative, and data mining methods for analyzing log data to characterize students' learning strategies and behaviors [discussant

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baker, Ryan S.J.d.; Gobert, Janice D.; van Joolingen, Wouter

2010-01-01

This symposium addresses how different classes of research methods, all based upon the use of log data from educational software, can facilitate the analysis of students’ learning strategies and behaviors. To this end, four multi-method programs of research are discussed, including the use of

76 FR 81806 - Ophthalmic and Topical Dosage Form New Animal Drugs; Ivermectin Topical Solution

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-29

.... FDA-2011-N-0003] Ophthalmic and Topical Dosage Form New Animal Drugs; Ivermectin Topical Solution... solution of ivermectin. DATES: This rule is effective December 29, 2011. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT... ANADA 200-318 for [[Page 81807

Shaping stereotypical behaviour through the discussion of social stereotypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Laura G E; Postmes, Tom

2011-03-01

In two studies, we demonstrate that small group discussions change the extent to which an activated stereotype affects performance in a relevant domain. In Study 1, female participants were asked why men are (or are not) better than them at maths. They generated their answers individually or through group discussion, and their subsequent maths performance was highest when they collectively challenged the stereotype and lowest when they collectively affirmed the stereotype. When participants affirmed the stereotype through discussion, they used more theories which supported the validity of the stereotype, compared to the individual thought condition; and consensus mediated the effect of group discussion on performance (relative to individual rumination). In Study 2, male and female participants affirmed or challenged the stereotype in same-gender discussion groups. After affirming the stereotype, women's performance decreased relative to their baseline scores and men's performance was 'lifted'. In contrast, when they challenged the stereotype, there was no difference between the performance of men and women on the maths test. This pattern of effects was mediated by confidence in mathematical ability. The findings support the idea that topical small group discussions can, in the short term, differentially alter the impact that stereotypes have on performance. ©2010 The British Psychological Society.

PREFACE: Topics in the application of scattering methods to investigate the structure and dynamics of soft condensed matter

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Sow-Hsin; Baglioni, Piero

2006-09-01

This special issue of Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter gathers together a series of contributions presented at the workshop entitled `Topics in the Application of Scattering Methods to Investigate the Structure and Dynamics of Soft Condensed Matter' held at Pensione Bencista, Fiesole, Italy, a wonderful Italian jewel tucked high in the hills above Florence. This immaculate 14th century villa is a feast for the eyes with antiques and original artwork everywhere you turn, and a stunning view of Florence, overlooking numerous villas and groves of olive trees. The meeting consisted of about 40 invited talks delivered by a selected group of prominent physicists and chemists from the USA, Mexico, Europe and Asia working in the fields of complex and glassy liquids. The topics covered by the talks included: simulations on the liquid-liquid transition phenomenon dynamic crossover in deeply supercooled confined water thermodynamics and dynamics of complex fluids dynamics of interfacial water structural arrest transitions in colloidal systems structure and dynamics in complex systems structure of supramolecular assemblies The choice of topics is obviously heavily biased toward the current interests of the two organizers of the workshop, in view of the fact that one of the incentives for organizing the meeting was to celebrate Sow-Hsin Chen’s life-long scientific activities on the occasion of his 70th birthday. The 21 articles presented in this issue are a state-of-the-art description of the different aspects reported at the workshop from all points of view---experimental, theoretical and numerical. The interdisciplinary nature of the talks should make this special issue of interest to a broad community of scientists involved in the study of the properties of complex fluids, soft condensed matter and disordered glassy systems. We are grateful to the Consorzio per lo Sviluppo dei Sistemi a Grande Interfase (CSGI), Florence, Italy and to the Materials Science Program of

Statistical Methods for Stochastic Differential Equations

CERN Document Server

Kessler, Mathieu; Sorensen, Michael

2012-01-01

The seventh volume in the SemStat series, Statistical Methods for Stochastic Differential Equations presents current research trends and recent developments in statistical methods for stochastic differential equations. Written to be accessible to both new students and seasoned researchers, each self-contained chapter starts with introductions to the topic at hand and builds gradually towards discussing recent research. The book covers Wiener-driven equations as well as stochastic differential equations with jumps, including continuous-time ARMA processes and COGARCH processes. It presents a sp

Meeting of the ITPA Topical Group on Diagnostics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costley, A.E.; Donne, A.J.H.

2002-01-01

The first meeting of the International Tokamak Physics Activities (ITPA) Topical Group (TG) on diagnostics was held at the Ioffe Physical-Technical institute, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, on 14-16 November 2001. In total 38 participants attended the meeting and all four ITPA partners (EU, JA, RF and US) were represented. This summary covers mainly the discussions at the TG meeting. The meeting immediately followed a progress meeting, held in the same location on 12-13 November 2001, on the efforts carried out in the Russian Federation on diagnostics for ITER and burning plasma experiments

Chaos: a topic for interdisciplinary education in physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bae, Saebyok

2009-01-01

Since society and science need interdisciplinary works, the interesting topic of chaos is chosen for interdisciplinary education in physics. The educational programme contains various university-level activities such as computer simulations, chaos experiment and team projects besides ordinary teaching. According to the participants, the programme seems useful and good. In addition, we discuss some issues which can be important to interdisciplinary education in physics: for example the possible difficulties in programme design, the expertise barriers of non-major fields, the role of non-theoretical education in understanding and the project-type team activities

Topical corticosteroid-induced rosacea-like dermatitis: A clinical study of 110 cases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanjay K Rathi

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Prolonged and continuous use of topical steroids leads to rosacea-like dermatitis with variable clinical presentations. Aims: To study the various clinical presentations of patients with topical corticosteroid-induced rosacea-like dermatitis (TCIRD, who had a history of prolonged and repeated use of topical steroids for reasons other than the known disease entities. Methods: A total of 110 patients were enrolled for the study over a period of 2 years, excluding all those with the known disease entity in which topical steroids were commonly used. Detailed history which also included the source and the type of topical steroid use was taken along with clinical examination. Results: There were 12 males and 98 females with their age ranging from 18 to 54 years. The duration of topical steroid use ranged from 4 months to 20 years. The most common clinical presentation was diffuse erythema of the face. Most of the patients had rebound phenomenon on discontinuation of the steroid. The most common topical steroid used was Betamethasone valerate, which could be due to its easy availability and low cost. Conclusion: Varied clinical presentations are seen with prolonged and continuous use of topical steroids. The treatment of this dermatitis is difficult, requiring complete cessation of the offending steroid, usually done in a tapering fashion.

Topical sirolimus for the treatment of angiofibromas in tuberous sclerosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salih Levent Cinar

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The skin is one of the most affected organs in tuberous sclerosis complex and angiofibromas are seen in almost 80% of such patients. These benign tumors impose a great psycho-social burden on patients. Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness and tolerability of topical sirolimus for facial angiofibromas in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex. Methods: This was a prospective, single-blinded, cross-over study which involved twelve patients. We investigated the effect and safety of topical 0.1% sirolimus, which was obtained by crushing sirolimus tablets and mixing it with petrolatum. The patients were asked to apply the cream to one side of their face, and vaseline to the other side. The effect of topical sirolimus was evaluated using the “facial angiofibroma severity index.” Results: There was a significant improvement in the redness and extension of the tumors on the sides to which the active ingredient was applied. Some side effects such as itching and irritation occurred in three patients, which were treated with topical hydrocortisone cream. Conclusion: Topical sirolimus appears to be a promising, fairly well tolerated treatment for facial angiofibromas in patients with tuberous sclerosis complex. Although its efficacy diminishes with time, repetitive usage is effective.

Building bridges across electronic health record systems through inferred phenotypic topics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, You; Ghosh, Joydeep; Bejan, Cosmin Adrian; Gunter, Carl A; Gupta, Siddharth; Kho, Abel; Liebovitz, David; Sun, Jimeng; Denny, Joshua; Malin, Bradley

2015-06-01

Data in electronic health records (EHRs) is being increasingly leveraged for secondary uses, ranging from biomedical association studies to comparative effectiveness. To perform studies at scale and transfer knowledge from one institution to another in a meaningful way, we need to harmonize the phenotypes in such systems. Traditionally, this has been accomplished through expert specification of phenotypes via standardized terminologies, such as billing codes. However, this approach may be biased by the experience and expectations of the experts, as well as the vocabulary used to describe such patients. The goal of this work is to develop a data-driven strategy to (1) infer phenotypic topics within patient populations and (2) assess the degree to which such topics facilitate a mapping across populations in disparate healthcare systems. We adapt a generative topic modeling strategy, based on latent Dirichlet allocation, to infer phenotypic topics. We utilize a variance analysis to assess the projection of a patient population from one healthcare system onto the topics learned from another system. The consistency of learned phenotypic topics was evaluated using (1) the similarity of topics, (2) the stability of a patient population across topics, and (3) the transferability of a topic across sites. We evaluated our approaches using four months of inpatient data from two geographically distinct healthcare systems: (1) Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) and (2) Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). The method learned 25 phenotypic topics from each healthcare system. The average cosine similarity between matched topics across the two sites was 0.39, a remarkably high value given the very high dimensionality of the feature space. The average stability of VUMC and NMH patients across the topics of two sites was 0.988 and 0.812, respectively, as measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. Also the VUMC and NMH topics have smaller variance of characterizing

Recent Advances In Topical Therapy In Dermatology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohan Thappa Devinder

2003-01-01

Full Text Available With changing times various newer topical agents are introduced in the field of dermatology. Tacrolimus and pimecrolimus are immunisuppressants, which are effective topically and are tried in the management of atopic dermatitis as well as other disorders including allergic contact dermatitis, atrophic lichen planus, pyoderma gangrenosum. Imiquimod, an immune response modifier, is presently in use for genital warts but has potentials as anti- tumour agent and in various other dermatological conditions when used topically. Tazarotene is a newer addition to the list of topical reginoids, which is effective in psoriasis and has better effect in combination with calcipotriene, phototherapy and topical costicosteroids. Tazarotene and adapelene are also effective in inflammatory acne. Calcipotriol, a vitamin D analogue has been introduced as a topical agent in the treatment of psoriasis. Steroid components are also developed recently which will be devoid of the side effects but having adequate anti-inflammatory effect. Topical photodynamic therapy has also a wide range of use in dermatology. Newer topical agents including cidofovir, capsaicin, topical sensitizers, topical antifungal agents for onychomycosis are also of use in clinical practice. Other promising developments include skin substitutes and growth factors for wound care.

Science teacher orientations and PCK across science topics in grade 9 earth science

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Todd; Melville, Wayne; Goodwin, Dawne

2017-07-01

While the literature is replete with studies examining teacher knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), few studies have investigated how science teacher orientations (STOs) shape classroom instruction. Therefore, this research explores the interplay between a STOs and the topic specificity of PCK across two science topics within a grade 9 earth science course. Through interviews and observations of one teacher's classroom across two sequentially taught, this research contests the notion that teachers hold a single way of conceptualising science teaching and learning. In this, we consider if multiple ontologies can provide potential explanatory power for characterising instructional enactments. In earlier work with the teacher in this study, using generic interview prompts and general discussions about science teaching and learning, we accepted the existence of a unitary STO and its promise of consistent reformed instruction in the classroom. However, upon close examination of instruction focused on different science topics, evidence was found to demonstrate the explanatory power of multiple ontologies for shaping characteristically different epistemological constructions across science topics. This research points to the need for care in generalising about teacher practice, as it reveals that a teacher's practice, and orientation, can vary, dependent on the context and science topics taught.

Diffusion-synthetic acceleration methods for discrete-ordinates problems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsen, E.W.

1984-01-01

The diffusion-synthetic acceleration (DSA) method is an iterative procedure for obtaining numerical solutions of discrete-ordinates problems. The DSA method is operationally more complicated than the standard source-iteration (SI) method, but if encoded properly it converges much more rapidly, especially for problems with diffusion-like regions. In this article we describe the basic ideas behind the DSA method and give a (roughly chronological) review of its long development. We conclude with a discussion which covers additional topics, including some remaining open problems an the status of current efforts aimed at solving these problems

Evolving guidelines in the use of topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Balmaceda, Casilda M

2014-01-21

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a standard treatment for osteoarthritis (OA), but the use of oral NSAIDs has been linked to an elevated risk for cardiovascular and gastrointestinal adverse events and renal toxicity. Topical NSAIDs are thought to afford efficacy that is comparable to oral formulations while reducing widespread systemic drug exposure, which may provide a benefit in terms of safety and tolerability. As a result, European treatment guidelines have, for many years, recommended the use of topical NSAIDs as a safe and effective treatment option for OA. Following the recent approval of several topical NSAID formulations by the US Food and Drug Administration, US treatment guidelines are increasingly recommending the use of topical NSAIDs as an alternative therapy and, in some cases, as a first-line option for OA. This commentary summarizes OA treatment guidelines that are currently available and discusses their potential evolution with regard to the increased inclusion of topical NSAIDs.

Discussion in Postsecondary Classrooms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Curt Dudley-Marling

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Spoken language is, arguably, the primary means by which teachers teach and students learn. Much of the literature on language in classrooms has focused on discussion that is seen as both a method of instruction and a curricular outcome. While much of the research on discussion has focused on K-12 classrooms, there is also a body of research examining the efficacy of discussion in postsecondary settings. This article provides a review of this literature in order to consider the effect of discussion on student learning in college and university classrooms, the prevalence of discussion in postsecondary settings, and the quality of discussion in these settings. In general, the results of research on the efficacy of discussion in postsecondary settings are mixed. More seriously, researchers have not been explicit about the meaning of discussion and much of what is called discussion in this body of research is merely recitation with minimal levels of student participation. Although the research on discussion in college and university classrooms is inconclusive, some implications can be drawn from this review of the research including the need for future researchers to clearly define what they mean by “discussion.”

Technical evaluation of the ATI volume reduction and bitumen solidification topical report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henscheid, J.W.; Young, T.E.

1985-01-01

This report summarizes EG and G Idaho's review of the Associated Technologies Inorporated (ATI) topical report on a Volume Reduction and Bitumen Solidification System. The review evaluated compliance with pertinent codes, standards and regulations. The initial review was discussed with ATI, and all outstanding issues resolved before this final evaluation was made

The Effectiveness of Topical Pimecrolimus in the Treatment of Oral Lichen Planus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehmet Kamil Mülayim

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Oral lichen planus (OLP is a chronic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology that affects the skin and the mucosa, especially the oral mucosa. Several therapeutic agents have been investigated for the treatment of OLP. All agents used in the OLP therapy are palliative. Potent topical steroids are used as the conventional therapy for OLP. Since side-effects or steroid resistance may be encountered, alternative treatments may be necessary. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the topical pimecrolimus in the treatment of OLP. Methods: Seventeen patients with OLP were recruited into this study. Topical pimecrolimus 1% cream was applied twice a day to the affected areas. Patients were followed up for 3-6 months. Photographs of the lesions were taken and analyzed for areas of ulceration, erythema, and reticulation in every clinical examination. Results: We found that topical pimecrolimus 1% cream was an effective treatment for OLP. Two patients could not complete the treatment protocol because of the side effects such as local irritation and nausea. Conclusion: Topical pimecrolimus may be a valuable second treatment choice for patients with steroid-related side-effects or steroid-resistant OLP. However further randomized controlled studies have to be conducted to compare conventional treatment of topical corticosteroid with topical pimecrolimus.

Topical therapies in the management of chronic rhinosinusitis: an evidence-based review with recommendations.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudmik, Luke; Hoy, Monica; Schlosser, Rodney J; Harvey, Richard J; Welch, Kevin C; Lund, Valerie; Smith, Timothy L

2013-04-01

Topical therapies have become an integral component in the management plan for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Several topical therapy strategies have been evaluated, but a formal comprehensive evaluation of the evidence has never been performed. The purpose of this article is to provide an evidence-based approach for the utilization of topical therapies in the management of CRS. A systematic review of the literature was performed and the guidelines for development of an evidence-based review with recommendations were followed. Study inclusion criteria were: adult population >18 years old; chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) based on published diagnostic criteria; and clearly defined primary clinical end-point. We focused on reporting higher-quality studies (level 2b or higher), but reported on lower-level studies if the topic contained insufficient evidence. We excluded drug-eluting spacer and stent therapy from this review. This review identified and evaluated the literature on 5 topical therapy strategies for CRS: saline irrigation, topical steroid, topical antibiotic, topical antifungal, and topical alternatives (surfactant, manuka honey, and xylitol irrigations). Based on the available evidence, sinonasal saline irrigation and standard topical nasal steroid therapy are recommended in the topical treatment of CRS. Nonstandard (off-label) topical sinonasal steroid therapies can be an option for managing CRS. The evidence recommends against the use of topical antifungal therapy and topical antibiotic therapy delivered using nebulized and spray techniques in routine cases of CRS. There is insufficient clinical research to provide recommendations for alternative therapies or topical antibiotic therapy delivered using other delivery methods (eg, irrigations). © 2013 ARS-AAOA, LLC.

SU-A-BRA-05: Panel Discussion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Montemayor, V.

2016-01-01

Vic Montemayor - No one has been more passionate about improving the quality and effectiveness of the teaching of Medical Physics than Bill Hendee. It was in August of 2008 that the first AAPM Workshop on Becoming a Better Teacher of Medical Physics was held, organized and run by Bill Hendee. This was followed up in July of 2010 with a summer school on the same topic, again organized by Bill. There has been continued interest in alternate approaches to teaching medical physics since those initial gatherings. The momentum established by these workshops is made clear each year in the annual Innovation in Medical Physics Education session, which highlights work being done in all forms of medical physics education, from one-on-one residencies or classroom presentations to large-scale program revisions and on-line resources for international audiences. This symposium, presented on behalf of the Education Council, highlights the work of three finalists from past Innovation in Education sessions. Each will be presenting their approaches to and innovations in teaching medical physics. It is hoped that audience members interested in trying something new in their teaching of medical physics will find some of these ideas and approaches readily applicable to their own classrooms. Rebecca Howell - The presentation will discuss ways to maximize classroom learning, i.e., increasing the amount of material covered while also enhancing students’ understanding of the broader implications of the course topics. Specifically, the presentation will focus on two teaching methodologies, project based learning and flip learning. These teaching methods will be illustrated using an example of graduate medical physics course where both are used in conjunction with traditional lectures. Additionally, the presentation will focus on our experience implementing these methods including challenges that were overcome. Jay Burmeister - My presentation will discuss the incorporation of active

SU-A-BRA-05: Panel Discussion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Montemayor, V. [Germantown Academy (United States)

2016-06-15

Vic Montemayor - No one has been more passionate about improving the quality and effectiveness of the teaching of Medical Physics than Bill Hendee. It was in August of 2008 that the first AAPM Workshop on Becoming a Better Teacher of Medical Physics was held, organized and run by Bill Hendee. This was followed up in July of 2010 with a summer school on the same topic, again organized by Bill. There has been continued interest in alternate approaches to teaching medical physics since those initial gatherings. The momentum established by these workshops is made clear each year in the annual Innovation in Medical Physics Education session, which highlights work being done in all forms of medical physics education, from one-on-one residencies or classroom presentations to large-scale program revisions and on-line resources for international audiences. This symposium, presented on behalf of the Education Council, highlights the work of three finalists from past Innovation in Education sessions. Each will be presenting their approaches to and innovations in teaching medical physics. It is hoped that audience members interested in trying something new in their teaching of medical physics will find some of these ideas and approaches readily applicable to their own classrooms. Rebecca Howell - The presentation will discuss ways to maximize classroom learning, i.e., increasing the amount of material covered while also enhancing students’ understanding of the broader implications of the course topics. Specifically, the presentation will focus on two teaching methodologies, project based learning and flip learning. These teaching methods will be illustrated using an example of graduate medical physics course where both are used in conjunction with traditional lectures. Additionally, the presentation will focus on our experience implementing these methods including challenges that were overcome. Jay Burmeister - My presentation will discuss the incorporation of active

Topics in elementary particle physics

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Xiang

The author of this thesis discusses two topics in elementary particle physics: n-ary algebras and their applications to M-theory (Part I), and functional evolution and Renormalization Group flows (Part II). In part I, Lie algebra is extended to four different n-ary algebraic structure: generalized Lie algebra, Filippov algebra, Nambu algebra and Nambu-Poisson tensor; though there are still many other n-ary algebras. A natural property of Generalized Lie algebras — the Bremner identity, is studied, and proved with a totally different method from its original version. We extend Bremner identity to n-bracket cases, where n is an arbitrary odd integer. Filippov algebras do not focus on associativity, and are defined by the Fundamental identity. We add associativity to Filippov algebras, and give examples of how to construct Filippov algebras from su(2), bosonic oscillator, Virasoro algebra. We try to include fermionic charges into the ternary Virasoro-Witt algebra, but the attempt fails because fermionic charges keep generating new charges that make the algebra not closed. We also study the Bremner identity restriction on Nambu algebras and Nambu-Poisson tensors. So far, the only example 3-algebra being used in physics is the BLG model with 3-algebra A4, describing two M2-branes interactions. Its extension with Nambu algebra, BLG-NB model, is believed to describe infinite M2-branes condensation. Also, there is another propose for M2-brane interactions, the ABJM model, which is constructed by ordinary Lie algebra. We compare the symmetry properties between them, and discuss the possible approaches to include these three models into a grand unification theory. In Part II, we give an approximate solution for Schroeder's equations, based on series and conjugation methods. We use the logistic map as an example, and demonstrate that this approximate solution converges to known analytical solutions around the fixed point, around which the approximate solution is constructed

Topic Modeling of Hierarchical Corpora /

OpenAIRE

Kim, Do-kyum

2014-01-01

The sizes of modern digital libraries have grown beyond our capacity to comprehend manually. Thus we need new tools to help us in organizing and browsing large corpora of text that do not require manually examining each document. To this end, machine learning researchers have developed topic models, statistical learning algorithms for automatic comprehension of large collections of text. Topic models provide both global and local views of a corpus; they discover topics that run through the co...

Intravenous Foscarnet With Topical Cidofovir for Chronic Refractory Genital Herpes in a Patient With AIDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Usoro, Agnes; Batts, Alfreda; Sarria, Juan C

2015-01-01

Few case reports have documented the use of topical cidofovir for refractory genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) ulcers in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients. This drug formulation lacks a standardized concentration or even a procedural outline as to how it should be compounded. We aim to discuss the utilization of topical cidofovir in addition to presenting a procedural means of compounding it for treatment of refractory genital HSV ulcers. Our patient completed 21 days of intravenous foscarnet and 13 days of topical cidofovir with clinical improvement in the penile and scrotal ulcers. Genital herpes is a concern in patients with HIV because it generally manifests as a persistent infection. Physicians should be aware that when patients fail to respond to the conventional treatment regimens for genital HSV in a timely manner, other options are available, such as topical cidofovir as an adjuvant to systemic antivirals.

Intravenous Foscarnet With Topical Cidofovir for Chronic Refractory Genital Herpes in a Patient With AIDS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnes Usoro BSN

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Few case reports have documented the use of topical cidofovir for refractory genital herpes simplex virus (HSV ulcers in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV infected patients. This drug formulation lacks a standardized concentration or even a procedural outline as to how it should be compounded. We aim to discuss the utilization of topical cidofovir in addition to presenting a procedural means of compounding it for treatment of refractory genital HSV ulcers. Our patient completed 21 days of intravenous foscarnet and 13 days of topical cidofovir with clinical improvement in the penile and scrotal ulcers. Genital herpes is a concern in patients with HIV because it generally manifests as a persistent infection. Physicians should be aware that when patients fail to respond to the conventional treatment regimens for genital HSV in a timely manner, other options are available, such as topical cidofovir as an adjuvant to systemic antivirals.

Testosterone Topical

Science.gov (United States)

... not apply any testosterone topical products to your penis or scrotum or to skin that has sores, ... are severe or do not go away: breast enlargement and/or pain decreased sexual desire acne depression ...

Credibility improves topical blog post retrieval

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weerkamp, W.; de Rijke, M.

2008-01-01

Topical blog post retrieval is the task of ranking blog posts with respect to their relevance for a given topic. To improve topical blog post retrieval we incorporate textual credibility indicators in the retrieval process. We consider two groups of indicators: post level (determined using

Comparison of topical capsaicin and topical turpentine oil for treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Musharraf, M.U.; Ahmed, Z.

2017-01-01

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a pandemic of the modern era owing to our rapidly deteriorating lifestyle. Painful diabetic neuropathy is one of the costliest and disabling complications of diabetes mellitus. No single treatment exists to prevent or reverse neuropathic changes or to provide total pain relief. Topical Capsaicin and Turpentine Oil are found to be effective in treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy. Methods: Patients of either gender with ages between 18 and 70 years having painful diabetic neuropathy already taking one oral drug for painful neuropathy and treatment for diabetes mellitus and an HbA1C less than 8.5% were included while Pregnant or lactating mothers, patients with chronic liver disease and patients with renal insufficiency (creatinine >3.0 mg/dl) and peripheral arterial disease were excluded from study. Patients were randomly divided into two groups (A and B) using computer generated random number table. Group A was given topical application of capsaicin while Group B was given topical application of commercially available turpentine oil over painful site on feet. Results: 300 patients were equally divided in two groups. The patients in group A had a Visual Analog Pain Score of 7.91±5.10 at baseline and 5.10±1.343 after 3 months of treatment (p-value 0.0001). The patients in group B had a Visual Analog Pain Score of 7.83±1.012 at baseline and 5.20±1.187 after 3 months of treatment (p-value 0.0001). Chi Square test was applied to compare efficacy of both groups. It was noted that 71 (53%) had efficacy in group A and 63 (47%) had efficacy in the group B but the difference was not statistically significant. (p-value=0.399). Conclusion: It has been concluded that turpentine oil is effective in managing diabetic neuropathic pain similar to capsaicin cream.

Increasing topical anesthetic efficacy with microneedle application.

Science.gov (United States)

Buhsem, Ömer; Aksoy, Alper; Kececi, Yavuz; Sir, Emin; Güngör, Melike

2016-10-01

Since topical anesthetics alone seldom provide adequate analgesia for laser resurfacing procedures, injectable forms of anesthesia are often required. However, their application is uncomfortable for the patient. In this study, it is investigated whether microneedle application would enhance the efficacy of topical anesthetics. Forty-seven patients participated in the study. Topical anesthetic agent EMLA was applied to the whole face of the patients. Microneedle treatment was applied to one side of the face with a roller-type device. Whole-face carbon dioxide laser resurfacing therapy was carried out then. The pain that patients experienced was assessed by using visual analog scale (VAS) method. VAS scores of two sides of the face were compared by using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The mean of VAS score of the microneedle treated side was 2.1 ± 1.1 while that of the untreated side was 5.9 ± 0.9 and this difference was statistically significant (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, the Z-value is - 5.9683 and the p-value is < 0.001). This study revealed that microneedle application, with a roller-type device, is a safe and easy procedure in providing sufficient anesthesia for facial laser resurfacing without the need for supplementary nerve blocks or injections.

Topic prominence in Chinese EFL learners’ interlanguage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaopeng Li

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The present study aims to investigate the general characteristics of topicprominent typological interlanguage development of Chinese learners of English in terms of acquiring subject-prominent English structures from a discourse perspective. Topic structures mainly appear in Chinese discourse in the form of topic chains (Wang, 2002; 2004. The research target are the topic chain, which is the main topic-prominent structure in Chinese discourse, and zero anaphora, which is the most common topic anaphora in the topic chain. Two important findings emerged from the present study. First, the characteristics of Chinese topic chains are transferrable to the interlanguage of Chinese EFL learners, thus resulting in overgeneralization of the zero anaphora. Second, the interlanguage discourse of Chinese EFL learners reflects a change of the second language acquisition process from topic-prominence to subject-prominence, thus lending support to the discourse transfer hypothesis.

A study of topics for distance education-A survey of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees

Science.gov (United States)

Ratz, Joan M.; Schuster, Rudy M.; Marcy, Ann H.

2011-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify training topics and distance education technologies preferred by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees. This study was conducted on behalf of the National Conservation Training Center to support their distance education strategy planning and implementation. When selecting survey recipients, we focused on employees in positions involving conservation and environmental education and outreach programming. We conducted the study in two phases. First, we surveyed 72 employees to identify useful training topics. The response rate was 61 percent; respondents were from all regions and included supervisors and nonsupervisors. Five topics for training were identified: creating and maintaining partnerships (partnerships), technology, program planning and development (program planning), outreach methods to engage the community (outreach methods), and evaluation methods. In the second phase, we surveyed 1,488 employees to assess preferences for training among the five topics identified in the first survey and preferences among six distance education technologies: satellite television, video conferencing, audio conferencing, computer mediated training, written resources, and audio resources. Two types of instructor-led training were included on the survey to compare to the technology options. Respondents were asked what types of information, such as basic facts or problem solving skills, were needed for each of the five topics. The adjusted response rate was 64 percent; respondents were from all regions and included supervisors and nonsupervisors. The results indicated clear preferences among respondents for certain training topics and technologies. All five training topics were valued, but the topics of partnerships and technology were given equal value and were valued more than the other three topics. Respondents indicated a desire for training on the topics of partnerships, technology, program planning, and outreach methods. For

Linear algebra and matrices topics for a second course

CERN Document Server

Shapiro, Helene

2015-01-01

Linear algebra and matrix theory are fundamental tools for almost every area of mathematics, both pure and applied. This book combines coverage of core topics with an introduction to some areas in which linear algebra plays a key role, for example, block designs, directed graphs, error correcting codes, and linear dynamical systems. Notable features include a discussion of the Weyr characteristic and Weyr canonical forms, and their relationship to the better-known Jordan canonical form; the use of block cyclic matrices and directed graphs to prove Frobenius's theorem on the structure of the eigenvalues of a nonnegative, irreducible matrix; and the inclusion of such combinatorial topics as BIBDs, Hadamard matrices, and strongly regular graphs. Also included are McCoy's theorem about matrices with property P, the Bruck-Ryser-Chowla theorem on the existence of block designs, and an introduction to Markov chains. This book is intended for those who are familiar with the linear algebra covered in a typical first c...

Simplifying Skin Disease Diagnosis with Topical Nanotechnology.

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Yeo, David C; Xu, Chenjie

2018-05-01

A new study published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering 1 documents a novel diagnostic technology that exploits topically applied nanotechnology to detect skin tissue biomarkers for diagnosis. This concept is demonstrated by noninvasively imaging connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) mRNA in abnormal scar cells, whole tissue, and animal models. In this commentary, we highlight the main findings and discuss their implications. Successful implementation in the clinic could give rise to self-applied, biopsy-free diagnostic technology and significantly reduce healthcare burden. Crucially, noninvasive visualization of disease biomarkers, mobile device signal acquisition, and Internet-enabled transmission could significantly transform the diagnosis of skin disease and other superficial tissues.

Nuclear denotation: a topic for global public health concern

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wiwanitkit, Viroj

2011-01-01

In mid of March 2011, a big Tsunami attacked Japan and caused serious destruction. In addition to the destroyed infrastructure, disruption of the nuclear plants occurred and this is the origin of the big problem of nuclear denotation which is of present concern. Nuclear denotation is an actually interesting new problem that affects a large group of world population. This situation is new and requires our attention in a global level. In this article, the author summarizes and discusses this important topic

Soaps and Germicides as Adjunct Topical Antimycotic Agents on ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: The study aims at evaluating the potentials of soaps and germicides / disinfectants as adjunct topical anti-vulvovaginal candidasis agents. Methods: In vitro inhibitory activities of the test agents, prepared according to the manufacturer's specification for toilet and midwifery purposes were determined using modified ...

Topical report review status: Volume 10

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-03-01

This report provides industry with procedures for submitting topical reports, guidance on how the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) processes and responds to topical report submittals, and an accounting, with review schedules, of all topical reports currently accepted for review by the NRC. This report is published annually

Non-adherence to topical treatments for actinic keratosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shergill B

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Bav Shergill,1 Simon Zokaie,2 Alison J Carr3 1Department of Dermatology, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, Elm Grove, Brighton, UK; 2Leo Pharma, Princes Risborough, 3Hamell, London, UK Background: There is limited information on the patterns of use, adherence rates, and factors that impact adherence with topical treatments for actinic keratosis (AK. Objectives: To establish patterns of use and adherence with topical treatments for AK and to identify treatment-related factors that impact on adherence. Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional study was performed using a standardized questionnaire completed online or via telephone interview. Patients were stratified according to the presence of AK lesions on the scalp and/or other extremities; and presence of scarring resulting from treatment. Results: This study included 305 patients with AK who were currently using a patient-applied topical therapy for AK or had used one within the previous 12 months. In total, 88% (n = 268/305 of patients were either non-adherent, non-persistent or both non-adherent and non-persistent to topical therapy. Duration of treatment was associated with increasing rates of non-adherence (adjusted odds ratio [OR]; for treatment durations greater than 4 weeks, 2.2, P < 0.01: 52% of patients were non-adherent with 3–4 week treatment duration; 69% of patients with 4–8 week treatment duration; and 71% of patients with 6–12 week treatment duration. There were similar increases in non-persistence with increasing treatment duration (adjusted OR; for treatment durations greater than 4 weeks, 2.1, P < 0.05. Conclusion: This study found high rates of non-adherence and non-persistence in patients with AK. Duration of treatment was a significant factor contributing to non-adherence and non-persistence to topical treatments. Patient-applied topical therapies that require less frequent application and have shorter treatment duration may be associated with improved

What’s all the talk about? Topic modelling in a mental health Internet support group

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bradley Carron-Arthur

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The majority of content in an Internet Support Group (ISG is contributed by 1 % of the users (‘super users’. Computational methods, such as topic modelling, can provide a large-scale quantitative objective description of this content. Such methods may provide a new perspective on the nature of engagement on ISGs including the role of super users and their possible effect on other users. Methods A topic model was computed for all posts (N = 131,004 in the ISG BlueBoard using Latent Dirichlet Allocation. A model containing 25 topics was selected on the basis of intelligibility as determined by diagnostic metrics and qualitative investigation. This model yielded 21 substantive topics for further analysis. Two chi-square tests were conducted separately for each topic to ascertain: (i if the odds of super users’ and other users’ posting differed for each topic; and (ii if for super users the odds of posting differed depending on whether the response was to a super user or to another user. Results The 21 substantive topics covered a range of issues related to mental health and peer-support. There were significantly higher odds that super users wrote content on 13 topics, with the greatest effects being for Parenting Role (OR [95%CI] = 7.97 [7.85–8.10], Co-created Fiction (4.22 [4.17–4.27], Mental Illness (3.13 [3.11–3.16] and Positive Change (2.82 [2.79–2.84]. There were significantly lower odds for super users on 7 topics, with the greatest effects being for the topics Depression (OR = 0.27 [0.27–0.28], Medication (0.36 [0.36–0.37], Therapy (0.55 [0.54–0.55] and Anxiety (0.55 [0.55–0.55]. However, super users were significantly more likely to write content on 5 out of these 7 topics when responding to other users than when responding to fellow super users. Conclusions The findings suggest that super users serve the role of emotionally supportive companions with a focus on topics broadly

Chiropractic: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... for back pain (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Chiropractic updates by ... ENCYCLOPEDIA Chiropractic care for back pain Related Health Topics Back Pain Complementary and Integrative Medicine National Institutes ...

Diets: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Mediterranean diet (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Diets updates by ... foods Diet-busting foods Mediterranean diet Related Health Topics Child Nutrition DASH Eating Plan Diabetic Diet Nutrition ...

Colonoscopy: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Virtual colonoscopy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Colonoscopy updates by ... Colonoscopy Colonoscopy discharge Sigmoidoscopy Virtual colonoscopy Related Health Topics Colonic Diseases Colonic Polyps Colorectal Cancer National Institutes ...

Dialysis: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... access for hemodialysis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Dialysis updates by ... for hemodialysis Show More Show Less Related Health Topics Creatinine Kidney Cysts Kidney Failure Peritoneal Disorders National ...

Menopause: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish What is Menopause? (National Institute on Aging) Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Menopause updates by ... test Menopause Types of hormone therapy Related Health Topics Hormone Replacement Therapy Menstruation Premature Ovarian Failure National ...

Vaginitis: MedlinePlus Health Topic

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... Spanish Vulvovaginitis - overview (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish Topic Image MedlinePlus Email Updates Get Vaginitis updates by ... Vaginitis test - wet mount Vulvovaginitis - overview Related Health Topics Trichomoniasis Vaginal Diseases Yeast Infections Other Languages Find ...

In touch with psoriasis: topical treatments and current guidelines.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Murphy, G

2012-02-01

This article describes topical therapies and treatment guidelines for psoriasis and is based on a presentation given by the authors at a satellite symposium held during the 19th Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 6-10 October, 2010, in Gothenburg, Sweden. The highly variable nature of psoriasis and its individual presentation in patients can make it difficult to choose the most appropriate treatment. There are many treatment options, from topical treatment with emollients for very mild psoriasis, to systemic therapy with fumaric acid esters, methotrexate or biologics for severe disease. For the treatment of mild-to-moderate psoriasis, topical therapy is generally the most appropriate and a variety of options, both historical and recent, are available. Newer therapies offer greater convenience and fewer side-effects. Of the more recently available therapies, vitamin D analogues and topical corticosteroids are the two with the greatest proven efficacy in randomized clinical trials. A recent Cochrane review showed the highest efficacy overall with the fixed combination vitamin D analogue (calcipotriol) and corticosteroid (betamethasone dipropionate). Indeed, clinical trials have shown that two-compound calcipotriol\\/betamethasone dipropionate ointment has higher efficacy than calcipotriol or betamethasone dipropionate alone. With regard to safety, two-compound calcipotriol\\/betamethasone dipropionate was shown to be suitable for intermittent long-term treatment of mild-to-moderate psoriasis. The findings of the Cochrane review are reflected in the current treatment guidelines from the USA and Germany regarding the treatment of mild-to-moderate psoriasis. In both these guidelines, which will be discussed in this article, the recommended treatments for this patient group are vitamin D analogues and corticosteroids, particularly when used in combination.

In touch with psoriasis: topical treatments and current guidelines.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Murphy, G

2011-06-01

This article describes topical therapies and treatment guidelines for psoriasis and is based on a presentation given by the authors at a satellite symposium held during the 19th Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, 6-10 October, 2010, in Gothenburg, Sweden. The highly variable nature of psoriasis and its individual presentation in patients can make it difficult to choose the most appropriate treatment. There are many treatment options, from topical treatment with emollients for very mild psoriasis, to systemic therapy with fumaric acid esters, methotrexate or biologics for severe disease. For the treatment of mild-to-moderate psoriasis, topical therapy is generally the most appropriate and a variety of options, both historical and recent, are available. Newer therapies offer greater convenience and fewer side-effects. Of the more recently available therapies, vitamin D analogues and topical corticosteroids are the two with the greatest proven efficacy in randomized clinical trials. A recent Cochrane review showed the highest efficacy overall with the fixed combination vitamin D analogue (calcipotriol) and corticosteroid (betamethasone dipropionate). Indeed, clinical trials have shown that two-compound calcipotriol\\/betamethasone dipropionate ointment has higher efficacy than calcipotriol or betamethasone dipropionate alone. With regard to safety, two-compound calcipotriol\\/betamethasone dipropionate was shown to be suitable for intermittent long-term treatment of mild-to-moderate psoriasis. The findings of the Cochrane review are reflected in the current treatment guidelines from the USA and Germany regarding the treatment of mild-to-moderate psoriasis. In both these guidelines, which will be discussed in this article, the recommended treatments for this patient group are vitamin D analogues and corticosteroids, particularly when used in combination.

Topical Acne Treatments and Pregnancy

Science.gov (United States)

Topical Acne Treatments In every pregnancy, a woman starts out with a 3-5% chance of having a baby ... This sheet talks about whether exposure to topical acne treatments may increase the risk for birth defects ...